Pentecost 2012

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
Pentecost 2012
Acts 2: 1-21
May 27 2012

"The Holy Spirit: The Clothing of Resurrection"

We had been waiting as Jesus had told us. There was very little sleep for us as we kept vigil those nights…wondering the meaning of the many events that had just taken place in our lives as we awaited the fulfillment of the promise.  Will we ever see Jesus again?  He ascended into heaven…why did he have to go?  What did he mean by asking us to stay here in the city?  What is this power from on high that we will have as our new clothing?

Could you imagine the days of waiting that took place?  Not knowing when the promise would come to fruition or even what it would be like.

I remember taking Daniel and Hannah to see fireworks a few years ago.  It was a huge event.  There was going to be good music, lots of people, good food, and most importantly, a huge fireworks display.  We arrived early (well before dark) so that we could find some food and a good place to get settled for the festivities.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard one of those two little voices ask, “Daddy, when are the fireworks going to come?!”, I’d be a rich man.  They were so eager with excitement … “Is it about to start?”  “Not yet, Daniel; just be patient, its coming.”  “When is the music going to start daddy?”  “Don’t worry, Hannah, you’ll get to dance…just be patient.”  I can remember the few sideshows that happened before the main performance… you could see it in their eyes… “Is this it?”  Then the residents in the community started shooting a few fireworks…  “Has it started now, Daddy? Has it?”  “You’ll know when the real thing happens, Daniel, you will know…trust me.”

I remember the flash of excitement in Daniel’s eyes…when he knew that his waiting was over…when the real fireworks finally were fired, illumining a perfect summer night.  I didn’t have to reach over and tap him and say, “Daniel, pay attention, this is the real thing.”  He knew it.  Hannah knew it…as her hands cupped over her ears, wondering when the booms would finally end…

I wonder if the disciples experienced a similar situation as we did that night?  I wonder how many things happened during those 9 days of waiting that made them ask, “Whas that it?”  No, … “what about this? is this it?” No…not that either huh…when is it going to finally happen!?

I’m not sure whether or not their vigil was like Daniel and Hannah’s waiting for fireworks, but you can bet your heart that no one had to reach over and tap the disciples after the promise finally came to fruition. There was no mistaking it.  The clothing finally arrived…and it enveloped them.

It was a different kind of clothing than that for which they were accustomed. They didn’t have to put it on…they won’t need to take it off before bathing and going to sleep.  It was such a different kind of clothing.

They were familiar with robes and tunics, but not clothing that begins on the inside and works its way outward.  This is a new kind of clothing…the clothing of the soul, if you will.  The clothing that is the remedy for the disease of our sin.  The clothing that changes us from the inside out.

This is the clothing of Pentecost…the promise of the Father…being clothed with power from on high.  The disciples were all gathered together, different people yet seeking the same clothing.  They were waiting with eager anticipation when it finally happened.

The receiving of the new clothing was so amazing…it is unexplainable.  The best the disciples could do was to describe what it was like…such an unfathomable mystery…the coming of the Holy Spirit…it makes since that’s the only way we’d be able to describe it…

It was like the sound of a violent, rushing wind…filling the entire room where they were sitting.  When this came out of nowhere, they didn’t have to ask, “Is this what we’ve been waiting for?”  It was obvious…the Spirit filled not just an individual, but the entirety of the consecrated space.

But it was also like tongues of fire, resting upon each and every individual in the consecrated space.  The Spirit who came to clothe the apostles was in all places and in one place at the same time; this must be God!

And it happened…they received their new clothing.  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

You ever noticed how we act differently or play differing roles depending upon what kind of clothing we’re wearing?  I don’t know about you, but when I have my overalls on, my accent tends to be a little plainer…maybe even a bit more country…but when I have my suit on, well, I talk a little more sophisticated…I walk with my head held up a little higher…when I wear my pajamas, I kinda get in the mode of relaxing…of stretching out on the couch, preparing for a good rest…depending upon the kind of clothes we wear, we tend to take on ourselves different personas.

