Trellis

In the spring our kitchen counter is often filled with small tomato vines. This past summer we had a go with the gigantic heirlooms and several of the toms variety. I prefer the latter. When they get with it we can barely keep up. They seem to ripen right before our eyes, hundreds of this grape-sized fruit. And that raises a problem. There is more fruit than the vine can bear. A tomato vine needs a vinedresser, a gardener.

Around each vine my wife places a trellis. As the vine grows she lifts the tiny offshoots and helps train them around the structure. As they grow she adds a bit of string to tie them loosely to the trellis. Without these supports and her tending, the vine would collapse and much of the fruit would be lost.
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And that takes us back to the Greek word we had a peek at yesterday: αἴρω (ī’-rō). It has been translated, curiously I believe, as “cut off.” And, it has been translated, less forcefully, as “take away.” And yet, the Greek supports, in this case, and with its usage elsewhere in the New Testament: to raise up, to elevate, to lift up. Tomato vines and grape vines share the similarity of needing support, of a need to be attended to. A vine that is unfruitful needs a bit of help to become fruitful. It needs to be lifted up. I’m not sure about you, but I would much prefer to be lifted up than cut off. Actually, I’m sure about you as well…

Right now we’re swirling in the land of imagery. We understand that a grapevine produces a grape and a tomato vine a tomato. Even a agricultural novice such as myself understands that much. But what Jesus is driving at is the fruitfulness of his followers. And what, pray tell, is that? Before we can explore the full meaning of Jesus’ horticultural homily, we need to appreciate heaven’s definition of fruitfulness. It is not limited to one fruit. It is a virtual Garden of Eden in its variety and reach.