If I started talking about vines, what image would you have in your mind? Perhaps you are a Tarzan fan and the word vine makes you think of Tarzan swinging
on vines in the jungle making that special call of his? Or maybe vines, makes
you picture some weeding you need to do as you think of the vines that are crawling up our house and getting in to the pipes. On the other hand, maybe vines makes you think of plants that grow on vines, like
grapes and zucchini and pumpkins, and the more you think about pumpkins the more ready you are for fall to begin. Perhaps the image you have in your mind when you hear the word vine is the that of Jesus saying I am the
vine and you are the branches apart from me you can do nothing. Well today, I
am talking about all of those, for vines are at the center of this text and within this text, they represent all of those
images that might be going through your minds right now.
Our scripture begins by talking about how fruitful the vine has been. For the people who are singing this Psalm, they are beginning with recognizing that
God had been so wonderful to them. That God had brought them out of Egypt and
had granted them deep roots and flowing water, shade to rest in and everything else a vine would need to grow. They began this lament with praise, thank you God for what you did, but they ended it with ummmm, hello
did you forget about us? For their vine had begun to die, it was no longer receiving
the nutrients it needed, the people no longer felt that God was looking out for them.
They ask why it has been torn down, why it no longer grows. For the people
the vine was their life line.
Who would have thought a vine could be so important? Well what is a vine? For this answer I went to the internet,
it is always a treat to see how many definitions you can get from a word, my site of choice is dictionary.com because it links
to old and new dictionaries so you get an over reaching answer, which was definitely the case here. The majority of definitions I found talked about a vine being “a weak-stemmed
plant that derives its support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface. (American Heritage Dictionary) This tells us a lot about vines. It tells us that vines are
weak stemmed, which I am sure is a crucial element to why they are used to discus many biblical ideas, and we also heard that
vines get support from other things, so it needs to climb and twine in order to gain strength, also a good indication of what
is to come.
However, in my online search I found another definition,
which is a little more direct to our point here. This one came from an 1897 edition
of the Easton Bible Dictionary, which was a part of my dictionary.com search. Here
we learn about the history of the vine in the Bible itself, “The vine is one of the most important products of Palestine. The first mention of it is in the history
of Noah (Gen. 9:20). It is afterwards frequently noticed both in the Old and New Testaments, and in the ruins of terraced
vineyards there are evidences that it was extensively cultivated by the Jews. It was cultivated in Palestine before the Israelites
took possession of it. The men sent out by Moses brought with them from the Valley of Eshcol a cluster of grapes so
large that "they bare it between two upon a staff" (Num. 13: 23). The vineyards were celebrated. The Church is
compared to a vine (Ps. 80:8), and Christ says of himself, "I am the vine" (John 15:1). In one of his parables also (Matt.
21:33) our Lord compares his Church to a vineyard which "a certain householder planted, and hedged round about." So from Noah to Moses and from Jesus to the church, the vine is present.
As we can see, the vine has been an important part of our scriptures,
but why? In the case of our scripture today, the vine represents a what is but
what isn’t anymore kind of scenario. The people are calling out to God
because they had experienced such great wealth and prosperity for so long, but now they are without that same security. Many might say that this psalm was written during the people’s exile and that
they are using the vine image as a way to say that they want things to go back to the way they were. They had used the vine image in a way to say that they were well planted and established there, that their
vine had grown throughout town. Much like an ivy vine that isn’t pruned
back can climb one’s house, the people were wrapped around where they were and the fact that they are now in a foreign
land trying to establish themselves was not feeling easy. In other words, God
asked them to do something that they didn’t want to do.
But I am sure that doesn’t happen anymore…does it? Are we sometimes asked to do things we don’t want to do? This
text is linking the people of the day to the vine by saying that they didn’t want to be where they were and because
vines have weak stems they need more support they need God to be more present, but it seemed to them that God was more distant. How often does it feel that way though, that when God wants us to do something we
don’t want to do, doesn’t God usually sound a little quiet? I wonder
though, how much of that is our putting a wall in between us and God, instead of God being quiet. Perhaps the more we try and convince ourselves that what God wants us to do isn’t the best thing
for us, we push God away in hopes that this plan of God’s won’t work?
So what we have so far is that both the people who were singing this Psalm
and ourselves can be compared to the image on the vine when it comes to following God’s plan for our lives when we disagree. But what about some of the other images of the vine?
