Acts 9: 26-31; 1 Jn 3: 18-24; Jn 15: 1-8
The
Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde is a touching short story. The
first character is a boy. This boy is sad because a girl promised to dance
with him on condition that he brought her red roses, but he did not find any
red rose; there were white roses and yellow roses.
A Nightingale understood the feeling of the Student started to fly until
she saw a Rose-tree. She told him to give her a red rose, and she promised, in
exchange, to sing her sweetest song, but the Rose-tree told her that the winter
had chilled his veins and the frost had nipped his buds, so he could not give
her a red rose.
The Rose-tree gave her a solution: he told her that if she wanted a red rose, she had to build it out of music by moonlight and stain it with her own heart's blood. She had to sing to the Rose-tree with her breast against a thorn; the thorn would pierce her heart and her life-blood would flow into the Rose-tree veins.
At night, the Nightingale went to the Rose-tree and set her breast against the thorn. She sang all night long. She pressed closer and closer against the thorn until the thorn finally touched her heart and she felt a fierce pang of pain. The
more she pressed herself against the rose tree the stronger was the flow of her energy into the rose. With that life energy the rose produced a red flower.Through the parable of the vine and branches Jesus tells us that when we stand united with Jesus His life energy will flow into us.
There are numerous Old
Testament passages which refer to Israel as a vine "The vineyard of the
Lord is the house of Israel," sings the prophet Isaiah in his song of
the Vineyard (Is 5:1-7). "Yet I planted you a choice vine" is
God's message to Israel through Jeremiah (Jer 2:21). "Israel is a
luxuriant vine," says Hosea (Hos 10:1). The vine had become the symbol
of nation of Israel. It was the emblem on the coins of the Maccabees. One of
the glories of the Temple was the great golden vine upon the front of the Holy
Place. The vine was part and parcel of Jewish imagery and the very symbol of
Israel.
The vine was grown all
over in Palestine. Therefore it was easy for the listeners to
understand what Jesus was speaking about. The vine grows luxuriantly and it requires
drastic pruning. A young vine is not allowed to bear fruit for the first three
years and each year it is cut drastically back to develop and conserve it
life and energy. Two kinds of branches grow in vine. One that bears
fruit and one that does not. The branches that do not bear fruit are pruned
back so that they will not drain away the plants strength.
Jesus says that his
followers are like that. Some of them are lovely fruit bearing branches;
others are useless because they bear no fruit. In order to make us useful
branches constant pruning is required.
There are many things in
us that separate us from Jesus. The first and foremost thing that stands as
hindrance to our submission to Jesus is our "ego".
When a child is born he is
without any knowledge, any consciousness of his own self. The first thing he
becomes aware of is not himself; the first thing he becomes aware of is the
other. It is natural, because the eyes open outwards, the hands touch others,
the ears listen to others, the tongue tastes food and the nose smells the
outside. All these senses open outwards. But, by and by, he becomes aware of
himself. He builds up a false bubble around him. There he adds all his
achievements, all his titles, all the false humility, all the put on piety and
whatever he feels will comfort him.
It happened once:
A fakir, a beggar, was praying in a mosque, just
early in the morning when it was still dark. It was a certain religious day for
Mohammedians, and he was praying, and he was saying, "I am nobody. I am
the poorest of the poor, the greatest sinner of sinners."
Suddenly there was one more person who was praying.
He was the emperor of that country, and he was not aware that there was
somebody else there who was praying - it was dark, and the emperor was also
saying:
"I am nobody. I am nothing. I am just empty, a
beggar at our door." When he heard that somebody else was saying the same
thing, he said, "Stop! Who is trying to overtake me? Who are you? How dare
you say before the emperor that you are nobody when he is saying that he is
nobody?"
This is how the ego goes. It is so subtle. Its ways
are so subtle and cunning; you have to be very, very alert, only then will you
see it.
It will turn you into a useless branch that will
never produce any fruit. So, prune it; identify and cut it off.
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is
about creating yourself,” wrote George Bernard Shaw. To create ourselves
we have to attach ourselves to Jesus, so that his life energy will flow
into us.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that
ever has." These are the words of Margret Mead. Today Jesus wants us to be
one of the committed citizens, that He may prune us; change us
and fill us with his energy, to create the world that he wants.
Let us keep our ego, out titles, our
achievements, our failures, our aspirations and all that may hamper our
relation with Jesus away, and submit to Him; remain attached to Him and be
his instruments in today's world.
Satish