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Fall is upon us, and if we stay within the season based upon the weather we are experiencing, most of us are enjoying the cooler weather, the fall festivals and fairs, and the general bounty of the harvest season. We are seeing the plethora of zucchini baked goods produced from the garden's abundance, pumpkin patches blazing with orange, and grape vines full of grape bunches waiting to be turned into jelly, jam, or wine. The plenty provided comes from the love and attention of the gardeners or farmers to their soil and plants. God provides the sun and rain in, we hope, the right measure to further the strength of the plant and its ability to produce.
In John 15:5, we hear Jesus remind us that God provides for us in much the same way: "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" (NRSV). When we are grounded in God, we have the ability to do so much more than we can on our own. But what does it mean to be grounded in God? For me, it has become the understanding that everything I have, the experiences I have been through both good and bad, and the spirit I have are all blessings from God in one way or another. When I lived my life believing in God but not really abiding in God and Jesus, I got by and did okay, but I can't really say that I was thriving. It may have looked like that to other people, but when I look back, I can see that I really wasn't. I was mostly focused on just moving forward and not really sure what that looked like.
I believe that when we are not grounded in our faith, we have more of a tendency to worry about our daily life. Abiding in Jesus, to me, means not just moving forward with God but letting go of the worry. When we quit focusing on the worry, we are able to be more fruitful in the things we do.
And if you think about the vine and bearing fruit in terms of a grape vine, that fruit is born in bunches. We live more in community and accomplish more together as a body of Christ than we ever could on our own. Abiding with Jesus strengthens us as individuals to share our God-given gifts and talents with others for the well-being of others. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity that are grounded in Jesus bear much fruit when the individuals also grounded in Jesus work together to help someone have housing. Think of the other social organizations you know that are really groups of individuals who are abiding in Jesus and come together to help others. Many of our church communities have amazing outreach ministries that bear much fruit because they are not just worshiping God but living out their discipleship and living into the promise of bearing much fruit through their abiding in Christ.
May the gift of God's love surround you and give you strength as you abide in Jesus. And through your abiding, may the fruit you bear be a blessing not only to yourself but others.
Rev. Carol Johnson, Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1101 Washington Blvd, Williamsport, and Saint Michael's Lutheran Church, 1877 Saint Michael's Road, Cogan Station