“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as
the branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, neither can you
unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)
It’s been all about connection these last thirteen months, hasn’t it? How do we stay hooked up when we’re told to keep our distance, when we cover our faces with masks, when our churches and schools and neighborhood watering holes have been shut down?
Let’s hope that vaccinations and good pandemic practices will bear some fruit soon, because—believe me, I know—we’re all pretty tired of this situation. I think one of our most basic human desires is to be connected, to abide with one another in some way, to be part of the larger whole. Even the snarkiest of introverts wants to have a good conversation at some time, right?[i] All of us want to find some kind of Crazy Glue to stick us to other people—be it through blood ties, similar interests, religious beliefs, politics, or whatever. We humans are always finding a way to stretch the definition of family and create unique and cozy little clans. It’s what we do.
It really sucks when those pods in which we find so much comfort are split apart. Fortunately, we’ve had the internet to help us slog through this drizzly, depressing COVID morass. When folks can’t come to church, Facebook Live has enabled us to bring church to them. Imagine how delighted your pastor is to see that a bunch of members I only expect to see at Christmas and Easter are now watching church at home online in their pajamas![ii] This phenomena is not unique to our congregation. At last week’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly, Bishop Pat rejoiced that churches all over the five county region are suddenly reconnecting with long-lost Gen-Xers and Millennials whose butts, for whatever reasons, would not normally find repose on our church pews.
What’s even cooler is that we’ve been able to keep connected with distant friends. Those who prayed and sang with us every week but now live in different parts of the country are still tethered to this worshiping family via the internet. We now have it within our power to branch out across the miles.
I don’t know what church is going to look like in America in the next few years, but I am optimistic that American Christianity will not shrivel up into a pathetic, decaying demise as long as we have the ability to stay connected. We now have the means to overcome Sunday youth sports, gig economy schedules, the burdensome cost of maintaining physical buildings, and changing local demographics. Technology has granted us the ability to transcend time and distance. The only questions are: Do we have the desire to connect? And do we desire to connect with Christ?
In this Sunday’s Gospel (John 15: 1-8) Jesus reminds us that apart from God we can do nothing. One of the biggest lies our culture and our sinful nature love to tell us is that we are self-sufficient. We just love to flatter ourselves that we don’t really need connection. We love to think we’re so friggin’ special we don’t require something as quaint as the church to connect us to the Eternal. Once we get that notion into our heads, the con game of our own merit and ability, we cut the wire which connects us to the source of power. We soon neglect fellowship with others, prayer, and knowledge of Scripture—all the things which energize our spirits.
One of the dumbest things we can do is cut ourselves off from the Vine. I’m not just saying this as a self-serving preacher trying to salvage an anachronistic institution. Lonely people die faster. Martin Luther believed that isolation was the place where the devil attacks. When we get the idea it’s all about us, that we’re self-made and independent, it will be easy for us to dismiss our fellow creatures. We’ll curl into ourselves and say, “I’ve got mine. If you can’t get yours then it’s too bad for you.” I think a lot of bad public policy in this country comes out of selling people the snake oil that says “You’ve got the right to be free and independent. No one should tell you what to do. You’ve earned everything you’ve got, and you don’t need to share it with anyone.”
But the truth is, we’ve never really “earned” anything. Everything is a gift from our gracious God. Jesus came to teach us about loving one another, about the first willing to become the last, and about seeking the lost and the lonely. Jesus came that we might be one—that we might not only feel but celebrate our interconnectedness. That means staying connected, and branching out, too. Praise God that our technological world has given us the tools to fulfil what we’ve been taught by Christ.
Of course, I should end this essay by noting that there are some branches which do, from time to time, get cut off. Some connections can be harmful for us, and some connections are intended to be temporary. In the First lesson for Easter 5, we see that great story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The Holy Spirit sends Philip to the Ethiopian, and just as quickly snatches him away again to branch out somewhere else. God puts people in our lives for different reasons and different seasons. Nevertheless, if we are connected to Christ, we are always connected to our family—near or far, on earth or in heaven. And that’s nice to know.
[i] I mean, what good is it being aloof
and judgmental if you can’t tell somebody about it?
[ii]
By the way, you pajama-clad worshipers, you can make your offering online, too.
Just go to www.faithlutheranphiladelphia.org
and click the “Give” button on the toolbar.
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