What kind of persona does one who has been clothed with power from on high take upon herself? hmm…I wonder…  [at this time 5 or 6 parishioners will get up from their pews telling folk, “Christ is risen” in languages other than English and all at the same time.]

Greek: Christos Anesti! Christos Anesti! Christos Anesti!


Latin: Christus resurrexit! Resurrexit vere! Christus resurrexit! Resurrexit vere! Christus resurrexit! Resurrexit vere!


German: Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden! Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden! Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!


Russian: Christos voskrays! Voisteenu voskrays! Christos voskrays! Voisteenu voskrays! Christos voskrays! Voisteenu voskrays!


Spanish: ¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En verdad ha resucitado! ¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En verdad ha resucitado!  ¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En verdad ha resucitado!  


French: Christ est ressuscité! Il est vraiment ressuscité! Christ est ressuscité! Il est vraiment ressuscité! Christ est ressuscité! Il est vraiment ressuscité!

Wow…that’s what happens?  Speech?  Well not just any speech, but yes, speech...but speech with more conviction than anyone had ever heard before; speech also known as testimony…testimony also known as giving witness to something…And this speech that was the immediate response to the reception of the Spirit occurred in varying languages…like we just heard in this space just now.

Now for those clothed in the Spirit to begin going throughout the city speaking in the native languages of all the people who were in the city must have meant that what they were saying was of utmost importance.  It needed to be clear.  It needed to be intimate.  Yes, some of them understood Greek…but it is the native tongue that one learns to speak most clearly and most intimately.

So it wasn’t simply that they were speaking in these varying tongues…no, that was only the means.  Pentecost wasn’t about people not being able to understand the language of the Spirit.  It was about speaking the language of the Spirit to everyone who would listen; though, admittedly, many could not comprehend yet.

What is the language of the Spirit?  What were these disciples speaking about with such joyful conviction?  They said something of note…I mean all who heard it, none left out, were amazed and perplexed…bewildered…

Maybe a translation from our speakers of the day would be helpful.  Tell us, what were you all saying in those various languages?  Christ is risen!  Truly, He is risen!

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  That’s what they were talking about!?  That’s the language of the Spirit! … It makes sense.  I mean it was the Risen Jesus who, before he ascended, told the disciples, “When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

It makes sense that this is what the Spirit-filled were speaking about with such joyful conviction.  Acts 2:11 does record the astonished and amazed crowd telling us why they are so perplexed, so amazed: “In our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

Brothers and sisters, this is what the clothing of Pentecost does to us.  It changes us from the inside out.  We who were once only witnessing to the age ruled by the evil powers are now clothed as embodiments of the incarnate and risen Son of God…we who once were no people become the body of the ever crucified Lamb of God who reigns for ever and ever!

So today we gather round this baptismal font, the wardrobe of the new creation.  In Holy Baptism, God takes off the clothing of the world that is passing away and pours out His Spirit to clothe us in the power of resurrection.  When you come out of the waters, you begin to take on a new persona…the persona of the Holy Spirit who is the clothing of resurrection. You join the people of God as the body of Christ giving testimony to the new life that Jesus’ resurrection has opened for us and for the entire world.

The Spirit is the clothing of resurrection. Today Angela and Emma will receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism and John and Susan will reaffirm the baptismal covenant.  As we covenant together to grow into this clothing, we will teach each other how to properly wear this holy clothing in the world for the sake of the risen Christ who has saved us.

May the Spirit continue to mold us to fit more and more into our Easter clothes, brothers and sisters, so that we might continue to faithfully witness to the new creation that Jesus resurrection has opened to the world He was sent to save.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!  Amen.

The Homecoming of All Homecomings

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
Ascension 2012
20 May 2012

 In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 You’ve all seen the classic movie, “the wizard of Oz,” haven’t you... In this movie, Dorothy and Toto find themselves in a foreign but magical land full of strange scenes and exotic creatures. Though they meet some fantastic friends, they never quite find a place to call home. Toward the end of the movie, Dorothy repeats that line that we all know so well, “There’s no place like home...There’s no place like home...”

