FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER,
CYCLE B
JOHN 15:1-8
MY UNCLE PHIL PASSED AWAY
A FEW MONTHS AGO. HE WAS THE YOUNGEST OF TEN CHILDREN, AND NEVER GOT
MARRIED. HE WAS A PROFESSIONAL CARPENTER, BUT WHEN HE TURNED 50 HE
DECIDED TO CHANGE PROFESSIONS AND BECOME A PLUMBER, AND INDEED, HE
BECAME A MASTER PLUMBER. HE SPENT TWO YEARS AS MAYOR OF HIS TOWN,
DURING WHICH TIME HE ARRANGED TO DREDGE THE CREEK THAT RAN THROUGH
THE TOWN AND PERIODICALLY FLOODED EVERYONE'S BASEMENT. AFTER HIS
SINGLE TERM HE REFUSED TO RUN AGAIN, EVEN THOUGH HE COULD HAVE WON IN
A WALK.
SO FOR SOMEONE WHO WASN'T
TOO GOOD AT BOOKS, AS HE ADMITTED HIMSELF, HE DID PRETTY WELL. BUT
HE HAD A HOBBY THAT CONSUMED HIM; HE WAS AN AVID GARDENER, AND ON A
RELATIVELY SMALL PLOT OF LAND, HE GREW ENOUGH FOOD TO MAKE A SIZABLE
DENT IN THE GROCERY BILL FOR HIMSELF AND HIS SISTER, WHO LIVED WITH
HIM.
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, HE
SHOWED ME AN APPLE TREE IN HIS BACK YARD. HE POINTED OUT ONE BRANCH
THAT HAD DELICIOUS APPLES, AND ANOTHER THAT HAD SOME WINESAP, AND
STILL ANOTHER THAT BORE MACINTOSH. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. BUT WHAT
HE HAD DONE WAS GRAFT BRANCHES FROM DIFFERENT KINDS OF APPLE TREES
ONTO THAT ONE APPLE TREE. HE TOLD ME THAT HE WAS PLANNING TO SEE IF
HE COULD GRAFT A PEAR BRANCH ONTO THE APPLE TREE. I DON'T KNOW
WHETHER HE EVER DID THAT.
UNCLE PHIL IS GONE NOW,
AND I WONDER IF ANYONE IS TAKING CARE OF HIS GARDEN, OF HIS
GOOSEBERRY BUSHES AND RHUBARB PLANTS AND THAT APPLE TREE?
I IMAGINE IF JESUS HAD
LIVED IN BELT, MONTANA, AND KNOWN MY UNCLE, HE MIGHT HAVE COMPARED
HIMSELF TO THAT APPLE TREE, AND US TO THE BRANCHES.
IT'S A GOOD COMPARISON.
THE APPLE TREE IS ROOTED IN THE EARTH AND DRAWS WATER UP FROM THE
GROUND. THE BRANCHES, CAREFULLY GRAFTED ONTO THE TRUNK OF THE TREE,
TAKE WATER AND OTHER NUTRIENTS INTO THEMSELVES. WHEN YOU GRAFT A
BRANCH ONTO A TREE, YOU HAVE TO VERY CAREFULLY ALIGN THE BARK OF THE
BRANCH WITH THE BARK OF THE TREE. THE LIFE-GIVING FLUIDS PASS INTO
THE BRANCH LIKE A SIPHON, SO IF THERE IS ANY SPACE BETWEEN THE TREE
BARK AND THE BARK OF THE BRANCH, THE BRANCH WITHERS AND DIES. WE
BRANCHES WILL FLOURISH THE CLOSER WE ARE TO JESUS. BUT A LOT OF US
LIKE TO KEEP HIM AT A DISTANCE. WE TEND TO BRING HIM INTO OUR LIVES
WHEN THERE IS AN EMERGENCY, OR WHEN WE REALLY NEED SOMETHING, BUT
WHEN WE ARE MORE OR LESS CONTENT AND SATISFIED, WE'D JUST AS SOON HE
KEEP HIS DISTANCE. IN FACT, I THINK SOME CATHOLICS COME TO MASS A
FEW TIMES A YEAR HOPING THAT HE WILL LEAVE THEM ALONE THE REST OF THE
TIME. JESUS DISTURBS US WHEN HE SPEAKS TO US, WHEN WE DRAW TOO
CLOSE; BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE HIS LIFE IN ABUNDANCE IF YOU KEEP YOUR
DISTANCE.
MY UNCLE'S TREE HAD
ANOTHER INTERESTING FEATURE. THE BRANCHES THAT WERE GIVEN LIFE BY
BEING GRAFTED INTO THE TREE DID NOT LOSE THEIR INDIVIDUALITY. THEY
STILL BORE THE FRUIT OF THE TREE FROM WHICH THEY HAD COME. AND
THAT'S IN A WAY AN INCREDIBLE MIRACLE, EVEN MORE SO FOR HUMAN BEINGS
WHO ARE GRAFTED INTO JESUS. IF YOU READ ABOUT GREAT CHRISTIANS THEY
ARE ALL REALLY AND TRULY THEMSELVES; THEY AREN'T TRYING TO BE SOMEONE
ELSE, THEY AREN'T GOODY-TWO-SHOES, THEY AREN'T PALE SICKLY CREATURES
WHO STARE INTO THE HEAVENS WITH A SAD EXPRESSION ON THEIR FACES.
