Sufficient Grace (Part 2)

  Our sermon on Sunday focused on John 15:1-8, the "vine and branches" passage in which Jesus reminds us that He is the true vine and we are the branches.  Every now and then we use lexio divina in our services, an interactive process that involves reading through the passage a few times and using prayer and meditation to understand why specific words or phrases from that passage stick out to us.  Towards the end, we're invited to share our thoughts and reflections with our church body.  A few people focused on the phrase "true vine" in verse one, reminding us that while there are many things we may try to base our lives on, there is only one true source of fulfillment.  Someone else mentioned the recurring image of "good fruit," and how often fruit that may look like good fruit is actually spoiled or sour.

   For me, the word that kept pushing to the forefront of my mind was "branches." "I am the vine; you are the branches... Apart from me, you can do nothing."  Over and over again in my life, He has proven this to be true.  Every time I try to be "good" in my own strength, I fail miserably.  When I start to behave as though I'm strong enough on my own, as though I am the vine rather than just a branch, I let myself and everyone else down.  I try to go my own way, try to make my own rules for what I think is best for my life, and Christ always reminds me--or rather, He allows me to see for myself--what I am like apart from Him.  And in those moments of clarity I realize the truth of His words, "Apart from me, you can do nothing."  Not condemning me for my inadequacy, not trying to make me feel guilty for failing to do more without any help, but freeing me from the pressures I put on myself to be more, do more than I was ever meant to on my own.

   I have a problem with grace, with mercy, with the very idea of getting something that I don't deserve.  The "independent" in me wants to earn it for myself; maybe it's just my pride wanting to prove that I really am good enough.  But God is showing me, as I prove to myself, how little I could ever deserve His mercy, how impossible it is for me to earn His grace.

   "I pleaded with the Lord to take away the thorn in my flesh, that it should leave me.  But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" (2 Corinthians 12:8 & 9)