Sermon - May 2, 2021

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Religion

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Americans are known for having a fierce sense of independence, freedom, and self-identity, and we have taken pride in promoting freedom for people, not only here but also around the world. However, as we have seen throughout this Covid-19 pandemic, there is in this country a growing interpretation of individual freedom that has morphed into something that is unhealthy, toxic, and malignant as we now see people who feel their individual freedom is more important than their responsibility to and for the care of neighbor. This growing vein of thought has become a cancer in our culture, and it is also something that runs completely contrary to Jesus’ teaching. If you claim to be a Christian, and if you claim to follow the way of Jesus, such thinking is the antithesis of the way you are called to live. Today, our scripture readings teach us just how contrary such thinking is to what Jesus actually teaches. I love what Nadia Bolz-Weber says as she reflects upon people’s sense and perception of individual independence, and the challenge we find in today’s gospel reading. She writes: I’m nothing if not independent. Reportedly my first sentence was “Do it self!” Yes, I will do it myself, thank you. See I want choices. And I want independence….What I wish Jesus said is: “I am whatever you want me to be. And you can be whatever you want to be: vine, pruner, branch, soil….knock yourself out.” What Jesus actually said is: “I am the vine. My Father is the vine grower. You are the branches.” Dang. The casting has already been finalized. Vines, and branches off of vines, are all tangled and messy and it’s just too hard to know what is what…Not only are we dependent on Jesus, but our lives are uncomfortably tangled up together. The Christian life is a vine-y, branch-y, jumbled mess of

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OscarStar

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