The Text for the 6th Sunday of Easter, May 10th, 2015

First Reading: Acts 10:44–48

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.  ⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,  ⁴⁶for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said,  ⁴⁷Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?  ⁴⁸So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

Psalm 98 (from the Book of Common Prayer)

¹Sing to the LORD a new song,

for he has done marvelous things.

²With his right hand and his holy arm

has he won for himself the victory.

³The LORD has made known his victory;

his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.

⁴He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel,

and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

⁵Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands;

lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

⁶Sing to the LORD with the harp,

with the harp and the voice of song.

⁷With trumpets and the sound of the horn

shout with joy before the king, the LORD.

⁸Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it,

the lands and those who dwell therein.

⁹Let the rivers clap their hands,

and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD, when he comes to judge the earth.

¹⁰In righteousness shall he judge the world

and the peoples with equity.

Second Reading: 1 John 5:1–6

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.  ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  ³For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,  ⁴for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.  ⁵Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

Gospel: John 15:9–17

⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  ¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.  ¹¹I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

¹²This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.  ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you.  ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.  ¹⁶You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.  ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

John 15:9-17 Greek Studies

Greek Study John 15:9-17

v9 Jesus unpacks the parable of the vine, 

ηγαπησα (αγαπαω) aor. "loved" - punctiliar aorist indicating action.

μεινατε (μεινω) aor. imp. "remain" aorist is ingressive, so "start abiding "Abide" is probably best understood as a faith-union with Christ: trusting him and his word, 

v10 εαν + subj. "if" – A conditional clause, 3rd class, where the condition has the possibility of coming true, so "to obey my commands is to remain in my love", ie., obeying is abiding.

τηρησητε (τηρεω) aor. subj. "you obey" 

τας εντολας (η) "commands" - repeated in v14, 15 and 21; not Law (νομοσ). 

μενειτε (μενω) fut. "you will remain" 

τετηρηκα (τηρεω) perf. "I have obeyed" - perfect tense indicating past action with ongoing consequences; referring to Christ's act of abiding in the Father's love in his act of love on the cross.

v11 λελαληκα (λαλεω) perf. "I have told" 

ινα + subj. "so that " – a purpose clause. The word 

η χαρα (h) "joy" has the same sense as "peace", again a relational term, with God. It is unlikely that the reference is to some existential feeling brought on by obedience or baptism, etc. It is also unlikely that Jesus is speaking about a future joy. 

πληρωθη/ (πληροω) aor. pas. subj. "may be complete" - may be made full, complete. "So that you may be completely joyful".

  
v12 h entolh (h) "command" - now singular, only one command. Barrett suggests that the singular nature of the command is inclusive indicating that the love is toward both the divine and human - to love God and the neighbor. Love toward God entails belief in Christ (abiding) love toward neighbor is generalized in the sense of "as I have loved you", ie., Christ's example of self-giving. 

v13 μειζονα (μεγας) adj. comp. "greater" - the use of the negative with the comparative produces a superlative so, "the greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them".

ταυτηςÄgen. pro. "than this" - The genitive is ablative, of comparison, as NIV. The reference is forward.

ινα + subj. "that" - a substantival clause, defining the nature of the love.

θη/ (τιθημι) aor. subj. "he lay down " – an idiomatic sense "to die".

υπερ + gen. "on behalf of” expressing benefit. The same preposition is used of Jesus giving up his life "for many" ikn Mk.14:24. 

των φιλων "friends" - "friend' in English is not strong enough, so "for those he loves". In actual fact, Christ gives his life for enemies so even "those he loves" is misleading in the English. 

  
v14 υμεις "you" - emphatic; "you (my disciples), not the world in general".

v15 δουλους (ος) "slaves” “servant” is too banal although slave is a bit harsh. 

τι ποιει αυτου ο κυριος "his master's business" - what his Lord does. "A servant does not share his master's confidence".

φιλους adj. "[I have called you] friends" - a disciple is a follower, someone who serves, now they are friends and a friend is given more information than a servant – in the case the recipient of divine revelation.

παντα adj. "everything" – well not everything of the divine knowledge possessed by the exalted Christ, all the knowledge intended for and needed by humans to come into relationship with the Father through Jesus. John is big on the incarnation and its use and meaning to the individual and the church. 

εγνωρισα (γνωριζω) aor. "I have made known" - aorist indicates a completed revelation. Brown makes the point that the divine revelation is complete and that the Spirit develops this knowledge, ie., he "gives greater insight into what Jesus has already revealed." 

v16 εξελεξασθε (εκλεγομαι) aor. "choose" - The word "choose" does not necessarily refer to a call but to a situation.  This is not a volunteer army, it is conscripted.

