Fifth Sunday of Easter: Jesus. Help Us Bear Good Fruit

Acts 8:24-30 (NRSV)

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,

and like a lamb silent before its shearer,

so he does not open his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Psalm 22:24-30 (BCP, p.612)


1 John 4:7-21 (NRSV)

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 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. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

John 15:1-8 (NRSV)

Jesus said to his disciples, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Blog Reflection

Our Gospel reading for today is a real gem.  It speaks of Jesus and the community of those who are grafted onto Him to serve the presence of Christ in others.

Our society is so individualistic.  "It is all about me."  As Christians, we too have been part of being religious for the sake of itself in statements such as "The authority of the Word of God" to arm twist non-Christians to our way of thinking out of fear.  We too have the "our way or the highway" expressions and ideas.  So long as Christians preach an exclusive Gospel, we might as well be the branches of a philosophy or political position and not to Jesus Christ.

Jesus invites us today to remember that without Him, we can do nothing.  

We as Christians cannot speak up about the institutional racism in schools, police departments, churches and public places if we do not remain in the love of God in the Risen Christ.   It is so easy to say that we are not racist just because we have non-Caucasian friends and still not understand what Black America has been feeling this past week.   Julia Blount wrote a great article about how they are feeling as we struggle to understand the riots in Baltimore.  You can read that article here.   While the news media focuses on the violent side of the riots, Christians are being called to cling to our Vine who is Christ, and to listen to the stories of what black Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans experience every day.  The experiences they are having, are often done while so many of us white Christians pat ourselves on the back, believing the famous "things are so improved, they don't need any more" lies.  

As Christians, we are baptized to proclaim what 1 John 4:7-11 says that God is love to every human person.  The Holy Spirit wants so much to empower us to live those words by letting go of our self-centered prejudices and stereotypes that keep us from reaching out to the marginalized of the Church and society.  If Christians cannot live into our vocation that God is love by loving our neighbor as ourselves, why should people believe in the Jesus that we celebrate?  We are the Body of Christ.  If we do not do our part, the Body becomes an abstract image.

The arguments about the freedom to marry heard by the Supreme Court this past Tuesday, tell us that there is much more work to be done.  States all over the country continue to be lobbied to pass license to discriminate bills on the basis of "religious freedom."   It is wonderful that LGBTQ people can marry in our Civil governments and many of our church communities.  However, we still have the tragedy of transgender individuals being denigrated by so called "bathroom bills' when it is about recognizing (or failing to acknowledge) their dignity as individuals.  When we can create and pass legislation to "allow" discrimination against one group of people, it means that no person is truly safe from religious based prejudice.  The Vine gets a bad reputation while the branches become fruitless. 

Let each of us pray for each other that Jesus will help us to bear good fruit, because we become dependent on the Vine, and cooperate with the other branches.  May we recognize the diversity of the branches around us, and respect their dignity so that everyone has the chance to bear fruit that will nourish the hungry souls of this world.  When and where there is violence and oppression in the Name of the Risen Christ, our task as His branches is to represent the truth of the Vine.  Each of us are welcomed and empowered with opportunities to bring healing and reconciliation, so that the fruit of the Vine is the love of God that has no exceptions or limitations.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant
us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way,
the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his
steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.225).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.815).