I'm in Taos, NM this afternoon, enjoying a thunderstorm of biblical proportions. At least it seems that way when you've been in a drought for years. Even our two-year-old cat Ruby hides when it rains - she has no idea what that stuff is.
The saints of Taos First have asked me to reflect on John 15:1-17 for their Session retreat tonight. So I'm going to share my ponderings on this passage with you in hours of focusing my thoughts for them. And if you happen to know anyone on Session in Taos, please don't leak this to them before tonight!
This is a very intimate passage. In just 17 verses, Jesus refers to himself and to us more than 30 times each. Even God only gets 7 mentions. Jesus is talking straight to his disciples, and to us, looking us all right in the eye. It's a monologue; Jesus is doing all the talking. The disciples don't get a word in edgewise. But there's a lot of good stuff to hear.
And what does he say? The thing that really pops out to this 21st century girl is this: ask for anything, and you will get it. Wow! A parking spot AND a new car to go into it? A million dollars? Obedient children? Perfect health? It's like Jesus is our own personal genie: rub the bottle, and, voila.
This is sounding a little too Joel Osteen, "prosperity gospel," for me. If you pull out that one verse, that's what you get. But we can't just ignore the other 16 verses, as much as we might like. Upon further investigation, there's more. (As is usually the case where Jesus is concerned)
Verse 7, NRSV: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Ah, the catch.
In English, "abide" and"abode" are closely related. Take up residence. Move in permanently. Become part of the neighborhood. No camping, no renting. LIVE in Jesus, and let Jesus' words live in us.
It's kind of like that fruit which he talks about in this same section. It sounds like we are to be as organically connected to Jesus as grapes are to the vine, as Jesus describes himself to be to us.
That's a fairly hard thing to wrap my head around. Maybe it would help to remember (she said, stepping out of her liberal arts comfort zone and into agriculture) that produce, whether it's apples or grapes or cotton or corn, is organically related to that which produces it. Grapevines cannot produce rice. And different kinds of grapevines produce different types of grapes. Jesus even says so himself in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7: "You will know them by their fruits."
Suffice it to say that if Jesus is the vine upon which we grapes grow, then our grapes will have a certain quality and character they might not receive from another source.
And then, suffice it to say that if we are so connected to the vine, then any questions we might ask will take on an entirely different character. Grapes so closely connected to this particular vine will probably not be concerned with parking places or cars. Our askings might sound more like: Give us this day or daily bread. Forgive us as we forgive others (and while we are at it, give us the capacity to forgive others). Deliver us from evil. Bring your realm to bear on earth, just as it does in heaven.
One last thought: grapes by their very nature know that they must hang together or they will hang separately. The Vine proves all the nourishment that each grape, each cluster of grapes, and each clump of grapes needs to flourish. There's plenty of vine to go around.
I'm thinking that the more connected we are to the Vine, and to the other grapes that surround us, the healthier we all will grow. That very connection is what will help us frame our questions, and then to be prepared to wait expectantly for the answers we are promised.
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