Reading
for Easter 6A: John 15:1-8
May 5, 2002
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
During the 1980’s, I was privileged to have had “Ed” as a friend. Ed was born and raised in Nashville TN. He was a very polite gentleman and an excellent interior decorator. Whenever he would meet someone new, he would introduce himself as “Edward Glenn Walker the III, son of Judge Walker of Nashville.” He believed that being the son of Judge Walker gave him more status in society such that he would be more respected in the community. However, when Ed moved out to California, being the son of Judge Walker, didn’t make any impression on his new friends. Ed soon returned to Nashville after having been in California for only 8 months. His identity and his “felt” sense of security was grounded in his relationship to his family and his familiarity with his birth place.
There are many people who find their identity only within family lines. Unfortunately, when confronted with great conflict within the family, they often have an identity crises. There are many others who “root” their identity in their place and position of employment. For instance, when introducing themselves, many will detail their years of work at a particular company or companies, their advancement through the ranks, and perhaps even their salary. It is particularly devastating to these folks when their work place becomes tenuous or their employment is terminated.
But how many of us (when we introduce ourselves to a new friend) ever say: “I am a Christian. I was baptized in 1981 and stood before the bishop in 1999 to make an adult acclamation of faith. I am a disciple who is committed to living a life of compassion, peace, and justice, and I give thanks each morning to God in whom I live and move and have my being. For God alone, my soul in silence waits!”
Today’s gospel reminds us of our true identity which is the source of abundant life. In today’s reading from the gospel according to St. John, Jesus is at table with his disciples. It is the time of the last supper and Jesus has already washed the feet of his disciples. A long theological discourse follows. Jesus tells his disciples that they must first and foremost conceptualize their identity as being grounded in God (not family, not workplace, not individual achievements). To communicate this sense of being grounded in God, he uses an agricultural metaphor that is quite relevant to us Californians living near the wine country. He says: I am the vine, you are the branches, and God is the vinegrower. Those who find their identity through me will bear much fruit. Without me (meaning without my spirit, my teachings, and the way of compassionate living), you will screw yourself up as well as the rest of the world. Those who cut themselves off from me and from the power of God which gives life, will end up withering away just like a branch withers when it is cut off from the vine.
It is the grapevine whose roots sink into the ground, extracting water and necessary nutrients that allows for the grapes to grow. If anything happens to the roots, there are no grapes, no wine. The same goes for us. When we cut ourselves off from our spiritual roots, we no longer experience true abundant life. We become self-absorbed, always seeking to fill that void.
Well I could go on with this metaphor using flowery imagery for another ten minutes but I don’t think it would convert anyone. So I would like to spend the remainder of the time exploring one of the main issues that uproots us from being grounded in God. That issue is “craving.” Craving is wanting more than what we have been given. Craving is wanting longer life under the best and more pleasant circumstances. Craving causes discontent because it prevents us from ever being satisfied with what we do have. This craving causes us to turn our gaze from God and search elsewhere to satisfy the craving. And in that search, we compromise, we strive, we connive, we thirst for, we fight for, that which is out there, never being quite satisfied when we get it.
In the beginning chapters of our Bible, there is a powerful story which unveils the destructive nature of craving. Adam and Eve are living in a garden where food, warmth, security, creation, and love are abundant. It is an absolute paradise. They are “one” with God. But instead of being satisfied with their lives in this paradise, they begin to crave for the one thing they are forbidden to have which is the fruit from the tree of knowledge. They put their lives and well being at risk in order to have what they are not given. When they finally give in to this craving, they end up suffering shame and humiliation. Paradise escapes them. This story discloses the depth of our desiring more than we have, even at the risk of shame, humiliation, and alienation. It is a story that we play over and over again.
“Like an addict who needs an ever higher dose of medicine to maintain its effect, craving for the new, the better, the bigger, the faster can become an obsession. The advertising industry takes advantage of our tendency to crave. Remember when the big event of the fall was the unveiling of the new cars with the expectation that one should trade one’s car in for the latest model every two years? Similarly, the semiannual fashion show hopes to keep women throwing out their clothing on a regular basis. Now our computers grow old in six months. As a culture, we have lost the notion that bottomless craving is a problem. We do not see it as an obsession yet it spells the end of satisfaction, the end of enjoyment. Eating disorders are an example of the loss of the ability to be satisfied with the simplest pleasure of life. Sexual promiscuity, the search for the perfect lover, is another example of the inability to be satisfied.”*
Modern medicine and technology intentionally cultivate craving and thus discontent by having us believe that we can totally control our destiny and eradicate all trouble from the human race. It has convinced us that it may be possible to live forever. So we try to prolong life artificially, spending thousands to millions of dollars to extend one’s old age for one more year. We’re hoping that genetic manipulation and cloning will one day give us the ultimate victory.
The Christian tradition has always held God to be our greatest source of enjoyment. If we have forgotten this, we are worse of because our lapse in memory. St. Augustine’s vision of human destiny is enjoyment of God. That is why we were created. “For God alone, my soul in silence waits. From God comes my salvation.” If we can no longer see God as the surest place to rest, because we are distracted by craving the fruits of our own hands, we may bring upon ourselves the curse of chronic dissatisfaction.* Perhaps the current epidemic of depression in society points to this state of chronic dissatisfaction.
When craving ends, abundant life begins. By staying attached to the Vine, this becomes possible. Today’s gospel is calling us back to our spiritual roots. For only in God can we find true happiness and experience abundant life.
* Theology Today, April 2002
| Updated 5/5/02 |
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