• About Me
  • Contact
  • What’s in a name?

dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Tag Archives: vineyard

Because We Are, I Am

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Peace with justice, Sermon portions

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Abide in Christ, Body of Christ, compassion, forgiveness, Henri Nouwen, prayer, spirituality, vineyard

“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.” (John 15:4)

Vineyard near Santa MariaNot far from our home are row upon row of neatly planted grapevines climbing quietly toward the sun. Even from a distance it is clear that the hand of a vinedresser has touched them. Such simplicity of design does not come without long hours of meticulous labor.

Like these vineyards, our very existence depends upon One who plants and waters our lives. Our very survival depends upon One who knows how and when to prune, and which branches to remove. To see God as the Vinedresser is to relinquish absolute control of our lives, and to locate our lives within the wider landscape of God’s will.

So much depends upon our willingness to release our individual distinctiveness into the embrace of a community symbolized by a vineyard. The beloved community that Jesus calls forth is one that embodies an African proverb: Because we are, I am.

Just as the branches are intertwined on the vine, and it is difficult to trace individual branches from beginning to end, when we build trusting relationships through our shared devotion to Christ we are able to bear the fruit of grace and peace in our lives.

There are several ways that our lives abide in Christ, and one is practicing the art of forgiveness. Henri Nouwen writes, “Forgiveness means that I continually am willing to forgive the other person for not being God — for not fulfilling all my needs. I, too, must ask forgiveness for not being able to fulfill other people’s needs” [The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, edited by Wendy Wilson Greer (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999), p. 150].

As members of a faith community, we have high expectations of one another and only get a portion of what we want. So we must continually forgive ourselves, and one another. Even in our acknowledgment that none of us is God, we can celebrate the reflection of God in each other, the beautiful gifts we each bring to the table by God’s grace.

Another way we abide in Christ is by grounding our understanding of what it means to be the church in the biblical image of the body of Christ. Graham Standish, in his book Becoming a Blessed Church, writes, “In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul outlines a vision of the church as a living, breathing, acting body with Christ as its head. Too few churches hold onto that vision. The blessed church is the body of Christ that follows Christ’s guidance to feed, nourish, and care for itself in a way that allows it to grow and become a servant to the world” [Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence, and Power (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2005), p. 22].

We also abide in Christ through prayer. Prayer is like the nervous system of a body. Prayer is the hopeful waiting for God. Prayer enables the head and the heart of the body to communicate. Prayer leads the praying congregation into the wisdom of Christ and helps it to discern Christ’s way, leaving the results to God.

Finally, practicing compassion helps us abide in Christ, through the ways that Jesus’ life reveals God’s boundless compassion for the world. Nouwen writes, “Our call to compassion is not a call to try to find God in the heart of the world but to find the world in the heart of God.” When we seek a deeper spirituality it leads us into solidarity with the suffering world.

Abiding in Christ is like being a living branch connected to the vine, and through the vine to the earth, and through the soil’s nutrients to the very Source of Life. God the vinedresser cares for the vines, prunes the branches, and does all that is necessary so that the plants bear the fruit of justice, compassion, and peace in the world. May it be so!

Grapevine near Santa Maria

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photos (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson

January 2023
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Aug    

Recent Posts

  • New Recording 3
  • How Long?
  • Prayer to a Great Blue Heron
  • A Prayer for Our Country
  • Blessing for When You Don’t Know Where to Begin

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 558 other subscribers

Archives

  • August 2022
  • May 2022
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Categories

  • Centering Prayer
  • Contemplative Life
  • Dogs
  • grief
  • Guest Blogs
  • Justice
  • LGBTQ
  • pastoral integrity
  • Peace with justice
  • Poems
  • Prayers
  • Reflections
  • Running
  • Sermon portions
  • Uncategorized
  • Worship Liturgy

Blog Stats

  • 49,143 hits

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Sacred Pauses

aprilyamasaki.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • dreamprayact
    • Join 342 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • dreamprayact
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...