Read John 15:1-11.
It’s virtually impossible to distinguish one grapevine from another among a mix of twisted, intertwined branches and fruit. Each originates from the main vine, but all are bound up in one another, with no hierarchy or fruit-bearing champion. All the branches work together, depending on each other and the vine. Jesus’ words are directed to the plural “you,” as in “y’all.” You all are branches. You all abide in me, and I abide in you all. You all bear fruit.
These images from nature name the deeply communal, mutual relationship that we have, not only with Jesus, but with one another. We draw love, grace, joy from Jesus the vine, and then together we bear fruit. In John 15, Jesus prunes us from our thinking about faith as a solitary or individual act. Our faith and our ability to bear fruit depend on all the ways we together abide in Jesus, and in one another.
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “Jesus and nature: Teachers of faith” by Sara Olson-Smith in the September/October 2022 Gather magazine.
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