Branches and Vine- Stability

Have you ever tried to discourage or remove a wisteria vine?  It is a tough task because the vine doesn’t want to give up.. even if a small section remains on the ground, even if it’s cut off from the rest of the vine, it will root where it is and keep on growing. The problem with wisteria, as you know, is that despite its verdancy and beauty – despite its purple or white grape like flowers and fragrance - it can easily choke and ultimately kill a tree.
      Contrast that with a grape vine with its branches.  This image Jesus uses speaks to the heart of our relationship with God and it is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful images in scripture.  Jesus says in John 15, I am the true vine ..and my Father is the vine grower…Jesus is like the grape vine, the sturdy trunk, we are like the branches and, unlike wisteria, if we get cut off from the main vine, we can’t bear any fruit.  So Jesus says, stay connected – remain in me, and I will remain in you…In this brief meditation, I’d like to invite you to think about that word – remain.  You can hear our English word in the Greek verb – meno – it means abide, persevere, remain, stay…
       It’s also the idea of stability or, as Eugene Peterson puts it,  a long faithfulness in a single direction.   Abiding or remaining is one of the core ideas that St. Benedict embodied in his 6th century guide or rule for living as part of a monastic community.  I wonder..did you know that Benedictine spirituality is at the heart of our Anglican tradition?
Stability is the idea of remaining committed to place and people - to stay where you are, to stay focused.  to not go roaming around.  For a monk or a nun, it’s a direct commitment to stay in the monastery where they will live out their lives. For the rest of us, it means staying committed to our families, and communities – to make a long term commitment to their well being – and to remain – to stay the course for better or worse.
      You and I live in a time which seems to be pretty commitment phobic. We want to be able to bail if it gets rough and yet, there are many things in life which need long standing commitment to bring about good fruit.
      I am so thankful that our God has practiced stability -  remaining with us.  For, we are his long view, his long term project and Jesus calls us to persevere in our commitments not only with him but also with each other.
     In a church setting, this means not giving up on the body of believers in that place but being willing to stay together through hard times and good times…through seasons of plenty as well as seasons of drought.  And, why?  Jesus reminds us that this is so that we can bear fruit – beautiful lives and life-giving, long lasting works that tell about the love of God for all people and for the whole creation.
     Here’s a thought – our remaining in Christ, our stability in Christ is what makes it possible for us to have stability with each other. 
      That we might bear fruit and remain, that is, that we might abide in Christ - this is my prayer for you and for me this week.  Let us pray.

Lord God, Creator of the universe, grant that we might ever  abide in you and you in us. So that we might come to glorious flower and bear bountiful fruit for well being of your people and the sake of the kingdom. This we ask in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Sprit AMEN.