Today, we're going to take a look at something a mom often carries with her and uses, from time to time, to provide care. What she carries could be considered one of her best friends because it can hold many things that enable her to provide care, one possible tool being a pair of scissors.

Here in scripture, we learned of someone else who provides care with a type of scissors most like pruning shears. Through this passage of John, we understand that God is a gardener and Jesus is the vine.

This morning we'll look a little more closely at vines, and, with the love that can only come from a mother, we'll also look at some cuts we need to make for the betterment of our spiritual and our physical growth here on our church campus.

Let's begin.  

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend as one song goes, but one of mom's best friends (though she may not realize it) is a purse, and a purse is one of her best friends because it's something that enables her to administer care. See, some moms may be thinking that one of their best friends is a new necklace or other piece of fine jewelry. Other moms would say one of their best friends would be a gift for a pampered weekend either home or away. Here at First Congregational UCC, there would be many, many answers to the question we'd ask our moms as to who (or even what) some of their best friends are, but think about it. In our traditional gender roles which both liberate and limit us in that no one fits into one nice, neat stereotype, a toolbox to most men is what a purse is to nearly every woman: it helps them when the odd job at hand needs to be done.

Now we know us toolbox toting guys can fix nearly anything from a faulty space heater to a NASA space shuttle. Likewise, we can probably build as creatively and as successfully as a Frank Lloyd Wright home. And, perhaps not so long ago, we would have served as advisors and as handymen for Noah's grand boat building project. These are all truths, ladies. Aren't I right, guys?

In the face of all these truths, there are certain tasks we can never do. And guys, here's one of them. We can never find anything in a woman's purse.

Now ladies, for us guys, a woman's purse is a very private matter. It's one of those extremely uncharted territories on our maps of life.  Unlike our visions of exploring new regions on the polar ice cap or scaling Mount Everest to enjoy a new, never before seen vantage point, or even methodically charting out an area where the fish are just ready to jump into our fishing boats, this purse is a place we guys never, ever want to go.

And without a word said, we all know, men and women alike, that it's this place of giant mystery. First of all, let's all consider this. It's name. There are at least three that I know of that all describe the same thing, a purse, the handbag or the pocketbook.

The purse is probably the snobbiest name of all. Generally, we guys think this seemingly harmless attachment is generally smaller and used on fine occasions, usually for a fine evening event. Sometimes this sleek little thing—often no more than an eye glass case—matches, or, excuse me, coordinates with the woman's shoes, and we all know this because we've all been stuck in an airport terminal or a doctor's waiting room with a morning show blaring a seasonal fashion tip from a strategically placed big screen.

Now this purse ... even at a quick glance to the casual observer (which would be us guys who barely notice any detail), its capacity is much, much smaller than its clunky cousin, the handbag.

Of the three names for a purse, the most obvious is the handbag because it is a bag held in the hand ... or is it secured over the shoulder? Here things continue to be both a bit mysterious and confusing.

Perhaps one of the most confusing of all is the name pocketbook. You know where I'm going with this. Pocket. Book. The purse is neither of these things so, ladies, stop calling it something it obviously isn't.

While the name of the thing is unclear, this is an absolute: no man will ever admit to rummaging through a purse a woman hands him. Though it's happened more times than perhaps it should, men, with our big, clumsy fingers, we know, if we're honest with ourselves, have in those rare, embarrassing yet necessary times have been rooting through places that should never be rooted through. When tossed or handed the bag, we hear, "Oh, it's right on top," or "It's in that little zippered part," and these directions, while indeed specific, yield the same result every time.  Invariably, our mom or our wife sighs at our failed attempt to find what is needed in the moment of mild crisis. With a look—and we've all received the look—she takes back that purse which in our hands has been transformed into a small yet dark abyss and within 0.3 seconds procures what we need or have been looking for—gum, car keys, a band-aid or a pen.

We all know there are more things in a woman's purse than those three items just mentioned. Based on some of the size of these things, some of us wouldn't be surprised if a woman pulled out an iron and perhaps a mini ironing board for clothes that wrinkle during the day. Women carry books, maps, calculators, checkbooks, wallets, credit card holders, Emory boards, large and small photo albums, and high-tech blackberries. A Tupperware tub of strawberries for a snack has been pulled out of one of those things along with chap stick, lipstick, tissues, and, last but not least, small yet well-equipped first-aid kits that include an array of over the counter medicines we all have in our medicine chests or closets at home.

