Connections

A Sermon preached on April 29, Easter V (Family Service), at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Acts 8:26-40, 1 John 4:7-21, John 15:1-8

(Sermon illustration using a lamp that is not plugged in and does not shine until it is plugged in and connected. Message: It's pretty hard for a light to shine when it isn't connected to the power source, isn't it? Well, actually, it isn't just hard -- it's impossible!)

In our Gospel reading today, you heard Jesus told his disciples a story to teach them the importance of staying connected to him. Jesus didn't use a lamp to tell his story, one reason being that electricity hadn't even been invented yet. 

Instead, Jesus used an example that his disciples and the people of his day would know and understand. He used the example of a vine, presumably a grapevine. It is a plant with a lot of branches growing out from it. We even have one in the church garden. The branches have bunches of grapes on them.

So what did Jesus say about the vine? "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 15:5)  

Last week we heard Jesus say “I am the Good Shepherd,” and our preacher Jane Sautter explained that he was telling us that we can trust his devotion, his power, and his knowledge. To say I am the vine is another way of saying, I am what gives you life and I am the source of all that is good within you and all the good that you do. And Jesus wants us to a lot of good. In the picture he uses, he wants us to produce a lot of fruit. Good fruit like being kind, generous, and faithful. Most of all, he wants us to love others as he has loved us.

Can we do that on our own? No way. Just as the lamp must be plugged in before its light can shine, and just as the branches must be connected to the vine before they can produce fruit, you and I must stay connected to Jesus to produce the good fruit that God expects of us. A branch that has been broken off vine will just wither up and die. It can never have any fruit on it again. If we are not connected, if we do not abide in him, then we won’t bear the fruit we’re supposed to either.

What does it mean to stay connected – or plugged in? That means staying in touch with him at a personal level, each one of us: through prayer and personal devotion, through reading the Bible, through participation in worship. That’s how we ensure that we are both cleansed and renewed by his word, how we know what he wants from us, and that he knows just what we want and even more importantly need. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:5)

But we must also stay in touch with him as a group or as a community. There is no such thing as a solitary Christian. I don’t want to overwork Jesus’ picture of a grapevine, but the grapes are not directly or individually attached to the branch. They are attached in bunches, in groups. Why is community important? Jesus himself said that “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20) We learn better together, because we also learn from one another. As a community we can offer classes and courses, Sunday school and youth groups. A community is a great place to practice loving one another as he loves us. We can practice what are called the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) And yes, even here, in this almost perfect community, we need to practice patience …… And in and as a community, we are much better placed to pool our resources to help those in need. Worship is also much more rewarding and enriching together! 

Last and certainly not least, I truly believe that the world needs to be connected to God, who is the ground of all being. And as a Christian I believe that connection is through Jesus, the vine planted and tended by the vinegrower, his Father. A world without God is not fully alive. In a world without God, people and nations are too often self-focussed and selfish – which seems to be coming a trend right now. We are only really and fully human if we are connected not only to God, in whose image we are all made, but with one another. 

Jesus’ word picture of the vine is all about being connected, as was much of his teaching. Jesus came to restore connections, or relationships, with the Father through him, and with one another by following his example. If you want to grow, if you want to bear fruit, if you want to glorify the Father, and yes if you want your little light to shine: stay connected!

Amen.

Seeing and believing

A Sermon preached on April 8, Easter II, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Acts 4: 32 – 35, 1 John 1: 1 – 2: 2, John 20: 19 - 31

I always feel sorry for Thomas. He has become most famous, or infamous for his role in Jesus’ second post-resurrection appearance that we heard about in today’s Gospel. This episode is the source of his nickname “Doubting Thomas.” Funny that Peter never gets called “Denying Peter.” But is Thomas a doubter, or is he not really only asking for the same proof that the other disciples received? “(Jesus) showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” (John 20:20) In the other gospels too, Jesus feels the need to prove to the disciples that he has really returned, not just as some sort of ghost. In Luke for example (24:39-43), Jesus invites them to touch him and he eats a piece of broiled fish. Thomas’ desire for evidence is not unique.

It would also be a shame to base our image of Thomas just on this one episode. Earlier in John’s Gospel for example Thomas has shown himself to be both courageous and loyal. Although it was going to be dangerous to accompany Jesus back to Judea when Lazarus fell ill, and then died, as people had attempted to stone Jesus there, Thomas simply says his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ (John 11:16) When Jesus wants to comfort his disciples about what will happen after his death, Thomas asks the question the others dare not ask: ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ (14:5) Giving Jesus the cue for that great teaching moment: ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.’ (14:6) And according to tradition, Thomas later went to India, where there was already a Jewish presence, and founded a Christian Church in the State of Kerala, where there is still a family of churches that take their name from him today: the Mar Thoma or Church of Saint Thomas.

The image I get of Thomas is not of a systematic sceptic or doubter, but of someone who is an enthusiastic and loyal follower of Christ. He sometimes speaks before his brain is fully engaged, but in doing so is often very inciteful. Act first, think later would be his motto, rather like Peter actually.  

Thomas loves his Lord and wants nothing more than to believe that he has returned. But the witness of his fellow disciples is not enough, just as for them the witness of Mary Magdalene was not enough. Yet when Jesus, the crucified one, with the marks of his Passion still visible stands before him, Thomas does not just catch up with the others in their stage of faith, he shoots past them and heads to the top of the class. Thomas' sudden and spontaneous confession of Jesus as my Lord and my God (20:28) is a climactic moment in John’s Gospel. When Jesus then says, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe,’ (20:29) that might sound like a criticism. I don’t think it is. Thomas has once again given Jesus a cue for a teaching moment.

It will be Thomas’ and the disciples’ job to witness to Jesus, to his teaching, to his death and resurrections so convincingly, and so passionately that others will come to believe that Jesus is also their Lord and their God. In the First Letter of Peter (1:8-9) the author describes such believers: "Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

What can have that sort of profound effect on people? Not just words, not some complicated theological explanation, and not just a book – even the Good Book. Of course, the story of Jesus needs to be told, as does his message about God. We heard one example in the First Letter of John: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)

Now I don’t want to contradict Jesus, that would not go well with my job description. But if we want people to believe, then they must also see. Not Jesus himself, but they must see Jesus’s impact on our lives. Believing in him must be visible, it must have an impact on how we live together. In his first letter, John makes a similar connection between faith and community: “We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3) And this morning’s reading from Acts describes a community that “were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 4: 32-33) You do not have to own everything in common to be a Christian, that is probably an idealistic exaggeration. But others’ needs, the needs of the community of faith and of the world must be more important than any possession. That is the source of the great power with which they were able to give testimony, to be witnesses.

And that brings us to this morning’s baptisms. Lucas’, Julius’, and Giulietta’s parents and godparents will confess on their behalf that Jesus is their Lord and their God. These three children will become members of the church, not just this group gathered here today, but that assembly of all who are "blessed (because they) have not seen and yet have come to believe." And they and we will affirm and reaffirm the promises of the Baptismal Covenant, not only to believe what was revealed by Jesus to Thomas and the other disciples, but to live out that belief within our community and in our daily lives. Chapter 20 of John’s Gospel ends with the words: “These (signs) are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31) Our lives are to be signs that lead those we meet to faith and to new and better lives, both physically and spiritually. If we do that, we will be good successors to St. Thomas who was a very good witness to the Lord he loved and followed. Amen.