I Am the Vine you are the Branches

A sermon by Revd Richard Carter

Readings for this service: John 15 1-11

You can live in a city and almost become unaware of the natural world, especially if like me you have no garden. It’s like missing a miracle of God in our midst. You can get so used to pavements and  concrete and artificial light, and controlled temperature and manufactured sound that you scarcely notice what time the sun rises or sets, or the rhythm or pattern of the year. On Wednesday morning I saw the excitement of a group from the Connection at St Martin’s as they waited for the plants to arrive for the gardening project in our courtyard in partnership with St Martin’s. Early on Thursday morning I saw the boxes they had planted bringing new life, beauty and colour to the ancient stones of our courtyard. It felt like a small but beautiful sign of new life, not least because of the involvement of those from the Connection who planted. Those from the Nazareth Community who had come in early for contemplative prayer had all noticed the flowers. “Don’t they transform the courtyard” one of them said.

On Friday it was my day off so I set off on one of my favourite London walks through St James Park- up through Green Park and then around the Serpentine in Hyde Park. As part of the way of life we have been forming for the Nazareth Community I have been praying in the park each week in the same place watching the miracle of the year unfold and the inner rhythm of the seasons.

I had watched through Autumn as the leaves fell and then the ground thick with crackling browns, yellows, bronzes and golden leaves. I had smelt the cold in the air –

The smell of the coming winter that excited me as a child
With memories of bonfires and fireworks and coal fires and the nights closing These seasons are the miracle of God’s natural world in our very midst.
I could have missed all this gold

I prayed in the same place in the winter
The place became so spacious
Stripped back
Without the leaves more gaps and an openness
For the steely cold blues of the sky
The trees standing stark and naked
Like black veins against the sky through which winter light poured.

But I had not expected the joy of last Friday- because last Friday when I walked through St James’ Park in three weeks it has been transformed- those stark naked branches have unfurled, uncurling from their buds the most beautiful canopy of fresh green leaves. Springtime once again astonished me. It was like a surge of hope. I felt like singing out with joy – in those words of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins “Glory be to God for dappled things” This miracle of life in our midst. Gerard Manley Hopkins called this nature’s inscape- its inner essence the life that is never spent-that speaks of God and the miracle of God’s life in us.

Today in St John’s Gospel Jesus says I am the vine and you are the branches. This creative life of God is not something extraneous to us. It is what feeds our very life it is what makes us bear fruit- fruit that will last. If the branch dwells in the vine, then the life of the vine dwells in the branch. This abiding is vital- the branch is fed by the vine- the vine with its roots going down drawing the goodness out of the soil and rain- the sap of the vine giving life to every branch and then to every bunch of grapes that form. The life of the vine unfolds in each branch- the life of God unfolding in you and me too. But Human beings cut off from the love goodness and Spirit of God dry up and lives shrivels as surely as a branch no longer attached to the vine. Today’s Gospel is a call to connectedness, with God, with neighbour with our church- a unity which allows for our mutual flourishing as we participate in the work of God. Over and over again- in fact 40 times in John’s Gospel he uses this word abide-  abide in my love- allow yourself to receive the love of God – it’s like a body receiving the life blood- do not block this artery – let God’s life flow into you.

The Johannine model of church we hear in today’s Gospel is about Christ at the very centre of all that we are, holding us nourishing us- Christ at the heart. On the edge. Like the well spring giving life from the bottom up- there is no higher person or lower person- first class or second class or third or untouchable- there is only those who flourish because they are part of the life of the life giver.   Our lives incubated by God’s life- God’s life incubated in each one of us.

For our church to grow we need the courage and dedication  of faithful leadership and participation in all areas of the churches life- those willing to answer the call to serve, those willing to take on the responsibility and struggle of leadership which Peter and the disciples knew more than anyone was never going to be easy. It will need us to dream dreams- to imagine and re-imagine to find strategies and plans and to build up resources to make these visions possible.  But it will need the dedicated participation of all. The manual, the doing of the task, the support that may go unnoticed. That’s why today’s election of leaders for the PCC is not just a tiresome bit of church business but part of all of our stewardship of the church. It’s about choosing those who will help navigate the rough seas of our time. But it’s not their responsibility alone. We are all- each one of us- part of the vine. And we each have our part to play in the life of the whole if we as a community are to bear fruit that will last.

