Vine and Branches; Pruning and Bearing Fruit

Easter V (April 28, 2024)

“He removes every branch in me that does not bear fruit.”   These words often sound threatening and cause us to ask:  “Am I one of the branches that will be pruned or not?”

Pastor Rob invites us to see this a bit differently.  Rather than be concerned with “Who is in and who is out?” instead we are to ask ourselves “Which me is in and which is out?   Each of us a side of ourselves — truly a version of ourselves — that needs to be pruned.  Yet, each of us has another side — another version — that is bearing fruit.  Our life in Christ, abiding in him, means that we are constantly being pruned, yet also raised up to new life to bear fruit.

Once we embrace ourselves as people who are pruned to bear fruit, we can embrace the humility and charity Christ intends for us.  This humility and charity, as it turns out, is what enables us to live in community; these virtues are also, as it turns out, in short supply right now.  This presents an opportunity and challenge for us at St. Paul.

God Loves You; But It's Not About You!

 Easter IV 2024 (April 14)

Good Shepherd Sunday

The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd powerfully communicates the fundamental truth  “God loves you.”  When push comes to shove, this is the fundamental truth we live by and we want to pass on to the next generation of faith.

However, there is another vital truth – even embedded in Psalm 23 – that we want to pass along too:  It is not about you!  Our lives have an importance to God for the sake of our neighbor and God’s purposes in this world.

A reflection on Baptism, Psalm 23 and how God teaches us these two truths again and again in our lives.

The Glory of the Heavens and the Muddiness of Earth

Easter III (April 14, 2023)

This past week our nation was fascinated and delighted by the eclipse.  It was a reminder of the glory of the heavens, the place where the beauty and complexity of the creation bears witness to the creator.

This past week our nation was heartbroken and afraid of violence and further escalation around the world, particularly in the Middle East.  It was a reminder of the muddiness of life of earth, the place where the tragedy and complexity of human interactions bears witness to the power of sin.

Given this tension, it is easy to see why many develop a theology in which Jesus comes to lead an escape mission, to get us out of earth.  But as the story of the risen Jesus shows (Luke 24:36-48), Jesus isn’t interested in giving up on earth; he offers his disciples no packing list for their trip to heaven.  Jesus is not intending to an escape mission, but a reclamation one, as he wins back earth for God’s purposes.  For you see, the fundamental constant of the universe isn’t the speed of light or the gravitation constant, but the faithfulness of God’s love.

This is true in our lives: God is faithful not just to creation, but to you as well. Therefore, we are to expect to see repentance and forgiveness into our lives.  And…therefore…our job then is to share — much like we shared photos of the pictures of the eclipse — the stories of God’s faithfulness in our lives and in this world.

For more photos of the eclipse from space, you can check out NASA’s website.