5 Easter B
April 28, 2024
M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
John 15:1-8
None of Your Business
Have you heard of Malcom McLean? Honestly, I had never heard of him until a few Wednesdays ago.
Malcolm McLean lived from 1913 to 2001. He revolutionized international freight transportation in ways that affect all our lives. Before Malcom McLean, cargo was transported on ships in containers of many different shapes and sizes. Each of those containers was handled by longshoremen and stored in vast warehouses.
Malcolm McLean invented the intermodal shipping container that created efficiencies that save every one of us significant money. Those containers of uniform sizes lowered the cost of shipping from $5.86 a ton to 16 cents a ton. That’s a savings of over 36 times.
Those containers can be stacked outside and easily put on trucks or trains without being opened or otherwise handled by longshoremen.
Why do I bring up Malcolm McLean and the containers he invented? Because God our creator made us to be containers for His Holy Spirit. That’s a crude analogy, but I hope it’s one you’ll remember. isays to us, “Abide in me,” and It is through the Holy Spirit within us that we can do that. Let’s spend a few minutes considering the first eight verses of chapter 15 of the Gospel of John.
Jesus says,
v. 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”
Jesus is the true vine.
Vines are not strong and mighty wonders like a great oak, elm, or redwood tree. Vines are plants that require support. In the Old Testament, Israel was described as a vine that is planted and tended by God. In Psalm 80, the writer says to God, “You brought us out of Egypt as though we were a tender vine.”
Now, Jesus says that He is the vine. God His Father tends this vine, meaning that God Himself takes on the role that He once gave to the civil and religious leaders in Israel.
God’s role as the vinedresser is explained in verse 2.
“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.”
A pastor friend of mine, then living in Marion, Virginia, once told me about a film he had seen at a Rotary Club meeting. The film was on wine production and it showed the constant attention that a vinegrower devotes to his or her vines. The vinegrower removes dead branches and prunes the live branches. The fruit will not ripen properly if it doesn’t receive enough light, so the vinedresser cuts back the branches of the vine so that the fruit can bask in sunlight.
The vinegrower’s care of the vine is a beautiful picture of God’s care for us. God removes the dead wood in our lives and He cuts back the live wood that would block Christ’s love from shining upon us.
Jesus says,
v. 3 “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”
God the vinedresser uses the Word of God spoken by Jesus His Son to cleanse those who belong to Him.
v. 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.”
Abide is used ten times in the first ten verses of John, chapter 15. To abide means to remain or stay. It can mean reside or dwell, as in a house. We are to be the place where God the Holy Spirit fills with the presence of Jesus Christ. We are to be the vessel or container of Christ’s presence. Abiding in Christ and Christ in us is the essence of the Christian life. We draw our lives from Christ, who lives within us.
We, the branches of the vine, cannot bear fruit apart from our attachment to Christ.
What is the fruit that we bear?
The fruit of abiding in Christ has been described as Christian character, virtue, the fruit of the Spirit as given in Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23, Christian conduct, helping others to come to faith in Jesus Christ, and anything else that is the result of our obedience to Christ.
Josh Houston says in The Abiding Life: A Book About John 15, “Disciples are in the abiding business, not the fruit-production business. Fruit, in the end, is not our responsibility, it’s the Father’s.”
Pastor Bill Dogterom had a saying: “Fruit is none of your business.” Dogterom was a mentor to Josh Houston. He would listen to Josh talk about the response to the sermons that Josh would diligently prepare and preach. After listening, Dogterom would say, “Fruit is none of your business.”
Our job is to do what God the vinedresser asks us to do. Fruit-bearing is His business.
How does that make you feel? Good? Less responsible?
Here’s a fact that you may find interesting. The word responsibility never appears in the Bible. Not even once. There’s another R word that appears a lot. That word is rest.
On the seventh day, God rests from His work of creation, according to Genesis 2, verses 2 and 3.
God says to Israel during the Exodus, “I will go with you and give you rest” (Exodus 33:14).
The Psalmist says, “My soul finds rest in God” (Psalm 62:1).
Jesus says, “Come to me you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Jesus says in our gospel reading this morning,
v. 5 “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.”
Not only will you find rest by abiding in Christ, you will also bear much fruit.
