Greetings my friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks,
Welcoming you to our final week of Reflections as we meditate on the I Am statements of Jesus.
This week,
Meditating on the words,
I Am the Divine.
Just a reminder also that at the end of this week,
Day 47,
For most of the world it will be Easter Saturday afternoon and for us here in Australia,
Easter Sunday morning.
I invite you to join me for a final session for Lent that will be live right here on Insight Timer.
You can register for that session at the top of my teachers page and I look forward to sharing that time with you together as we see out Lent and usher in Easter,
Reflecting on everything we've learnt about who the I Am is and asking the question,
If that is who Jesus is,
Then who am I?
As we enter the fullness of the resurrection that Christ has given us.
For today though,
I invite you to let go of distractions and enter into this sacred space together.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Be still and know that God is here.
And as we start,
Listen to the words of Jesus,
Where he says,
God lifts up every branch in me that bears no fruit.
Imagine yourself with me for a moment,
Standing in a lush vineyard just as the morning sun rises over the horizon.
There's rows of vines stretching out before you,
Their branches are heavy with fruit.
The air is rich with the smell of the fresh leaves and the beautiful earth.
Dew is glistening on the vines,
Reflecting the light as it rises.
You walk along the rows and you notice a branch lying low to the ground.
The leaves on this branch are pale,
Its tendrils reaching,
Struggling to find the light.
It looks as if it's been forgotten.
But watch,
You see the vine grower approaching.
With careful hands,
He kneels down beside that struggling branch,
But he doesn't break it off.
He doesn't discard it.
Instead,
He gently lifts it up and he secures it back to the trellis so that it can receive the sunlight and the air that it needs to thrive.
This gives the branch another opportunity to bear fruit.
Breathe in nice and deep,
And out.
And let this image settle in your heart.
Have you ever felt like that low-lying branch?
Maybe you felt as though you failed,
And you weren't bearing the fruit that you wish you could have.
Maybe it was a time where you felt distant from God or disconnected from your source or weighed down by the struggle of the circumstances you're in at the moment.
Maybe you felt forgotten.
Maybe you were alone.
Maybe you did trip up and make a mistake or do something that you realised was wrong.
Or maybe you feel like that branch and the circumstances around it had nothing to do with you.
It wasn't your fault.
It's just where you happened to end up.
And it's easy to come down on ourselves hard when that happens.
And when we live in a world that will tell you that if you don't produce enough,
Achieve enough,
Or become enough,
Then you deserve to be cut off and discarded.
But Jesus offers a different truth.
God doesn't cut you off.
God lifts you up.
Now,
Some of you might have noticed that when I read the words of Jesus at the start,
It doesn't sound like perhaps the way that you remember John chapter 15,
Verse two going.
You remember when I read it to you,
It came out as God lifts up every branch in me that bears no fruit.
But in many translations,
This passage says God cuts off the branches that don't bear fruit or prunes them.
But I want you to know that the Greek word used here is aero.
And it means to lift up,
To raise and to carry.
And this small shift in meaning changes everything,
Or at least it should.
And you may have visited a vineyard and seen the rods that have been placed underneath the branches of a vine to prop it up,
Or there's extra links holding an askew branch of the vine back onto the trellis.
This is done because if the vine gets too heavy with fruit and isn't on the trellis properly,
The vine can sag.
And when that happens,
The grapes don't have a chance to receive the sunlight and air that they need to grow and flourish.
And imagine again,
The vine grower gently lifting a struggling branch,
Propping it up,
Securing it to the trellis where it can receive sunlight and air.
The vine grower knows that every single branch is valuable.
I mean,
The vineyard grower wants every branch to yield grapes.
It's valuable.
And wants every single one to produce all the fruit that they possibly can and be abundant.
He doesn't want to discard the branch.
He wants to give it every opportunity to flourish.
Produce fruit that's not just in abundance and lots of it,
But abundance being delicious and juicy and good quality.
God is that vine grower always tending,
Always caring,
Even when we struggle.
God doesn't abandon us,
But raises us up so we can thrive again,
Even in the times when we feel weak or distant.
We're not separated from the vine.
The connection remains.
The life of the vine still flows through us,
Sustaining us,
Renewing us and drawing us back to the light.
Friend,
Are there areas in your life where you feel weighed down today?
I is God calling you to receive nourishment and light again.
Gracious God,
Lift us up when we falter.
When we feel weak,
Remind us that you are our strength.
Help us to receive your light,
To trust in your care and to grow in your love.
Breathe in deeply,
My friend,
And as you inhale,
Imagine God lifting you up,
Holding you,
Restoring you.
And as you exhale,
Release any fear of being cast aside.
The owner of the vineyard does not want to discard your branch.
The owner of the vineyard wants you to flourish.
You're not forgotten.
You are being tended,
Gently lifted up,
Propped up,
Attached to the trellis again,
So that you can thrive.
You are being tended with love.
And in that love,
May grace and peace be with you and help you to grow and thrive and be abundant.
Amen.
Grace and peace,
My friends.
We'll see you tomorrow.
