What is a job that you’ve thought may be fun to do sometime?
It may be a zookeeper, scooping ice cream at a local shop during the summers, or using your Gettysburg history knowledge as a Battlefield Tour Guide.
Four years ago, in April of 2020, I found my “fun” job was desperate to find something to occupy my time after two months in COVID lockdown. I was finished with college courses, and I admittedly, was going a little stir crazy. So one afternoon, I thought about the most recent “that might be fun” job (working at a winery) and while looking online for a part time job to get me out of the house for a bit, I saw an opening for a retail assistant at a local winery. It was perfect. I applied, and was hired that May.
And I loved it just as much as I thought I would.
I worked at the Winery at Hunter’s Valley in Liverpool, right off of 11/15. . The winery and the vineyards looked over the Susquehanna River, and the view was beautiful. Photos don’t do it justice. I loved working there. I loved the people I worked with, I had fun learning about wine, attending festivals, welcoming wine tasters, and learning about the process of making wine from vine to grape to glass from our owner, Jamie.
Most of my day was spent in the winery leading tastings, but sometimes, I got to be out in the vineyard, where I often helped with vine maintenance or grape harvesting. I loved being in the vineyard with the grapes in the quiet, early morning. It was a time of quiet, of peacefulness, and reflection. Those of you who tend gardens in the early mornings can relate, I’m sure.
So it makes sense that when I read this week’s Gospel lesson, I was pretty excited – because I got to talk about vineyards, grapes, and wine.
Here, we hear the words of Jesus in the middle of what is known as his farewell discourse, found in John chapters 14-17. Today’s lesson takes place directly after Jesus has washed the disciples feet, and Jesus is telling the disciples about the promise of the Holy Spirit and the plan that the Father has for his life.
Jesus tells his disciples that he is the vine and his father is the vine grower, who prunes the fruit. He urges the disciples to abide in him to bear fruit. He warns that those who do not abide in him wither and die, and that we should be good disciples and bear fruit for Him.
The grapevine is just one of many plants featured in the Bible, and is found throughout the Old Testament, most closely associated with the people of Israel as found in Psalm 80 as A vine brought out of the land of Egypt. Today, Jesus reflects on this tradition, speaking to his friends, vines and descendants of Moses as he discusses the importance of the vineyard in John.
And unlike others plants mentioned in the bible, from brambles to flax to the mustard seed – grapevines are a little different because they need a fair amount of tending to. From planting to growing to pruning and soil testing and harvesting, growing grapes takes time, patience, and dedication.
When I was working at the winery, we would prune the vineyard every Spring. Grape vines take an average of three years to mature and produce the big clumps of grapes that we picture when we think of grape vines, and the process for pruning each of those years is slightly different.
Photo c/o WSU Extension
Generally, we would take the branches that are below the horizontal trellis and trim them so the vines would grow out, instead of down. Pruning is a tedious process, and takes a fair amount of time. But it’s important- grape vines that are not pruned do not produce much fruit. Not pruning your vines leads to more plant cover too many buds on the vine, and less accessibility to sunlight for the growing plants. Both factors together equals less overall fruit.
If that’s too much agricultural jargon for you this morning, just know these things:
- Pruning is a process.
- Plants that are pruned have more access to sunlight.
- Pruning removes buds that can cause overcrowding for the plant.
So what does all this mean for us? Pruning sounds like a good thing when it is applied to grape vines. It’s nice to think of Jesus as the vine and us as the branches in a metaphorical sense. But if we’re being honest, how many of us are okay with being pruned? I’m not sure about you, but it doesn’t seem too much fun. And quite frankly, it’s so much easier to focus on ways that others need to be pruned than for us to consider how we can be trimmed in order to bear more fruit, to let in the Sun a little more.
Today’s Gospel lesson reminds us that pruning is essential for growth. Oftentimes, it’s not an easy process. It takes time. It’s not as simple as looking at a vine and seeing what portions of the plant are growing away from the trellis. It takes perspective, time, and a lot of trust. When you are pruning, you don’t want to just cut vines without just cause. You have to take time, look at each vine, and consider if it is growing how and where you want it to grow.
But it gets a little different when that action of pruning is applied to our lives and livelihoods. Because, we don’t want to prune or be pruned – in our lives or as a community.
Because so many of us are so filled with vines in our lives. Our jobs, errands, taking care of parents or small children, running kids to various events, cleaning the house, doing laundry, exercising- and trying to maintain an active spiritual life. It’s impossible to produce good fruit when you have too many vines. So what do you do? What do you prune?
Jesus tells us today that we are called to recognize pruning as a constant spiritual practice, done not by ourselves, but with God’s help, to grant access to more “son-light”, and to remove the things in our lives that are causing us to be emotionally or spiritually overcrowded.
So what can we prune?
Can we prune our desire to always be right, or our egos to always be noticed? Can we prune our prejudices against those whose stories we do not know?
Do we prune back nights spent in community or sports events so we can have dinner and share our bounty with our children a few nights during the school week?
Do we limit weekend activities to two a month so we can come to church with our children more often?
And are we translating that idea of pruning not only to ourselves but our church as well?
What can we prune, together, in community with each other, to grant others more access to ‘Son’-light?
Do we take a good look in our church at all the vines we grow – the events, the committee meetings, the dinners-all the vines-and think about if they are actively producing good fruit, or if they are a little overcrowded?
Do we know where and what our “trellis” is here at St, James- a place where we are forgiven & invited to live and love like Jesus – and prune the metaphorical vines that are no longer in the sight of that trellis?
And do we have the courage to acknowledge that some vines are not growing, and encourage alternate vines to grow in their place?
Pruning isn’t easy. And I’m not telling us that we need to prune back all we are or all we do. Because we do great things in this place. But what can we prune to redirect our vines to grow towards Christ and authentic love for each other?
May God Grant us the patience, the perspective, and the trust to grow vines that let the Son in and produce fruit that are bountiful, loving, and just.
Amen.
Sermons at St. James Gettysburg 