Rebooting for Life
John 15: 1-11
Rev. Richard C. Hulbert
St Paul’s United Methodist Church
Helena, Montana
April 26, 2015
Today’s scripture is about the human capacity for maintaining real-time connectivity with the divine.
As you probably well know, this passage that John placed in Jesus’ mouth about the vine and the
branches occurs when Jesus is telling his disciples he will soon depart and will no longer be with them
as he is now. The followers who have come to depend on him are shocked. How will we go on without
you? Jesus says well I won’t be with you as we are together now, but I will be with you. Now this is
shocking. How can this possibly be? We can remain in contact with someone who is no longer
physically alive?
First let me say that I think we are wired for connectivity with others who are unseen.
Bill Gates said:
I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created.
Computers are as much a part of human life today as is the automobile, a refrigerator, or a television. In fact the
computer, in addition to being necessary in its own right, has revolutionized the engineering of most other
things we consider necessary. Computer technology has so revolutionized human life and our ability to preserve
the environment, that one must assume it is a significant step in the evolution of life itself.
We humans have managed to build a machine – called a computer – that enables us to establish and maintain
real-time connectivity with people who are not physically present with us. Connecting with others who are not
in our physical proximity is such a driving force in the evolution of our society that one can quickly conclude that
we must be “wired for connectivity”. Connectivity with persons from whom we are separated physically is a
part of our genetic makeup, and that we are driven to create increasingly sophisticated means of realizing this
human capacity.
We go to great lengths to stay connected to people who are not in our space. Some examples
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I recently read a brief biography of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain. In his pursuit of the love of his life,
Olivia, he wrote 180 letters to her just in the month of February 1870.
A couple of weeks ago I visited my 92 year old Mother in Florida and she shared with me long kept letters
she had written to her mother about all the preparations she was making for the birth of her first child –
which happened to be me. She even included in her letters hand drawn and colored pictures of how the
nursery looks. Her mother was thousands of miles away but it was very important to keep connected.
The excitement in her life could only be enjoyed by connecting with others.
In the months leading up to our marriage, my wife and I each ran up huge long distance phone bills
between Helena and Atlanta in order to stay connected.
Today Facebook and Twitter have further mechanized our connectivity with others to the extent
that we can remain connected with hundreds of people all at once, all over the planet, albeit
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rather impersonally, for a monthly connection fee. In 2014 Facebook had about 1.3 billion
active users.
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It is said that today more than 100 billion emails are sent and received each day; 6 billion text messages.
While these are evidence of our drive to remain connected to those who do not share our physical space, we
now have a glimpse of scientific proof that we are wired for connectivity. Advances in quantum physics are
beginning to demonstrate scientifically how we are wired for connectivity. Observations of sub atomic particles
reveal they are constantly in motion in relation to each other. More amazing, quantum physics demonstrates
that particles that are not in close proximity can actually affect the behavior of each other. In this amazing
scientific field of study, we see how connectivity with those who do not share our space is built into the behavior
of the sub atomic particles that combine to form life, including the human being.
Proximity has lost all significance in today’s real-time connected world. We don’t know how this wireless stuff
work, nor do we care. It happens. It is miraculous. Our only challenge is that it happens faster and faster. We
say “give us the better iPhone” and “my computer is too slow”. We look forward to the day when all we have to
do is think about someone and we immediately get a message back.
Our dependence on the tools for connectivity with those who do not share our physical space is so complete
that when the electronic connection fails, we are lost. Among the crises that humans face on a daily basis is the
message on our computer screen or handheld screen is “connection to the internet failed”, or “cannot connect
to the internet at this time, please check your connections and try again, or “try later”! You click on the chrome
icon or the big E for Internet Explorer again and again. The same message is returned. By now the sweat is
gathering on the back of your neck. Your life begins to pass in front of your eyes. You think of what it is that you
did, who you offended, to deserve this life threatening message – “unable to connect to the internet”.
Then you remember what a friend once told you. When your computer does not work like it should, what do
you do? Yes, you reboot. That is the thing you do with that so called smart phone when it freezes, and when
that $2000 computer cannot connect to the internet.
For those of you who do not use computers, rebooting is simply turning the computer off, waiting a few
seconds, and then restarting it. The amazing thing about rebooting is that more often than not it fixes the
connectivity problem. We Click on chrome button or the big E again….zoweee…we are in, in the internet. Life
can go on. Whew! That was close. We are now connected. Life as we know it can continue.
Second, I suggest that we are wired not only for connectivity to those individuals who are not physically
present, but we are wired for connectivity with the divine.
If we are wired for connectivity to individuals who do not share our space, are we also wired for connectivity to
the divine who is also physically invisible to us? You are of course aware of the Church’s claim that this is the
case. The Church’s claim is that we can be in Christ and Christ can be in us – connected in real time.
For many, even those calling themselves Christian, this is considered preposterous. It is for them a scientific
stumbling block in their faith. This seems to be where Christianity seems to lose young scientifically oriented
minds and those who reject the concept of the supernatural. Yes, they may say, I hold to the fact of a creator, I
guess. But to have real time connectivity to the divine…give me a break! And I not have time for silly
supernatural discussions. And then: “Oh, please excuse me. I just received a real time wireless text on my
iPhone from my sister and South Africa and she needs immediate response!”
