Sermon 051009
John 15:1-9
Goal: TWW stay connected to Christ through Christ.
GMP...
Happy Mother’s Day! This is the first time that this is actually a big day in our house. Yet another day I am in trouble if I forget, thank you very much. This year, I will call my mom sometime between 9 and midnight, not because I want to be mean and wake her up, but because she and my dad are doing an interim ministry assignment at a church to help them get ready for a new pastor after a long time pastor retired. And this church just so happens to be in Oahu, Hawaii. What a great servant of the church my dad is, right! So with the 6 hour time change, I will wait to pick up my cell phone and call her cell phone. Simple enough. But sometimes, I am amazed at how well we can be connected through these little pieces of plastic and wires. Miles apart, and yet able to talk as if we were right next to one another.
Connection is a big word these days. As I worked in the office on Monday I wrote emails, sent and received faxes, I made calls on my cell phone and the office phone, I looked up information on our website, and I sent a few text messages. Being connected it seems is easier today than it ever has been. But for all the ways in which modern day connections happen, there is one connection that is far more powerful and important than any of these. It’s not modern, or space age, but rather, very ancient. Jesus uses some timeless imagery to talk about this connection: I am the vine; you are the branches
This is a great image of connection isn’t it? In some ways it’s a very comforting image. As branches we are connected to a main vine, which give us nourishment and life. And vines themselves are great things! They provide shade, and greenery, beauty, all kinds of stuff. But there’s just one thing. If you go to a winery after some unseasonable frost kills all the grapes, and say to the vineyard owner, “At least the vine branches are still nice to look at!” You probably won’t get a great response. Why is that? As you can tell me, what is the main purpose of a grape vine? PRODUCE GRAPES! That’s right! Vines do a lot of things, but the main thing a vine branch is supposed to do is bear fruit.
What does it mean to bear fruit in our lives as Christians. We read in Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
Bearing Fruit is important, We see it all over our lesson today:
- Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
- the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,
- Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
- By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
So the main point of today’s lesson is that you and I as Christians should ________ _________!
Nope, that’s not it. That is one of the main points, but the real main point, the main main point, the starting point for all this is actually spelled out for us in verse 4: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. The starting point is being connected to Jesus, being connected to the Savior who forgives, restores, redeems.
Why is this important? Let’s take a look at the text for a second and read it as if the main thing for us to try to do is bear fruit. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
And, we learn later in the reading in more detail, what it means to be taken away: thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. And this is the problem when we start with bearing fruit as the measure of our lives. There are only two options. Either were are going to bear fruit or we are going to burn. Can you imagine that gem of sermon. Bear Fruit or Burn. Amen. Short yes. Uplifting? Not so much! The question is, “Where does God’s grace and mercy show up in these verses.” The answer is… All over them! Which leads us to a longer sermon, but hopefully a better one.
Like we said before, the main thing for us to take from these verses is the call to Abide in Jesus. To wait for Jesus, to remain in Jesus, to make our home in Jesus, or perhaps best, to stay connected to Jesus. Such a simple idea, but really so essential. The first thing for us to celebrate in these verses is the fact that Jesus WANTS US to Abide with him, and to be with him.
When my niece was about 4 years old she drew a family portrait. There was the picture of Daddy, and a little smaller than him was mommy, and smaller than her was Callie the artist, and then smallest of all was her little brother who was about 2. But if you look at the picture there is something odd about him. He has these enourmous hands and long fingers. I’m no psychologist, but it’s pretty easy to tell what Callie thought of her younger brother (He’s always getting into my stuff!). She loved him, but at times, she liked to be away from him.
It’s not just kid stuff either is it. Anne and I ran races in Indianapolis this last weekend. Killian was not too happy with mommy being gone for too long so she ran a 5k instead of the half marathon. I decided to go ahead with the longer race. Anne ran fast and short, I ran slow and long, and at the end of the day we were both really sore. The funniest part was after the races, we shared stories and both laughed as we said the nicest thing about the races was just the time alone. Not that we don’t enjoy being together, but some time apart is nice sometimes.
With Jesus we find that there is never a time when he doesn’t want us to be with him. And as those who know him, we also see that having Him in our lives never grows old or tiresome either. And so the call to Abide or be connected to Him is one that is constant, actually one that is eternal. And as we are connected to Jesus, our lives will show it. We will do things in service to others, we will be active in our faith, there are certain things we will not want to do, or refrain from doing. In short, as we are connected to the vine, the vine will produce fruit through us like a branches of a grapevine.
