Thought for the Day - The True Vine

Vines and Olive Trees, Tarragona, Joan Miró, 1919

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 21st May 2025 based on the text of John 15.1-8.

Abide is not a word we say very often. The last time I remember doing so was singing that great hymn ‘Abide with me’ at a funeral.

There’s certainly a sense of farewell - of departure - around the words of today’s gospel reading, the last of Jesus’ seven “I am” sayings; a passage which forms part of an extended speech on the night before his crucifixion.

Earlier, Jesus has offered the comforting assurance that, at the last, he is going to prepare a place for each of us, in his Father’s house, where we can abide with Him in eternal life. 

But now also, in the present, Jesus calls his disciples to abide. Not reluctantly, as if upholding the terms of some negotiated settlement - ‘abiding’ by the rules - but as something to embrace eagerly – hungrily - abiding as the fruitful branches of the true vine - the essence of Christian life itself. 

In Jesus’ parable, it’s not the growth of the vine that is important; in fact growth is hardly mentioned at all. What’s most important is the fruitfulness of the vine - a fruitfulness which, Jesus explains, can only come from abiding in him and he in us

“Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

The church, a living witness to the Word made flesh; often struggles to rise to the challenge of those words – finding it hard to get a balance between doing and being - between growth and abiding. It can be tempting to focus on doing all we can to grow the kingdom here on earth - forgetting that Jesus has called us to abide in him and he in us in the here and now.

Whilst we might rarely use the word - and although it might be hard to measure - much harder to measure than growth - when it comes to the crunch, we ought to really value abiding because Jesus tells us that abiding - not relentless growth - is what bears real fruit.

Jesus assured us - his disciples - of the promise of abiding with him in eternal life at the great banquet to come. But he also says to us: Abide with me today! Because doing so brings unrivalled fruitfulness -  and if we all bear fruit, what a glorious feast we can share in the here and now.

Abiding in the true vine involves transformation - of ourselves and others. Jesus tells us that those branches which abide are truly open to the transforming power of the Spirit – these branches will accept the pruning necessary to ensure they remain fruitful for the glory of God. Those who do not abide, who will not be pruned, will wither away and die.

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Today Christ calls us, his disciples, to learn to abide as branches of the true vine - the source of our strength; without whom we can do nothing - but with whom we enjoy a fruitful life of endless possibility. 

In the name of Jesus, the true vine. 

Amen. 

Image : Vines and Olive Trees, Tarragona, Joan Miró, 1919 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)