Wednesday of Fifth Week of Easter
The Lord works in mysterious ways. The spirit is prompting us to make faith connections in ways that are often unpredictable. Yesterday I was in line at the grocery and the person in front of me was talking to the cashier about his faith. While witnessing, he gave the cashier a pamphlet from his church. The cashier thanked the man and put the tract aside and began to ring up my groceries. I asked the cashier if she wanted the pamphlet. When she responded she didn’t, I asked her if I could have it. As a church worker, I like to learn from the ways that other churches evangelize.
The pamphlet was a clear evangelization tool and this church’s theology started on the first line. “Unless you claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you cannot be saved.” Suddenly, I remembered the line that had struck me for today’s reflection. “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1) It made me realize that there are still people in our world trying to control the parameters of how salvation can be achieved.
For myself, participating in salvation is much more radical than being circumcised or making a once sentence claim. Today’s gospel suggests that only in completely grafting ourselves to the true vine can we become one with the vine and vine grower. This image is striking because it implies that we have no roots in the dirt. In other words, all of our spiritual nourishment comes through the vine that is Jesus.
In order to become a disciple the gospel teaching demands that we bare fruit. The fruit we bare is our witness to the love of the Lord. It is a witness that will not only cause us to rejoice, but in our sharing many others will experience great joy. However baring fruit is not always easy. It demands that we too are growing strong and staying healthy in connection with the Lord. There are times when we think of ourselves as the vine and not just a branch. It is at these times that the vine grower does some pruning. Pruning can be painful, yet ultimately it can make our connection to Jesus even stronger.
Reflect today on how the Lord might be trying to prune you. Is there a Paul or Barnabas trying to call you to a deeper understanding of the Lord? Pray for openness, so that you allow the one at work in you to remain completely in you. And then you will remain completely in Jesus; and isn’t this metaphor just another understanding of what we mean by Communion.
-Michael Montgomery