John 15:1-8
“Connected to God: Everything is A Gift”
Preached Sunday, October 18, 2026
There is a joke that is something like, “How do you know if someone studied abroad in college?...They won’t stop telling you about it.” And well, I did study abroad in college. I studied at Kyoto Gaidai University for a semester. By many accounts, this was an amazing experience - a fun experience - a cool experience - a once in a lifetime experience - and one I am deeply grateful for. It was also for me, a Wilderness experience.
During those months abroad, I experienced deep homesickness. I knew in my head that I should be making the most of the incredible opportunity, but in my heart and my body, I had an ache that I couldn’t shake. I worried deeply about my family at home. I missed my husband - then boyfriend. For those who have experienced homesickness, it’s a longing to be somewhere else, somewhere comfortable, somewhere with those you love that lodges deep inside of you and fills you with worry and loneliness - a constant awareness that you are not where you believe you belong.
It is in this homesick wilderness that I looked for an oasis and I found it in the English speaking community at St. Agnes Anglican Church. And when I say I found it - I never would have found it if it had not been for the fellow exchange student, a Buddhist who spoke much better Japanese than me, that not only helped me find the church online but traveled to it with me that first day - and then killed an hour, waiting around outside the church, for service to be over - to make sure I knew the route back to the dorm. He obviously was uncomfortable with the church and had some baggage - but his kindness and generosity was a gift from God that led me to a community that connected me to God’s goodness and provision during a wilderness time in my life. Every week I gathered in community, every week I heard the Word of God, out of the mouth of the priest and the Scriptures and from the mouths of my fellow worshippers as we did conversation sermons, every week I received the bread and the cup, every week I was invited to coffee fellowship where the welcome and hospitality from the communion table was extended. During this wilderness time in my life, I learned a lot about myself, about God, and my dependence upon God - mainly that I needed God. I need community. I needed Holy Communion and the Scriptures. I needed kindness and generosity - from those who shared my beliefs and those who didn’t. That I was not meant to be a lone person. I was not meant to be independent. I was meant to live in community while abiding in and relying on God.
Whether you’ve experienced homesickness or studied abroad - this is something we can all admit we struggle with - the idea of being dependent on others and on God. Our culture celebrates independence that includes not being dependent on anyone but me, myself, and I. Take for example the American icon of the cowboy - the lone ranger, going from town to town - nothing but himself and his horse, not relying on anybody and saving the day. Or consider the phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” - this is the idea - and I would say myth - of the self-made man. Who achieved success with absolutely no one’s help - which is often far from the truth, disregarding the many people and their gifts, who guide each person to where they are today.
To say, “I am dependent upon God and others” is often seen as a mark of shame in our country and culture - think of the insults we hurl at each other about handouts and the welfare state - or even how we often want people to prove they are “deserving” of help before they receive charity. We could learn much from Native American ideology, like this quote attributed to Chief Seattle: "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."
God did not create us to be independent beings - God created each of us as unique, special, and beloved - yes! And, that does not mean that we are meant to stand on our own. Our Triune God is Divine Relationship - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit - in perfect relationship with one another - and God invites us into that relationship - as individuals and as an interconnected community.
Because the danger is - when we lose sight of our dependence on God or one another - we start to take the people who support us, the gifts of community, the presence of God, and the Goodness of God in our lives - we take it for granted. We lose sight of all that is a gift and thus not only lose sight of gratitude but miss how God acts in our lives, we become blind to God’s goodness, presence, and gifts. We may even falsely label the provision of God and the support of community as things that we ourselves have achieved - and this we can trick ourselves into thinking we owe nothing to God and to one another. Or, on the other hand, we may be in a wilderness season, and we are afraid to ask for help because we’re afraid of being seen as weak, in need, or reliant - and thus we miss out on the goodness of community and the chance to be blessed by another.
Which brings us to the wisdom from Deuteronomy this morning - don’t forget what God has done for you. The Israelites are on a threshold - they are moving from their wilderness wandering to the promised land.. Moses tells the people, when all is going well, when you no longer know hunger or need, when you are living in days of comfort, don’t forget what God did for you in the wilderness. “Then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness,experience of wandering the desert and moving into settled abundance in the promised land.” Moses is saying - don’t trick yourself into thinking that you got here all on your own. You didn’t pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You’re not self-made people. “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God…” In essence, Moses is saying to the Israelites - don’t fool yourself, don’t lie to yourself - remember God and that all you have been given is a gift. For it is only out of recognizing that all we have is a gift from God that we can respond how God asks us to respond - to God and to one another, with gratitude, with generosity, with mutual dependence that weaves us together and forms community.
