When I was in the fourth grade, toward the end of the school year, we had an assembly in which the upperclassmen, the sixth graders, performed solos on their band instruments. One of the solos was played by one of the prettiest girls I’d ever seen (I hadn’t met the love of my life yet, Linda, who is the most beautiful person I will ever know. But that’s another story!). Anyway, this beautiful young lady played “Tea for Two” on the clarinet. It was the most beautiful music I had ever heard. I decided right then and there that I wanted to learn to play the clarinet. The beginning of the next school year came around. I told my father that I wanted to join the school band, that I wanted to play the clarinet. After a few days of perseverance, I finally persuaded him that I was in earnest, never mentioning the source of my inspiration. That’s been a secret for all these years! Anyway, my father and I went out and bought a brand new clarinet.
I’m sure that girl never knew I existed, but because of her tremendous influence I took up the clarinet and played it for about four years. I was never good at it, but it gave me experience in learning an instrument and learning what it’s like to play in a band. Somehow, I’ll always be connected with that young lady who inspired me to play the clarinet.
Have you ever thought about how connected the whole human family is? I suppose we’re all more aware of those connections than ever before. Television and the Internet make us instantly aware of events happening halfway around the world as they are happening. We’re intensely interested right now in the talks between North and South Korea. We’re all bound together in ways that we can only begin to imagine. William Braden, in his book Who am I? The Search for Identity, states that the “New humanism suggests that we are bound together in some sort of universal identity: that in some strange sense we do each of us bleed when the other is cut. “We are more and more conscious of the reality that the connections we have with others extend beyond family and friends, our communities, even beyond our national borders. It’s as if an imaginary vine links you to the person sitting next to you, and from that person to the next, until every person, living and dead, is included.
Jesus uses the image of a vine in his teaching. That image wasn’t original with him. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is pictured as the vine or vineyard of God. The prophet Isaiah said, “The Vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. “Jeremiah said, “I had planted you like a choice vine.” Ezekiel and Hosea refer to Israel as a vine: “There did spring a vine out of Egypt,” sang the psalmist, referring to God’s deliverance of his people from bondage.
When Jesus talked about the vine, he was using a familiar image, but with an unexpected twist. “I am the true vine,” he said. And of his followers, he said, “You are the branches.” In other words, “If you want to have life, you have to be connected to the source of life.” All of the other connections which seem so important pale in comparison—family, friends, nation, even humanity—our connections are meaningless without the one connection that is true life itself: our relationship with Jesus. If that sounds extreme, think for a moment about what it means to call Jesus Lord, for we’ve referred to Jesus as Lord in this service already Ten times. The Lordship of Christ is defined in the second chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews, where the writer says that in God’s having put “all things in subjection to Christ, he left nothing outside his control.” The Lordship of Christ is the dominion over every aspect of our life by Christ.
Jesus didn’t end there, however. He continues the analogy: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.” It isn’t enough to be a part of the vine. Each of us is called to bear much fruit. That can only happen if we abide in Christ, each day dedicating our life to him.
There are so many ways to bear fruit. We all need to do our best to do the basic things of faith: saying our prayers, worshipping every Sunday and major holy day, doing some sort of service in the church—ushering, teaching, being on the Altar Guild, volunteering at the Thrift House—and giving a portion of our money for the work of the Church. These things are not only the fruit of faith, but also bring forth more fruit in themselves.
Scott and Melissa Dunlap and Steve and Marsha Devitt are good examples of Christians who are bearing much fruit. At a meeting last Thursday night at Melissa and Scott’s house, I heard about an important program in which they and the Devitt’s are involved and in which they’re trying to get others involved. The Florida Center for Early Childhood provides help for young children and their families who are at risk. For example, one of the huge problems they’re attacking is helping children affected by parents who are addicted to opioids, working with foster parents and helping to find permanent homes for many of these children. This is a huge problem and just one of the results of this terrible epidemic of opioid addiction.
This is just one of the many ways that Christians can bear fruit as followers of our Lord. I commend Scott, Melissa, Steve, and Marsha for that ministry. Our Lord Jesus tells us that we must bear much fruit and “so prove to be his disciples.” What fruit are you and I bearing right now? Take your place in the kingdom of God.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
5th Sunday of Easter
29 April 2018