Reflection for Sunday of the Fifth week of Easter, Year B
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. ~ John 15:2
Pruning can be painful.
I once visited a local winery with a group of friends, and one of the owners was out there in the fields, showing us around. With pruning shear holstered on his belt he walked along the rows of vines explaining to us the different kinds of vines they grew there, how they get them to grow, as well as the pruning process itself. It was second nature to him. He would not leave the vines alone, he was constantly pruning them! In some ways it was force of habit; but his love for the vines, the fruit they would eventually produce, and the wine that would be made from those fruits was evident in his near obsession with pruning. In his zeal I imagine he routinely returns to the same branch pruning a little more until something inside him feels at ease that this branch will bear good fruit.
Oh how we have been honored with the presence of the divine vine dresser who, having taken on mortal flesh, is ever more adept at knowing just how much to prune away. I don't imagine that the vines much like being pruned. If they could talk would they not say "I spent a lot of time growing those branches, and you just cut them off!" Pruning, even the pruning of Christ, is painful.We too may say "I've spent a lot of time on those bad habits, and now you want to take them away?"
As I wrap up the semester, trying to find the time and the energy to work on the paper that need finishing, and pack up the room that continues to descend into chaos, I am pulled between the overly productive person that I want to be and the lazy person I fear I am. Neither of these is exactly what God is calling me to be. Both of these visions of myself need pruning in their own way. Instead of lifting the fruits up to God, how often do I try and hold then back, fearful of them being pruned away and taken as the fruit for the kingdom?
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The harvest is plentiful, as the saying from Matthew goes, but the laborers are few. When I look around I do not see signs of God abandoning us, the people of God. Even when times are hard Christ is there helping the fruit to grow, by pruning where needed, and constantly fertilizing with his grace. Christ is the true vine and therefore the harvest will be plentiful. Will you join me by going out into the vineyard and helping Christ bring in the harvest? Do you want to show God, in deed and truth, that you believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that you love one another as he commanded us? Then do not hid from the short lived sting of pruning. Rather open yourselves to Christ's tender care, recall the lessons of Lent just recently past, the lessons from that season of pruning, and from those lessons grow fruit in this Easter season.
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