Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Spring is now in full bloom and summer is around the bend. Watching the new growth appear has been awesome, but it feels like in the blink of an eye this new growth that given way to an over-abundance of uncontrolled growth. So it seems that it is time to trim the bushes even earlier than usual. I trim them now so that new growth does not go uncontrolled, but ultimately the pruning will call forth new life. We see this also in the flowers like geraniums that we must dead-head in order to have more flowers come forth.
Why do we not recognize overgrowth in our own lives? In fact it seems like we will spend more of our summer days working on the lawn, bushes and flowers then we do on our own spiritual lives. While this is an over-generalization, the truth is that we sometimes may even skip Sunday Eucharist to get these chores done. Another alternative was taught to me years ago by my father who grew up on a farm. He told me that tilling, planting and pruning are all opportunities for prayer. Even when we are dead heading we can say a prayer that appreciates the flower that is gone and invites the new life to come forth. How much more can this prayer apply to our lives?
How do we allow God to dead-head or prune the unnecessary elements in our faith journey so that our lives would yield better fruit? In allowing God to take such action in our lives, what new growth would bloom? For Jesus says: that those who remain in Him will bear much fruit, because without him we can do nothing.
The early church community was joined to Christ, through their lived experience of Jesus. Their discipleship was formed and informed by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The first disciples were Jewish and they were joined to the Body of Christ through both their Jewish faith and through their baptism. In some early church circles the believers thought you needed to become Jewish in order to follow Christ. As time went on the Holy Spirit made clear to Paul, Barnabas and even Peter that it was Christ himself ‘The True Vine’ to whom everyone must be grafted.
Staying connected to the vine and the vine grower is not as simple as being baptized or claiming Christ as your Lord and Savior. Jesus reminds us that being a branch on his vine will allow us to bear the best fruit. This fruit will invite people, through us, to recognize Christ.
Lord every day you challenge us to remain in You, for without You we are not complete. Grow our discipleship so that our pruned lives actively reflect that we are joined to You, the ‘True Vine’ who lives and reigns one God forever. Amen! Alleluia!
- Michael Montgomery