Word Count: 1876,
Acts 8:26-40 Psalm 22:24-30 1 John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8
Summary: When God stops you from doing something that you think is achieving, he is only to prepare you for something bigger, so take heart: it is not about you, it is about God, and what he wants; and fortunately he aligns our desires with his.
This sermon was delivered to the congregation in St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 6th May 2012: by Gordon McCulloch (A Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Please join me in my prayer. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit let these words speak for you, to bless each and every one of us, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Our Gospel reading is taken from John’s Gospel, chapter 15, verses 26 to 38: “Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you.
Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
Introduction:
In this modern world there is a strong emphasis placed upon the “literal interpretation”; everything has to be described as it is, yet so often Jesus did not speak literally, but figuratively.
He spoke in allegories and images, and painted words in people’s minds using the familiar everyday things that they understood, to try and explain the unexplainable. He so often would tell a story, and let them draw their own conclusion; which so often frustrated his disciples.
"I Am" sayings
This morning we take a look at one of the "I Am" sayings of Jesus, where he relates himself to a vine, saying “I am the true vine”, and so straight away we have to look beyond the literal to see what he is he is trying to say to us.
Vineyards.
Now a vineyard to most of us probably means little, but in Jesus day the people knew exactly what he was talking about. And I had to research this and I found that, like us vines are a very rugged crop, but they produce very delicate fruit which requires careful handling; just like us.
A young vine is not permitted to bear fruit for the first three years, and is drastically pruned to preserve its energy until it has developed and matured.
The healthy branches that do grow are quickly cut back to direct the growth to the roots, so that when a healthy crop does grow, it has solid foundations from which it can fully ripen. Failure to do so would therefore not strengthen the roots, which are needed to support a healthy crop.
The fruit bearing branches here are the disciples.
In Jesus analogy, he likened himself to a vine, and God the farmer of the vines; the one who cultivates the vineyard. God is also the one who does the pruning to produce healthy growth, and remove the dead or unproductive wood.
Pruning out.
Now I do not know about you, but pruning sounds painful; and it is something that none of us want; yet we know that the vine needs to be pruned, or it will grow wild and be useless both to itself, and the farmer. So we likewise have to be pruned.
And I must add that I am sure the vineyard owner or farmer would be happy not to prune his vine as this takes valuable time, money and skills to do so, and I am sure God likewise, does not like pruning us as it causes us discomfort, and both our purposes fall fallow for a period of time.
Think back to a time when God was pruning you, remember the pain, and remember the loss of hope you had, yet it was probably during these times that you were set on the road for your greatest victories. These times of pain opens your eyes to see new paths in which to channel your life, paths already blessed by God; paths of victory.
Think also of what could have happened to you, had God not intervened, and brutally pruned you so. Yes I am sure it was painful, but you must think on how it could have turned out had God not intervened. Amen to that.
Have you ever noticed also, that even in times of achievement, God sometimes intervenes again, and brings you to your knees midstream. Everything is going well, then stop, nothing, it all dies away. I find that very soul destroying, but I am beginning to relate that to God pruning, where he cuts away healthy branches, so that more may grow in their place.
When God stops you from doing something that you think is achieving, it is only to prepare you for something bigger, and better; and he does so to make you stronger, and produce more, so take heart.
And so, if you are going through a time of such trial just now, keep in mind that God knows what he is doing, he has never failed yet. He is guiding you through love, guiding you for your own good, so that you can produce good fruit later on, for him. Achievement is not about you, and what you want; it is about God, and what he wants; and fortunately he does align our desires with his, if we remain in His vine.
Now this passage of scripture is very familiar to us and it is good to refresh our memories by its meaning, however if we had read the next few verses, we could add a further dimension to that message.
Let me show you, Verse 9 goes on to say “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
What Jesus is saying is clear, that we as disciples should receive (or take), our strength from Jesus; as he is our true vine.
We cannot love another as Jesus commands until we first learn from Jesus what love actually is, so that we can then love others in the same way.
I will need to explain this; please excuse the English lesson here but this is needed to make sense. “Love” can be either a transitive or intransitive verb. An intransitive verb is one where the subject is also the object of the verb. So for example, if someone says, “I love you” they tend to be talking about their own feeling towards you; and they are really saying, “I am experiencing feelings of love for you,” but you, on the other hand, may not be feeling much love from them.
So, in order for love to be a intransitive verb, then the one who is loved must experience the love also. “I love you” therefore means that I am behaving in such a way that I am kindling the love within you. Yes, no, let us take an analogy of food.
If I were to say, “I will feed you” that would mean in the transitive verb, I am giving you food to eat so that you will be nourished.
So if I was to say that “I love you”, this would translate by saying “I am giving you something that nurtures the love within you”; and this is what John means when he says that “words without deeds are empty lies”. Love needs to express itself in behaviour, which in turn brings out the love in the other person.
Now, obviously loving someone is not the same as feeding someone. When we feed someone, we usually give them something they don’t have, but when we love someone, we don’t give them something they don’t have; rather, we connect with something that is already in them. Do you see the difference?
Jesus alludes to this when he talks about us abiding in him because he abides in God, and God abides in him and in turn He abides in us.
It is not about giving us something we don’t have, but is about connecting a circuit of love that connects a flow of energy, between us and all members of the Godhead; and then passing that love onto others.
Therefore when Jesus said, “I have come that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete,” he is trying to connect his joy with the joy that is already in us; to awaken our spirit of joy; to make us happy, to give us hope, inspiration and a healthy direction for our future.
This is what Jesus was really trying to say to us in this passage by abiding in the vine. If we abide in him, he will abide in us and kindle that love and joy which is already in us, and transform us producing healthy fruit in abundance for him.
God is love. Love abides in Jesus, and we abide in Jesus, so let us be open and ready to receive that Love of Jesus; let His love kindle our love; and let it transform and empower us into the people he wants us to be; so that we can pass his love onto others.
How could you not want that? Is this not good news for us today? Amen.
Let us pray.
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he died our death on the cross so that we can belong and commune with you.
We thank you that you want us, and that you want us to be healthy and fruitful your purposes and ours. Many times Father we lose sight of that in our troubled lives so please remind us of your love for us this day.
Father, please transmit your love to us so that we can pass it on to others. Transmit your joy also and your hopes for the future so that others can take heart in you; from us.
Father we all want to remain in your vine, we want to be in your presence now and for ever more. Let it be,
Amen.
