Bearing Fruit

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Episcopal Church

April 29, 2018

5 Easter B

The first house Don and I purchased had a lovely back yard that was a lot like I imagine an English garden might be.  There were beautiful flowers, along with a cherry tree, pear tree, and an apple tree.  Right smack in the middle of the yard there was a grape arbor.  The grape arbor came down quickly before the forces of little boys throwing footballs, frisbees, and each other brought the arbor down.  But we kept the other trees and they bore much fruit as long as we lived in that house.

The previous owners had harvested the fruit and done a lot of canning.  My strength is baking, not canning, and involves chocolate, not apples or pears.  The trees required little care to produce copious amounts of fruit, which was generally enjoyed by the birds either before or after it fell off the tree.  Our stewardship of the trees was not optimal, to say the least, but the trees were undaunted and continued to bear much fruit, simply because that is what fruit trees do.

This morning, we eavesdrop on a tender conversation between Jesus and his disciples just before his death.  In what is called the Farewell Discourse, Jesus talks with the disciples about how they are to live as his disciples once Jesus in no longer with them.  Jesus uses the word “abide” 8 times in this passage, which gives us some clue as to how Jesus wants his disciples to live.  The disciples are to abide in Jesus and let Jesus abide in them, so that they will bear much fruit for the gospel, just as branches abide in a vine and cannot bear fruit apart from the vine. This is a lovely metaphor for the Christian life, calling us to be attached to Jesus so that we can be Jesus’ disciples and do Jesus’ work in the world.  Jesus is clear that apart from him, we will not be nourished and we will not bear fruit.

The reading from 1 John helps us understand what abiding in Jesus looks like by calling us to abide in God’s love.  Then 1 John tells us a bit about God’s love.  First, God’s love is life giving.  “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.”  The point of sending God’s only Son was so that we might have life.  Secondly, God’s love is self-sacrificing.  God sent God’s only Son-the heart of God’s heart-to give us life.  Thirdly, God’s love is a free gift.  There are no strings attached.  There is nothing in 1 John that tells us what we must do to earn that gift.  We love because we are loved, not in order to be loved.  We are called to respond to the life giving love of God by loving our brothers and sisters with that same life-giving, self-sacrificing, no strings attached love.  If we say we have love, and hate our brothers and sisters, or as last week’s reading said, ignore those in need when we ourselves have plenty, we are lying.  How can we love God, who we have not seen, if we do not love our brothers and sisters who we have seen?  1 John paints a clear picture of what it means to abide in God’s love and as people who are attached to the vine.

The story from Acts give us a clear example of what happens when we abide in God’s love and bear fruit that will last.  Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch demonstrate life-giving, self-sacrificing, no strings attached love for a total stranger.  An angel of the Lord gives Philip directions that will take Philip to an Ethiopian eunuch who had come to Jerusalem to worship.  As an Ethiopian and a eunuch, the man was something of a double outsider, even if he was in charge of the entire royal treasury.  The Ethiopian invites Philip to sit in the chariot with him, which is an act of hospitality.  Philip interprets the scriptures for him, proclaiming the good news of God in Jesus and ultimately baptizing the Ethiopian before being snatched away.  Philip’s love for God was demonstrated in his openness to the angel of the Lord who told him to travel a wilderness road for no apparent reason, his care and acceptance of the Ethiopian, and his sudden departure after baptizing the Ethiopian that left no room for any praise or credit for Philip.  The Ethiopian’s love for God was demonstrated in his openness to hearing God speak through the scriptures, Philip, and the Spirit, which led him to be baptized.  The love Philip and the Ethiopian had for God spilled over into life-giving, self-sacrificing, no strings attached acts of love for a complete stranger.  This passage reminds us that we never know who we might encounter who is thirsty for the Good News, that sharing the Good News is not always convenient, and that lives can be changed when we are willing to take a risk to bear fruit for the gospel.

The trees in our backyard so long ago bore fruit because that is what fruit trees do.  The apples, pears, and cherries were produced, not for the tree to use, but to either to be used as food for others or to produce more fruit.  Jesus tells us this morning that when we abide in him, when our branches are firmly attached to the vine, we live with live-giving, self-sacrificing, no strings attached love that will naturally bear fruit.  The fruit may or may not be the fruit we want to produce or think we need to produce.  But the fruit that comes from abiding in God’s love will be the fruit God calls us to bear.  And like Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, that love will take us places we never imagined we would go, to encounter people we never thought of meeting via roads we never dreamed of traveling.

Amen.