John 15:1-8
Galatians 5:16-26
“The Right Connection”
By:Rev. Kenneth Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
Shortly after I was saved, I was hanging out with my teenage friends, and a group of them were being
really mean and bullying to a kid who happened to have a different skin color.
They seemed to be doing this for no other reason than for entertainment purposes.
I remember how evil it felt.
I could see the clear line between right and wrong...God’s way and Satan’s way.
In the past I would have either joined in with them, or not thought much about it.
Not this time.
This time, I smiled at the kid who was being harassed...I spoke to him like a human being...I stood up
for him....
...and you know what he said to me?
He said, “You’re not the same as them...you’re not like them...you’re not one of them.”
It felt good and scary at the same time...good: because I was filled with the Holy Spirit of
God...scary: because I knew I could no longer hang out with my friends like I used to and do what my friends were
doing any longer....
...well, it wasn’t so much that I couldn’t do it...
...it was more like I couldn’t do it anymore and be happy...and be at peace...
... “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear
much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown
away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
What does this mean?
How does one remain in Christ?
Think of it this way:
When we put a tea bag in a cup of hot water, something amazing happens to the water. As the tea bag
remains in that water, the tea begins to color and flavor the water until that water begins to take on the color and
the taste of the tea bag. The longer the bag remains in the water, the stronger the color and taste of the tea.
And this is exactly what happens when we remain in Christ and He remains in us.
The longer we remain in Christ and the deeper we go with Christ, the more the influence of Christ will
pervade our lives, so that we begin to reflect His nature and His character.
In our Epistle Lesson, Paul is talking about the fruit of the Spirit of God....
This fruit is love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
How can anyone display all of these qualities consistently?
Humanly speaking...we can’t.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that it is not only a possibility but a distinct reality--if we have the right connection.
“No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you
remain in me.”
A five year old boy fell out of bed, waking the entire household with his cry.
After his mother had safely tucked him back under the covers, she asked: “Why did you fall out of bed?”
Between tears and sobs, he said: “Well, I guess I went to sleep too close to where I got in.”
Too many people do just that in life--we sleepwalk too close to where we began. So we fall short of what
God created us to become.
Too many people never learn the secret of being connected to Christ...Who is the true vine.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit are not naturally manufactured--they are supernaturally produced!
Those of us who have God’s Holy Spirit living in us have the supernatural ability to become fruit
producing branches for Christ...all it takes is the right connection!
And Jesus revealed the right connection in our Gospel Lesson for today...
...Keep in mind that, horiculturally speaking, the fruit depends on being connected to the vine.
To put it another way, a branch bears fruit only if it has the right connection to the tree.
Jesus said, “I am the true vine.”
Out of a vine spring forth little buds called shoots....
....at first, the shoots are just fragile green buds...
...then comes the flower--the bloom ready to mature...
...and then comes the fruit.
It is God’s will that the seeds of His image which are planted in all of us become fruit-bearing branches...
...God wants all of us to reflect the character of the true vine, His Son, Jesus Christ!
Jesus says, “My Father is the gardener,” ....
....and the only thing that interests the gardener is fruit.
And to make sure that every branch reaches it’s maximum production...God prunes it!
Jesus says: “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
God’s favorite pruning knife is His Word, which Hebrews 4:12 tells us “is sharper than any two-edged
sword.”
God uses this knife to cut and clean the branch....
...so, as we read God’s Word, God cuts away the bad so that it won’t get in the way of the good...
...and then God cuts out the good so it doesn’t get in the way of the best!
This explains (at least in part) why God allows difficult times to invade our lives...
...trials, troubles, and tribulations may simply be pruning shears in the hands of the divine gardener...
...tools He uses to cut away dead wood, fruitless branches, and sap-sucking shoots so that we will bear more fruit.
Billy Graham once said: “Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the
valleys.”
How true.
It’s easy to love those who love us, but Jesus told us to love our enemies.
It’s easy to be happy when the sun is shining...
...it is another thing to be joyful when the hail is falling, the thunder is roaring, and the lightening is crashing.
Jesus says in verse 11: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be
complete.”
It’s one thing to be at peace and calm when life feels peaceful and calm around us....
...but Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let
your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
But what exactly does it mean to remain in Christ?
Well, Jesus does not leave us wondering...
...Jesus tells us that remaining in Him means, first of all, studying the Word of God.
There are many opportunities for us to engage in meaningful Bible study.
Here at Parkview we have Sunday School classes, small group studies and a Wednesday night Bible
study.
It is also important that we fertilize our souls through personal Bible study. There are many devotional
books available as well as the Upper Room which is a short daily devotional guide that Parkview provides.
When we look into the Word of God and see the Son of God...
...we are changed by the Spirit of God into the image of God...
...by the grace of God...
...for the glory of God.
For it is our goal as Christians to become more and more like Christ. What we put into our souls will
come out.
If we listen to songs that have negative lyrics, we will become negative.
If we surround ourselves with people who gossip and speak badly of others, we become gossipers and
slanderers.
If we view pornography, we gain an unChrist-like view of an intimate relationship.
Therefore we should make every effort to remain rooted in the Word of God so that we will bear GOOD fruit.
Remaining in Christ also means doing the work of God.
One of my wife’s favorite sayings is by Mother Teresa. “Do small things with great love.”
Mother Teresa certainly LIVED what she believed.
And that is what Christ is calling us to do as well.
LIVE WHAT YOU BELIEVE.
If we were to evaluate our lives.... our lives would tell us what we believe in.
How do we treat our spouse?
How do we treat our children? How do we treat our co-workers? Do we treat people in a way that
reveals Christ?
Are we doing things with great love?
One of my favorite verses of Scripture comes from Ephesians chapter 2: “For we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
God is in the fruit-bearing business.
That is His work...
...that is what He desires for us!
Remaining in Christ also means obeying the will of God.
God’s will is for us to remain in love.
Jesus said: “If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s
commands and remain in his love.”
Remaining in love is not always easy.
When someone hurts us we want to strike back...not turn the other cheek,
When someone destroys our self- esteem we want to tear down, not build up.
And when someone pushes us away we want to push back instead of embracing.
When we, as branches, remain in fellowship with Jesus (the Vine)...the task of remaining in love becomes
possible because: “it is not I who live but Christ who lives in me.”
God wants us connected to Him so that He can give us the supernatural power we need in order to be the
Christians He created us to be...
...and so that we can influence others to be Christians as well!
Of course, we make this connection with God through a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ, who
died on a cross and was raised from the dead so that, through faith in Him, we might be grafted as branches onto
the heavenly vine...
...and thus begin to bear the heavenly fruit of His Holy Spirit.
Do we have the right connection?
Are we connected with God through the only One who can make that connection....
....His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit...
...Who bears the divine fruit of God in our lives?
If so, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to make us into branches that will bear the fruit of blessing on all those we meet.
If not, Jesus Christ invites us to surrender our lives to Him...
...the true vine...
...the only One who can make us the kind of Christians whose influence will last for all eternity.
