Few of us have tended a vine; our only significant exposure to these concepts may be our reading of scripture. What we come to know about vines and branches and vine-dressers we learn as a result of Bible Study. This is one of the reasons why some find the Bible difficult to read - it's cases in point are no longer experiences we share on a daily basis.
The vine is the part of the plant connect to the ground. The vine is the only part of the plant which can pull in the water and the nutrients. Unless the vine does this, the branches are hopeless.
But the vine has no leaves. So, without the branches work of converting the water and nutrients through photosynthesis, the vine would wither and disappear.
Jesus says that he is vine, we are the branches. Think about what he is saying:
- He is the one connected to the source. He is the one through whom we get the stuff we need to live.
- He collects all the water and stuff and then rapidly and readily passes it on - to us. He does not sink his roots into the earth and horde what comes to him - he passes it on.
- We are the ones who do the work of converting the raw materials into the usable form. It is up to us to make the switch between the raw materials and the finished product.
In some religions, the subjects are little more than divine play things. The Divine toys with the subjects and subjects them to all sorts of things. No so with us and our God. Our God relates to us in the way that a vine relates to the branches.
My teacher in seminary liked to use this phrase to describe us - "Created co-creators." We owe our existence to God; God has entrusted to us a place in the continual unfolding of what is being called into existence.
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