John 15:1-8
Easter 5 / Year B.
My Praise is of God in the great assembly; I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him. (Psalm 22:24)
What a wonderful
verse from the Psalter for us to read on this morning when the doors of St.
Paul’s finally are open for public worship.
Once again we can to praise God in the presence of those who worship God
in this space we love! Hallelujah!
This morning we
hear Jesus say, “I am the vine and my Father is the vinegrower... Every branch that bears fruit is pruned so
that it can bear more fruit.” The last
fourteen months have been a period of pruning, haven’t they. Much of what we think of as fruitfulness has
been cut off… in our lives, in our community, in our occupations, and here in our
church – the worship services, the Christian formation activities, the
opportunities for fellowship, the ministries we offer to the community. We have been pruned indeed. And yet, as Jesus says, we have figured out
how to abide in him and remain connected to one another. Although physically separated, God has
granted us a spiritual path to maintain our sense of community. Challenged? Yes.
Blessed? Beyond measure!
And now the doors
are open. I like to say “the doors are
open” because it sums up what is different today from last Sunday. We made an intentional decision not to make
too many changes prior to reopening.
Some churches are forming committees to plan their ‘reopening.’ These groups meet over and over and over
again trying to nail down every detail and iron out every wrinkle before
regathering. There is a reason why Moses
didn’t form an Exodus Committee to figure out all the things that needed to happen
prior to leaving Egypt. His lean instructions
were these: “Grab what you can and let’s go.
The rest we will figured out on the way.” And we will too.
As I reflect on the
last fourteen months, I realize we at St. Paul’s have established a pretty good
track record of rising to challenges and seizing opportunities and I fully
expect this to continue as we move forward.
We will figure it out as we go, facing every problem not as a reason to
assign blame, but as an opportunity for innovating. Like the pruned vine we now are, we will grow
in the new and unexpected ways. We will
be fruitful once again, but perhaps not in some of the ways as before.
In my sermon on
Easter Sunday I mused on the difference between resuscitation and resurrection. Resuscitation occurs when one person
literally takes the life in him or her and forces it into another who is
lifeless. Resurrection is entirely God’s
doing and we are the beneficiaries. I am
mindful of this distinction as we open the doors to St. Paul’s. Regathering Committees, what with all their
planning, are working at resuscitation, and many are finding it is a lot of
work indeed. My thinking is let’s just
open the doors and see what happens!
Let’s see what God is going to do and then we’ll respond to it. This, I hope, is a resurrection mindset.
So, one phrase I am
using is “The Doors are Open.” Here is
another: “God is leading us into our future.”
It reminds me who is in charge – God.
It reminds me of what God is doing – leading us. And it reminds me where we are going – into
our future. Because God is leading us,
we do not initiate activity, but rather respond to opportunity. And because God is leading us into our
future, our focus is on what will be, not what once was. Much of what we did before we will do again,
but not everything. And some of what we
did before will happen in a new and different way. And… things we never dreamed of before all
the pruning we have been through will suddenly become a part of who we are. Standing here before you this morning, I
can’t tell you specifically what this will look like, only that we have established
a pretty good track record of meeting challenges and seizing
opportunities.
The first step in
all of this is opening the doors and inviting you in. Let’s enjoy this moment, shall we. Let’s get acclimated to being back
together. Let’s remember what it is like
to stand and to kneel and to say out loud, “And also with you.”
Somewhere in our
future there will be singing. Somewhere in
our future there will be the Passing of the Peace. Somewhere in our future there will be a pile
of children pulling on the bell rope at the end of the service. Somewhere in our future there will be coffee
and cookies after church.
But for now, isn’t
it wonderful just to be back in our beautiful worship space, to hear the organ,
to be bathed in the light of our stained glass windows, to receive communion in
both kinds (albeit in a new way) and to see one another. Isn’t it wonderful to have the doors open
once again and to praise God in the midst of the great assembly!
