I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
(John 15.5
NRSV)
In her book UP WITH WORSHIP, Anne Ortlund puts it this way: "Every congregation has a choice to be one of two things. You can choose to be a bag of marbles, single units that don't affect each other except in collision. One Sunday morning you can choose to go to church or to sleep in: Who really cares whether there are 192 or 193 marbles in a bag?
"Or you can choose to be a bag of grapes. The juices begin to mingle, and there is no way to extricate yourselves if you tried. Each is part of all. Part of the fragrance. Part of the 'stuff.'"
That's a pretty good analogy. Are we like marbles or grapes? If we understand ourselves to be like grapes, then we will appreciate Christ's teaching that he is the vine.
We draw our life from him. We are his people, his family. That is why when there is strife or disagreement, someone must take the first step. We need one another. More important, we need to know that he is in our midst.
Loving God, guide me in building up your family of faith. Amen.