5 Easter B May 2, 2021
Acts 8:26-40 Psalm 22:24-30
1 John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8
The writer or writers of John's Gospel was one who used lots of metaphors, particularly as they came from the oracle words of Jesus. In High School English we learned the difference between metaphors and similes. The proverbial hippie spoke in similes using his favorite word: like. Everything was like this, like in love, like heavy, like groovy, like far out. A simile is when there is a comparison of likeness whereas a metaphor is when the comparison is a directly implied identification. I am the Good Shepherd, not I am like the Good Shepherd. And today's metaphor from the oracle speech of Jesus in the Gospel of John is: I am the Vine; you are the branches.
The Gospel of John begins with perhaps the metaphor of metaphors. Christ is the Word who is God from the beginning. So Word is God from the beginning. Word creates the signification system of relationships. Word creates the possibility of communication which is the essence of relationship.
Christ is presented as the supreme communication event between God and humanity. And to speak of Christ was to use the superlative of every human attribute. Or to use the perceived functions of plant growth processes to speak about the relationship of connection between Christ and us.
What does a vine, trunk, or stem do? It connects the branches and the fruit with the source of life which comes from the roots in the ground. And of course, branches with leaves help to collect and process sunlight for plant growth as well.
So who is Christ? Christ is the connecting Vine of God with human life. This metaphor comes from what I would call the cosmic organic mysticism of John's Gospel.
What does organic mysticism mean? It means that we are connected with the divine life. God as the creator is an organic creator, creating the paradise of a garden with the very divine image of God in Adam and Eve being the chief plants of the garden of Eden.
And what does the epic of Adam and Eve reveal? The same thing which the epic of every man and every woman reveals? We each become alienated in our connection with the Holy Sap of God's creating energy.
We forget that we are branches which have grown from divine stock; we pretend we are self made or socially made or psychologically determined by our environments. We forget the organic mysticism of life; namely, we are always already connected in and through God.
The Post Script Epistles to John's Gospel provide us with perhaps the greatest metaphor for God, by proclaiming, "God is Love. God is Love. God is Love." And if we are to be rightly connected with the creator of the universe, we too are going to have to be love as much as we possibly can.
I don't mean just the kind of syrupy love of every Country Western song; I mean the profound connecting love on which the entire connection of the universe depends.
If Christ is the Vine and we are the branches and the Father is the Gardener, then it is Holy Spirit Love which is the living connecting flowing sap of the energy of God.
What insights can we can from this metaphor of organic mysticism? First, we are connected with God whether we want to accept it or not. Second, we have a choice to choose to interpret our relationship with God in this way. How does the Gospel state this? Through the oracle words of Jesus: "Abide in me as I am in You."
You and I are connected with God whether we want to be or not; what we have the choice about is to accept this connection and obey the realization of abiding in Christ as the one who connects us best with God who is love and who wants us to accept the flow of this love into us as branches of divine life.
So it makes a difference whether we choose to abide or not. We have the freedom to interpret our lives as connected with God through Christ and the Holy Spirit of Love. Or we can ignore this completely and interpret the reality of life as impersonal energy and chemicals of existence which comprise us.
We, who believe the Gospel, believes that it makes a difference whether we believe that God is love and that love is the connection between ourselves and Christ who is the personification of the love of God to us.
We believe that it makes a difference in understanding that God is love and that Holy Spirit Love is how we abide and remain connected to the cosmic Christ who is the source of what enlightened humanity is to be.
Let us receive this organic mysticism of John's Gospel to inspire us to "abide" in Christ. Let us choose to remain connected with our Christ nature which can proclaim through our lives the belief that God is love.
Let us choose to interpret the essence of God as love and abide in that love as the good news which we have to offer in this world. Amen.
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