There could be a game show where the success of the contestants is based on what useful items a woman carries in her purse. Seriously. Have a hair brush? Got it. A small chain saw? Yep, over here. How about a pair of scissors?

Now we guys know why it's absolutely necessary to carry a small or preferably large chain saw around at all times—it's just a good and rightly man thing to do—but scissors, why would a woman carry around those? The contents of a purse can help a mom get something done, and sometimes what needs to be done, as we find in our New Testament scripture lesson, is to make necessary cuts.

Both our scripture lesson and our children's sermon talked about cutting. And cutting, as we all know, is sometimes necessary to do.

Here in the Gospel according to John, we have the story of the vine dresser. As we remember from scripture and the very beginning of this sermon, the vine dresser or the gardener is God. Jesus describes himself as the plant. And Jesus uses this apt metaphor because the grapevine is a prolific plant. A single vine procures numerous branches and bears many grapes. In order for this abundance to happen, however, certain cuts must be made. And Jesus makes a distinction between two kinds of cutting, or pruning. The first is cutting off and the second is cutting back branches.

Let's start with first things first. Branches that are completely cut off are those that don't bear fruit. They are cut off at the trunk not only because they are worthless but also because they often infect the rest of the tree. We are worthless when we are not tuned into the life supply Jesus offers.  While we may be living, we certainly aren't alive in the spirit. Since we're not tuned into Jesus, the lifeline of nutrients, we aren't growing. We aren't promoting goodness, love, light and energy.

Let's talk about the second cut now, and this one entails cutting back the branches. Much like our summer garden tomato plants, fruitful grape branches are cut back to promote growth. It's true, if we are to harvest a successful bounty of tomatoes from our own backyards, we know that we are to make certain cuts in the plant when many shoots originate from the stem and later, just before the first frost. In a like manner, God must sometimes discipline us to strengthen our character and our faith. God must cut off what keeps us from growing toward Him.

See, so many of us here today are working so hard to produce, yet a lot of the production is just leaves and stems. Egocentric, we are still at the place in our lives when we just don't want to make that necessary cut ourselves. We'd rather look good and busy in seemingly healthy growth than to take the cut we need to take. Likewise, many are not ready to make the cut that would enable church to be their number one weekly priority. And, in speaking of cuts, we as a church need to make that rids us of anxiousness or worry.

For us to grow as a church and as individuals in this church, we have to make a cut. The cut we have to make may be painful for some, but we need cut or let go of this "we can't" mentality. Here are two examples of the "we can't" mentality. We can't add on here. We can't afford that.

Folks, make the cut from worry and from your own introspection. When you do, you'll realize we can. We can move forward because, as you look around you, we already are moving forward. The spirit here in the pews is rising. It's enabling us. It's lifting us. Laughter and light and love are our guides, not fear, and certainly not grumbles and groaning.

We are making the cuts. Day by day, worship hour by worship hour, we are focusing not on our selves, but on God, our gardener. Each of us is letting go of our own dead wood and are coming to the place in our hearts where we see this church not as a once a week place where we spend an hour; we see this church as a campus on a hill that meets or needs, fuels our souls, and enables us to focus on God not in prayer or in worship alone, but in living, physical and tangible outreach to one another and to our community.

I don't know anyone here who's happy with the current face of downtown Harford. Some are more accepting of the situation than others, but I think we've all learned a thing or two over these past few months. Even more than before, we appreciate what we had. And now, in the face of loss, let's begin to appreciate what we can have—and that's a warmer, brighter, and more inviting home here on our church grounds.

Make the cut. Cut away anxiousness, doubt and fear.

In closing, women have many friends, including the purse because its contents contain what's needed to provide care. As Jesus shared in this parable today, God also cares. As a gardener, our Father provides many necessary cuts for us to experience him much more deeply.

On this Mother's Day, I invite you to make the cut. On this day when we realize, regardless of gender, that we can cut away our own darkness and doubts, and by doing so enable greater care to happen, make the cut. Enable God to help you and, in turn, help all of us grow new shoots.