The Cutting
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:1-5)
While we may sometimes have difficulty determining what, or accepting that, something is dead or bearing no fruit, we can easily comprehend the need to let go of or remove those things that are dead. It can be more challenging, however, to come to terms with the cutting off of things that are bearing fruit and seem to be living. But sometimes we do, indeed, have to let go of what's good to take hold of what's better. The passage of John 15 was spoken by Jesus as he continued to prepare his disciples for his death. Jesus encouraged them to remember that, even as the removal of things, people, and expectations would be painful loses, they were still connected to him. And, as long as they remained connected to him, they would thrive and they would do great things.
In that moment, and even in the challenging days immediately following Jesus' death and resurrection, the disciples could not have imagined how their message, mission, and ministry would evolve from life changing into world changing. Seeing the power of God's saving grace extend from the Jewish community to gentiles to those who, like the Ethiopian eunuch, were thought by most to be completely cut off from any community of faith would never have entered their imaginations. The grafting in of these extensions of God's family is purely for the benefit of our limited understanding as, to God, all of us created in the image of our Creator have always been claimed by God. It's only in abiding with Jesus - living into his command to love God and neighbor - that we can be open and receptive to the pruning that God may need to do in preparation for the beautiful things God desires to do. We can not imagine what God has in store for us but, if we abide with Jesus we can trust that great things are to come. The abundant life Jesus offers is not an accumulation of more, but a
growing into the expansive bounty of God's goodness.
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 37 Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:34-39)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:7-13)
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