But here’s the thing to remember. This fruit bearing does not start with us. In fact is isn’t really about us as all. The harvest we bear is a harvest of love from the Father. I love how John talks about this in our reading from 1 John: the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
The fruit that we bear start with God. God who loves us so much that he sends his only son Jesus to be the payment for our sins. God who loves us so much that not even death could separate him from us on Easter. And in Easter we find the joy that death will now not separate us from him either. We need Christ to be the active one in our lives. Otherwise, we have no hope of loving God, or really loving our neighbors, or bearing any kind of real spiritual fruit in our lives. Jesus makes it clear: I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Great image. Connected to vine we bear fruit. Not connected, no fruit.
Now does this mean that if we know Christ and are connected to Him in Word and Sacraments that we will always bear fruit perfectly? I think you know the answer. No! We don’t always bear perfect fruit do we. That’s why I never worry about whether or not the confession of sins of the service will be relevant or not! It’s always there because we always need it, right! I have never once walked into a church without sins to confess. But you know what else, I have never left a service without being forgiven. The same thing can be said when we confess our sins privately to God. We have communion every week for the same reason. If you ever say to yourself, “you know, I’ve had a good week and I don’t need to go up to the altar today, then stay away! You need to do some more soul searching before you come up here.” If you find yourself saying, I really have sinned, I’m not sure if I’m worthy to receive Christ’s body and blood right now, then you are truly ready and you need to come up with confidence.” Do you get what I’m saying?
The journey of bearing fruit in our lives as Christians is not one measured by how well we do, but rather how much we rely on God’s grace. God’s mercy is the nourishment that builds us up to bear fruit. I love the word of John the Baptist the self-righteous Pharisees. These were guys who thought they had this God thing, and faith thing figured out. They thought that by drawing attention to themselves and their own goodness that they were bearing good fruit. John the Baptist put them straight! He said, forget all that other stuff you have and who you think you are, Bear fruit in keeping with REPENTANCE! Good words for us to think about today as well.
We are to repent of our sins, to receive unmerited forgiveness from our Savior who was crucified and risen for us. And with the confidence that comes from this, not from ourselves. With the joy of knowing that God loves us not because we are perfect, but even though we are not! We can’t help but begin bearing fruit in our lives. Can you see how this changes everything about our reading for today? But even with this understanding, we have to face the reality, that even as forgiven children of God, even as fruit bearing branches of the vine, this whole process isn’t always easy.
What do you do to your trees that are doing a good job of producing fruit? That’s right, you trim them. Sometimes you trim them way back? We have an apple tree that needs to be trimmed. I need to go and take all the branches that are not facing the right way and chop them off. (There is one that I can see as walk down my stairs, sticks straight up like hand waving at me, very guilt inducing). And the branches that are doing well need to be cut way back so that the harvest will be even better this fall.
It’s a fine image when thinking about a tree or shrub. But not so pleasant when we think about our lives and hearts being trimmed and pruned! But this is what God does with us throughout our lives. As the Gospel lesson says: Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. The Great News is that we don’t need to worry about what kind of branch we are. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. But the challenge is that God will never stop shaping us, and cutting away what is dead and rotting in us. And this isn’t always a painless process.
In Hebrews 11 we read: For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Has God ever pruned you? Has he ever made you realize your own sinfulness in a way that broke your heart? Have you ever been mad at Him because you really wanted to do something that he wouldn’t let you do? Has God ever kept working on you even when all you wanted to do was to rebel against him? Has he ever led you down a scary path in life where all you could do was rely on Him? None of it is easy. But has he ever used these thing to help you grow? Then you have been trimmed, and shaped, and molded to bear even more fruit of the spirit in your life. You have been trained, taught discipline (not punishment realize!), but discipline.
I have more news for you too, something you probably already knew. The Lord isn’t done shaping you either. He will continue to shape you as you abide in Him. As his Word reaches your heart. As you continue to be built up in your baptismal grace. As you continually receive his grace in His Body and Blood, where he Abides in you. And this is such Good News! God is alive in our lives. It isn’t always easy, in fact it rarely is. But it’s always a blessing to know that God calls us his, that he abides in us and we in him, and that He is using us to bear his fruit in a world that needs it.
We are connected to the true Vine in the cross. And we are never forgotten by the true vinedresser either. He has a beautiful harvest to bring forth from you. A beautiful vintage to create in you. And all you can do is say thank you for letting me abide in you.
Isn’t that better than Bear Fruit or Burn?
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
AMEN
