A Steward's Purpose

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, April 28, 2024
John 15:1-8

    This spring, my kids have been collecting the daffodil blossoms along the church property that have fallen off from the stem.  Some of them, when put in water, last for maybe one more day - they perk up for a little bit and then sadly droop down.  Even if you don’t know much about plants or gardening, most of us know cut flowers don’t last as long as the ones we leave connected to the bulb, to the roots, in the ground.  And so we hear Jesus tell us this morning that he is the vine, and we are the branches.  “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me,” Jesus says.  Jesus gives us this image of being connected to the source of all life – the life that really is life, through him.  He is the vine, we are the branches.  
As we learn and grow in faith, we discover that in being connected to Jesus this life-giving source, we can do more than we ever thought or imagined on our own.  Being connected to Jesus helps us thrive!  But his sentence, “apart from me you can do nothing,” is a challenging one.  We like our independence, individuality and freedom, right?  Most of us live most of our days thinking we’re just fine on our own, apart from anyone or anything else, much less Jesus.  We kind of have Jesus off here to the side, waiting in the wings, calling upon him maybe when we’re really in trouble or in need of prayer and support, but otherwise not giving our faith in him much thought from day to day.  Wrapped up inside ourselves and our own busy worlds, we may not recognize that like those droopy daffodils lovingly displayed on my dining room table, we are wilting, spiritually thirsty, cut off from a bigger purpose beyond ourselves in gratitude toward the source of all life.  We need to go back again and again to our connection to Christ the vine to rejuvenate us and give us new life.
Much of journey of faith is learning to balance our need for independence as a part of growing up and growing older alongside our need to depend on Christ that will never go away, no matter how old we are.  From the time our children are born, as parents we are striving to help our children both learn that they can depend on us and that they can be independent, loving, responsible humans.  We take them to day care. We put them on the school bus for the first time.  We send them off to college or help them set up their first apartment.  And we try to pass along words of wisdom along the way – “Make good choices!”  “Do your best!”  “Don’t forget your water bottle and your chromebook!” (that’s the more mundane advice I repeat often these days!).  
In John 15, Jesus is doing the same thing with his disciples – he is preparing for his death, resurrection and ascension.  He knows that soon he will no longer be with them in the flesh, but with them in spirit.  And he wants to encourage them to continue to depend on him through prayer, through abiding in him, through staying connected as branches on the vine.  Jesus also wants to strengthen their confidence that they can do all the things they have learned from him in following him for three years.  They can bear fruit using their individual God-given talents!  Being connected to Jesus the vine even as we branch out and grow helps us remember that our true purpose is not found in serving ourselves but in serving God and others.  We can’t separate our every day lives from our life in Christ – Christ is in all of it, and Christ helps us through all of it!
    So we put baby James in water today.  We reminded each other that we need this living water, that we need this connection to Jesus the vine in our striving to live a meaningful, purposeful life.  We celebrate that through baptism, we believe, we are connected to Jesus the vine.  We are the branches.  And then being connected to Christ the vine, we are able to bear fruit!  We reorient ourselves back to the source of life and our purpose as children of God – to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. This is our hope for James and for all of us who are baptized, that we continue to grow and bear fruit that will last.
I took a picture of our neighbor’s front yard because it was so beautiful this spring.  They are expert flower gardeners.  They have a beautiful Chinese maple tree blooming in the center with yellow and red tulips growing up and down the driveway.  They seem to always have seasonally appropriate plants and flowers so something is blooming all of the time!  This picture is a reminder to me that God wants all of us to flourish and bear fruit in all seasons!  Now, I am happy if I can keep the few indoor plants I have at home alive for a season!  But I’m good at doing other things to serve God and my neighbors.  My neighbors’ beautiful yard is also a reminder to me that not all of us need to bear fruit in the same way as Christians.  Some of us are literally good at growing things and gardening, tending to God’s creation.  Others of us do wonders with our hands in building and crafting – even maintaining our church property, or serving those in need through direct hands-on service.  Some bear fruit in building meaningful relationships because they have the gift of gab or are good listeners.  Others, the people I rely on the most because I definitely am not one, have the math brains to help balance budgets and invest wisely so we can give back to our community in meaningful ways.  In churchy language, using our unique gifts to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives is what we call “stewardship.”  We’ll be hearing more about this from Abigail today in a little bit.  Seeing everything we have including our time, talents, and treasure as connected to God and as gifts from God helps us use those gifts wisely, to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.
Mother Teresa once said, “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”  I love this quote.  It’s a reminder that no matter who we are or where we live, the gift of love that God has given us through our baptism into Christ is something we all have and can all share and never run out of.  No matter how young or old we are, no matter how much money we have in the bank, no matter what time of year or how busy we are.  Christ’s love for us never runs out, and connected to this source of love and life, Jesus our vine, may we never run out or run dry.  Amen.