Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
You may have heard it said by some non mainline Christians, “We belong to a Bible based Church”. And in fact they do. In today’s reading we witness the early church that pre-exists scripture being written. These show the Bible as a product of Church, not vice versa. Unlike the circular debate of the chicken and the egg, there can be no dissension on the order here.
Order is also alluded to in today’s gospel. God the Father, the vine grower, plants the true vine, Jesus, into the world. It is Jesus to whom we as disciples are grafted. When a graft takes, the two separate elements grow together as one. Sometimes, we are able to recognize that a graft exists. Yet, it can be hard to discern where one stops and the other starts because they are so interconnected.
The faith of the Gentiles was certainly seen by Paul and Barnabas as interconnected to all the rest of the followers of Christ. This view empowered Paul and Barnabas to go to Jerusalem to discuss with the Apostles the issue of circumcision. Some wanted the Gentiles to become Jewish in order to join the community. For Paul, circumcision was not necessary for Christian belief. Clearly, Paul felt that these Gentile followers of the way were already recognizably grafted to Christ.
Practically this scripture challenges us to examine whether we are recognizably grafted to Christ? When someone looks upon us do they see Jesus? Are we so interconnected with the Lord that it is hard to discern where we end and Christ begins? Consider what actions would better allow ourselves to be grafted to Christ. Then prayerfully proceed to allow the interconnection to grow.
Amen! Alleluia!
-Michael Montgomery