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This is the sermon Dr. Waun
prepared for the August 6 service in Branching
Out John 15:1, 4, 5a “I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches” For ESUUC Pilgrimage
Trip From John 15: 1,4,5a "I am the true vine, and my
Father is the gardener. He cuts off
every branch that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear
fruit so they will produce even more…Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are many images of
Jesus, many of which come from his own teaching—we call them the “I am”
sayings. He said: I am the Good Shepherd I am the Door. I am the Way, the Truth and
the Life. I am the Bread of Life. King, Lord, Savior,
Messiah—all these terms have been used to describe Jesus.
But on the night before his crucifixion, Jesus gathered together his
closest followers for a Passover meal in the Upper Room where he gave them his
most poignant teaching—his “last lesson”, so to speak—the words that
took on a greater importance because of the urgency of those final moments. On that last night, Jesus
had many things to say to them—things he wanted them to be sure to remember
when he was gone. And one of the things he wanted them to hear was this final
image he gave them: that of a vine
and its branches. The vine with its branches is an image that would have had special meaning to those who were seated at the table with Jesus that night because wine was so important in their culture. Wine was always drunk at meals, celebrations, Jewish rituals, marriages, offerings and Sabbath meals. The vine dresser was a
critical part of their society
because he knew how to plant and harvest and keep watch over the grapes to guard
them from the weather, and from
animals and thieves. The vinedresser’s job was so important that he never had
to serve in military service. In
Jesus’ world, everybody knew about vineyards, so it was a familiar image. I
personally don’t know much about growing grapes, although I purchased a small
vine last summer and planted it near my back porch.
This year it is beginning to wind itself around one of the downspouts,
but it’s still quite small and I haven’t seen any grapes yet. I am NOT a
vinedresser! I
recently visited a neighbor who has a much older grape vine which is growing up
the side of a shed. It is quite tall
and has many small clusters of green grapes but he told me they may not ripen,
because last year they did not mature for some reason.
They were too small. My
friend told me that it is important to cut off certain leaves and branches from
the vine in order for the grapes to get bigger.
Apparently, you can either grow big leaves or big grapes, but not both.
You must trim the branches in order to have bigger grapes.
My friend is a good vinedresser. I
think trimming the grape vine must be similar to pinching off the smaller
runners on a tomato plant. If you do
this, the energy of the plant goes to make bigger tomatoes, not more branches.
It must be the same principle for growing healthier grapes. So
there was Jesus speaking for the last time to his disciples and he said, “You
all know about vines. You know how
carefully they must be tended and how they must be pruned to grow better and
stronger. Listen to me, then.
I am the vine, you
are the branches." This description “I
am the vine, YOU are the branches” is the first time Jesus ever included
others in one of his “I am” images. This
picture now defines Jesus as well as his disciples!
It was meant to show the fruitfulness of belonging together; unity and
interdependence. We may not know that much
about vines and such, but we know enough about plants to understand how the
various parts depend on each other. And
so when Jesus said we are ALL part of the same vine, we can imagine the powerful
connection that we have as branches that continue to connect us to each other
and with the Way that began with Jesus. What I find quite amazing is
that somehow, by some miracle, each of us here in this sacred space today are
still connected as branches from that same vine.
We have branched out far and wide, and the branches continue to bear
fruit. We have never been cut away
from the vine! The effect of this image of
the vine and branches is powerful in our hearts and minds today.
It is a first hand awareness of how our connection to the same vine as
people of faith is present and active within us after all this time, and how the
Master Vinedresser continues to unite us and help us to grow. Now I know that there are
several different branches of tradition right here as we worship together.
We are Unitarian, Roman Catholic and Calvinist/Reformed—all branches
from the same vine! We all have rich and
faith-filled histories as we trace our individual branches of tradition back to
the vine. The Unitarian branch goes
back almost 1700 years. In 1568, King John Sigismund
of That is how the branch
called Unitarianism started to grow right here in The branch called
Unitarianism continues to grow and bear fruit even to this day, as there are
about 1000 churches in the The Unitarians who first
came to The story of the pilgrims
arriving in Many of the founding fathers
of my country were Unitarians and they the wrote the foundational documents of
our free society: the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the The pilgrims who set foot on
American soil so long ago felt a keen connection with the vinedresser and the
vine that gave them life and nourishment—the vine that helped them to survive
and to bear fruit and to instill their values into American life. Today, those of us in this
room who have returned to the birthplace of our Unitarian heritage feel a
renewed sense of connectedness to the values that we hold so dear and to the
same vine that gave birth to us all. Today, the branch that is
our church—living so very far away from our roots—continues to grow and bear
fruit. And we have returned as
pilgrims to thank you for YOUR faithfulness and to share with you the fruits of
OUR faithfulness as we develop our partnership of friendship and support. “I am the vine; YOU are
the branches”— words of faith that echo across all the vastness of time and
space. When I return home I shall
tend to the little grape vine in my back yard that it might grow bigger and
(hopefully) bear fruit, and I will think of this special time together with you. As I tend to the life of our
little church in We are so glad to be here
with you, celebrating our common heritage today—a connection that, thankfully,
has never been cut away. And we hope
that the faith we represent will continue to branch out—to inspire and connect
us in ever new and more faithful ways. Amen. |
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