A community can only do this if we abide in God. And perhaps the greatest hunger and thirst of our modern world- is for that abiding presence- that nourishment of God- It’s what must permeate the whole community.  A month ago 48 people made promises in this church to try to live that life of discipleship more holistically, humbly, fully and intentionally. This life formed itself around a simple fivefold pattern which we have called the Nazareth Community. Five “Ss”

  1. First Silence and contemplative prayer- become attentive to the mystery of God’s miraculous presence in our midst. Beginning in silence, ending in silence. Recognising the God greater than our understanding. Becoming open attentive again to his presence in our midst. God’s inscape. Yes like the trees in the park- allowing ourselves to be nourished by God- for God’s seasons to transform us.
  2. Second Sacred Study of God’s Word- allowing the scriptures to come alive in us- so we do not simply read scripture as a record of the past but as a manual for our lives- so that it is not simple us that read the scriptures but the scriptures which read us. In this way the scriptures are completed in us, fulfilled in our deeper hearing.
  3. Third Service- the more we become attentive to Christ, the more we will see Christ face to face: in the face of our neighbour and in the struggles of our world. The more attentive we become the less able we are to be passive by-standers: the pain of the world becomes our pain and the love of Christ for his people becomes our love. John Epistle today puts it more starkly than in any other place in the New Testament. In three words he expresses the nature of God: “God is love” and then the meaning of our discipleship: “Beloved since God loved us so much, we ought to love one another.” It’s not enough to leave the work of God to someone else. This church must become the messenger and witness of that greater justice. Like the Stephen Lawrence Service on Monday where the voices of young black people, voices which so often been ignored, were given the opportunity to speak to the powerful of our nation. We do not simply speak of that kingdom- we as church must embody it in the way we live our lives and in the sanctuary and space we provide for others. In the way we care for others and allow others to care for us.
  4. Fourth Sharing-We must become the generosity of God- just as we have received so we discover the freedom to freely give. We all have a part to play in the life of his church- through generosity in giving- it’s not just the business or the café in the crypt or the shop who can resource and financially support this church- they can’t do it alone- its each and every one of us. With our time with our gifts, with our money. The compassion of our church is not just the preserve of the Connection or the Christmas Appeal. It’s face to face- how you treat the person next to you in the pew, the person coming through the open door now, the person who we know has many needs and who you cannot solve, perhaps the person you find most difficult. The maintenance of our church is not another domain. We are all part of this vine. I am constantly moved and astonished by the acts of compassion and costly service I see in this church. And also overwhelmed by the realisation of how much we also personally receive through this giving. We are not consumers of religion but those participating in the very life of God.
  5. Fifth Sacrament. That is what sacrament means- the outward visible sign of God’s invisible love. God’s grace in us. The love that has nourished and healed our broken often painful lives, the love that has made us grow, and been the fruit of all that we are. At the centre of the life of this church is this Communion. The bread and the wine- the sign of Christ’s real presence in our lives. Today you will become the tabernacles, the incubators- of God -the dwelling place of God. It is an astonishing realisation. God’s life if it is to be revealed will be revealed in us. But that love is not just a warm feeling- like the love of a parent it is not just in the holding. It’s about how we sustain that life- how we plan for it. How to create opportunities to let that precious life we hold in our hands flourish.

I thought this pattern of life may feel heavy but it has been like a springtime in us. This five-fold pattern does belong only to the Nazareth Community- it belongs to everyone. It is part of the pattern of what it means to be church and to live the Gospel. It is the longing for the kingdom of God on earth as in heaven. I began by talking about noticing the seasons of the year and the miracle of God’s inscape. Well we too are the inscape of God- the dwelling place of God’s abiding. Every one of us. As today we prepare for our APCM and contemplate the part that each one of us is called to play in the life of the church- remember that you are not an onlooker, or a bystander, you too are a branch. In everything we do we need to remain connected to that vine in order to bear fruit that will last.