εθηκα (τιθημι) aor. "appointed" - the Greek word reflects the Hebrew word to "lay the hand on [the head of]", "to ordain"; or to “:set aside for a special task as in "commissioned". The word is also used of Jesus laying down his life for his friends. "If this is no accident, it emphasizes, indirectly, that it is the Lord's redemptive death which enables and empowers the disciples to undertake their work.

υπαγητε (υαγω) pres. subj. "go" - could reflect the apostolic commission.

οτι an + subj. "whatever [you ask]" - a relative conditional clause 3rd. class where the condition has the possibility of coming true; so "whatever, as the case may be, you may ask ..... then he may give to you." Given that the fruit of love is the promised consequence of an abiding faith, then we may properly pray for this fruit and rightly expect such a prayer to be answered.

εν τω ονοματι μου "in my name" - "name" encapsulates the substance of a person. δω (διδωμι) aor. subj. "will give" – an aorist subjunctive for the future tense.

v17 αγαπατε (αγαπαω) pres. subj. "love" - the passage concludes, as it began, with a call for mutual love. The present tense, being durative, indicates continued action; so "keep on loving one another".

  

Do Be Do Be Do

To be is to do—Aristotle

To do is to be—J. P. Sartre

Do be do be do—F. Sinatra

What is to be done?—Lenin

Do It!—J. Rubin

O.K.! O.K.!—T. Mann.

Being is the natural state of just about all things. My cat just “is.” She seems to have no plans for the day or the hour. Yes, I have read the internet memes that claim that the cat’s calm, sedate, catatonic demeanor is an indication that she is merely plotting my demise in her head but her actions through the 8 years of her presence with me suggests she is either incapable or incompetent to pull off the revolution against the regime and install herself as master of the house.

Instead Cat has an attitude of the moment. She sleeps when there is nothing to do. When the door is opened she goes out. Or she doesn’t. When the sound of the can being opened comes to her ear, she stirs — if she is hungry. When she hears quiet rustling in the corner, she investigates. When something close to her scurries or runs, she gives chase. If she catches it and it is small rodent type varmint she will kill it. When the rain comes she seeks shelter. When the sun shines she seeks out a spot to soak it up. 

In other words, Cat just is. She is, to use Forde and Nestingen’s book title: free to be. The moment dictates and suggests what she will do and unseen forces and thoughts and impulses, internal and external determine what she will do.

In a place that farms this is not a strange thing. Planting and harvest cannot happen by the force of will. Winter is a bad time to plant. But when the spring thaws out the manure pile the farmer will smell it and spread it on the fields and when the precious dry days of April and May arrive he will sow. In spite of chemical manure piles in the shape of Nitrogen tanks sowing is a response to spring.

In a place of agriculture and the type of patronage of the 1st century, says John Pilch, most people’s lives are even further response or reaction based. In a social web of family allegiance and patronage, ones day was sometimes determined by what ones patriarch or benefactor wanted to see happen that moment. Patron needs someone to start a riot in front of the praetorium — it is off to the riot. “What are we shouting?” “Crucify Him? Got it. Too bad for the guy they’re going to crucify. I kind of liked him. Oh, well.“

Designs external determine much of what is done by any of us, if we are really honest about that. If most of us are honest about it, the fact is that at about noon on Monday our week has pretty much already gotten away from us, if that late. 

Is that really option though for those who, in the words of Jesus, are in but not of the world? 

Therefore, of works that are truly good and well-pleasing to God, which God will reward in this world and in the world to come, faith must be the mother and source; and on this account they are called by St. Paul true fruits of faith, as also of the Spirit.

And first, as regards the necessity or voluntariness of good works, it is manifest that in the Augsburg Confession and its Apology these expressions are often used and repeated that good works are necessary. Likewise, that it is necessary to do good works, which also are necessarily to follow faith and reconciliation. Likewise, that we necessarily are to do and must do such good works as God has commanded. Thus also in the Holy Scriptures themselves the words necessity, needful, and necessary, likewise, ought and must, are used concerning what we are bound to do because of God's ordinance, command, and will, as Rom. 13:5; 1 Cor. 9:9; Acts 5:29; John 15:12; 1 John 4:21. (Solid Declaration; Good Works, 9 and 14)

It has not escaped anyone that Jesus is giving commands to his disciples. The content of that command is simple: Love as Christ loves though it has a certain internal character to it. (love one another) Giving that shape is a difficult process and is often a perilous journey. What shape is the love to take? And, if the disciples live in Love, why would the world hate them? (15:18) Yet, Faith, brought by the Word of God (15:3), is to know the what and how.