 There truly is no place like home...and I bet you can identify with Dorothy can’t you. We find that we are restless until we are finally at rest where we belong. Dorothy felt this way. I feel this way; i believe we all feel this way. We want to be welcome home to that space where we truly belong. Some of us might have already been invited there...some of us might have even accepted that invitation...but others of us are still wondering.That’s what we human beings have been doing for such a long time haven’t we...wandering...seeking....searching...looking for home even while we have places we call home. We know there is something greater for us...some greater mission we are supposed to be involved in....so even though we settle from time to time, we keep on wandering...much like Dorothy and Toto...repeating that phrase, “There’s no place like home....there’s no place like home....

 We once weren’t doing so much wandering ... so much searching for meaning...for our true home. There was a time when we human beings were home and satisfied. Oh what a time that must’ve been! In the beginning, when the God began creating the world as we know it, His masterpiece was humankind. The Triune God formed humankind out of their rich love life. In love, we were made from the dust of the ground and breathed into by the Divine breath of God. Like a newborn baby who comes out of the womb and looks passionately in the eyes of her mommy, knowing immediately who is and who is not mommy, so the humanity Father Son and Spirit formed in love came into existence and looked into the eyes of God as if to say, “mama, papa.” There was warmth in that look...trust...contentment. We were home...not in a temporary dwelling place like our houses, trailers or apartments, but in the place we are meant to be: in the life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is our true home: to be in communion with our Creator. To receive all the good he gives to us in love and offer it back to him in thanksgiving. To see that which we offer back in love to be transformed into communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...that is being at home as a human being! ... There is no place like home. There is no place like home.

 We click our heals together just like Dorothy, because whether we realize it yet or not, we are not truly back at home until we are living life in this blessed communion. Our entire being is meant to be in communion. But that is exactly what we decided we’d take a chance on. The Lord warned us like a mother warns a child not to play by a certain tree because there is a hornets nest in it. The mother does not want the child to get stung or face the consequences of being stung by so many angry hornets. But we went outside and instead of playing under the good trees that provided shade for our play, we rebelled and began to stop trusting “mama” “papa” We went and played under the hornets nest and the venom proved to be deadly! The venom of sin’s sting has severed our relationship...it has broken our home. Like a rebellious teenager who wants it his way or no way, we packed our bags and ran away from home. When mama and papa came looking for us we hid. They made us clothes to hide our shame...but we kept on running...And we have not stopped running ever since! Every human being that has ever lived since then has metaphorically clicked their heals together, sighing, “there’s no place like home...there’s no place like home...” ... “wherever home is...whatever home is...”

We’ve been wandering in misery .... killing and abusing one another, playing the role we were never made to play...worshipping the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Oh but mama and dada never forget that first look...when we looked into their eyes with so much love...so much trust...contentment...when we are home...and they know we have fallen ... they know more than we do....they know we have rebelled and ran away wanting it our way...and like a good mama and dada, they have not stopped reaching out to us...coming to us...making entrances into our chaos inviting us back home.

That’s what the entire Old Testament is all about isn’t it!?! It is The triune God calling us back home through Abraham, through Moses and Aaron, through Joshua, through Samuel Through the prophets. But no matter how much our Creator...our Father, our true Mother has called us back, our pride keeps us running like that teen that ran away from home and never came back...not truly remembering why he was so upset with his parents, but knowing that he cannot go back and face all the pain he caused. So in his pride he pretends he is right and everyone else is wrong. He keeps running, though deep inside through the layers of hardness that have developed over the years, his heals kick in the recesses of his being, “there’s no place like home! there’s no place like home!’ And even though we kept running, our God, the Lover of us all, no matter how rebellious we have been, kept on seeking us out.

And in the fullness of time, he sent His only Son, Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, to make the most Holy of entrances ever made into our chaos. He came down to us, humbling himself, since that is the nature of our mama and papa and becoming completely one with us...feeling the consequences of the sting of those hornets oh so long ago. He represented everyone of us in the life he lived, in the death he died and in the new life he opened through His glorious resurrection! Like a big brother who sees his little brother or sister take a nasty fall, he ran to us and got down on our level, looked us in the eye, wiped away our tears, gently lifted us up in his loving arms, comforting us, all for the purpose of putting us in the lap of mommy and papa.

