Looking Ahead to May 2, 2021 -- Easter 5B

This being the first Sunday of the month we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.

Christ the Vine (Source)

The Scripture Reading for this week is John 15:1-11

The Time for the Young at Heart is called The Many-Branched Vine

The Sermon title is Roots and Connections Keep Us Healthy

Early Thoughts: what does it mean to see ourselves as branches growing from the True Vine? How does being connected to Christ, rooted in God, empower, sustain, feed us? 

Or maybe more importantly, what happens if we let ourselves be cut off from the vine? What happens if we stubbornly insist on starting our own roots?

Being linked to the vine, linked to something bigger, older, stronger than ourselves is a mixed blessing. The branch can not simply decide to be a piece of ivy instead of a grape. But the branch tied to the vine is tied to a source of energy and nutrition that it does not have by itself. Being part of the vine, attached to the same root system limits what we can be (that could be a plus or a minus I suppose). But, as the old saying tells us, there is strength in numbers.

This passage of John is from what is called the Farewell Discourse. This a a long section where Jesus is talking to his disciples before his arrest and death. In part the Farewell Discourse is Jesus preparing his friends for how to be his followers after he is gone. How will the keep up the drive when Jesus is not there in person anymore?

In part the answer is that we continue to abide in Jesus, and in God, and in Love. WE continue to live and thrive because we continue to be connected to the vine.

One of the concerns that has arisen as we live through this (seemingly never-ending) season of Covid-tide has been for mental and emotional health. Mental and emotional health rarely get as much press as physical health as it is. But how do we maintain them when we are separated from each other? The answer (or one of the answers) is still the same. Connection. Knowing where we are rooted. Keeping the connection to the Source of life keeps our souls healthy. 

A branch that gets cut off from the vine might, depending on the type of plant and the soil and the conditions, develop new roots of its own. Or it might simply dry up, wither away, and die

I am fairly sure withering away is not high on our list of things to do this year. SO let us remain connected to the vine, to the root, so that we can have life in abundance, so that we can be fruitful.
--Gord