Now, always a disclaimer - this passage from Deuteronomy is not saying that wealth and faith in God are directly tied together. It is not what we call the Prosperity Gospel, a lie that says if we have the “right” faith then we will have wealth and health. Instead this is a recognition that none of us are without God’s gifts in our lives. Things like “ability, energy, opportunity, community, land, and wisdom are gifts before they become accomplishments.” As Wesleyans, we call this God’s prevenient grace. It means the grace that comes before - before we even know there is grace to be had. From the moment we first take breath - and even before - God is already and always at work in our lives - offering us love, offering us relationship, offering as grace, at work so we may be the incredible, unique, loving people that we each were created to be. No one stands alone in their gifts and accomplishments - God is always at work behind the scene whether we recognize it or not. This text calls us to humility, gratitude, and recognition of dependence upon God - even at times when all is well.
Now…I feel the need to pause here and ask. Is all well in our lives now? That’s a complicated question, isn’t it? We all have varying levels of need in our lives - need for healing or medical care. Need for groceries. Need for friendships and relationships. Need for safety and security. Need for… fill in the blank here. We also, by varying degrees, live lives of abundance - by simply the fact of the country we live in. That we have roofs over our heads. That many of us have cars that we drove here today. And so much more… We are all complex people with complex lives and needs. Seasons of wilderness and seasons of abundance are not always so clearly delineated. They overlap and intermix in shades of gray - that is just life.
Over the past year, a handful of people in our congregation attended workshops held by the East Ohio Conference called “Is Your Church Property a Blessing or a Burden?” The resounding answer for us is - yes! It’s both at the same time.
This church building is a gift and a blessing - from those who came before us, who gave so much, to create this beautiful and meaningful space for a worshipping community for decades to come. You know - the oldest part of this church building is getting closer to 100 than not - 86 years old.
We who have been given this space have done well to make sure this space is also a gift to others. Yes, we have the sanctuary that holds a worshipping community, bound together by ties of love for God and for each other. We also have sought to expand the gift to our wider community, our neighbors:
Here people have found and maintained sobriety;
Here young leaders have been shaped by Scouting ministries;
Here people have found friendships after divorce and being widowed;
Here children have been cared for, taught their ABCs and 123s, and had God’s love shared with them;
Here a community has come together to practice their democratic right to vote;
Here adults have gathered to play cards, to dance, to know that life continues on;
Here concerts and recitals have been held, the gift of music widely shared;
Here those celebrating a new marriage, and those grieving a death, have found places to gather…
Here…so much has happened. Many of you know the stories better than me. We have sought to not just be a church building for only those who worship here - but a community space where many people may gather and find a safe and welcoming place to be.
And yet we also know that buildings can be a burden. There is always something wrong in a building this old - unstable bell towers, improperly installed roofs, water damaged organ pipes, etc, etc - but this is a sermon not a Trustee meeting agenda so I won’t go on.
The thing is - It can be both at the same time, a burden and a blessing. And so at this juncture in the life of the church, as we seek to balance the burden of upkeep with the gift of the blessing of the space - the questions we are asking now are: How do we utilize what we have, sustain the gift and blessing of this building…to expand our reach? To partner with more non-profits? To share space in our building? To be a blessing not just to those who claim membership in this worshipping community but all of our neighbors?
We don’t have all the answers yet - or even all the questions - but the conversation is leaning away from thinking we can support ourselves all by ourselves - and leaning towards extending the blessing, realizing we are stronger together, and the future is one that needs to be defined by even further partnerships. We need to become even more dependent - on God, on one another, on our wider community.
Whether you’ve experienced homesickness or studied abroad - this is something we can all admit we struggle with - the idea of being dependent on others and on God. Our culture celebrates independence that includes not being dependent on anyone but me, myself, and I. Take for example the American icon of the cowboy - the lone ranger, going from town to town - nothing but himself and his horse, not relying on anybody and saving the day. Or consider the phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” - this is the idea - and I would say myth - of the self-made man. Who achieved success with absolutely no one’s help - which is often far from the truth, disregarding the many people and their gifts, who guide each person to where they are today.
To say, “I am dependent upon God and others” is often seen as a mark of shame in our country and culture - think of the insults we hurl at each other about handouts and the welfare state - or even how we often want people to prove they are “deserving” of help before they receive charity. We could learn much from Native American ideology, like this quote attributed to Chief Seattle: "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."
God did not create us to be independent beings - God created each of us as unique, special, and beloved - yes! And, that does not mean that we are meant to stand on our own. Our Triune God is Divine Relationship - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit - in perfect relationship with one another - and God invites us into that relationship - as individuals and as an interconnected community.
