The Fruit We Produce
May 1, 2005 (Sixth Sunday of Easter)
By
The Very Rev. Terry White,
Dean
(From The Lectionary Page)
In planning for my sophomore year, my college advisor said that a future priest should take at least one science course and marvel at how God has ordered the universe. I fought as best I could this invitation to marvel. Science had not interested me in high school, with the exception of a series of self-directed chemistry experiments seeking to create the perfect rotten egg aroma. So when required to choose between the college versions of biology or botany, I tossed a coin, and enrolled in botany.
By the end of my first week, I had mastered the concept that botany referred to the study of plants. Other than that, I retained nothing from the lectures. My professor, Dr. G knew her stuff. And she tried to stuff what she knew into us. The first few weeks were filled with lectures that I found hard to follow and reading assignments that I could hardly plow through. I felt lost. I was miserable.
But after three weeks of lectures, we began lab work. Thanks to the alphabet, I was given Peg Whitson as lab partner. Peg was also a sophomore and star of the field hockey team. She loved science, majoring in both biology and chemistry. For me, lectures were painful, and I was hopeless at drawing the diagrams of cross-sections. But in the lab sessions, with a partner who loved this subject and knew it beyond textbook definitions, I began to make some sense of the subject. Sometimes Peg explained things differently, or made it sound more interesting, or maybe botany is kind of like a germ you pass to another by using the same microscope. But looking back I see that I made it through botany because I was able to follow someone. I didn’t ride on her coattails, and she was awfully patient with how slow I could be, but I honestly worked at it. Nevertheless I’m pretty sure that I would NOT have passed the class without the kind of lab partner I had.
Today is traditionally known as Rogation Sunday, the Sunday before the Ascension when all creation is placed in the hands of the Risen Christ, when we pray for the fruitfulness of fields, flocks, herds, and oceans and for our responsibility to be stewards of creation. And with the Gospel reading referring to the intricacies of vine, branch, and fruit as symbolic of our dependence upon Christ, if would be natural for me to dazzle you my botanical prowess.
But more to the point for today is this: I learned more in Botany 101 from the lab than the lectures and readings because my lab partner was really my teacher. After that semester, I don’t think Peg and I ever shared another class. I never had a secret crush on her. While her intelligence could be intimidating—there is no mistaking that I learned from her, and that that learning was made possible because we worked together.
For some people, the scriptural accounts of the Resurrection are power-filled sources of strength and inspiration. The sacred texts about the truth of God’s triumph over death supply what is needed to become faithful, committed disciples.
But there are others of us who rely on experience, faith being lived out in the lab as it were, to give us true understanding and a point of connection. And so often, we are guided in our experience by a spiritual companion—a mentor, friend, confessor or wise-old-bird—who helps us make sense of the Scriptures and the Creeds while leaving an enduring impression on us as we work together, as we walk together.
Baptism means that we are in a working relationship with creation. Each Sunday in this Easter Season, we hear a lesson from the Book the of Acts of the Apostles, not the Book of the Apostles’ Homilies or the Lectures of the Apostles, but the book of Acts, actions of the first Christians, acts were are to build upon.
Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." That image readily makes sense to some people, yet to others is a confusing mystery, needing more than an explanation, homily, or class—it needs to be experienced alongside someone else who knows in their heart what it all means. Our baptismal covenant calls us to use all of our gifts, and all of our weaknesses, and whatever it takes, to make the risen Christ known and experienced. The Covenant calls us into relationship with fellow pilgrims, and with all of creation, that we might share our faith by what we do more often than by what we say. Relating personally to others is central to the mission of this Cathedral. This is the fruit Jesus calls us to produce.
I still remember that rainy spring day when the grades for Botany 101 were finally posted, and I approached the list with all my fingers crossed. The “C” grade next to my name was the best-looking letter I’d ever seen. In case you’re wondering, Peggy got an A, and would have gotten a higher grade if one were possible! [And forgive me for name dropping, but Peggy took her love of science to new heights, literally, and in 2002 logged 184 days in space, most of it spent in the International Space Station. I had a great teacher. No joke...read her official NASA bio.]
The expected result of a semester of study is a fair grade, even a mercifully generous grade. The expected result of baptism is a life filled with connections to the hurting, the poor, the marginalized, the abused, the unforgivable. Such connections are among the sweetest fruit we can ever produce. Together, may our mission rise to new heights.