My family has a history in the garden. My Dad had a career in horticulture. My Mum worked with orchids for a large portion on my life. My Dad’s father and uncle were an orchardist and florist respectively, and their dad provided some very special iris’ to one of the biggest greenhouses in England prior to moving to New Zealand. As you might expect, I love a good garden, but what you might not know is that my personal gardening skills could use a little refining.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Romans 11:19
I tell you all of this because over the last wee while God has brought up a lot of garden related analogies in His guiding me to grow. I’ve been hearing about a trellis as a framework (rules) for life, among other examples like my ‘Biddy-Bid’ devotion, but something that really jumped out at me recently was grafting. In some way shape or form most of us have heard that we have been grafted into the body of God, and this comparison provided me with a very vivid image.
My granddad had what, as a child I considered, a very impressive selection of apple trees espaliered (trained to grow on one plane) along a fence line. I believe (with the accuracy of my limited childhood memories) that this apple tree was in fact not one, but two separate trees that he grew from the same root, because at some point during its development my granddad grafted a branch from a different breed of apple into the original plant, and so the apples were apples, but they tasted different, their seeds, colours, and breeds were different. It was the same trunk and the same roots that provided nutrients to them both, but the branches and fruit were different.
How like us is that? We are taken from the world and grafted into the body of Christ. We are all ‘apples’ but our fruit, while similar, is different. We all put out different, unique seeds into the world, and we all appeal to different people in different ways.
The process of grafting requires an exposing of the green wick element of the branch, as well as the wick of the plant that it will be grafted to. If the graft is applied in wrong season it could die from the cold, or bud too soon, not allowing it the time to become strong enough that it can support the weight of its fruit. So grafting at the right time is also very important. Once the graft is prepared and attached to the main plant (root stock) it is wrapped up tightly in a fabric like tape that keeps it as close to the root stock as possible to ensure a successful binding, and the wrapping is not removed for around a year. The freshly grafted branch is not expected to be productive in this season of grafting in, all it is expected to do is build its connection with the root stock. If we imagine ourselves and others as fresh grafts, how incredible would it be, how healthy would the church be, if we treated each other so gently and protectively as we grafted into the body of Christ.
I can’t help but think of each lash Jesus received on his body, every piercing wound, as a place where he allowed space for us, for you and for me, to be connected with him, to be grafted in. He is our source of life, our root stock, he is where we receive what we need to thrive in each season of life, and he is who we need to be impossibly deeply connected to, if we want to thrive. Which brings me to new Christians, people who are entering a new season of life in the church, or even people who are simply joining a new church. These people could perhaps be seen as our new grafts. These are the ones who I believe we have to care for the most. I wonder if maybe we could begin to see the church as the binding, the tape, or fabric, that wraps around the new graft, protecting it from the things of the world that might damage it, drawing it closer and closer to the root stock it has been grafted into, creating a protective layer until the graft has developed its own connection, and only pulling away, allowing it space to be productive in its own unique way, when its graft is deep and strong enough to maintain its connection independently as it interacts with the world.
When it comes down to it, I don’t think it really matters if we are a graft, a binding, or even the gardeners assistant in this story. What matters, to me at least, is that we be people who treat each individual who has been grafted into Christ, with the special time, care, and understanding that allows them to be permanently joined to the body of Christ, reliant on him for their flourishing, rather than the tape, or the kindness of the elements in the world around them.
Karla Rose