Because the danger is - when we lose sight of our dependence on God or one another - we start to take the people who support us, the gifts of community, the presence of God, and the Goodness of God in our lives - we take it for granted. We lose sight of all that is a gift and thus not only lose sight of gratitude but miss how God acts in our lives, we become blind to God’s goodness, presence, and gifts. We may even falsely label the provision of God and the support of community as things that we ourselves have achieved - and this we can trick ourselves into thinking we owe nothing to God and to one another. Or, on the other hand, we may be in a wilderness season, and we are afraid to ask for help because we’re afraid of being seen as weak, in need, or reliant - and thus we miss out on the goodness of community and the chance to be blessed by another.
Which brings us to the wisdom from Deuteronomy this morning - don’t forget what God has done for you. The Israelites are on a threshold - they are moving from their wilderness wandering to the promised land.. Moses tells the people, when all is going well, when you no longer know hunger or need, when you are living in days of comfort, don’t forget what God did for you in the wilderness. “Then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness,experience of wandering the desert and moving into settled abundance in the promised land.” Moses is saying - don’t trick yourself into thinking that you got here all on your own. You didn’t pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You’re not self-made people. “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God…” In essence, Moses is saying to the Israelites - don’t fool yourself, don’t lie to yourself - remember God and that all you have been given is a gift. For it is only out of recognizing that all we have is a gift from God that we can respond how God asks us to respond - to God and to one another, with gratitude, with generosity, with mutual dependence that weaves us together and forms community.
Now, always a disclaimer - this passage from Deuteronomy is not saying that wealth and faith in God are directly tied together. It is not what we call the Prosperity Gospel, a lie that says if we have the “right” faith then we will have wealth and health. Instead this is a recognition that none of us are without God’s gifts in our lives. Things like “ability, energy, opportunity, community, land, and wisdom are gifts before they become accomplishments.” As Wesleyans, we call this God’s prevenient grace. It means the grace that comes before - before we even know there is grace to be had. From the moment we first take breath - and even before - God is already and always at work in our lives - offering us love, offering us relationship, offering as grace, at work so we may be the incredible, unique, loving people that we each were created to be. No one stands alone in their gifts and accomplishments - God is always at work behind the scene whether we recognize it or not. This text calls us to humility, gratitude, and recognition of dependence upon God - even at times when all is well.
Now…I feel the need to pause here and ask. Is all well in our lives now? That’s a complicated question, isn’t it? We all have varying levels of need in our lives - need for healing or medical care. Need for groceries. Need for friendships and relationships. Need for safety and security. Need for… fill in the blank here. We also, by varying degrees, live lives of abundance - by simply the fact of the country we live in. That we have roofs over our heads. That many of us have cars that we drove here today. And so much more… We are all complex people with complex lives and needs. Seasons of wilderness and seasons of abundance are not always so clearly delineated. They overlap and intermix in shades of gray - that is just life.
Over the past year, a handful of people in our congregation attended workshops held by the East Ohio Conference called “Is Your Church Property a Blessing or a Burden?” The resounding answer for us is - yes! It’s both at the same time.
This church building is a gift and a blessing - from those who came before us, who gave so much, to create this beautiful and meaningful space for a worshipping community for decades to come. You know - the oldest part of this church building is getting closer to 100 than not - 86 years old.
We who have been given this space have done well to make sure this space is also a gift to others. Yes, we have the sanctuary that holds a worshipping community, bound together by ties of love for God and for each other. We also have sought to expand the gift to our wider community, our neighbors:
Here people have found and maintained sobriety;
Here young leaders have been shaped by Scouting ministries;
Here people have found friendships after divorce and being widowed;
Here children have been cared for, taught their ABCs and 123s, and had God’s love shared with them;
Here a community has come together to practice their democratic right to vote;
Here adults have gathered to play cards, to dance, to know that life continues on;
Here concerts and recitals have been held, the gift of music widely shared;
Here those celebrating a new marriage, and those grieving a death, have found places to gather…
Here…so much has happened. Many of you know the stories better than me. We have sought to not just be a church building for only those who worship here - but a community space where many people may gather and find a safe and welcoming place to be.
And yet we also know that buildings can be a burden. There is always something wrong in a building this old - unstable bell towers, improperly installed roofs, water damaged organ pipes, etc, etc - but this is a sermon not a Trustee meeting agenda so I won’t go on.
The thing is - It can be both at the same time, a burden and a blessing. And so at this juncture in the life of the church, as we seek to balance the burden of upkeep with the gift of the blessing of the space - the questions we are asking now are: How do we utilize what we have, sustain the gift and blessing of this building…to expand our reach? To partner with more non-profits? To share space in our building? To be a blessing not just to those who claim membership in this worshipping community but all of our neighbors?
