Stanley Fish is a university professor who writes a regular op-ed column for the New York Times.  This week, his subject was a book by a British literary critic, Terry Eagleton – Reason, Faith and Revolution.  Although Eagleton does not claim to be Christian (at least, in his book), he takes to task recent challenges to belief in God from atheists Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins.

            I confess I haven’t read any of their books, but, according to Fish, Eagleton claims that science, reason, capitalism and liberalism hold their own assumptions, their own presuppositions – their own beginning points of faith, as it were; that these human endeavors protect the status quo rather than serve as vehicles for change; and that while science, technology and our economic system undeniably provide us various comforts and pleasures, they are, in the end, superficial and do not address deeper questions about human existence.

            Religion has sometimes been a less than positive force in the world, and, I would say, also has been known to protect the status quo, while resisting meaningful change.  Certainly science also asks questions about human life and existence, but there are some questions that science, by its very nature, is unable to ask.  What is the ultimate source and the ultimate end of the universe?  Does human life have meaning and direction beyond our own understanding?  What is the best way to live life on our planet?  Is there hope for change beyond what the human mind can imagine and what human effort can attain?

            These are questions that express human longing and feed the human soul.  “We do not live by bread alone,” Moses tells us, “but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

            The image in today’s gospel lesson also addresses this hunger.  It is the image of the vine.  “I am the vine and you are the branches,” Jesus tells his disciples.  It is only through the vine that we receive the nourishment that we need.  It is in staying connected to Jesus that we are deeply fed.  But this nourishment is not merely for our own good.  It is for the good of the world.  It is not for our own enjoyment.  It is for the purpose of bearing fruit. 

            “I am the vine and the Father is the vinedresser,” Jesus says.  What does the vinedresser do?  The vinedresser cuts off branches that aren’t bearing fruit.  Why?  Because they are using up nourishment without producing fruit.  And that is what the vinedresser wants.  The vinedresser wants to produce more fruit.  That is also the reason that the vinedresser cuts back the fruit bearing branches – so more and more of the nourishment will go to producing fruit.

            How is it that we produce fruit?  First of all, Jesus tells us to abide.  There is nothing we really do on our own except to stay with him.  Second, it is to be pruned.  We do not produce fruit by our own effort.  We don’t even produce fruit by trying harder.  The fruit is produced naturally.  The work that God does is to cut us back.  This is God’s way of helping us focus on what is most important.

How do we do this?  We do this through the word.  It is the word that feeds us and keeps us connected to Jesus.  It is the word that prunes us and helps us to let go of what is inessential and to focus on what is truly important.  “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  This is what Moses says.  This truth Jesus also cites in the wilderness when the Tempter tries to lure him away from his greater mission. 

            This week I heard an interview on podcast with another university professor.  Wangari Maathai teaches at the University of Nairobi in Kenya .  She won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her on the environment in Africa .  She founded the Green Belt Movement, which empowers women to improve their lives and conserve the environment by planting trees.

            After having doing graduate work in biology in this country and returning to her own country to teach, she attended the 1975 United Nations Conference on Women in Mexico .  Her intention was to talk about the status and treatment of women at the university.  What captivated her, though, was the stories of rural women.  Her concerns about discrimination seemed very small compared to theirs – potable water, available food, energy (firewood), no income.  Many of these women came from the same highlands in Africa where she grew up.  The work of commercial agriculture was destroying trees.  There was massive erosion and leaching of chemicals into the water.  So, she said to the rural women in her country, “Let’s plant trees.”  Trees would prevent soil erosion.  Trees would provide firewood for energy.  Fruit trees would provide one source of food.  Trees could even be sold for income.

            In the last 30 years, Wangari Maathai has helped women in her country and in 21 others to plant 40 million trees.  These trees have provided all these things and helped hold back the desertification of the land.  Who were the people who inspired her?  Wangari Maathai’s parents had converted to Christianity from the local religion.  When she was growing up, they sent her to a Catholic school.  There she met nuns.  They were beautiful, young women, but also somewhat strange to her.  Why did they leave their country? she wondered.  Why did they not have families?  Of course, they wanted to serve Jesus.   We are so used to doing things that benefit us.  We ask, “What tangible good do I get out of it?”  But these nuns were not doing this for themselves.  They were doing it for others.  They are working and living for something greater.  That is what inspired Wangari Maathai.

            And you could say that Wangari Maathai and her work with women, her work with the environment, was one of the fruits that they bore.  It was not something they specifically intended.  It was not a goal they worked for.  But it was a fruit nonetheless that came from their work, because they were willing to serve others, not for their own sake, but for the sake of Jesus.

            We all have people in our lives who have fed us and nurtured us and make sacrifices for our sake.  Mothers are a wonderful example of this, but there are others as well.  Teachers, neighbors, coaches, scout leaders, police officers, firefighters – and many more!  They are those who set aside their own needs and their own goals for a greater good and a greater goal. 

            We can be inspired by them.  And we can be inspired by Jesus.  Even more, we are fed by Jesus.  For I am the vine, Jesus says.  You are the branches.  Our lives are for bearing fruit for the good of the world and the glory of God!