Life in the Vineyard

from p. 145-146 of Len Sweet's So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church:

"One of Jesus' most exquisite metaphors for himself was the Vine and the vineyard. 'I am the vine; you are the branches.' When Jesus drew on this image of the vineyard and its gardeners, he was drawing on a longstanding biblical image that spoke of relationship: the bonds of cooperation between humans and nature (we do this together or we don't have a vineyard) and the bonds of love between the lover and the beloved.

A vine exists to grow vintage grapes. But for the fruit of the vine to become a reality, every vineyard has frames that support the vines and enable them to grow the best grapes. Depending on where you find the vineyard, sometimes the frames are made of wire. Sometimes of wood. Sometimes they scaffold the vine horizontally; most often vertically. These frames need continuing maintenance, sometimes even rebuilding. If a frame collapses, it can kill the vine.

However, the purpose of the vineyard is not to grow frames but to grow the grapes that the frames support. When the only thing holding up the church are those frames and not Christ, then little things like fruit, freedom, and mercy are forgotten.

No matter how beautiful the frames, the fruit doesn't come from the frames but from the vine. The frames can't slake your thirst. Only the vine. And the purpose of the frames is not to keep the vine from suffering, but to support it in its growth and point it in the right directions. In fact, the more the grapes suffer, the better the wine. It may be that if something cannot be put in a nice framework, you will be reluctant to study it or work with it. But your future is not in the frames; it's in the fruit. In the words of one of my favorite hymns,

'My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.'

No matter how sweet the frame or how beautiful its latticework, there is no nourishment in the frame. Only in the Vine. Only in the fruit. Don't worship the frame. Don't let someone look at your life and say, 'You've been framed.' Only 'wholly lean on Jesus' name.'"

As you go...

As you go, make disciples…

Once upon a time, there was a woman in a hurry. In fact, she was late. Her husband returned home from work an hour and a half after his usual arrival, and she was ready to run out the door. They exchanged “hellos” and shared a brief embrace as she raced toward the car. As the garage door slowly lowered, she muttered a prayer just before turning up the stereo.

Ten minutes earlier, a few ladies had gathered around a table in an upstairs loft at a local winery. Great conversation & $5 Wineritas were quickly flowing. When she arrived, they playfully chastised her for being late, and then, anticlimactically, she promptly told them she could only stay for fifteen minutes. With disconcertion, they asked where she was headed. Sheepishly, she responded by telling them she was off to a Bible study. Immediately, the ladies’ looks of intrigue transformed into distrust as they commented on her dressy appearance and refusal to purchase wine.

“Oh…no…it’s not that at all,” she replied. “In fact, we’ll probably drink wine while searching the Bible and talking about life. I guess our ‘study’ isn’t exactly what you might normally think when that word is used. We are working through a book that’s helping us confront the feelings of anxiety we’re all battling, but the book is only part of an overall emphasis on confessing our struggles, encouraging each other, and discovering the way of Jesus together. You know, for the longest, I battled anxious feelings in regards to my health. I just knew I had a fatal disease, or some kind of health problem that would never go away. Even still, I struggle with these thoughts from time to time. However, with prayer, daily reading of the Scriptures, continual confession to my husband and trusted friends, and opportunities to share my story just like this, I am experiencing the transformation God longs to initiate and sustain within and through our very lives.”

“Whoa…” the group of ladies exhaled. They were captivated, inspired, and disheveled. “Ummm…I’ve never thought of it that way,” one of them said. “I struggle with that kind of stuff, too,” another one chimed in. “I would really like a community like that. Do you think maybe I could join you the next time you all get together?” the remaining lady asked.

As we go, we need to tell more stories. Maybe it’s our own story that’s very much in process. Maybe it’s the story of a friend who experienced instantaneous transformation. Maybe it’s the story of a trying relationship that’s in desperate need of reconciliation. Maybe it’s the story of someone working through stages of change. Maybe it’s the story of a farmer that had some seed. Maybe, as with all of the previous examples, it’s the ongoing cross-stitching occurring between the Story and our story. Whatever the case, as we go, we need to tell more stories.

Who knows how this story will unfold. Join us in prayer that these who have shown interest might become disciples of the King.

Brokenness (Let's Work)

Sometimes, the brokenness is real. It’s not a “reality” TV show. It’s not an article you read on the Internet. It’s not a tweet from someone you “follow.” It’s not something happening “over there.” It’s not concern over your “favorite” that got “voted off.” It’s not your DVR being accidentally erased. It’s not “that bad thing” happening to someone else. Sometimes, the brokenness is real.

Sometimes, the brokenness is real. It’s the mother next door that abandoned her children. It’s the family two streets over that’s stressing about how to feed their kids during summer vacation. It’s the couple down the street that’s slept in separate bedrooms for the last two years. It’s the kid around the corner who knows more about a daily regime of medication than the steps for solving a proof in geometry. It’s the family losing the battle with that deadly illness…again. Sometimes, the brokenness is real.

Sometimes, the brokenness is real. It’s like being locked in a cage with a key fitting only the lock on the outside of the door. It’s like finding a dead battery underneath a pile of flashlights in the corner of a dark room. It’s like wishing you could stay asleep, because life is so much easier when your eyes are shut. Sometimes, the brokenness is real.

Can the words of any language express the Amazing Mystery? The brokenness is real, but the brokenness does not have the last word. Nope, in fact, the Word, the One who became flesh and dwelled…tabernacled among us, this Word has the last word.

The Word is speaking…again…creation…a (re)newed creation into existence…again. The New York Times, CNN.com, and your local news station report a reality disconnected from the real. What’s real? The words of the Word: “I am making all things new.”

“In the beginning was the Word.” It’s déjà vu all over again. The Gardener, the Vine, and the Grower are ready to work. Where are the branches?

Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

from pages 45-46 of Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World...

"Becoming the Beloved means letting the truth of our Belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say, or do. It entails a long and painful process of appropriation or, better, incarnation. As long as 'being the Beloved' is little more than a beautiful thought or a lofty idea that hangs above my life to keep me from becoming depressed, nothing really changes. What is required is to become the Beloved in the commonplaces of my daily existence and, bit by bit, to close the gap that exists between what I know myself to be and the countless specific realities of everyday life. Becoming the Beloved is pulling the truth revealed to me from above down into the ordinariness of what I am, in fact, thinking about, and doing from hour to hour."