More than that, Jesus now calls the disciples friends. A state of equality has been declared. A counselor, the Holy Spirit, has been promised. (14:25) That counselor will be a voice of remembrance of all the things Jesus taught and did and they are to become like the one they once called master but he will not be their “master” in the traditional sense. The Spirit will be the voice of the common sense of Faith. 

Faith is not directed by the world around us. Faith is directed at the world around us. Faith is not a matter of ”just be” in the world and be confident. Faith, according to Jesus, has an agenda. Love of neighbor was Luther’s answer to the question: “And what is that agenda.” But the command to love comes with the qualifier: “As I have loved you.” (15:12) And not only that But: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (15:13) 

Cat has just come in from the rain through the front door. She went straight to the back door and began to meow. Cats, animal behaviorists tell us, do not know that different doors lead to the same reality on the other side. They truly think that going out the other door will lead them to their familiar backyard but without the rain. They live in moments. Are people different? 

Disciples are to be different. Disciples live a careful balance between being and doing. But their “being” is in Christ and their “doing” comes from the depths of them where the Holy Spirit whispers in a still small voice. 

The word is that the world around us has become more and more hostile, secular, pagan, and gnostic and that we, the church, are heading for minority status. In that world, I would imagine, the church has to be and act deliberately and resolutely to give witness to Jesus. Shame on her if she has waited until now to be and do thus. It was always our calling to lead our lives very careful according to the council of the Holy Spirit that Jesus asked the Father to send and invade us. He has made us clean by his word and sacrifice.

We are free to do. Do it!  Ok! Ok!

The Texts for Sunday May4th, 2015: The 5th Sunday of Easter

First Reading: Acts 8:26–40

²⁶Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.)  ²⁷So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship  ²⁸and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.  ²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it."  ³⁰So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"  ³¹He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.  ³²Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,

and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.

  ³³In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."

  ³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?"  ³⁵Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.  ³⁶As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?"  ³⁸He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.  ³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.  ⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Psalm 22

My praise is of him in the great assembly; 

I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him.

The poor shall eat and be satisfied,

and those who seek the LORD shall praise him:  "May your heart live for ever!"

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to  the LORD, and all the families of the nations bow before him.

For kingship belongs to the LORD; he rules over the nations.

To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship; all who go down to the dust fall before him.

My soul shall live for him; my descendants shall serve him; they shall be known as the LORD'S for ever.

They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn  the saving deeds that he has done.

Second Reading: 1 John 4:7–21

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.  ⁹God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  ¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.  ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  ¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.  ¹⁵God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.  ¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.  ¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.  ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.  ¹⁹We love because he first loved us.  ²⁰Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.  ²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Gospel: John 15:1–8

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.  ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.  ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.  ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.  ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

John 15:1-9 Greek Studies

Greek Study John 15:1-8

v1 εγω pro. "I [am]" - emphatic by use - the final "I am" saying in John's gospel.

η αληθινη adj. "the true" - genuine, "the real thing", the vine of God's planting now realized in Jesus, the true Israel. A polemic thrust is evident, given the claim of the religious authorities of their being the real deal- the genuine item bears fruit, fruit not evident in historic Israel, Jer.2:21.

η αμπελος (ος) "vine" - a symbol of Israel, Psalm 80:9-16, etc.

ο γεωργος (ος) "gardener" – lit. “the cultivator”. 

  
v2 αιρει (αιρω) pres. "he cuts off" – a Semitic use of the pronoun αυτο, "it". The verb may be translated "lifts up", rather than "removes", i.e. an image is of the branches being lifted up so they can reach the sun, but most accept "cut off." 

καθαιρει (καθαιρω) "he prunes" – lit. “cleanses”  "Prunes" carries the sense of chastisement, but the reference here is likely to be to the cleansing of the vine. In the Greek "cuts off" and "prunes" sound alike (a paronomasia) and may well have been chosen, not for their horticultural accuracy but on literary grounds. 

 
v3 υμεις pro. "you" – an emphatic.