But John’s Jesus actually broaches this matter of connectivity with the unseen divine when he suggests to his
disciples that even though he will no longer be with them, he will nevertheless remain connected to them. This
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is seems incomprehensible to them. And it remains somewhat incomprehensible to us, even in the age of
electronic connectivity. Undoubtedly, this concept comes from John’s personal experience. As a mystic, he
actually experiences the presence of Jesus as if Jesus were there. His analogy is one of the grape vine and
branches, since grapes were a significant crop in the ancient world and remains the largest single fruit crop in
the world. Just as there is interdependence between the life giving qualities of the vine and the fruit bearing
qualities of the branch, so that relationship continues between Jesus and his disciples even after Jesus is gone.
The concept is captured in the words, “I will abide in you and you will abide in me”, just as now when we are
together, and just as the branches and the vine are interconnected.
I have thought quite a bit about these words and have found them confusing to me. What does this actually
mean? But then I thought about my own human experience of experiencing the presence of those whose
physical lives have ended. The lives of those with whom I had a deep relationship with may have ended but
their presence in my life continues.
Who among us has not remained spiritually connected with those who are no longer physically living? We feel
their presence, do we not? We can hear their voices, how they sounded. Sometimes we find ourselves
communicating with them. We recall the times together. After a period of grief over the loss of their physical
presence, do we not experience their energy, approval or disapproval? Do we not find comfort in their love?
That sense of presence occurs because they abide in us. Through our memories of them, they take up spiritual
residence in our lives. They have become a part of us even though they are no longer with us. And as we live
our lives, they are not forgotten, but a real presence.
The words” I will abide with you and you with me” is not just fancy religious language, but point to a spiritual
reality. As we increase our involvement in way of life into which Jesus invites us, and remember what he said,
taught and enacted, the divine takes up residence in our human existence and we remain connected to the
source of creation. That is an amazing idea. Human experience suggests this possibility as we recognize our
spiritual connectivity to those who reside in our hearts, our memories, and who continue to give us comfort.
Being spiritual is not some kind of magic. It is being in constant touch with the life of the one with whom we
have an intimate relationship. Though they may die, the memories and transforming nature of their
personalities on us do not die but continue in the lives we live. Jesus said to his disciples, though I will not be
with you as now, the journey we have taken together will continue to strengthen you and the things we have
learned together will continue to transform you. In this way I will abide in you and you will abide in me.
Closing
Where is the Miracle?
We may be most aware of this spiritual connectivity with the divine when the connection breaks. Just as we
take for granted our wireless connectivity with others until the connection breaks and we are lost without it.
What I am experiencing in my first ten months in ministry at Covenant is how often in the lives of people
connectivity with the divine is lost. They may be cruising – all is well and their lives are filled with joy and
gratitude. By definition, engagement with their faith and the Church is a reflection of their presumed connection
with the divine and they take comfort and strength from knowing that they are sustained by the presence and
love of God as they interact with each other. But then, sometimes suddenly, there is the phone call, the
frightening diagnosis, the pink slip from an employer, a sudden accident. They feel disconnected, lost, and
unsure of what to do next. Often a sort of cosmic loneliness takes hold in their lives. This is the human
equivalent of the dreaded message on the computer screen “cannot connect to the internet at this time.”
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In these times, we ask “where is God in this?” How could a loving God let this happen? One day recently a very
faithful parishioner was expressing pain she was feeling about the suffering of a family in our congregation. She
asked “Why can’t we have a miracle? Others have miracles. I read about healing miracles in the Bible.”
When we find ourselves asking these kinds questions, we are probably experiencing one of those moments
when we have lost our connection with the divine. Just as when extraordinarily bad weather can interrupt
electronic connectivity, so it is in the midst of human sorrow, grief, shock, or loss that we are most vulnerable to
losing our connection to the divine. It is times like this when we have no alternative but to reboot our lives, as a
means to establishing our connection to all that we know about the goodness of life that resides deep in our
lives and trust in the way of life that Jesus invites us to live.
Finally, here is a tip about rebooting our lives. Very often it is not the electronic connection, but the human
operator, that failed.
Last week, while in Florida, I was having all kinds of trouble getting a wireless internet connection and usual
frustration was mounting. I had promised my congregation we would remain connected through the internet
but the dreaded message continued to confront me. What shall I ever do?
Then I recalled there is a little button on the laptop that switches on the wireless capability of the laptop. That
switch allows the computer to receive information wirelessly. It must be in the “on” position in order for the
computer to do its job. Somehow in removing my laptop from my case, I had turned that magic switch to the
“off” position. It is easy to do. So when I discovered this, I turned the wireless switch on, rebooted and away we
went. The connection was always there. My wireless switch was in the “off” position. Rebooting the computer
with the wireless switch in the off position is a useless exercise.
And so it is with us, while at times we may feel that we have lost our connectivity to the divine dimension in our
lives, it is possible that the switch we call “faith” is in the “off” position. The good news of the Gospel is that the
creator never abandons the creation. The connectivity to the divine is always there. Living in this knowledge is
what we call “faith”. It may be that we have our “faith” switch in the “off” position.
Faith is defined by Paul, as you may recall:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Living life with the assurance that all we hope for will be fulfilled, and trust in that which we cannot see is the
essence of faith.
So, don’t be afraid to reboot. Returning to our belief in the goodness of God and the life into which he calls us
in the life of Jesus life is the human equivalent of rebooting the computer. But it is a useless activity unless our
faith in that belief is in the “on” position.
Shalom.
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