Preached by the Right Reverend Grant Lynn Ford at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, May 14, 2006.
Hosea 14:4-7
4”I will cure them of their unfaithfulness.
I will love them freely. I will no longer be angry with them.
5I will be like dew to the people of Israel. They will blossom like flowers.
They will be firmly rooted like cedars from Lebanon.
6They will be like growing branches. They will be beautiful like olive trees.
They will be fragrant like cedars from Lebanon.
7They will live again in God’s shadow.
They will grow like grain. They will blossom like grapevines.
They will be as famous as the wines from Lebanon.”
The Masnawi — Rumi
God is the cupbearer, the cup and the wine.
God knows what manner of love is mine.
John 15:1-4, 7-8
1”I am the True Vine; my Heavenly Parent is the Gardener. 2The Gardener trims off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit and prunes the fruit-bearing branches so they’ll be more productive. 3You’re already pruned because of the teaching I’ve shared with you. 4So stay connected—live in me, and I’ll live in you! A branch can’t bear fruit on its own; it has to be connected to the vine. The same is true for you. Stay connected to me and be fruitful!”
7”Stay connected and my teaching will become ‘Who You Are’. If you’re really connected, you can ask for anything, and it will be granted. 8This is what makes God really happy: to see you being fruitful, manifesting everything that I taught you.”
The word is out: Walmart’s will soon be coming out with its own brand of wine. They’re teaming up with Gallo Winery of California to produce an affordable wine, in the $6-8 range.
I can just see my dear brother, Lowell, rolling his eyes to heaven. You see, he’s a viticulturist…that is, he grows grapes for wine. His hobby has become his passion.
What might this Walmart wine be named? I’ve narrowed the list in the AP report down to my Top Ten.
10. Chateau Traileur Doublewide
9. Big Red Gulp
8. Grape Expectations
7. NASCARbernet
6. Chef Boyardeaux
5. Peanut Noir
4. Chateau des Moines
3. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Vinegar!
2. World Championship Wriesling
And the number 1 name for Walmart Wine...
1. Nasti Spumante!
It would seem from the Good Book that Jesus enjoyed a glass of wine now and then. When it wasn’t to his mother’s liking he made better wine than the host was serving.
I’m not telling you this to persuade you to lift a glass or two. If you’re allergic or addicted to alcohol, then you would be wise to refrain. On the other hand, if you are able to drink wine, you might still want to avoid a wine that might be served in place of beer at a Georgia barbeque.
Jesus was a real partygoer, but he also enjoyed being out in the country. As he walked from Galilee to Jerusalem, I’m sure he passed many a beautiful vineyard abundant with purple grapes.
He also knew a bit about gardening. For instance, he knew that if you don’t prune off some of the branches, removing some of the beginning clusters of grapes, the wine will be weak and tasteless. A good gardener will hand-prune the vines, leaving only one or two little clusters to grow to maturity.
This happens in our lives, personally, too. God, who is the Gardener, lovingly hand-trims our lives so we will produce the sweetest, most luscious, whether for cup or for table. Jesus reminds us: “My Heavenly Parent is the Gardener… [who] trims off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit and prunes the fruit-bearing branches so they’ll be more productive.”
This is not punishment, as some have suggested. God doesn’t make bad things happen in our lives so we’ll be better. Usually bad things happen because we make lousy choices. We try to grow the wrong kind of fruit in our lives, and God lovingly comes along and prunes it all away, so we’ll be productive and live delicious lives!
The prophet Hosea calls to our attention: “They will blossom like grapevines. They will be as famous as the wines from Lebanon.”
Lebanon is one of the oldest sites of wine production in the world. The Bekaa Valley is where the majority of vines are still grown. I don’t know what it was like in Hosea’s time, but now they grow the finest Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache and Syrah, to mention just a few varietals.
Just as Jesus knew that pruning was necessary for good wine, he knew that it was also important for personal growth: in our individual lives and in our church. He also spoke of the other essential; here’s his words: “A branch can’t bear fruit on its own; it has to be connected to the vine. The same is true for you. Stay connected to me and be fruitful!”
Of course, I don’t want to upset Jesus’ metaphor too much, but I do have to ask one question: How can we be disconnected from God, who is everywhere present, in all of us and in everything there is?
I’m thinking that the real problem is not that we are disconnected, but that we think we are disconnected, and so we live disconnected, lonely, quite often disappointing lives. It’s only when we wake back up to the truth that we are one with God and one with each other that our lives comes back together.
That’s why the Apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans: “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38]
The idea of separation — faulty though it may be — is, however, a terribly powerful thought that will lead our lives down some pretty rough pathways. And there are countless people in our South Florida community — many of whom have been told that they are wicked sinners — who need to hear the truth, to wake up to God’s reality, and live connected lives, as Jesus commended.
The question is: who’s going to share the light with them? How will they hear… unless we tell them? Listen to Paul’s words: “‘Whosoever calls upon the name of God shall be made whole.’ But how can they call out if they don’t believe? And how can they believe if they haven’t heard? And how can they hear without someone telling them? And how can someone tell them unless they’ve been sent?”
Then Paul raises his voice in wonder: “How beautiful are the feet of them that declare the good news of ‘oneness’, that express good news!” [Romans 10:13-15]
The Greek word in the middle of that paeon of praise is eirene (eye-ray’-ney): to join together, to make one. When we hear the good news that we are one with God and one with each other, that’s truly good news indeed!
So how are we going to go, to send, to tell our community? I attended a conference this last week that put it together for me. I’ve never been more excited about my future ministry than I am right now.
Of course, I’m looking forward to building the team that can make our future happen. We have the beginnings of it right now. In a few weeks we’ll be interviewing yet another person who will be a key player in the dramatic growth that we are about to experience.
Our Canon Circle has been talking about creating new worship sites for the Sunshine Cathedral, expanding outward instead of upward, as Greg Kurdian puts it. The work that we are doing on the new chancel will not only create a beautiful concert stage, but it will become a fabulous sound stage as well, for the creation of DVDs to take our message all over South Florida.
We’ve been looking at Miami as a possible location for a second site, but I’ve already identified six sites that we should be considering, not to mention all the adult living facilities and our prison ministry as other video sites.
Of course, we’ll need all sorts of technical people, musicians, and other volunteers, and the key person will be our campus pastors, who we will train right here in Light University, using our core values.
Meanwhile, we’ll be adding a Saturday night service here at the Cathedral this fall, and other alternatives services so you can worship in a number of different venues.
We’re not slowing down this summer. It’s Full Speed Ahead! I want you to help us grow this summer. Invite your friends. Invite your family. Invite your enemies; they need the good news, too, and you might like them a whole lot better after they get reconnected!
We’re in for the time of our life. The next 20 years are going to be better than the last 20 years!
I tell you, this is better than a bottle of the best wine you can buy. I’m getting high on Jesus, on his message and his oneness with God and with us! Listen to Jesus: “So stay connected! This is what makes God really happy: to see you being fruitful, manifesting everything that I taught you.”
And you know what? That’s the Truth!
Jesus is one with God.
And so am I!
This connection brings me life.
This connection brings me health.
This connection brings be goodness.
We are connected with the Divine;
we are connected with each other;
and I like it like that!
And so it is! Amen!
