WE DEPEND ON JESUS AND OTHERS

WE DEPEND ON JESUS AND OTHERS

Jn. 15:1-8

Most of us like to be independent.  Teenagers are eager to take charge of their lives, several years before they have the necessary wisdom!  As adults growing old, we dread the day we might lose our independence.

What we must realise is that, in fact, we are never totally independent.  Our navel reminds us that we are not self-made individuals!  Our very life was the gift of our mother and father. We were once physically attached to our mothers, utterly dependent on her for our blood supply, food and protection.  Even when the umbilical cord was cut, we had to be fed, washed, clothed and carried.  A little thought will show how dependant we are, throughout our lives, on many people.

In today’s Gospel Jesus said, “I am the vine. You are the branches.  Whoever remains in Me, with Me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from Me you can do nothing.”  In other words, you and I are like branches on a grapevine.  Our lives are not self-contained.  They depend on a source beyond ourselves.   As long as we are connected to that source, we live.  The moment we are disconnected, we die.

That is certainly true in a physical sense.  The energy we need to live comes from air, light, food and water.  Cut off from these we would be dead in moments.  Jesus, however, was not talking about physical life. His primary concern was our spiritual wellbeing for which, again, we are dependent for its quality on something that comes from beyond ourselves.

God's power sustains us, even if we are not aware of His presence.  Just as food renews our strength, even when asleep, so Christ gives us help, even when we are not thinking of Him.  There are times in the past when we could have sinned and made some really stupid mistakes, but something held us back.  Deep inside there was a persistent voice telling us to do the right thing.  Where was Christ at that moment?  Was He back there in history or up in Heaven?  No!  He was telling us to do what was right.  Today Jesus is telling us that He lives in us and we can live in Him.  He is the Vine and we are the branches.

There is even more to be learnt from this truth.  The branches of a grapevine are not individual and isolated - they are all intertwined.  They grow together and draw their life from the vine and from each other.  So, it is with you and me.  In the same sense that we are dependent on Christ, we are also dependent on each other.  I need you, and you need me.  When my faith in the invisible Christ is weak, let me fall back on you.  I can see you, hear you and touch you.  Sometimes my faith needs that kind of support.

A little girl once said, 'I know God loves me, but I want someone with skin to love me too.'  Jesus Himself felt like that when, that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, He begged Peter, James and John to stand by Him.  He knew His Father was with Him, of course, but He wanted someone with skin to care about Him too.  That is what friends are … love with a skin!

I am sure that there is someone reading this today who is feeling alone.  That is a very human experience.  But remember that you are never alone - God is with you.

Lord Jesus, Your presence sometimes can be hard to perceive.  That is why we need other people to play their part, as the branches of the grapevine intertwined with us.  Help us to recognise our dependence on You Who will enable us to find someone on whom we can rely.

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