Now that is what ascension is all about. If Jesus doesn’t ascend, big brother doesn’t pick us up and put us in the lap of His Father! You see, the ascension is so important because the ascension is Jesus, our sinless and victorious big brother who loves us and represents us all, lifting us up from our mess and uniting us with the Father once and for all! That is why today is homecoming...Because Jesus became one with us...because he represented each one of us...because he took the full force of the consequence of our rebellion head on and whipped its butt through his death and resurrection...Because he took that which he assumed, namely the entirety of our wanderings as human beings...all lives and went back to the Father, now we can be at home ... where we truly belong! We can abide in God’s deep love for us like never before...

 Have you ever seen a mother or father look into the eyes of a child who came back? A child who stopped loving and once again started loving and trusting and finding contentment in their care? When we accept in the Spirit what the Father has done for us through the Son, and we go back home, OH THE JOY OF THE TRIUNE GOD! He remembers that wonderful day when he breathed His life into us, making us in His image and likeness...he rejoices knowing he gets to walk that journey with us again...the journey of becoming fully at home...becoming everything He already knew we could be.

Today there may be somebody here today who has been clicking their heals together for so long wandering where home might truly be. Maybe today God has revealed to you that His life is your true home and that because Jesus has ascended into the heavenly realm, now our humanity has been joined with the life of God. Maybe you hear the Spirit whispering deep with you, inviting you to simply believe in faith that this story is true...that you can go back home. He has restored that broken relationship and wants to journey with you as you becoming everything he already knows you can be. In His ascension, Jesus has taken us to our true home...big brother saw our nasty fall and came to our rescue...he has lifted us up to His Father and His Father is about to pour out the healing balm to heal our wounds. Amen.

The Sixth Sunday in Easter

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
The 6th Sunday in Easter
John 15:9-17
13 May 2012

“Mothering Easter”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Abide in my love.   This is the invitation Jesus gives to us this sixth Sunday in Eastertide .  And I don’t think I have to remind anyone here today that, in the U.S., it is Mother’s Day.  What a day for us to hear Jesus offer this invitation.  Abide, rest, dwell, remain...in my love.

I believe Mother’s Day gives us a wonderful perspective on Jesus’ invitation.  When I hear, “abide/dwell/remain in my love,” I think of a mother saying that to her son or daughter but not with words so much as actions.  There is nothing like the nurture of a mother...her entire life is a life of hospitality for her daughter, son, or children.  And her children know that their mother is a place of receptivity, warmth, and safety--an open space where they can be and grow without fear.  Children instinctively know that it is from the bosom of their mother that they will be nurtured to life and grow and flourish in the world into which their mother nursed them.   ...  Mothers, I commend you today, for your selfless love and care for the most vulnerable, for it is a visible expression of the very love of God...in your nurture of children in this world, you give us all a peek into the window of God’s life. Your open arms...your hugs...your wiping away the dirt from the boo boo and kissing it better...your way of snuggling your little ones into your bosom for that bedtime story...the way you comfort at bath-time...your calm confidence and patience when their in adolescence, your wise and loving wisdom and generosity when your little ones find themselves in need as an adult... Thank you for being such a picture of God.

There really is something about motherhood that is so amazing...such a perfect picture of the Trinity’s inner life that is none other than the abiding, resting, dwelling, remaining in love.  Jesus knew this love from before the beginning of time and forever.  Jesus knows what it means to be loved and to love, as the life of God is the loving receptivity of the other and the offering of the self in love to the other always and forever.  As Jesus said, “As the Father as loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”

You know, I believe Jesus not only knew this love in his divinity from God the Father, but also from one that we, sadly, seem to have thrown away with the bathwater...Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Is there any mother more honorable for Christians to celebrate and emulate today?  You want the best definition of a mother -- look no further than Mary.  You want the best definition of a disciple of Jesus Christ -- look no further than Mary.  You want the best example of what it means to be a servant of God?  Look no further than the one who called herself -- “the slave of the Lord” and then validated her words with her actions.  In Mary we see so perfectly what it means to accept the invitation Jesus gives to ‘abide in my love.’  Through Mary Jesus even got to experience what that love was like in his true humanity.