REAL SAINTS LEAVE A MARK. THE LIFE OF JESUS THAT FLOWS INTO THEM
HEIGHTENS THEIR INDIVIDUALITY, PERFECTS IT, AND THEY BEAR FRUIT AS A
RESULT, FRUIT THAT ONLY THEY CAN BEAR. THE LIFE OF JESUS FLOWING
THROUGH THEM PERFECTS THEIR INDIVIDUALITY, THEIR UNIQUE
CHARACTERISTICS.
IF YOU LET AN ORDINARY
APPLE TREE ALONE, IT BEARS ONE KIND OF APPLE. WE HUMAN BEINGS
GRAVITATE TOWARDS PEOPLE LIKE US. AFTER BEING ON THIS EARTH FOR
ABOUT 250,000 YEARS, WE ARE STILL TRIBAL PEOPLE, WE STILL SORT
OURSELVES OUT BY LANGUAGE, SKIN COLOR, SOCIAL CLASS, RELIGION,
POLITICS – IN FACT, ONE OF THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF THE
INTERNET IS THAT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GET ALL THEIR NEWS FROM THE
NET, AND SINCE THERE ARE NEWS SOURCES TO SUIT EVERY POLITICAL FLAVOR,
FROM NAZI TO COMMUNIST, FROM UNFETTERED CAPITALIST TO SOCIALIST, WE
AMERICANS AREN'T READING AND DISCUSSING THE SAME THING. IN THE OLDEN
DAYS THERE WERE THREE NETWORKS AND A COUPLE OF NEWS MAGAZINES, AND
THE DAILY PAPERS DEPENDED ON TWO SOURCES OF NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL NEWS. THAT MEANT THAT EVERYONE WAS ON THE SAME PAGE.
NOT TRUE ANYMORE.
BUT ON MY UNCLE'S APPLE
TREE, YOU COULD FIND SEVERAL VARIETIES OF APPLE ALL GROWING
PEACEFULLY TOGETHER. AND THAT IS A CONSEQUENCE OF JESUS' LIFE
FLOWING THROUGH US. WE RECOGNIZE HIS LIFE IN EACH OTHER, AND HIS
LIFE CROSSES ALL THOSE BARRIERS WE PUT BETWEEN OURSELVES AND THOSE
NOT QUITE LIKE US. IN THIS DAY OF INCREASING DESTRUCTION OF THE
THINGS THAT HOLD US TOGETHER, JESUS IS ABOUT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN
UNITE US, IF WE ARE GRAFTED INTO HIM.
THERE WAS ANOTHER THING
ABOUT MY UNCLE'S TREE. IN ORDER TO GRAFT A BRANCH ONTO THE TREE, YOU
HAD TO CUT OFF ONE OF IT'S OWN BRANCHES. THAT WAY YOU COULD MATCH
THE SURFACES OF THE BARK MUCH BETTER. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE A FEW
NATIVE BRANCHES ON THE TREE, IF MY UNCLE HAD HIS WAY, HE WOULD
EVENTUALLY HAVE GRAFTED AS MANY BRANCHES ON THAT TREE AS HE COULD
GET. AND HERE MAYBE THE IMAGE OF THE VINE AND BRANCHES IS MORE TO
THE POINT. IN CALIFORNIA, THE WONDERFUL GRAPES THAT MAKE THOSE FINE
WINES COME FROM PLANTS THAT HAVE BEEN GRAFTED ONTO ROOTS DERIVED FROM
NATIVE GRAPE VARIETIES. ALL THOSE IMPORTED VINES HAD NO RESISTANCE
TO A ROOT-DESTROYING FUNGUS, BUT THE WILD GRAPES THAT GREW ON THIS
CONTINENT DID. JESUS LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US, GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR
US, DIED ON THE CROSS FOR US, AND CONTINUES TO PROTECT US, SO THAT WE
CAN HAVE HIS LIFE.
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH
YOU AND I? WITH JESUS' PROMISES TO US, AND THE EXAMPLE OF HUNDREDS
OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE TAKEN HIM UP ON THOSE PROMISES, YOU WOULD THINK WE
WOULD BE SPENDING EVERY MINUTE TRYING TO GET CLOSER TO HIM, TRYING TO
DRAW FROM HIM ALL THE LIFE WE POSSIBLY CAN. LET US RESOLVE TODAY TO
BEGIN TO CHANGE OUR LIVES, TO ALLOW HIS LIFE TO FLOW IN US MORE
ABUNDANTLY. SOMEDAY IT WILL BE TOO LATE.
