“Christ’s Joy in You”
John 15:1-11
I think Jesus Christ was the most joy-filled human to ever walk the earth.
Why do I say this?
Think about it, Jesus didn’t worry about His life—what He would eat or drink, or what He would wear.
He trusted His Father in heaven.
He was able to love—even His enemies and pray for those who not only persecuted Him but Crucified Him as well.
He cared so deeply about human beings.
He healed the sick.
He brought great joy to people’s lives through His teachings, friendship and miracles.
He had unimaginable compassion for humankind, because we are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
He was so confident of God’s grace that He wasn’t caught up in the miserable life of one Who is constantly shaking in their boots, trying to please an angry God.
Instead, He knew that God desires mercy—not sacrifice, and that God is Love—and there is “no fear in love.”
He didn’t have anything to “prove.”
Therefore, He was able to humble Himself—even to the point of taking on the attitude of a servant or slave.
He thought of others above Himself.
He was inclusive—He left no one out.
He didn’t play favorites.
He had fun.
He attended weddings.
He went to lavish dinner parties where He ate, drank and enjoyed the company of anyone who would have Him.
He played host to 5,000 people whom He fed with just a few small fish and some barley loaves—and they all ate their fill.
He walked on water.
He had a conversation with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.
He brought His best friend back from the dead.
But more than anything, He and the Father were One.
Everything He said came from the Father.
He never wavered from God’s will.
He loved completely all the time.
And, therefore, He was perfect.
Does that mean that His body didn’t ache or that He didn’t have to deal with temptation?
Definitely not.
Does that mean that He didn’t dread the coming Crucifixion or mourn over those who would not accept His love?
No.
Does that mean life around Him was always rosy?
No.
Was He born with a silver spoon in His mouth—definitely not!!!
But remember Christian Perfection is not about external things.
Christian Perfection is not about having lots of money or being the one in charge.
It’s also not some morality test.
Christian Perfection is to have a habitual love for God and neighbor.
That is what it is all about.
That is what Jesus has.
And that is our calling as well.
That is what we have been created for—every one of us.
That is what brings us joy.
Sadly, we live in a lost and broken world.
Our relationship with God has been severed by rebellion and sin.
But by grace through faith in Christ we begin an intimate love relationship with God—as branches connected to the True Vine.
And if we remain attached to the Vine our lives will bear much fruit, never end and we will experience a joy which transcends all things.
Or as Paul puts it in Ephesians, we will be created anew in Christ Jesus to do good things.
And “God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.”
In our Scripture passage for this morning Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
Over and over again, throughout my life I have found this to be profoundly and painfully true.
Whenever I have tried to go it alone.
Whenever I have removed myself from the Vine.
Whenever I have moved away from a relationship with Jesus Christ—things have gone downhill fast.
I have never been happy living outside of God’s will for my life.
This morning, Mary Ellen, Abigail and James have confirmed their faith.
They have made a public confession that Jesus Christ is Lord of their lives.
They have told you about their decision to become engrafted into the Vine Who is Jesus Christ.
A lot of people do this, and it is a tremendously important step along the way in our Christian journeys.
Now, I know personally, that Mary Ellen made the decision to follow Christ a number of years ago.
I think the same goes for James and Abbie.
But this morning you have confirmed this to us—your Church Family.
And we are here to support you--to grow together with you as persons who live lives in relationship with Jesus.
We re-confirmed our faith with you as well, when you joined the church.
But like I said, many, many, many people do this—but for many it doesn’t seem to stick.
Some people make a decision to follow Christ and join the Church, but then as they become older other things in life come along and entice them to go another way—to detach themselves from the Vine.
Still others pay “lip service” to faith in Christ while not really giving it much thought or attention.
They never apply it to their lives.
They are never really attached to the Vine and when they are older they may never return to the Church again.
I know lots of people like that.
As a matter of fact, it seems like I know a lot more people who fall into that category than persons who actually continue to remain in Christ throughout their entire lives.
Why is this?
I don’t know.
In Matthew Chapter 13 Jesus says that some people fail to understand the good news about Jesus.
Others receive Jesus with great joy, but this only lasts a very short time.
As soon as trouble comes they quickly fall away.
For some, the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of wealth and materialism kill the relationship.
Let’s face it.
Life is hard and complicated.
And each of you are young.
Lord willing, you have long lives ahead of you.
And in this life you are all going to come across temptations.
You might become tempted to take short cuts on your school work—to not put in the effort you should.
This leads to bad grades, which leads to a dislike for school, which might lead to low self-esteem or not being all you can be in life.
Some of you might be tempted to do drugs or drink before it is legal for you to do so.
You might do this in order to try to fit in.
These early decisions can do harm which can last a life-time.
Others of you might decide that the key to a happy and joy-filled life is to try and acquire as much money and material possessions as you can.
You might buy into the old lie that “the one who dies with the most stuff—wins.”
But you know that’s not true.
The one thing that everyone who has ever lived wants more than anything else is to be happy.
And there are many roads people take in order to try and find happiness.
Some try and find it at the bottom of a bottle, but that has never worked.
Others might think happiness is found in a big salary.
That’s not the key either.
There is only one thing that will bring you joy in life and that is a life lived in continual relationship with Jesus.
“Remain in me and I will remain in you,” Jesus says to us.
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language puts it like this: “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.”
Make your home in Jesus.
This is the key to life.
No one, when they have gotten to the end of their life has ever said: “Gee, I wish I hadn’t lived my life in relationship with God through Christ.”
Plenty, though, have confessed: “I missed the mark.
I lived for myself.
I set my own agenda.
I went my own way.
I may have gotten rich, but what good is it?
I can’t take it with me.
And it never really made me happy anyway.”
Or other’s might cry: “I got addicted to drugs.
I wasted my life.”
Or “I never learned to love.
I never experienced joy.”
This is what it means to live a life that does not bear fruit.
In our Scripture passage for this morning Jesus says: “I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
Bearing fruit means loving God and loving other people.
And abiding in Christ is the only way we are able to do this.
When we remain in Christ, when we are attached to Him and continue in Him, the miraculous result is that what God wants will be what we want.
For we will become more and more like Him every day, every passing year.
The Scripture passage for this morning is ultimately about the Christian life.
It’s about what you have pledged yourselves to this morning.
It’s about “sticking with it” or “staying true” to what you have promised.
It’s about remaining in Jesus—no matter what life brings your way.
If we remain in Christ—our lives will have made a positive difference in this world.
And we also, will have experienced great joy.
Jesus says: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
Now remain in my love.
If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed 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.”
In verse 12 of John Chapter 15 Jesus says: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
That is the command of Christ we are to keep.
In doing this, and we can only do this by living our lives in relationship with Jesus Christ…
…in doing this Christ’s great joy will be in us.
And our joy, our lives will be complete.
The one who dies with the most stuff is not the winner.
It is the one who has loved the most.
And that love comes only through a life-long relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
It is God’s gift to anyone who will have it.
Don’t ever let anyone try and convince you otherwise.
Amen.