Why is it that we forget about her?  Is it simply because we don’t want to look too much like our Roman Catholic or Orthodox sisters and brothers?  Is it because we know that before the Reformation the church had committed heresy concerning Mary, but we forgot exactly what it was that they did, so therefore, out of fear, we make no room for Mary or any of the saints in our lives?  What is it?  Because to be protestant certainly doesn’t mean to ignore the community of saints...and it certainly doesn’t mean that we somehow ignore what Scripture even says about this beautiful woman of God: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  We certainly are included in the ‘all generations’ when Scripture says “all generations shall call me blessed,” aren’t we?

Consider the story of the angel’s annunciation to Mary in Luke’s Gospel.  Talk about accepting the invitation to abide in God’s love!  Do you remember the first words the angel said to the young virgin named Mary:  “Rejoice favored one! The Lord is with you!”   Mary is favored of the Lord.  The Lord is with her.  When Scripture reveals someone like this, it is time to pay attention...this is one worth honoring for she is one who has found favor with God!  So much favor with God that the Son of God/the Son of the Most High would become the Son of Man through her faithfulness and servanthood.  And this young virgin’s response to being the womb of the new creation -- of the new man -- of the new humanity: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Is there a better picture of discipleship anywhere?

Mary consents.  Mary cooperates.  From the very beginning human beings have been doing anything but consenting and cooperating with God towards the salvation of the world.  But Mary says yes and not only with her words.  She will mother the Son of God into the world making her the Theotokos -- the birth-giver of God, the Mother of God. Because God is receiving flesh from her womb, he will become the Son of Man and will find himself as a real human being...not some super-human.  That is the mystery of Jesus -- he is fully God and fully human at the same time.

In Jesus humanity, he really was a vulnerable baby.  He really did poop his cloth diapers and it really did stink!  and Mary...this young woman favored of God, lovingly changed Jesus’ diapers.  She wiped him, she tickled his tummy while he lie there on the changing table looking up in her eyes.  As she gazed in his eyes she never forgot the angels words, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  In every kiss...in every hug...with every time Jesus fed from Mary’s breast she remembered his purpose and nurtured him toward that end.  Mary would let nothing come between her Son and His growing into his mission to become the king of the ages.  

Do you ever consider the pressure you’d be under as the holy family, Mary and Joseph, to raise not just a boy but this boy?  And they did it!  They never lost perspective.  Mary loved him selflessly...she participated in God’s very life by bearing God’s life into the world and mothering the Good News until the Good News came to full fruition at Easter.  Mary mothered Easter into the world and for this I will always honor her and cherish her above all women and above all human beings.  Mary is my hero...and because she is Jesus’ mother, she is all of our mother. We all have her to look up to...to honor...to listen to ...to deeply love and respect.

I think the text that speaks to me the most concerning the Mother of God is John 19:26-27 where Mary stands by Jesus even in his most difficult time -- hanging from the cross.  She doesn’t try to get him down...she’s that selfless. She knows what God is doing and trusts God the Father more than anything on earth.  She knows who to commend her Son to for the fulfillment of creation and she does.  Mary understands what is happening in the life of Jesus more than anyone else.  Here’s what John says concerning this moment: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’  then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ and from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.’”  In this exchange between Jesus his mother and the beloved disciple, Jesus makes clear that Mary is not only his mother but the mother of all Jesus followers.  He asked us to care for her...to protect her...to honor her.