How about the idea that the vine sometimes needs to be pruned? Right in
the middle of our scripture today, the people are asking why God is allowing their vine to be plucked and torn down, why has
gone chosen to make their vine weaker. I think the answer to this question is
that the people were again devastated by the idea that they were no longer in their homes where things were just the way they
wanted. These people were not happy with where they are, they didn’t understand
that sometimes when caring for a vine parts of it needs to be removed in order for the vine to fully flourish.
But how easy of a concept is that for us to understand? How excited do we get when it comes time for change? It doesn’t
matter how long we have been preparing for it, it isn’t what we want. It
is a human condition to not want things to change, for everything to remain just the way it is because it is safe, familiar,
easier. But those of you who garden know, that sometimes change is necessary,
sometimes a vine must be ripped out so that the another might flourish, or perhaps an example of an ivy plant might help. If you have ever grown ivy you might have noticed that sometimes some of the branches
begin to die, and if they aren’t removed right away, sometimes new growth begins on the end of the dying line. How that happens I do not know, I just know it does.
So what do you do, you have a branches of the vine that is growing but the middle of it is dead never to grow leaves
again. In order for the new growth to stand a chance, the entire section needs
to be removed, and the section with new growth needs to be replanted, thus giving it a chance to grow.
Coming the long way round, the people are asking God why. Why must they go through this? They were so happy before,
again this idea of not wanting to do what God wants us to do is starring us in the face.
We have seen how through the image of the vine the people did not trust that God would deliver them from the hardships
they were facing, that God had turned away from them never to look upon them again.
We have also seen how the people didn’t want to change in the ways they were being asked to do so. They did not want to have to change because they liked things the way they were. How stubborn we can be. It is so easy to think we know what
is best for us. I think of our little ones, our children who think they are ready
to do what their older siblings are doing, thinking they are ready for all the decisions that come with being an adult, while
we the adults sit there and say if only they knew, if only they understood. I
wonder if God is thinking that very same thing. If only they understood that
this change was good for them, that yes it might be hard now, I would never bring them from good and leave them in bad. God wants us to flourish. God wants us
to have new growth and for our vines to flower. But we are standing in the way.
The last image of vine I want to leave you with today is that which Jesus
speaks of in John 15, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He
removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear you more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to abide in me as I
abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide
in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide
in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
The imagery of John completes some of the ideas that the Psalmist began. Jesus tells us that we are the fruit of the vine and that he is the vine. What does it mean for us to be fruit? We know the vine carries
the nutrients that the fruit needs, it is through the vine that the fruit is fed and is able to use the sunlight. The vine is responsible for getting the foundation and the strength to carry the fruit. So when the Psalmist compares themselves to the vine they are in fact missing the center of the point,
they had not gotten far enough away from their anger and disappointed to see that truly God was providing everything that
they needed for life. For God is the giver of life, it is through the vine that
we are able to live.
Perhaps an example that more might be able to grasp, just as a woman during
pregnancy delivers food and nutrients to the child growing within, the vine delivers the nutrients to the fruit, so that it
might also be able to grow and become fruit. It is this same delicate process
that God uses to help us to be fed, on not only food and things we need for survival, but also how we learn scripture, through
the intercession of the Holy Spirit, and how we learn to care for our neighbors through the understanding of scripture.
So although the image of the vine has changed from beginning to end, we
started with the idea that we were the vine, being grown and changed, and we have discovered that we are also the fruit being
fed by the vine. And to truly live in this example, we must not forget the other
part of John where it talks of pruning, for just as the ivy plant that sometimes needs to be clipped and re-planted, there
are times when we are in need of pruning and replanting. And I believe those
are the lessons we can learn from the Psalmist, that our lack of trust, and our arrogance to think we know better than God,
and our desire to stand on our own with the help of the vine. These are the examples
of things that need to be clipped from us, and replanted in an attitude of love, that we may abide in the father and produce
great fruit.
So from beginning to end, we began with the Psalm and the people first
thanking God for taking such good care of them and then to the realization that perhaps the people weren’t wanting to
trust God and follow the path that they were being lead down. We saw how the
vine has to twist and turn in order to support itself and we saw how the vine takes care of all of the needs of the fruit
which grows upon it. We end today with the love that Jesus showed through his
words, I am the vine and you are the branches, a part from me you can do nothing.”
Let us keep those words on our hearts so that we remember that God does provide for all of our needs, and that it is
when we are attached to the vine that we are able to enjoy the nutrients and love that the vine ensures we have.
