I Am The True Vine Series

Corrie Ten Boom once said of Jesus, “Connected with Him in his love, I am more than a conqueror; without Him, I am nothing. Like railway tickets in America, I am not good or valid if detached.

We live in a very independent society, in which we are often too proud to admit when we need help. We like to be able to say that we did something ourselves, and take pride in what we have built with our own two hands. Needing help or asking for help is often seen as a sign of weakness. It is why there are so many self help books out there. Why ask a professional, when you can buy a book and figure it out for ourselves? It’s why guys don’t like to ask for directions, or to read the instructions when building something. We want to do it on our own, so that we can take all the credit.

However, this view of life hits a brick wall when it comes to being a Christian. Our entire faith is built on the idea that we are not good enough, and that the only way that we CAN be good enough, is by accepting help. It is very counter cultural to reveal that sort of weakness about yourself, to accept that you AREN’T good enough, that you CAN’T do it, and that you NEED help to get there.

We have been studying the I Am statements of Jesus all summer, and this is our final week. These statements were the way in which Jesus revealed himself and his mission to the world, and to his disciples. This final statement is very unique, because it is very specifically directed towards his relationship with his disciples, and his future church.

We understand that we need to be in Jesus, and that we are wholly dependent on him, but we aren’t always the best at living it out. We always want to plan everything out. I know I mentioned that the world loves self help books, but we Christians do as well, on things like how to make disciples , how to turn your church around in 3 easy steps, or how to revolutionize your faith in 4 weeks. And there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with books like that, as long as it isn’t an attempt for us to take control and fix things and build them on our own.

The truth of Christianity is that we can’t do it on our own. We can only do anything because we are in Jesus. We can’t enter into God’s presence unless we are in Jesus. And to build his church, to love each other like Jesus loved us, and for prayer to be answered, we must remain in Jesus, and put our faith in him to enable us to do his work. There is no other way. Every Christian must remain in Jesus, because apart from him we are powerless.

So last week, you may remember that the scene of the sermon was the last supper, and while they were at the table, Jesus begins to teach them and speak to them. Between last weeks statement, I am the way the truth and the life, and now, Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit, and how he was going to send them the spirit as a counselor to teach them all things, and to remind them of everything he’s told them.

We don’t know exactly where they are now, because the verse right before our passage says, “Come now; let us leave.”, and then immediately goes into this section of scripture where Jesus continues teaching. So we don’t know where they are, maybe still in the same place, maybe somewhere else.

So I’ll read this, we are in John 15, verses 1-12:

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John 15:1–12 NIV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.