What kind of fruit? Good fruit. Godly fruit. Fruit that will never go bad. Fruit that will last.
The only condition that Jesus places on fruit-bearing is abiding in Him. We aren’t told to chase after it. We aren’t told to fixate on it. We’re told only to abide in Christ.
v. 6 “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.”
This is the other side of the good news. Apart from Christ, we wither and die. Apart from Christ, there is the fire of God’s judgment.
v. 7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Jesus develops this abiding in Him theme by adding “my words abide in you.” Jesus died on a cross, and joined His first followers in several post-resurrection appearances. After this, He ascended to heaven, but before doing so, He promised to never leave His followers.
He is with us now by His Spirit. He is with us now in the sacrament of His body and blood. He is with us now in His Word.
What do the travelers who were joined by Jesus on their way to Emmaus say about their experience of with the resurrected Christ?
“They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’ ” Luke 24:32
The entire Bible is Christ’s Word to us.
Two Sundays ago, we heard from the Gospel of Luke how Jesus joined the two Emmaus Road travelers and the remaining eleven apostles.
“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…” Luke 24:44-45a
The Old Testament points to Jesus Christ as the one who would come to bring new life to this world.
Abide in Christ, rest in Him, remain in Him, allow His words to sink deeply into your soul.
Abide in Christ - draw your life from Him. From Jesus flows living water that creates new life (John 7:38). Jesus is the bread of life who alone can feed the spiritual hunger that is within you and in every other human being ever born (John 6:35).
Abide in Christ, and allow His words to abide in you. How do you abide in Christ?
First, in worship. Abiding in Christ starts here. Through the Scriptures read and preached... Through the sacrament of his body and blood… Jesus comes to us.
In worship, we can receive the transforming presence of Jesus Christ. Yet, in a study of regular worshipers done by the George Barna Research groups, 32% said that they have never experienced God’s presence in worship or otherwise. 48% said that they have not experienced God’s presence in the past year. These respondents are regular worshipers. Why aren’t they experiencing God’s presence in worship?
One reason could be that churches and individuals can have the wrong focus. For example, churches can design worship to please people rather than to honor God. That approach can be hit or miss, depending on how particular worshipers feel. When we become the arbiter of whether worship works for us, based on our feelings, we can get into an evaluation mode - how good or bad was the sermon, how good or bad was the music, et cetera.
At its best, worship is a means to bring us into the presence of God for the purpose of honoring God. When we understand that we aren’t the audience, God is, our perspective is completely changed.
Proper worship brings us into the presence of God. Our Lutheran Service Book was created to bring us into the presence of God. Proper worship enables us to abide in Christ.
Second, whether in worship or elsewhere, Scripture brings us into the presence of God. As the writer to the Hebrews says,
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
I don’t know whether you’ve ever had surgery or not, but I know that without anesthesia, surgery would be incredibly painful. God’s word is a sharp tool in the capable hands of God the vinedresser. God’s Word is an essential part of our abiding in Christ, which is why Jesus links abiding in Him and His words abiding in you. Without daily time in God’s Word, your abiding in Christ will be hit or miss.
Third, we abide in Christ, through prayer. Prayer is our conversation with Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. No fancy words are needed, just a simple, honest conversation.
When we abide in Christ, and His words abide in us, our lives are so shaped that prayer becomes a way of our asking for God’s will to be done.
Jesus promises,
v. 7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
That happens as our lives are shaped by Christ’s presence within us.
v. 8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
By this - that is, by abiding in Christ and His words abiding in you.
By asking in prayer for God’s will to be done.
By this - God the Father is glorified.
By this abiding in Christ and His words abiding in you, much fruit will be borne in your life. Your fruitfulness proves that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Is bearing fruit your responsibility? No it’s not. Fruit-bearing is the responsibility of God the vinedresser. Your part is simply abiding in Christ.
Can you do that? Will you do that through worship, Bible reading, and prayer?
Let us pray.
Almighty God, our Father in heaven, we give you thanks that Jesus Christ your Son our Lord is the true vine who gives us life. Enable us by your grace and mercy to remain in Him, not striving to receive life on our terms, but on His terms. Assist us by your presence within us to love what you love, and desire what you desire, so that you will be glorified in our lives. It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen.