We don’t have all the answers yet - or even all the questions - but the conversation is leaning away from thinking we can support ourselves all by ourselves - and leaning towards extending the blessing, realizing we are stronger together, and the future is one that needs to be defined by even further partnerships. We need to become even more dependent - on God, on one another, on our wider community.
In our church and in our community, the seasons of wilderness and the seasons of abundant blessing…often overlap.
So let’s look back at Scripture again - if Moses in Deuteronomy calls us to remember God’s goodness towards us - Jesus in John calls us to remain in God’s goodness and by remaining in God’s goodness - bear fruit to be a continued blessing to one another. A branch does not bear fruit all on its own - it bears fruit by being connected to the vine - to which many branches are connected. Thus we must abide in the vine to bear fruit - abide is not a passive state for us. I would say it is viewing our presence with and within Christ as our true home, a deep sense of trust of God and God’s goodness, a dwelling in and upon God’s Word, God’s presence in our lives, a steady gratitude for the gifts of God. When we abide in God - we develop gratitude for God’s presence, God’s goodness, God’s gifts - and thus we bear fruit - fruit of gratitude, of generosity - fruit that we share with the whole community that we are interwoven with - branches connected to the same vine.
Together these two Scriptures remind us to look at how God has been good to us - and then cause ourselves to ask - and how can those blessings bear fruit for the love of God and love of neighbor as self? The answer is so often found in community and dependence - mutual support, sharing, generosity - all stemming from gratitude for God's gifts.
I’d like to invite you to continue to consider and live into this message over the next week - look for a moment each day to reflect - I personally like the time in which I am brushing my teeth in the evening - but you can pick a time that is right for you.
Every day “name [one to] three gifts you received but did not create: a relationship, ability, opportunity, moment of [grace or] mercy, or an experience of belonging.” Take a moment to reflect on the day, the week, or even your whole life and name them - and then ask yourself, in light of those gifts, “what is my next faithful response?” You don’t have to have the answer right then that very moment - or you might be stuck brushing your teeth forever - and - it does open ourselves up to asking the question of how we faithfully respond in light of all that we’ve received.
Because imagine a world - of even just a community, a congregation - where everyone knew that they were dependent on one another. Where we were not afraid to ask for help. Where we are not afraid to offer help. Where we are freed to be generous, to support one another, to lift one another up - and know that we too would be cared for and supported. Where joys are freely shared. Where burdens are mutually carried. And all of this is done grounded in the goodness of God who is present in every moment of our lives, offering us so much to be thankful for.
So let’s look back at Scripture again - if Moses in Deuteronomy calls us to remember God’s goodness towards us - Jesus in John calls us to remain in God’s goodness and by remaining in God’s goodness - bear fruit to be a continued blessing to one another. A branch does not bear fruit all on its own - it bears fruit by being connected to the vine - to which many branches are connected. Thus we must abide in the vine to bear fruit - abide is not a passive state for us. I would say it is viewing our presence with and within Christ as our true home, a deep sense of trust of God and God’s goodness, a dwelling in and upon God’s Word, God’s presence in our lives, a steady gratitude for the gifts of God. When we abide in God - we develop gratitude for God’s presence, God’s goodness, God’s gifts - and thus we bear fruit - fruit of gratitude, of generosity - fruit that we share with the whole community that we are interwoven with - branches connected to the same vine.
Together these two Scriptures remind us to look at how God has been good to us - and then cause ourselves to ask - and how can those blessings bear fruit for the love of God and love of neighbor as self? The answer is so often found in community and dependence - mutual support, sharing, generosity - all stemming from gratitude for God's gifts.
I’d like to invite you to continue to consider and live into this message over the next week - look for a moment each day to reflect - I personally like the time in which I am brushing my teeth in the evening - but you can pick a time that is right for you.
Every day “name [one to] three gifts you received but did not create: a relationship, ability, opportunity, moment of [grace or] mercy, or an experience of belonging.” Take a moment to reflect on the day, the week, or even your whole life and name them - and then ask yourself, in light of those gifts, “what is my next faithful response?” You don’t have to have the answer right then that very moment - or you might be stuck brushing your teeth forever - and - it does open ourselves up to asking the question of how we faithfully respond in light of all that we’ve received.
Because imagine a world - of even just a community, a congregation - where everyone knew that they were dependent on one another. Where we were not afraid to ask for help. Where we are not afraid to offer help. Where we are freed to be generous, to support one another, to lift one another up - and know that we too would be cared for and supported. Where joys are freely shared. Where burdens are mutually carried. And all of this is done grounded in the goodness of God who is present in every moment of our lives, offering us so much to be thankful for.
May it be so. Amen.
