I may have said this a time or two before, the most challenging thing we can resolve to do in our lives is to follow Christ, for the way of Christ is contrary to the ways of the world. The way of Christ is contrary to our self-centered impulses. The way of Christ is contrary to any reality that places us in total control and makes others a casualty on our path to victory. Following Christ requires a Spirit-empowered inner transformation that leads us to a real understanding that full life is only possible when we make our home in Him—as he does in us. You see, Jesus is not speaking to those who aspire to follow him, but directing his words to those who had already said “yes” to the journey. He is speaking to those who had already committed to the path—those who had already left behind much of what they knew. To them, he says, “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.”[1] What are we producing?

Despite my love and appreciation for nature, gardening is not a skill set that I have yet picked up. But our community of faith is blessed with dozens of individuals who love, appreciate, and know what it takes to cultivate the soil and produce good fruit. If you have never been down to the Connell Garden, I highly recommend a visit. This year, our sunrise easter worship happened in the garden and I am deeply thankful for all the hands who tend and care for that sacred space. Though I have not yet placed my hands in the dirt with our garden team, over the past two years it has been a joy to see (and consume) the fruits of their labor. And through casual conversation and observation, I have noticed that the garden goes through cycles, and while things may be most noticeable when flowers are in bloom and the vines heavy, this year I paid attention to the work that happens when it seems nothing is going on. I noticed those who spend hours pulling weeds. Those who till the soil. The tarps designed to maximize nutrients. The clearing of what is old so something new can emerge. For those of us, whose relationship with produce is mediated by Walmart, Aldi, Publix, Kroger, or other stores we just don’t see the bulk of the work. We simply receive a finished product. But Jesus, in his words to the disciples makes it clear that our relationship to him must be different. As branches attached to the “True Vine” we are called to produce.

What are we producing? This is an important question we people of faith must ask ourselves from time to time. For if we are branches of the True Vine the fruits of our living must be a reflection of the Vine itself. If we are connected to Jesus, the True Vine, what are we producing? John the Baptist, speaking with the Pharisees and Sadducees in the gospels of Matthew and Luke—besides calling them “brood of vipers” which is a really beautiful insult you can keep tucked in your pocket (I am kidding)—tells them “Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives.”[2] Friends, it is not enough to talk about it, we must live the reality in our lives and show it to the world. We must produce fruit in keeping with the True Vine and so the world may see an alternative reality to the chaos that is so present everywhere we look.

Rufus Jones, who was one of the most influential Quakers of the 20th century, reminds us that “the primary function of a church, if it is to be the continuing body of Christ in the world, is to raise human life out of its secular drift and to give reality to the eternal here in the midst of time.”[3] There is a reality beyond the pain and suffering we see in the world. A reality of peace, joy, hope, love, and goodness which we can experience by faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit. A few months ago I quoted the great poet James Baldwin who said, “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, a