εστε (ειμι) "are" - A possible improvement is made by translating as passive,; "you have already been cleansed…”

καθαροι adj. "clean" - interesting use of the same word as v2 meaning ritually clean or pure (see 13:10). Here the cleansing comes through 

τον λογον (ος) "the word" - possibly referring to Jesus' teachings in general but more likely the gospel.

λελαληκα (λαλεω) perf. "I have spoken" - may be meant to indicate that the word “remains with them”.

v4 μεινατε (μενω) aor. imp. "remain" - abide, - aorist may be ingressive, "start abiding ", or universal, for emphasis. It is used ten times in v4-10, possibly having a technical background related to association with the divine. Abiding is probably a descriptive for trusting Jesus.

φερειν (φερω) pres. inf. "[can] bear" - infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of ου δυναται, "not empowered" by the indwelling Spirit. Although "the fruit" is not spelled out, "love" is likely intended, v12-14. 

v5 ο μενων (μενω) pres. part. "if one remains [in me]" - participle serves as a substantive; expressed as a condition.

καγω "and I" – a conditional comparative, mutuality.

φερει (φερω) pres. "bears" – the present tense expresses continuous action, (future tense in English).

χωρις + gen. "apart from" - expressing separation and emphatic so; “There is nothing in this world that corresponds to the new life that he bestows and the new commandment that he gives. 

ου δυνασθε ποιειν ουδεν "you are unable to accomplish anything”. The double negative, ου ... ουδεν emphasizes the inability of bearing fruit without abiding.

  
v6 μενη (μενω) pres. subj. "remain [in me]" - Again the present tense is durative. 

ως "like" - The literal reading is "unless a person remains in me they are cast out...". Some translators, as NIV, shape the sentence to mean "thrown away" as part of the illustration rather than God's action toward those who do not abide. 

εβληθη (βαλλω) aor. pas. "is thrown [away]" - action is possibly repetitive, or futuristic, or immediate " but most likely emphasizing the certainty of the action without reference to its beginning or end. 

εξηρανθη (ξηραινω) aor. pas. "withers" - dries up, withers.

συναγουσιν (συναγω) pres. "are picked up" – a present tense expressing what people generally do, therefore not indicating any time differential between the aorist, "thrown away", and the present "gather up." 

το πυρ (πυρ ος) "the fire [and burned]" The presence of the definite article may indicate a particular fire (eg. fire of judgment) but most likely a parabolic style. The same construction is used with "branch", lit. "the branch." So the dead branches are burned because they are useless. 

  
v7 μεινητε (μενω) aor. 2nd pl. "you remain" – maybe beginning the explanation of the parable.

αιτησασθε (αιτεω) pres. imp. "ask" – a variant future "you will ask" is supported.

θελητε (θελω) pres. subj. "you wish" The seemingly general nature of the promise is controlled by the context. "My words" define the will of God so the prayer serves as a means of completing the Lord's will. 

v8 εδοξασθη (δοξαζω) aor. pas. "[my Father's] glory" – the Aorist indicating completed action. John has already told us that the Father is glorified in the obedience of the Son in his lifting up on the cross; here he is also glorified in the vine bearing fruit. 

γενησθε (γινομαι) aor. mid. subj. "showing yourselves to be [my disciples]" – a variant reading exists where the verb takes the future tense, γενησεσθε, "you will be my disciples." As the more difficult reading (the future tense rarely follows ινα) it could be original. This reading has prompted many translations, eg. "and so prove to be my disciples", RSV. None-the-less, best to go with the aorist subjunctive found in many contemporary texts (P66). The aorist subjunctive forms the clause "that you be my disciples", so "when you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored", CEV. 

Blended with Christ

It is not enough for God to be Man, to be struck  and slaughtered. He actually goes so far as to blend himself with us. Not by faith only, but also in actual deed, he makes us his body.
Consider what sort of honor you have received, what table you share. When the angels themselves behold this Sacrifice, they tremble; they dare not even look at it without awe on account of its brightness. Yet, with the same Sacrifice we are fed, with this we are blended, and we are made one bodying one flesh with Christ — St. Chrysostom

Pilate was writing home to the head office in Rome. It had been a difficult day with the crowds in Jerusalem at Passover as had been expected. But, something good had come from this year’s Passover riots anyhow. Yes, he had a man crucified for doing nothing other than making the rest of the Jewish rabble mad at himself but what is one more dead Jew. Before long, if things were not to improve, there would have to be thorough house cleaning anyway and he would probably gotten slaughtered then anyhow. I any case, “Today, great Cesar, I had all the troublesome priests and functionaries from that detestable Temple before me, the ones who have resisted Rome since our glorious conquest, and in front of me, all in one place together, with a large crowd at their back, they, with one voice proclaimed: “We have no king but Cesar!” (John 19:15) I am please to write your excellency that finally the might of Rome and the throne of you, my Cesar, is being respected in this barbarian land of stiff necked people.” The rest of the letter was about beans, bacon, and a transfer to Gaul. 

