This is a heck of a reading, and it's a reading that it would do us good to remember, recognize, and contemplate. For in this reading we hear the reality of how deep the connection with God goes. Here's what I mean.
If you know nothing whatsoever about gardening, if you know nothing about the state of the soil, what you ought to know is a lesson from the dandelions, which is that if you're planning on getting rid of you dandelions, you're not going to get too far by just plucking the surface stuff. You can pull the leaves, the flowers, all of that, but if you do only that, you can expect the dandelion to come back, right in that same spot. Inexorably, you can and you will find the dandelion coming back right there. How does that magic happen? How does the dandelion grow back right in that spot? Likely because you're not getting the root. And the root of a dandelion is a real problem.
The important part of the dandelion is going to be under the surface, and you should know that. You should know that the root is likely far far bigger than the surface of the plant. Knowing this should help you to understand why it is that the vine and the branches that Jesus talks about is such a big deal. You can be small brained, and think of the vine and the branches as being part of one another, and that the branches do not differ in any real way from the vine, but if you want to get big brained, then you'll have to understand what it is that the vine actually does. And the most important part of the vine is the part that you can't see. The part that goes under the surface, the part that brings the nutrients, the water, the life for the plant out of the soil, and the part that the plant absolutely can't survive without. But we feel as though what we can see is the most important part, and we tend to think that the branches can exist perfectly happily without the vine.
The way I talked about this on Sunday was in terms of grapes. And I do want to talk more about grapes in the here and now. Because grapes, those are something that we all know about, and we all know how grapes show up to us, and in our clamshell punnets. That is, when you get grapes, if you get grapes from where I get grapes, you get them attached to stalks. If you want to eat those grapes, you have to pull them off the stalk, either one by one or a few at a time, but as you eat, only the stalk will be left. That stalk that is left over stops producing grapes. Once that stalk has been plucked from the vine, it has produced its last grape. It's done as of that moment. That's why when you bring grapes home, eat them, and stare at the stalk, it doesn't make any more grapes, and if you want more grapes, you have to go back to where grapes are found. That makes sense, right? Nobody expects that a dried out grape stalk would make more grapes, right?
Then why do we expect to keep on bearing fruit when we're cut off from God?
It's a genuinely good question, and one that shows all kinds of real world practical stuff in the scriptures. One of the best is the story of Samson from the Old Testament. Samson is someone that you know of, right? Samson, he of the great strength and raw power, Samson who killed people with his bare hands, with the jawbone of a donkey, who tied foxes together, all that. Samson with the hair. On the surface, it looks like a story of magical hair, that long hair = strength, and short hair = weakness. That looks like the story, but it isn't actually that story at all. It's a bigger story of someone who had been called upon to judge Israel, who had been appointed by God to perform a role, and a duty, but who turned his back on that role consistently over a long period of time. His faith, his devotion to God didn't die all in one shot, but bit by bit, a piece at a time. Think of it like twisting a branch or a flower, that it doesn't pop off all at once, but if you twist it a little at a time, it eventually gives up, and breaks away. Then the wilting. Then the death. He drank to excess, dealt with corpses, got into the ladies; piece by piece he abandoned his faith, his commitment, his vows, concluding with his hair, the last vestige of his vows to God being abandoned and cast aside. And then he ends up surprised when he is as weak as any other man.
No kidding you're as weak as any other man. How on earth did that happen? How on earth did that tragedy occur, where you systematically turned your back on God, the source of your strength, that you cut yourself off from the roots, from the nutrients, from the might that had supplied you with iron and fire from your life? How could this tragedy have happened? Well, how does it happen with us?
Think of the church that functionally cuts itself off from God, that takes away a piece at a time until there is nothing left. Think of the person who pulls themselves back from all their history with their Lord, who pulls themselves back from the stability of their base, from their history, from their roots, and expect to still bear fruit? There will be no fruit. It isn't going to happen. The fruit that God wants you to bear: Love, joy, peace, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, those things go away when you're cut off from the source. And I know that there's a meme out there that tells you that you can be good without God, but you know what that is, don't you?
False prophecy.
You're not likely to get a false prophet telling you to worship Baal, or Asherah, but you will certainly find false prophets who will tell you quite happily to ditch God, to cut yourselves off from that vine, and who will tell you that literally nothing will change after you do. That's what false prophecy looks like, and the false prophet that we can think about the most here is Delilah. You know, that Delilah, the one who decided to tell Samson to cut his hair because she was being bought off? Her false prophecy was based not about telling Samson to worship her Gods, but instead of that telling him to turn his back on his own God. To turn away from his savior, to turn away from his vows, and to surrender his will to hers. Which he did. The one that told him through manipulation and seduction to listen to her, to do what she wanted him to do, and to believe that he could be strong without God, which he believed. He was then taken away, blinded, and made to grind grain in the mills of the Philistines.
When Samson regains his strength, which he does, I want to emphasize once again that this isn't the story about magic hair. Instead, it's a story of faith lost, and faith regained. It's a story of Samson turning from God, departing from him, being cut off, and desiccated, and while he was in prison, while he had time to think, while he had time to consider his actions, he got to think that he wasn't bearing the fruit he used to. He wasn't strong and powerful, he wasn't able, he couldn't do anything by himself. And while he is in prison, he calls out to God, and prays to him "Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time." He's not counting on his strength by himself, but rather is relying heavily on God, realizing that being cut off from the roots, from the vine, had done nothing for him.
Now, we are living in a world where people fall away from God all the time, where branches are constantly being cut off, where people are not bearing fruit now, nor are likely to in the future. But we are people who believe intensely in a God of forgiveness. Until the branches are burned, there is a real possibility that there is some amazing work that this gardener can do. This amazing work is highlighted in Romans chapter 11, where it says "'Well,' you may say, 'those branches were broken off to make room for me. ' Yes, but remember, those branches were broken off because they didn't believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don't think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won't spare you either. Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe towards those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted back in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree...So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong."
That tells you what you need to know. The good news, the wonderful news of forgiveness, of grace, is that even if you cut yourself off, even if you bear no fruit, even if you're doing nothing whatsoever with the gifts you have been given, there is still a chance for repentance, for belief, and for being grafted right back in again. It's amazing work, grafting, where you can take a branch and make it part of the plant, but it can be done, and does get done. Just like with Samson, cut off and then grafted back in, the people of this world can do much the same, simply by saying the truth of the situation:
Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Lord I am cut off, graft me back in.
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