4th Easter
John 15: 1-27
I AM the true
vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear
fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean, so
that it will be even more fruitful. You have already been purified by the power
of the word that I have spoken to you.
Abide in me and I in you.
Just as the branch cannot bear fruit out of itself unless it is given
life by the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you stay united with me. I
am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains united with me so that I can
work in him, bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever
does not remain united with me withers like a branch that is cut off. Such
branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me,
and my words live on in you, pray for that which you also will, and it
shall come about for you. By this my Father is revealed, that you bear rich
spiritual fruit and become ever more truly my disciples.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Ground your being in my
love, just as I have taken the aims of my Father into my will and live on in
his love.
These words I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you, and that
your joy may be complete. This is the task I put before you: that you love
one another as I have loved you.
No man can have greater love than this, than that he offer up his life
for his friends. You are my friends if you follow the task I have given you. No
longer can I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master
is doing. But I call you my friends because I have made known to you all that I
have heard from my Father.
You did not choose me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you that you
should go and bear fruit and that your fruits should live on after you, so that
what you ask the Father in my name he should give it to you. I say to you out
of the fullness of my power: Love one another.
If the world hates you with hatred, remember that they hated me first.
If you belonged to people in general, they would love you as belonging to them;
but you do not belong to them, because I have chosen you out of mankind. That
is why people hate you.
Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his
master’. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have
held on to my word, they will hold on to yours also. Everything that they do to
you they will do as though they did it to me, for they do not know Him who sent
me.
If I had not come and had not spoken to them, they would be without sin,
but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who turns in hatred against me
turns in hatred against my Father also. If I had not done deeds among them,
deeds which no one else has ever done, they would be without guilt. But now
they have seen me, and have still hated both me and my Father.
But it was to fulfill what is written in their law: ‘They hated me
without a cause.’
But when the Comforter comes, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the
Father, he will bring knowledge of me and will be my witness. And you also will
be my witnesses, because you have been united with me from the very beginning.
4th Easter
 |
| Corrine Vonaesch |
April 21, 2013
John 15: 1-27
Once in a while an appliance fails to work. Experience
has probably taught us that the first thing to do is to first check that it is
plugged in to the power source.
We humans are ‘plugged in’ to two different power
sources. One is a survival system that is set to save our individual lives.
Fear is its early warning system. When activated, we either fight or run.
The other power source is aroused by seeing need in
others. It activates nurturing and cooperation. It supports the good of the
whole. Another name for this is love.
Interestingly this second power source can override the
fear-based one. Sourced by love, people can do amazing and courageous things,
things which may threaten or even end their own personal survival.
Christ is the energy source for this second power source
in us. To choose to act out of love is to connect with the Source of Love itself.
Connected with Him, motivated by His power, tendrils of love grow into the
world. They blossom into nurturing deeds, based on working together. They bear
its nourishing fruit to all who need it. The poet Hafiz says:
Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.[1]
Amazingly, Christ also needs us in order to operate in
the world. Without our being sourced in Him, He can do nothing. He also needs us, needs us to be connected to Him, so that He can operate in the
world, so that He can continue to keep the world alive.
www.thechristiancommunity.org
[1] “A
GREAT NEED”, in The Gift – versions of
Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky). Picture: The Good Samaritan, by Corrine
Vonaesch.
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