Trinity Blog

John 15:1-11

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

A picture speaks with a thousand words.  No doubt we have heard this cliché.  But the truth of this picture speaks clearly.  For the blind runner, everything depends on the trust he has for his guide.  Through the rope, he is led in the darkness through the course.  Through the rope, he is guided by the runner keeping pace beside him.  Everything depends on the compassion of the guide to keep him running straight and true.  Without the rope and the runner, everything falls back on himself, but with the rope and runner, the obstacles can be overcome. 

So too is it with us in our discipleship.  We are the blind runner struggling with the obstacles of our brokenness and our fallen nature.  But we are not alone in our struggles.  Through the mercy of our Guide-Runner Christ, we have one who condescends to our plight and out of compassion offers the rope of his Spirit to lead us and guide us, as we run our race.  As these two run the cross-country race set before them, so too do we and Christ run the race of human discipleship towards God.  Just as the guide-runner not only keeps pace beside but also leads the fellow runner, so too does Christ keep pace beside us as our fellow Brother, but also guides us in Power and Righteousness in front of us as the Word of God.

Perhaps this illumines the idea that I am the vine; you are the branches.  The vine and the branches share a common bond, the blind-runner and the guide-runner share a common bond, where the one sees for the other, and Christ and the Church share that same bond, Christ leads the Church, and the Church is led.  Just as everything depends on the mercy and lungs of the guide, and the trust of the follower, so too does everything depend on the mercy and the power of Christ and the trust of the followers.  Without keeping pace and guiding along the safe path the runner following is led into hazards and physical obstacles, without Christ keeping pace and guiding us along the safe path, His disciples are led into trials and temptations.  The Vine is joined to the branches, Christ is joined to His Church. 

But the two runners, just do not run for no purpose, so too does the disciple follow Christ, for a purpose.  Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.  The point of the runner following the guide is to reach the goal of completing the race.  The point of abiding or remaining or staying with Christ is to reach the goal of bearing fruit or righteousness.  What if this is why Christ became our Brother and our God, so that we might become right and true as Christ is Right and True.  They finished their race, we are to finish ours, the race of righteousness.

But imagine if you will what happens if the cord is cut.  The blind-runner is back to being alone, the disciple is back to being both guide and follower, and the branch must become the vine again.  Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  The runner without a guide stops running, the branch without a vine dries up and dies, the disciple without Christ, loses not just the Guide but also their Sustainer.  Instead of running together and succeeding, we run alone and fall short and miss the mark as only a blind runner can.

Perhaps the entire point of this Word of God is the single Word “remain.”  As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; remain in my love.   To follow God is to remain in Christ, to stay in His love and his power.  To follow his lead and his guidance, to trust his compassion and his care for us, to keep the cord and allow Christ to be Master and Lord and we in contentment and joy follow Jesus’ path.  Remain in me and I in you. 

But you and I are not yet to the point of remaining in Christ every moment of every day.  We have our moments of being the branches on the vine, or being the runner clinging faithfully to the cord, but we also have our moments when we cut ourselves off from the vine or drop our end of the cord altogether.  This you see allows us to make our own choices, make our own goals or agendas, or in sheer spite just do what we want instead of following.  Perhaps those choices involve how we spend our money, how we use our time, or how we vote, or whether we worship this Sunday, volunteer with a charity, or invest in a relationship with a neighbor and staying home, working on our gardens, and investing in ourselves.  Instead of holding the cord, we cut the cord in independence and downright mutiny. 

My friends, what would it look like or what would it take for us to remain in Christ a little more in our lives and to leave Christ a little less this day and the ones to come?  Might it be a little more daily and weekly worship?  Perhaps a little more solitary prayer and a little more doing everything prayerfully?  Maybe more studying of our Bibles and reading difficult books that challenge and stretch our thinking?  What if it means more loving service of our neighbors?  Whatever it looks like for us, are we willing to remain more and more in Christ and reduce cutting or dropping the cord of Life?  This is our daily struggle, let us remain and abide in Christ as He remains and abides in us.  I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.  Amen and Thanks be to God. 

