John 4:7-21; John 15: 1-8 

INTRODUCTION

           Next weekend, the anticipated blockbuster movie, The Da Vinci Code, will appear in theaters.  So those of you who didn’t read the book, or if you did and liked it, can see the tale come to life on screen.  The story has created quite a stir, and I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t read the book by disclosing too many details.  I will remind you that the author of the book, Dan Brown, is not a theologian or a biblical scholar.  But he has succeeded in peaking interest in Da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper and legends associated with the Holy Grail and/or Holy Chalice.  Books refuting or expounding on the myths include Da Vinci Code Decoded, The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code, Secrets of the Code, Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code, etc.  If you like mysteries, by all means go see the film, but keep your Biblical wits about you.

The only reference to what legend has described as the Holy Chalice occurs in what we call the “words of institution” of the Last Supper.  Jesus took the cup—a simple ordinary cup—not a person and said, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood.  Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.” (I Cor. 11:26)  Though Leonardo Da Vinci by all accounts, was brilliant.  I don’t think he put a secret code in his painting of the Last Supper. 

Though it is not official church doctrine, Mormon elders have taught that Jesus had many wives, including Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha, and that it was his wedding that was celebrated in Cana.  Nicolas Kazinzakas in his book, The Last Temptation of Christ, also married Jesus off to Mary Magdalene.  In the Bible, Jesus and Mary Magdalene do appear to be close, but married? Give me a break. There is no indication that their relationship was anything but platonic.

So on this Mother’s Day, we celebrate Mary the Mother of Jesus, but not Mary Magdalene, the mother of Jesus’ lovechild or children.  Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of God” and his followers “children of God.”  That would make Jesus our brother, and as far as we know, nobody’s father.

THE VINE AND BRANCHES

            In today’s Gospel, Jesus is the vine and we are branches, which are to be the fruitful, in a spiritual, not literal, sense.  This verse comes in the midst one of Jesus’ discourses about discipleship, love, service, and the nature of God.  In verse 8 of this passage, John recalls Jesus saying, “My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”  I find this an interesting statement, because I’ve always thought that we become disciples first and then bear fruit, that is, we demonstrate our commitment to Christ through our actions.  But here, it is the other way around.  Our good fruit makes us Jesus’ disciples.  If we are producing rotten fruit, we’re not connected to Christ.

            In order to bear good fruit, we must be connected to the Vine.  A branch that is cut from the vine withers and dies.  Staying connected to the Vine involves personal commitment, consciously working to grow in relationship to God.  This requires thinking and reflecting on God’s activity in our lives, what mystics call meditation.  It involves prayer that is not only speaking to God, but also listening to God.  Also we engage in Bible study, because the scriptures are a primary way God speaks to us.  And staying connected to Jesus involves participation in the fellowship of believers, because we experience the love of God through loving and being loved by other people.

STAYING CONNECTED 

            If we try to stay connected to God, God will work to keep us connected as well.  Jesus was familiar with the horticulture of grapes, because they were grown in the region and wine was a primary beverage of choice.  Grape growers tell us that new branches on a grape vine have a tendency to grow downward and trail along the ground.  On the ground the leaves get dusty when it is dry and muddy and mildewed when it is wet.  Such vines do not produce fruit.  But the vineyard owner doesn’t cut them off.  Instead, she goes through the vineyard with a bucket of water, carefully lifts the trailing branches, washes them off, and wraps them around or ties them to the trellis.  Soon the branches begin to thrive. 

 No one is fulfilled, although every one strives and stretches for an elusive ideal of happiness. These women seek to seize, to discover, and to create contentment from their complicated lives that are built on shifting compromises, elusive dreams, and high expectations.[2]   As far as I can tell, they aren’t trying very hard to get connected to Jesus.

GOD USES ADVERSITY

            God uses the negative experiences of our lives to strengthen us. When we look at many of the areas that are known for their wine production, we see that the grapevines grow in soil that is often inhospitable to other plants.  Grapes for wine grow on the flinty hills of Chablis and in the slate-filled fields of Cotes-du-Rhone. Grape vines will grow on steep hillsides where erosion has stripped away the topsoil.  They grow in hot, dry climates like California.  Experts sometimes say that to produce great wine, the vines must suffer.  A vine that has to struggle produces better wine than one that enjoys better growing conditions.[3]

HOW ABOUT THE OTHER BRANCHES?

      Jesus speaks of abiding in him, as a branch staying connected to the vine.  The writer of I John amplifies this saying of Jesus, describing what it means to abide in Christ.  He writes, “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.”  So it isn’t enough to have this tight connection with God as an individual branch connected to the vine.  We have to recognize our connection to the other branches. 

One of the problems with much religion today is that it is so individually focused.  It’s all about “me and Jesus.”  This theology oriented to the individual stresses having a close personal relationship with Jesus who died for “me.”  Some folks seem to forget that Jesus died for a whole bunch of other “mes.”  They think that their way of expressing faith is the only way.  They are concerned about their families, their friends, their particular community or nation, but could care less about the rest of the world.  This individualistic theology leads to a betrayal of a basic tenet of Christian theology, that we are together in the Body of Christ; we belong not only to Christ but also to one another.

Another way of viewing the metaphor of the vine and the branches is in relation to different Christian denominations.  Our branch of the Vine has characteristics that differ from those of other branches.  Yet we are all connected to the vine. We are all to produce fruit as disciples of Jesus.

CONCLUSION

Our faith is not about the Da Vinci Code.  It is about the Christ Code: “Abide in me and I in you.” Stay connected to Jesus and stay connected to the faith community.  Be productive by focusing on faithful, loving service, beginning in our families, but branching out into the whole world that is God’s beloved creation.  Amen.