Scripture Introduction
The night before his crucifixion, Jesus spoke words of comfort to his friends: “Do not let your hearts be troubled…. My peace I give to you…. Because I live, you also will live.” Comfort and hope are the main topics in John 14. Now the Lord begins to teach on the centrality of “abiding in him” in order to bear spiritual fruit, to produce good works, to have a life worth living. This well-known passage on the vine and branches will be our text for several sermons. [Read John 15.1-11.]
Introduction
Everyone faces the great question of life’s purpose. Many simply answer (by default), “My purpose is to survive for another day.” The pressures of work, the problems relating to others, the pain and suffering which abound – these and countless other “distractions” may prevent us from asking – much less answering – the real questions: “Why survive? Can I live a life worth living? But the answer to this question is what makes survival desirable!
The Bible explains our purpose by connecting human life to the life of God. In fact, the Apostle Paul says that if we remove God from the equation, life is purposeless and we ought maximize personal pleasure. “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1Corinthians 15.32).
Of course many non-believers refuse to accept such grim consequences to their philosophies. They deny the God who made both them and the world in which they live, yet the natural conclusions of that belief are too terrible to cope with, so they live as if life has purpose. But there are thinkers who admit the utter futility of life apart from God.
Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell: “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” (Quoted in Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, 17).
Welsh scholar Rheinallt Williams: “There is nothing which arises more spontaneously from man’s nature than the question about life’s meaning…. But if to be shoveled underground, or scattered on its surface, is the end of the journey, then life in the last analysis is a mere passing show without meaning, which no amount of dedication or sacrifice can redeem.” (Quoted in Blanchard, Does God Believe in Atheists?, 332-333.)
Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy: “What is life for? To die? To kill myself at once? No, I am afraid. To wait for death till it comes? I fear that even more. Then I must live. But what for? And I could not escape from that circle.” (Quoted in Blanchard, Does God Believe in Atheists?, 333.)
Novelist Rebecca West: “I do not believe that any facts exist, or, rather, are accessible to me, which give any assurance that my life has served an eternal purpose.” (Quoted in Blanchard, Does God Believe in Atheists?, 333.)
William Provine (The Scientist, 1988): “No moral or ethical laws exist, nor are there absolute guiding principles for human society. The universe cares nothing for us and we have no ultimate meaning in life.” (Quoted in Blanchard, Does God Believe in Atheists?, 333.)
Richard Dawkins (described by some as, “increasingly our most militant atheist), when asked, “What is the purpose of life?”, replied: “Well, there is no purpose, and to ask what it is, is a silly question. It has the same status as ‘What is the color of jealousy?’” (Quoted in Blanchard, Does God Believe in Atheists?, 333.)
We might wonder how one lives with such a bleak perspective.
The French novelist Antoine de Saint-Exupery: “Each man must look to himself for the meaning of life.”
That makes no sense, but it expresses the most common philosophy of the day.
There are also those who suggest we follow the consequences of meaningless to a “natural” conclusion. By doing so, he made himself more of an “animal” than a man, but the Marquis de Sade said: “It is only by enlarging the scope of one’s fantasies, by sacrificing everything to pleasure, that man can succeed in gathering a few roses among life’s thorns.”
But those who try to satiate pleasure find each new thrill gives less even as desire demands more. Aldous Huxley (who proposed using drugs to make people do what he wanted), said: “Oh, how desperately bored, in spite of their grim determination to have a Good Time, the majority of pleasure-seekers really are!”
Those examples of the futility of life apart from God contrast starkly with the teaching of the Bible. In John 15, Jesus points us to life’s purpose by a parable. Seeing a vine, he tells his men, “I am the true vine.” This is the last of seven such statements, known as the “I AM sayings.” Each describes something of Christ’s ministry, and tells us much about our relationship to God through faith in him.
* “I am the bread of life.”
* “I am the light of the world.”
* “I am the gate.”
* “I am the good shepherd.”
* “I am the resurrection and the life.”
* “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
* “I am the true vine.”
Jesus tells us by way of this parable that purpose comes to us from him, because he has his roots sunk in the soil of God’s world.
Rick Warren begins his immensely popular book, The Purpose Driven Life, with this sentence: “It’s not about you.” He then points out that most people who puzzle over the question of purpose begin at the wrong starting point – ourselves: “What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for the future?” Warren then wisely warns: “Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose…. You did not create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose” (17-18).
In studying John 15, I found a parallel passage in 2Peter, where the Apostle explains how the power of God has given us everything necessary for life and godliness, so that through his great promises we may partake of the divine nature. Because God’s gracious presence and power is available to us, we are to make every effort to add to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Then 2Peter 1.8 says: “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
John 15 is about bearing fruit in the Kingdom of God. The opposite is unfruitful, or ineffective – in other words, a life without value or purpose: worthless, useless. I do not want the final testimony about me to be that my knowledge of the Lord was ineffective. I want a life worth living, a life with purpose and meaning. Such is found by abiding in Christ.