For those of us who may not have had the most ideal mothers growing up...those of us who didn’t get to peak into the window of God’s love nearly enough, this is good news.  You have a mother...she is the mother of the new humanity, Jesus Christ. If you abide in Him, in His love, she is right there in the center of it, right beside her son...there to mother all who live and abide and remain in Him.  I love that image on the front of your bulletin this morning.  As you gaze into it, you see her love...her protective gaze...nothing will come between her and her Son and his holy mission.  She holds Jesus there...every image of Mary we have she’s with Jesus.  But Jesus represents us all...he is the new humanity and he has placed us all in the arms of the most loving mother who has ever existed and who will ever existed.  Those of us who haven’t experienced mothering as a visible expression of God’s life...Jesus invites us to sit with his mama for a while.

Mary is the mother of Jesus, which means she mothered God into the world.  As we gaze into her life, we are invited to emulate her by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.  In the 3rd century, St. Cyprian once said, “"He cannot have God for his Father who does not have the church for his Mother.”  In other words, God the Father has commissioned the church to be his hands and feet in the world -- the body of Jesus Christ through which God’s people come to salvation.  He choose to cooperate with humanity in asking Mary to be the womb of the new humanity. Now he asks us, the baptized, to be like Mary for the world-- the nurturing mother who mothers Jesus into the world...who mothers the Gospel into the world...who gives birth to the good news of Jesus Christ through our abiding in the love of Jesus Christ.  This is the lasting fruit Jesus talks about in John 15.  As we learn from Mary, we too, mother the good news of Easter into the world so that more and more might know the deep and abiding love of God that nurtures and mothers us into the new creation that will know no end.  Amen.

The Fifth Sunday in Easter

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
5th Sunday in Easter
John 15:1-8
6 May 2012

“The 33A.D. Vintage”

Today as we are being led closer and closer to the table of our Lord, the risen Lord stands among us and says, “I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower.”  What a better time than now to reflect upon the fruit of the vine that becomes for us the saving blood of our Lord Jesus Christ -- the cup of our salvation.

In this country, though it is becoming more and more well known, wine is still highly misunderstood and unfortunately, through prohibition, has even got a bad wrap at times.

But it wasn’t always this way...

When European settlers arrived in the U.S., wine was a huge part of their social and religious life.  So when they arrived and found that a native vine for growing grapes was present in the ‘new world,’ they quickly began to work towards the production of wine.  But there was a problem.  This wine didn’t in any way resembled the European wines for which the early settlers had grown accustomed.  No matter how hard they worked with this vine, the wine was always less than mediocre.

So the settlers came up with a solution.  They decided it would be a good idea to transport cuttings of the European vine here to the ‘new world’ in hope that it would take root and grow and produce fruit that would become that taste of home they had missed so much.

There was so much potential. In Europe the vine demonstrated such great fruitfulness...if this happened here in the new world, life would be good.  But, again, there was a problem.  The European vine was planted, and it began to grow; but the longer it’s roots grew in the soil of a new land, the settlers learned that the poisons of the land were too much for this vulnerable vine.  It did not have the immunities necessary to thrive and produce fruit that would in time become fine wine.

The vine had much potential...but over time it did not have the immunities necessary to overcome the diseases of the land.

In the Old Testament, we hear of another vine, another vineyard, another vine-grower.  The vine / vineyard was Israel.  The vine-grower was God.  As you know, God called the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt to take upon themselves the most special of roles--to be light to the nations.  Israel’s sole objective was fruitfulness.  She was to produce fruit as an offering to God that would in turn be transformed into communion with God and all those who tasted of that fruit in the land in which God was planting his choice vine -- Israel.  Israel was to invite the Gentile world to drink of the wine of her fruitfulness, which would truly satisfy...that would lead the nations back to their Creator.

So Israel, the choice vine of God, was planted in a new land...in new soil.  She established root and began to grow...but there was a problem.  Like that European vine that was planted on American soil and over time was revealed to not have the immunities necessary to overcome the diseases of the Land, so Israel, did not overcome.  She bowed to gods of the land.  She drank of the cup of the fruit of the wrong vines and she settled for less than mediocre wine.  Rather than offering fulfillment to the nations through covenant faithfulness, Israel accepted the world’s cup as if it were the best God had to offer. Instead of living in the land as a unique and holy people whose unique lifestyle would draw others to the source of that community --God’s own life--Israel allowed herself to be grafted into the cultures for which she was supposed to be a change agent!

