This past week at Bishop’s Convocation, about 100 active and retired clergy spent time talking about both the history and the current dangers of White Christian Nationalism, in which a group of people is trying to dictate how America is to look as a “Christian” nation. This is nestled into the whole debate of are we even a “Christian” nation at all. Yet, this idea is rooted in a very particular sense of what it means to be a Christian and who can call themselves such. As we learned, much of this movement was started in the 1900s with anti-Catholic sentiments because Catholics were not considered Christian and were a threat to the Protestant Christianity that people were pushing for as the leading religion of the country. Throughout our history, we have had people telling others who is Christian enough and who isn’t; the time we are living in right now is no different.
While there is so much more that I can and will share about this topic later, come to the Adult Forum next week, it felt really fitting this week as we hear Jesus talk about being the “true vine” (John 15: 1). Jesus says “I am the true vine, and my Abba is the vine grower who cuts off every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, but prunes the fruitful ones to increase their yield” (John 15:1). What sticks out to me is what Jesus doesn’t say here. Jesus doesn’t say that we are the vine, nor are we the ones to cut off the branches or do the pruning. God is the one who gives us life, who calls us to bear the fruit of discipleship, and is ultimately the gardener in this story. We are not the ones who decide if someone else is a worthy enough disciple, yet we so often in this country want to put ourselves in the role of God. The history of Christian Nationalism is no different, when people try to decide what is “true” Christianity and what needs to be cut off and excluded.
It seems fitting too that this week we also hear the story in Acts of Philip baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch. There are many ways in which this story is an interesting one to study, but my favorite part is when the eunuch says, “Look, there is some water right there. Is there anything to keep me from being baptized?” (Acts 8: 36b). This story is an expansion of the kindom of God, which was probably more than a little surprising to the disciples who are sent out to preach the good news. They likely had preconceived notions about who they would be ministering too and what type of people they would convert to be followers of Christ, but instead here is the Ethiopian eunuch traveling alone, studying the book of Isaiah, and asking for guidance. This too is nestled into the whole debate of who is worthy to be a follower of Christ and what do they have to do in order to be one, that the early disciples are having.
There is so much that we don’t know about this eunuch, including their name, but also whether they were even allowed to worship when they got to Jerusalem or if they were still kept on the margins. Yet, they exhibit great faith none the less, despite not being someone Philip probably would have interacted with if it were not for the Spirit’s prompting. It teaches us about how God is working in the world, in ways that we might not expect or anticipate, but that doesn’t mean we can say the eunuch didn’t have faith because he wasn’t the right type of person or he didn’t have the correct amount of religious education.
It is an expansion of God’s kindom beyond just the people of Israel, beyond just those who were expected or considered worthy. Jesus today in the Gospel doesn’t say what type of fruit we have to bear, just that we bear fruit. How beautiful is it to think of us as this vast orchard of a whole variety of fruit? I mean, the world would be pretty boring if the only fruit we ever had was apples or oranges. Imagine if the only fruit in the world was Red Delicious apples! Instead, like all of the talk about us being different members of the body, so too are we different producers of fruit. We all have different gifts that we bring to the world, to our communities, and to our testimony about our faith. Personally, I find that much more appealing than if we were all the exact same! Our communities are changed, and not for the better, if we lose this diversity of faith.
And, the other important thing that Jesus mentions in his teaching today is that we cannot bear fruit on our own. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who live in me and I in them will bear abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15: 5). Our faith means nothing if we forget that Christ is at the center of it giving us life and grace and mercy. If our faith becomes only about ourselves and what we can do; how great we are, then it is not a faith grounded in Jesus Christ.
It makes me think about too how our faith does not exist in a vacuum. While there are spiritual practices that we do on our own, and they are worthwhile for developing our spiritual life, they are not the only way that we understand our faith. In talking about the Acts reading at Bible study the other day, I mentioned that one of the reasons it is important to study Scripture in community is so that we don’t just hear what we want to hear, but we hear what God is saying including the whole variety of what people hear from the Scripture because we all hear something different from it. It’s a lot easier to conflate our ideas with God’s if we are the only one reading and thinking about Scripture.
Faith, like any part of communal living, isn’t always easy because people will have different ideas about what our faith means and how it should be lived out. But, I also want to remind us that God created each of us to be unique human beings. Even when I preach, I know that not every piece will resonate with everyone, and sometimes you might hear something in my sermon that I didn’t even know was in there. While it is easy to want everyone’s faith to be the same, the reality is that God created us to be a diverse orchard. We don’t get to decide which fruit we want in the orchard, and which isn’t good enough, because the variety of faith expressions are deemed good and beautiful in the eyes of God.
So, while it is easy to dismiss and demonize the people with whom we do not agree, may we grow more comfortable dwelling in the uncomfortable nature of our differences. May we learn from others and help protect the diversity of our faith orchards. May we see the beauty in our different expressions of faith, as we remember that ours is not the only one nor the only right one. Jesus is the true vine, as much as we might like to have that role. May we trust that God as gardener knows what God is doing, so that we resist the urge to begin cutting off branches.
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Sunday April 21st, 2024 Worship