Before we explore his teaching, let me remind you that God must define an “effective life.” We err when we assume that a well-lived life provides fame or fortune or fantastic influence. God defines fruitful with words like faithful, confident, truthful, just, merciful, and godly. The mother who devotes herself to raising godly children, the husband who works in the factory without complaining in order to provide for his family, the daughter who serves as an administrator for medical missionaries – these and a thousand-thousand other examples can end with a “well-done” to the delight of the Father. Few ever know fame, and such is fleeting anyway. The “life worth living” finds its definition in the glory of God, the grace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
1. An Effective Life Begins With Recognizing Ourselves as Mere Branches
Describing us as branches is not terribly complementary. Of itself, a branch is weak and useless. It has no roots, so it cannot grow of itself or produce any fruit of itself. And in Ezekiel 15, God even points out that the branch of a vine is worse than any other wood!
Ezekiel 15.3-5: “Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!”
This does not mean that a true Christian is one full of self-loathing and contempt, ignoring her creation in the image of God. By no means! Fulfilling your purpose offers high dignity. The branch carries life-giving water and nutrients from the vine to create fruit! Here is an offer of honor great beyond what is deserved or could be expected. The King of glory entrusts fruit bearing to a branch! The pauper has become the prince; the servant is exalted to the seat of royalty!
But of ourselves, we remain unfruitful: “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (verse 6). Or as Paul explained it: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2.20).
So the key work in John 15 is “abide,” used ten times in these first eleven verses. Lord willing, we will fill out our understanding of the meaning in the next several sermons, but for now, simply note that abide includes:
* Trusting in Christ for acceptance because God
* Building a life on his word, in conformity to his ways
* Speaking to him through prayer, admitting to him your fears and failings, and asking him for help
* Seeking his pleasure in your daily calling
* Loving fellow Christians through sacrificial service
* It means that the life of Christ flows through us to a hurting world.
Those of us in Presbyterian Churches do not often read Roman Catholic writers, but St. Teresa of Avila, a Spanish nun who lived in the sixteenth century, wrote: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no feet but yours, no hands but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ is to look out on a hurting world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless all now.”
That sounds to me a lot like Paul in 1Corinthians 12.27: “Now you are the body of Christ”; and it sounds like the promise of Jesus in John 15. We must not degrade our high privileges because we are “mere” branches; instead, let us admit that the power and strength and life and goodness are “from him and through him and to him. To Christ, the vine, be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11.36).
2. An Effective Life Must Receive the Nourishment of the Vine
God often used the metaphor of a vine in the Old Testament for his dealings with Israel. Let’s consider (for example), Isaiah 5.1-7: “Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!”
Israel was a vine, planted in the best of soils, nourished, tended and protected. Yet she did not produce good fruit. Therefore, Jesus says: “I am the true vine. I am the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. I am the source of life for the people of God. It is not by becoming a Jew that one finds new life and acceptance with the Father, but by being in me.”
Do you want purpose and effectiveness? Then it must be the life of Christ in you. Through the endless days of eternity, no one (much less you) will care how much money you made, or how fast you ran, or who you knew, or how big a monument they built in your name. There will be but one measure of wealth – was Christ’s power revealed in you? Is your life a testimony to his grace? Do you labor in the Lord? Are you persevering through trials because you trust Jesus to bring what is for your good and growth?
You are a branch – apart from him you can do nothing which lasts. Is the spiritual dynamic of God flowing from Christ and through you?
The significance of the answer is seen in, third…
3. An Effective Life Must Know the Pruning of the Vinedresser
There is debate about what Christ means by saying, “Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away….” Some say those taken away are mere professors of the faith; others that they lost salvation; still others that true Christians are temporarily removed to lead them to repentance. Whatever the correct answer, the point is plain – those who do not bear fruit are cut off, and those who bear fruit are pruned. And both involve cutting. A dead branch is cut off because it can breed disease and provide a safe haven for insects. A living branch is cut back so that more fruit is produced.
John Calvin well explains Jesus’ point: “In these words he teaches that believers need continual cultivating lest they should degenerate, and that they produce nothing good unless God is continually at work. For it is not enough to have been made partakers of adoption once, unless God continues the progress of his grace in us. He speaks of pruning because our flesh abounds in superfluities and harmful vices and is too fertile in them and because they grow and shoot forth endlessly unless we are cleansed by the hand of God.”
Dear Christian, do not grow fainthearted, and do not forget his exhortation: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12.5-6).
4. Conclusion
One problem when thinking about a life worth living is focusing too much on the end, as if life were like a football game we must be winning when time expires. Instead, life is better compared to a symphony. The enjoyment is not getting to the end, or even that the conclusion is an improvement over the beginning. The pleasure is in every moment of playing and listening to it. Our lives are to be much the same.
The goal is not ending well, or even on a high note, but living each day by the grace and love of Christ. We are the branches, and he is the vine.