Hear what God says about Israel, his choice vine, through the prophet Isaiah:
Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!”

So the purpose of God planting his choice vine in the land was for fruitfulness that would lead the nations back to their Creator and eventually to the restoration of a sin-diseased world.  But Israel did not have the immunities necessary to thrive in covenant relationship with God in a land full of the disease of sin.  She became, once again, part of the old vine -- part of the problem rather than God’s solution.

So God says to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah:  “I planted you as a choice vine, from the purest stock. How then did you turn degenerate and become a wild vine?”

The image of Israel as the vineyard and God’s choice vine are prominent in the Old Testament and in the first century world where Jesus lived.  The problem is that whenever we hear of this image in the Old Testament it always coincides with the reality of Israel’s inability to produce fruit that would make a difference for the life of the world.

After some time in the early stages of life in the U.S., a new vine was introduced to the soil of the new world that had the immunities necessary to not become tainted by the diseases of the new world.  This new vine enabled the grapes that the early settlers enjoyed in Europe to, at last, be enjoyed in the the U.S.  The new vine was made known to the public and it was received with enthusiasm.

Hear what Thomas Jefferson said concerning the new vine: "By making this wine vine known to the public, I have rendered my country as great a service as if I had enabled it to pay back the national debt..."   When the vine species from which some of the world's finest wines came to the U.S. and finally thrived, it became more and more well-known.  And knowing this vine was an occasion of great joy as attested to by this quote from Jefferson.

The Gospel of John reveals to us another new vine that fulfills and makes the heart eternally glad.  "I am the true vine.  My Father is the vine grower."  At these words, the first century Jewish audience would’ve experienced a flood of those Scriptural references concerning Israel as the vine that God planted yet who did not produce good fruit.  This is why Jesus qualifies vine with ‘true.’  What Israel could not do...what Israel did not have the immunities to fight, Jesus did and he did victoriously!  God loved the world so much that when the original vine did not flourish, He provided a new vine that proved to have the immunities to fight the sin disease of the land and overcome.  The Vine Grower became the vine...God became flesh and blood--he became one of us -- the fulfillment of Israel, the fulfillment of humanity, in order to graft us into the true vine of his own life where we can now bear fruit by association with Him and not our own attempts to fight diseases for which we do not have the immunities to overcome!  The immunities needed to fight the diseases of this world reside in the sap that flows through the vine that gives us branches life.  This sap is what enables us to every good work we do in response to Grace...we branches only produce fruit because of the life-flow that circulates through us by being one with the Vine and the Vine Grower.  That sap is God’s love that sustained Jesus in His human life, that overcame the sting of death, and that has made you and me a part of the vineyard that produces fruit that becomes life for the world.

And brothers and sisters, this new fruitfulness produced by this true vine is fruit through which the Father is making the best wine of the best vintage known to man.  The vintage is somewhere around 33A.D. and this particular wine of this vintage will never spoil! It will never spoil nor will it ever run out as it is in the divine cellar for eternity.  It appears at every altar in the world where thanksgiving is offered to the Father for the Son who became salvation for us.  The Holy Spirit makes the fruit of the vine that we offer in thanksgiving the fruit of the vine of God’s faithfulness in Jesus Christ and we drink the sap of God’s love that continues to give life and produce eucharistic fruitfulness in and for the sake of God’s world being made new in Jesus Christ.

Thomas Jefferson was ecstatic to make known the new vine created by grafting cuttings of the European vine into the rootstock of the Native American vine, and he should’ve been.  How much more, then, should you and I rejoice in the making known of the TRUE vine to the public through our own abiding & remaining in the vine and thereby producing fruitfulness for which the world can drink and never be thirsty again! Abide in God’s choice vine so that the world will know about this vintage that will never spoil and never run out!
Amen.