The Vine and the Trestle

I have a grapevine in my backyard. It stands alone. The branches run out from the truck and spread over the ground. There is no structure for them to grow over. We just having got around to putting up something. Once upon a time there was a fence to support it but it was discarded as it was falling down and in order to make the garden bigger.

Each time I mow the grass around the vines I wish that there was a trestle for those branches to climb up out of my way. They get damaged and knocked around by the mower.

However, as I walked away after another mowing effort a thought occurred to me: in their natural state maybe they are meant to be on the ground. They stretch out and by being on the ground they can take root and create new plants. The damage from all sorts of sources helps trigger that new life.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.

We are fed by the Vine, our Lord and Savior, it is our job to spread out and get in touch with the ground, the world. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19.

When we develop programs and structure our church life to educate those within our church, aren’t we putting up trestles? Yes, we can say that these things are supporting the members of our church but I wonder if maybe we are mistaking them for something that they shouldn’t be.

We support each other by meeting together as a group but growth I feel happens faster and is more relevant when its carried out on a one to one basic or at most three. I have to wonder if this is why Jesus reminded us that: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20.