Mark 11:1-11

¹When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ² and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” ⁴ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, ⁵ some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
      “Hosanna!
            Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
        ¹⁰     Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
            Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
¹¹ Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

If you have tickets for the museum or the game or the show (back in the good old days before Covid), you did not peruse the museum from your car, you did not watch the game from the parking lot, and you did not watch the musical from the snack bar.  The point of the ticket was to gain entrance into the museum, game, or theatre.  So, when the time comes, you went into the place you bought a ticket to.  When the museum opened you went into the exhibits to view the displays.  When the game starts you went into the stadium or arena to watch the game from your seats.  When the lights go down on the audience, you went into the hall and took your seats to be entertained by the actors and actresses. 

So too is it with Christ.  On that first Palm Sunday, Jesus of Nazareth rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, which stepped upon cloaks and branches to the tune of singing pilgrims.  After his triumphant and lowly entrance, Jesus did not stop at an inn, Jesus did not visit the palace or the praetorium.  As the Gospel of Mark reads, Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple.  He went into the temple.  He did not remain outside, but went in, he arrived at the gates of the temple and he entered it.

But what is the temple and why of all the important places in Jerusalem, should Jesus first visit the Temple and why go in versus stay outside?  The temple is a great many things, certainly an institution, an order of priests and scribes, and a marketplace; and Jesus is quite correct to criticize them for poor stewardship of the Temple.  But the Temple is much more, because the Temple is the Covenantal Place to commune or connect with God.  God speaks and blesses the people here in this space and the people with gratitude and faithfulness bless, worship and work for God.  The Temple is the place of fellowship and communion between the faithful and mighty God and the people God has chosen to be objects of that faithfulness and might.  And so, the Son went into the Temple commune with His Father.  He went in.

By the Grace and Love of God, we at Trinity now face the prospect of our own Palm Sunday.  In times past, Palm Sunday has been many things to us.  Perhaps a day to work in the yard, or to vacation on Spring Break, or to attend the Indians games.  But this Palm Sunday is much different and quite special.  Because we have been without a sanctuary for the last few months, because we have been in quarantine and separate from our Covenantal Community, because we have been social distancing, our space for communing with God has been denied to us.  But now, like Christ on that Palm Sunday, we have a chance and an opportunity to come into the Sanctuary of God.  To hear the Word from God, to be blessed and renewed by God and to give back to God His portion, to bless God, to worship God, to glorify God and to serve God.  This Palm Sunday, we now have the ability, like Christ to go into the Sanctuary, like Christ we can go in.

No longer can we take this or any Sunday for granted.  No longer can we presume that we have a space and time to enter the sanctuary to commune with God.  No longer can we find other things more important to do on a Sunday morning, like working by choice, like mowing the grass, sleeping in, taking a trip, or visiting people.  Because we have been denied our sanctuary with God, we must learn a new appreciation for the time and space to come to God.  We must no longer find a reason or excuse to skip going to Church, because this pandemic has taught us that Church might not always be there.  We should no longer take the Covenant Community of God for granted, because the last few months, that we have been deprived of that Covenant Community.  No longer should we ever stay out, this and every Sunday we should always go in. 

My friends, this Palm Sunday is quite different and quite unique in that like Christ we are entering the Sanctuary of God for a “first” time in a long time.  Our “Hosannas” need to be real expressions of mind and heart and no longer empty rites spoken from habit and custom.  Our gifts given to God need to be real manifestations of our gratitude and thankfulness and no longer forced “taxes” given with bitterness and contempt. Our lives surrendered in faithful obedience need to be genuine representations of our baptismal vows and no longer vain attempts to avoid commitment and devotion.  This Palm Sunday we must really go into the Sanctuary as Jesus did and still does, with faith and obedience to the Father.  We must set apart the time this Palm Sunday and every Sunday, to enter the Sanctuary of God and live!