Last week I said that in the sermons I get to share with you before I leave, I want to consider what the scriptures appointed for each Sunday have to say to this parish in this time of transition.
Today’s gospel passage completes the gospel from last Sunday, in which Jesus tells the disciples that God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. Jesus reminds the disciples that God the gardener must prune the branches to make them bear more fruit, and that we, here at St Peter’s, are going through a pruning with all the changes ahead. But the promise is that since Jesus the vine to which we branches are attached, we can count on bearing more fruit because God the gardener has pruned us.
As Jesus continues this conversation with the disciples, he moves from a focus on pruning the branches to a focus on the disciples abiding in his love. This focus on abiding in his love is where we begin today’s considerations about the parish transition ahead of us.
And what could be a better image to consider, especially in times of change, than this image of abiding—of dwelling in, remaining in, being held and kept in Jesus’ love.
Think of a mother breastfeeding her child, giving of herself so that her child is nourished—and this nourishment is not just from the mother’s milk, but also comes from the love that the baby absorbs while being cradled lovingly in the mother’s arms as the baby is fed. In fact it’s only after about six months of life that the infant realizes that it is separate from the parent and is a separate being inside its own skin. This abiding love between parent and infant is the foundation that allows the child to grow more deeply in love throughout life.
From an early age, our culture teaches us to pursue freedom, to be self-sufficient, to strive to be successful, to stand out, and even to become famous for at least fifteen minutes.
But then the inevitable disappointments and failures come, and we suddenly realize that we’ve forgotten how to simply abide, to dwell in, and to be held and kept in God’s sustaining love.
We have to learn how to abide all over again.
So in this parish transition, as you strive to stand out, to be the sort of place that a new priest will want to join, Jesus reminds us all—as important as all the striving to do all that needs to be done during this time of change is, an even more important thing that we all must remember is to take the time to do what Jesus is asking the disciples to do—and that is to abide in his love.
Jesus helpfully explains how we are to abide in his love.
“If you keep my commandments,” Jesus says, “you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” If you look at the Celtic cross on your bulletin cover, you will find that the lines within its design cannot be separated. They flow together to create an image of what it means to be the branches of one great vine of love. Interconnected, no one line standing out, they all flow together to create an image of self-giving love. This self-giving love of God flows through Jesus and then among us, between us, around us, through us, a life-giving love, a love that endlessly circulates and restores, renews and refreshes.
The more we abide in Jesus’ love, the more our imperfect human love becomes holy love so intertwined in God and one another that we cannot be separated. We are the threads woven into the great fabric of God’s love.
One of the hallmarks of The Episcopal Church is that each one of us Episcopalians and each of our churches, no matter how small, is a vital part of something bigger, what we know as the Anglican Communion, which stretches around the world. The Episcopal Church here in the United States is one of the members of the Anglican Communion, our Diocese is part of the Episcopal Church, and we are part of our Diocese—and the Anglican Communion is part of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, made up of Christians everywhere.
Every year for the past eight years at least, the head of the Anglican Communion, The Archbishop of Canterbury, who right now is Justin Welby, has invited people around the world into a time of intentional prayer between Ascension and Pentecost (ten or eleven days) for more people to come to know Jesus. This ecumenical prayer movement is known as “Thy Kingdom Come.” You can find the information about how to participate in this movement in the May newsletter that you should have received on Friday. This is a good year to participate, as you hold this parish transition and your own challenges in prayer. If you are interested in participating in this prayer movement and working through the prayer journal together, let me know.
Now comes the focus on joy, the next thing that Jesus explains to the disciples. Jesus has asked the disciples to abide in him so that the joy of Jesus can be in them, and that their joy can be complete.
Joy is a sure sign of the presence of God in our midst. And after having spent so many years here, I have experienced this parish as a very joyful place.
Don’t take this joy for granted, for not all parishes and not all churches are joyful. I’m sure you’ve heard of churches so full of conflict and discord that joy is nowhere to be found. I’m not talking about disagreements, for any group will disagree on something. Even the early church disagreed on many things, and so we get some of Paull’s profoundly inspiring letters, which he wrote to help people in the house churches sort through their disagreements. But in a church rooted and grounded in God’s love, as this one is, we can disagree in love, knowing that in the end, our love for God will hold us together instead of any disagreements tearing us apart.
A joyful parish is a huge gift not only to the parishioners, but also to the priest. During this transition, talk about the joy that you share with one another, for that joy is very inviting, worth more to many priests than a big salary or big congregation would be in a place that lacks joy. The joy that you share with one another, through the good times and the bad, sustains you as a congregation, and it also sustains your priest. God’s joy is in you. Nurture that joy.
As Mother Teresa writes in her book, The Joy of Loving: A Guide to Daily Living, “Joy is a sign of generosity. When you are full of joy, you move faster and you want to go about doing good to everyone… joy is prayer; joy is strength; joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” The joy in this parish is a blessing to anyone who encounters it. Your joy has been a huge blessing to me.
Jesus also says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you!” And not only that, but Jesus appoints us to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Think about that! If Jesus has chosen this parish, as Jesus certainly has, to bear fruit, then Jesus will not fail this parish in a time of transition. I find this incredibly hopeful and encouraging! God will supply the needs of this parish because God has chosen this parish to bear fruit! In fact, Jesus says that God will give us what we ask in Jesus’ name when it comes to asking for what we need to bear fruit.
And so, in this transition, let’s pray fervently that we may continue to abide with God and with one another in love. Let’s pray that we may nurture the joy that the presence of Jesus in our midst brings. Let’s pray that we may continue to bear the fruit that we are already bearing, and bear even more.
And let’s pray fervently for God to give St Peter’s a priest who abides in God’s love, who is person full of God’s joy, and a person who will be full of generous love for all of you. That person will fit right in—because that is who YOU are, people who abide in God’s love, people who are full of joy, and people who love God so much that they can’t help but love one another. Don’t hesitate to ask God, in Jesus’ name, to send you this person who will help you to continue to bear fruit, not just any old fruit, but the fruit of love that will last long after all of us have gone.
I’ll close this time of reflection with a prayer from John Philip Newell, found in his book Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter.
Let us pray.
“At the beginning of time and at the end
you are God and we bless you.
At our birth and in our dying,
in the opening of the day and at its close,
in our waking and our sleeping
you are God and we bless you.
You are the first and the last,
the giver of every gift,
the presence without whom there would be no present,
the life without whom there would be no life.
Lead us to the heart of life’s treasure
that we may be bearers of the gift.
Lead us to the heart of the present
that we may be sharers of your eternal presence.” Amen.