New Blog: The Branches are You!
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The Branches are You!
by: Rev. Dr. Neil Mancor
With the changing of the weather the work of taking care of our gardens begins. I’m not much of a gardener, but I do try to keep everything in order. It is fun to watch familiar shrubs, plants and trees begin to surge with life again after the long winter rest. Of course there is always some pruning to do to keep everything from overgrowing.
Jesus talks about that in his familiar words “I am the vine and my Father is the gardener”. And again “ I am the vine you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” Sometimes we can read that more as a rebuke or even a threat. We might look at ourselves and judge that we don’t see much fruit. But Jesus never tells us to produce fruit. He tells us that, connected to him, we will bear much fruit. It will just happen and it’s not really our responsibility. It’s the life of Jesus in us that produces the fruit. Our job is to remain rooted, grounded, connected to Jesus and allow Him to work in us and through us.
Remain in me. That is why we are encouraging everyone to join together in 10 days of prayer for the renewal of the Diocese between Ascension Day and Pentecost. We are doing this in conjunction with the Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative that started in the Church of England but now is observed all over the world. Our particular focus will be on praying for renewal of our Diocese, because after all we have been through, it is good to draw near to God for vision, guidance and inspiration. It is good to pray together as a people because that is how Christ imparts his life in us and through us. And it is good to pray because it reminds that, in the end, it’s not our responsibility to bear fruit. It is Jesus who bears fruit in us. Our job is to remain and be faithful.
Because the branches are you. You are the hope of God’s world. You are the instrument through which God will work. You are the branches that connected to Christ will bear fruit that will last. So let’s join together in prayer for 10 days from Ascension to Pentecost. And let’s see what our God will do.
