Photo by Ali Kokab on Unsplash
Karen Hollis | April 28, 2024
Easter 5 – Matthew Mystery wrap up
John 15:1-8 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 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. 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. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
This passage from John is the lectionary reading for this morning – I would normally address some of the crunchy bits by asking the question: why is the story told in this way? Because today is about celebrating the Matthew project, we’re receiving this lovely image of the vine and branches and leaving the rest for another day.
May the words and meditations we share this morning be reflections of your voice of celebration in our midst, in Christ’s name we pray. Amen
We’re going to wind our way back around to the vine and branches, but I want to first bring us back to October, when we began with a different story . . .
about a wealthy landowner, who was going on a long journey. He entrusted to each of his servants a huge sum of money – a Talent as it turns out is more than 16 years’ pay for a labourer in First Century Palestine1 – He intrusted it to each with the expectation that they, for example, lend the money to poor farmers who are hoping to get back on their feet with a successful growing season. More often than not, the harvest wasn’t good enough to pay the steep interest on the loan, and they would be forced to hand over their fields, multiplying the Talents. The first two servants said, “I’ll play,” and went off to make some deals. The third servant refused to participate in the system and buried the Talent in the ground. After a long time, the landowner returned and settled accounts with the servants. He was very happy with the first two and rewarded them with praise and more responsibility. The third servant stood before the landowner and all who were looking on, and called him out for his behaviour, saying you’re not a good person. You gather where you did not scatter seed. You take from people without investing any time or energy or heart. I hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. The landowner wasn’t happy and didn’t have nice things to say in response. In fact, he turned to the people looking on and told them to take the one talent and give it to the first servant. Exasperated, they cry out, “that’s not fair, he already has 10 Talents!” It’s not fair. Whether it is financially or emotionally or spiritually or otherwise, the world can be incredibly unjust and lonely.
Back in October, I invited us to imagine ourselves in the crowd, watching this scene unfold, wondering: can’t we do better than this? Isn’t there another option? In first century Palestine, the options were extremely limited, which is why little communities that formed around the Way of Jesus were such a revelation. They brought together resources, they invited people into community simply because they’re human – it was a new way of being together in that time and place. Instead of being cast out and alone, all these people suddenly had community – that essential piece of human existence. Looking at the image of the vine, we see the interconnectedness of community as the branches braided and twisted together, the fruit the branches produce. We see the vine rooting down into the earth, who sustains our living, and is held by God, our source. Being connected-in like this makes a new story possible.
For us, the new story began with a question: what if, contrary to the parable of the Talents, we brought together our collective resources and distributed them equally among members of our community? What could we create if we collaborated and supported one another?
As out project is wrapping up, what is the story we have to tell? I invite us to tell it collectively – there are mics available.
We began by taking a risk and entrusting each other with our collective resources.
When Elaine broke into my reflection and ran up to the front of the sanctuary to share her idea, I’m sure we had a variety of responses. What happened for you - maybe shout out a couple of words . . .
We each received an envelope with $20 inside – tell us about your process for deciding what you would do with it. How did you get connected with collaborators?
At some point the energy begin to move and synergy began to happen – tell us about that . . . tell us about the connections you made . . .
There were challenges along the way . . . tell us about what was difficult . . .
Beyond the projects themselves or the money raised, let’s talk about the gifts our community received.
What do we now have to share with the wider community?
What else?
Summarizing the story:
Our story is about doing something together.
Taking our own threads and weaving it together with the threads of others.
They’re strong, like the branches of a grapevine and bear fruit!
Thanks be to God for what community can do.