Excerpts from: "The Christ Code"
5/14/2006
References: John 15:1-8
Do you believe that Jesus fathered a love child? That's the shocking report of a blockbuster novel and movie to be released this week. Yet, that's no big news: Because the church is full of the love children of Jesus!
Jesus did have a love child. No doubt. Love children, actually! But it's not the child, or children that Dan Brown talks about.
- She's sitting right here, at the end of the first row.
- And he's halfway to the back, sitting in the pew.
- Two others are over there, married to each other
You see, YOU are the child of Jesus. Each one of us in Christ is a child of Jesus, with a direct link to the True Vine. This is an ancient and awesome secret, one that has been hidden by the church for far too long.
So what's it like to be part of this family tree?
If you are a branch on the Jesus Vine, you are productive because you are rooted in Jesus. Just as a plant or a tree cannot thrive without a root system that extends deep into the soil, none of us can reach our potential without a strong connection to the Son of God.
- Christ is the one who keeps us from being blown away by the storms of job stress, failure and conflict.
- Christ is the one who offers us "living water" when we are feeling dried out and lifeless, and who nourishes us with his teachings when we are wandering aimlessly along a dangerous path.
- Christ is the one who supports us when we fall, forgives us when we sin, and even breathes new life into us when we are feeling dead inside.
Our rootedness in Christ is what gives us the ability to be truly productive, because no good can come from a branch that is broken, dried out, fallen or dead.
There are three simple things that mark us as coded Christians. The first is this: 1) Stay connected, says Jesus, "because apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
At the same time, branches on the Jesus Vine know that it is better to bunch together than to stand out. The True Vine has always been healthiest when its branches have grown together instead of shooting off in a thousand different directions. Brilliant loners like Robert Langdon may serve as dashing heroes in novels like The Da Vinci Code , but they don't make much of a contribution to a community that is trying to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind (Luke 4:18). To do the work of Christ requires commitment and coordination, not occasional flashes of brilliance and daring individual efforts. To be true disciples, "we need to love one another, just as Jesus has loved us" (John 15:12 ).
2) Stay together, says Jesus, "bear much fruit and become my disciples" (John 15:8). Being a fruitful disciple is always a team sport, not an individual activity.
3) Stay productive . Branches are expected to be united by their fruitfulness, not divided by their distinctive gifts. This is tricky, because the Bible speaks elsewhere of the truly wondrous variety of gifts that we are given by God (1 Corinthians 12). But keep in mind that this diversity of talents is never supposed to fracture our fundamental unity as disciples of Christ. Our job is not simply to use our talents, it is to be fruitful - remembering that God removes every branch "that bears no fruit" (John 15:2). Our mission is not simply to enjoy our status as gifted people, it is to live as disciples of Christ - keeping in mind that whoever does not abide in him
"is thrown away like a branch and withers" (v. 6).
As Martin Luther King said so well, "Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." Greatness comes through graceful, loving service - not through the exercise of impressive intellectual gifts.
4) Focus on fruitfulness, says Jesus. "I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (v. 16).
In a surprising way, one of the characters in The Da Vinci Code actually serves as a warning to us about the danger of becoming disconnected from the Jesus Vine. A man named Silas is orphaned as a young man, falls into a life of crime, and spends time in prison. After escaping, he finds refuge with a young Spanish priest who goes on to become the head of a strict Catholic group called Opus Dei. Under this priest's guidance, Silas is given a mission that is said to be critical to saving the true Word of God - a mission that involves murdering four leaders of a group called the Priory of Sion, in pursuit of a secret "keystone." Silas commits these crimes reluctantly, knowing that murder is a sin, but he carries out his mission because he is told that his actions will save the Catholic Church. In the end, he learns that he has been duped, and he goes from being a menacing character to a truly tragic figure.
The message for us?
- Stay connected to Jesus. We have no other master.
- Stay together, in the community of faith. Don't take off on an isolated, individualistic mission from God.
- Stay productive.
- Focus on fruitfulness, and on graceful, loving service.
That's the Christ Code. Nothing secret about it.
Sources:
O'Day, Gail. "The Gospel of John." The New Interpreter's Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995). 760-761.
The Da Vinci Code - Official Web site of Dan Brown. danbrown.com.
Welborn, Amy. " The Da Vinci Code : The facts behind the fiction." Catholic Educator's Resource Center catholiceducation.org.
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