Brief synopsis of the readings: The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles comes to us shortly after the conversion of Saul (Paul) from Pharisee to a follower of Jesus. Previous to his conversion he persecuted Jesus’ followers with great vigor. Here he comes to Jerusalem with the expectation of joining the disciples but they were fearful of him. One of them, Barnabas, believes him and introduces him to the community. Saul (Paul) preached fearlessly but when he spoke with the Hellenists (Greeks) they decided to kill him. The disciples took him out of Jerusalem for his protection and took him to Tarsus. John’s Gospel has Jesus speaking to his disciples. He describes himself as the true vine and his disciples the branches. Using this analogy he tells them that branches that bear no fruit are pruned away and burned. The fact that they are still there is proof that they have not been pruned. He reminds them that the branch cannot bear fruit unless it is connected to the vine.

Last week John used images of sheep and shepherds to describe the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. Today he uses images of vines and branches. To be frank I am grateful for this because while I know next to nothing about gardening, I at least know people who do.

Whether you garden for pleasure or for livelihood, you know that gardening combines equal measures of effort and patience. Much is beyond your control (as we who are living with the drought here in California are only too aware) but you can’t just plant seeds and wait for fruit to come.

Gardeners prune branches for two reasons. The first is aesthetic: nobody wants a garden that looks overgrown. If you live in the southern United States you are aware of kudzu, a plant that will, when planted, take over entire fields, hillsides, fences, and even houses. Here in California we have the same situation with ice plant. Ice plant doesn’t burn well and is a good barrier to prevent wildfires, but once in place it just doesn’t know when to quit. The second reason, however, is more important. If you are a branch and your job is to produce fruit, you are limited in the amount of nutrition you receive from the vine. If the vine has fewer branches it can give more nutrition than if it has many branches.

This may seem obvious, but the consequences are critically important. As disciples of Jesus, how do we know which branches are fruitful and which are a waste of nutrition?

In some ways this is the heart of the question in Acts. The early disciples were grappling with the question of who was on their side and who wasn’t. At first blush it appears that Saul would not be a good candidate under any circumstances.

OK, I need to provide some explanation here. Some characters in the Bible change their names after life changing events. It’s commonly believed that Saul became Paul after his conversion, but unfortunately it’s not true. This reading comes after his conversion but he’s still called Saul. Four chapters after this Saul becomes Paul, with no apparent reason. We have no idea why his name changed.

In any case Saul/Paul posed a quandary for the disciples: how can they trust him? He devoted his life to persecuting followers of Jesus when he had an experience that convinced him that Jesus was the real deal. He came away from this experience with the same devotion and zeal, but a different direction. He decided to devote the rest of his life to proclaiming that Jesus was indeed the Redeemer. But his first job was to convince those he used to persecute that he was now one of them.

For reasons that none of us understand, he had a sponsor. Barnabas, one of the disciples, heard his story and believed him. Barnabas decided that Saul/Paul was a branch that was trustworthy, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, and convinced the other disciples that they should believe him. Barnabas saw something that everyone else missed: this guy has both the determination and the moral compass to advance our cause.

Barnabas was right and we are all better off for that. It’s hard to imagine what we would be as a Church without Saul/Paul. It took the inspiration of Barnabas to make us what we are.

And so today we continue the role of Barnabas. As a worldwide Church of a billion members scattered all over the world we struggle on the continuum of doctrine vs. hospitality. We need to stay true to our beliefs while being a community that welcomes those who come from different experiences.

My friend Lynn describes the Church this way: Here Comes Everyone! But if we’re in the business of grafting branches onto existing vines (as evangelization calls us to do), how do we know which branches will be fruitful? When Saul/Paul wanted to be grafted most disciples looked on this with fear. Only Barnabas looked on him with hope, and he was right.

I’m not alone in this belief but I’m a big fan of Pope Francis. His predecessor operated on the belief that our Church required purity even if that meant a smaller Church. Our current leader, more like Barnabas, sees something in those who wish to join us. He understands that when the vine decides which branches to invest in, he chooses branches that nobody else would choose.

And so who are the branches we see that others don’t? As disciples we are often called to advocate for those nobody else sees. Maybe it’s the coworker who is disliked but just needs some encouragement. Maybe it’s the guy in the next pew doesn’t smell good but doesn’t have access to a shower. Maybe it’s the neighbor who seems angry but is really frightened and lonely.

Maybe our role as followers of Jesus calls us to welcome all the other branches and trust that the vine has an unlimited amount of nutrition. When we think of what it means to belong to a religious tradition we often think about it in terms of who we include and who we exclude. But should we? Maybe we’re called to be follow Pope Francis and celebrate the opportunity to be Barnabas.