Yes, they had shouted that on the steps of the praetorium. They had used the old habits and conventions well. Pilate had refused to do their will and they had accused him of disloyalty to Rome for not crucifying Jesus for claiming to be a king. (19:12) Then they made a power play for it by claiming to be better brokers of Rome’s will by shouting that they had no king but Cesar — “so how about you, Pilate?” “Want us to riot for you not being, oh, what’s the word: Roman enough, for Cesar? Explain that to him, why don’t you.” 

He had had the last word though. Over Jesus’ head he hung the sign: “The King of the Jews.” What he had written he had written. It was they who had proclaimed him dead. They had no King but Cesar. It was their words. Cesar, the personification of “the World,” they claimed as their source of life and death and the God of Abraham was shoved aside and found unnecessary and therefore crucifiable. The representative of “the world” is satisfied today. Jerusalem is in allegiance and submission to him. All is at peace. Israel has become like one of the nations. Let us see if Cesar will come to save them. 

Allegiance is a complicated and dangerous thing. We develop a sense of it in Jr. High School. If you are my friend, goes the thinking, you will shun the people I don’t like. If don’t trash them like I, you are their friend and not mine. I don’t trust you unless I hear you diss them, preferably to their faces. We carry a version, though a complicated one, into adulthood I suppose. Maybe the main difference is that we pick our battles much differently and that we pick fewer battles to start with. At least that sounds good though reality probably includes many battles we carry out behind the scenes. Was it not Luther who posed that not being of aid to the neighbor was in some way the same as theft and murder?

The great vine and branches speech that Jesus gives in John 15 is a discourse on allegiance. It is not simply a: “Where do I get my strength from,” transaction. The branch can only be in allegiance to one vine. In the case of the Christian branches, it would seem obvious that the original branches declared allegiance to another and have left, witness their cry before Pilate. The church has become the ingrafted branches. Will they be trimmed off like Israel? Jesus says that the Father is the vinedresser. What is not productive will be removed. (15:2) 

Further, the vine does only produce fruit non directly. The fruit grows on branches, not on the vine. Branches can and are grafted in if needed. When the system works, vine gives sap and the branch blossoms and produces fruit. The vine receives its “glory” through the work of the branches. In John the Father is glorified by the work of the Son. The Son has promised that his own will do greater works than he and that as he is glorified, the Father will be as well. 

Allegiance is a two way street. Christ has blended his precious blood with you. That is his allegiance to you. It is an allegiance not of slave and master but of friends, as next weeks reading from John 15 will say. In a two way street one might ask what Jesus will get out of his patronage of you. Well? Well . . .

I know what you are thinking, good Lutheran, I am forgiven and after that, I am always in danger of doing things that I hope to merit salvation. Well, you can’t! You can’t do or build what has already been done and completed. You can be destructive of what has been built and wrought. You are using the sap of the vine in one way or another. What is your way? 

St. Ignatius invites his readers to examen themselves daily. 1. Know that you are under God’s Care and providence. 2. Ask God to recollect the day to you: When were you on the side of life? Give thanks for those times. 3. Ask God to recollect the day to you again: When were you on the side of death. Ask pardon. 4. Take up one feature of the day that stands out and ask God to reveal its meaning to you. What will it mean for your tomorrow and what will be the help you need, the grace from God, the sap from the vine, for you to meet tomorrow on the side of life? 5. Ask God for that grace. 

Jesus gave glory to the Father and the Father glorified Jesus. Will we bring shame?

The Texts for Sunday, April 26th, 2015: The 4th Sunday of Easter

First Reading: Acts 4:5–12

⁵The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,  ⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.  ⁷When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"  ⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders,  ⁹if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed,  ¹⁰let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.  ¹¹This Jesus is

'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;

it has become the cornerstone.'

  ¹²There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."

Second Reading: 1 John 3:16–24

¹⁶We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us — and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.  ¹⁷How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

¹⁸Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.  ¹⁹And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him  ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.  ²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God;  ²²and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

²³And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.  ²⁴All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Gospel: John 10:11–18

¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.  ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,  ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.  ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.  ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.  ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."