5th Sunday of Easter
John 15:1-8
"Be Attached: Proclaim and Do!"
15:1* ¶ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser.
2* Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3* You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you.
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.
5* I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6* If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.
7* If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.
8* By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. RSV
Grace and Peace to your from Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
’Chaplain Ernst Gordon in his book "Through the Valley of the Quai" tells of the hardship prisoners of War during World War II as they were imprisoned by the Japanese army. These men wrote Chaplain Gordon were reduced to skeletons, riddled with disease, and the only way they could survive was by the law of the jungle,everyman for himself. They hated, the cursed, they stole; they watched one another die and looked forward to death as their only means of escape.
A few prisoners decided this was not the way they wanted, to live. They began to study their Bibles, they would offer prayer for the dying, and the atmosphere began to change in that prison. Eventually, a worship center was built, and many of the men began to come to worship. This reawakening of faith effected a miraculous change. in the morale or the prisoners. Instead of living by the law of the jungle, every man for himself, men were now willing to help another, care for one another, to love one another Chaplain Jordon writes, "This Church of the Spirit which the worship center was called, was the throbbing heart which gave life to the camp and transformed it in considerable measure from a mass of frightened individuals into a caring community. From this renewal, we received, the inspiration that made life possible. This inspiration was not a Polly-Anna view of life, but a realistic view which says life is more than the animal instinct to survive it is a noble life, where men are seen as people who have self-worth inspire of the circumstances of life. The Spirit of God, gave to these men the strength to live, to care, to love, but not from mere physical endurance, from the inner strength which believes and trusts that somehow in spite of all the pain,God is there."
The miracle of life, the dignity of self-worth, the importance of the human life became apparent again in that prison camp when the men realized who they were, children of God thus attached themselves to God’s Spirit again through prayer, through Bible Study, and through worship. As Jesus says in our gospel lesson,"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Our story of the prison camp underscores this statement of Jesus, once the men where in Christ, they were able to bear fruit, to be the kinds of men Jesus has called us all to be.
Jesus is using a story from his day to make a point about being attached to him, being in the body of Christ
being in the community of believer. Jesus is saying the only way for the branches of the vine to grow is to be attached
to the vine, attached to the main part. It is from the main part of the vine that the branches get its food, its strength, its nourishment to grow and bear fruit.
And Jesus is saying so it is with you who belong to the body of Christ. The only way you can bear fruit, the only way you can stay alive is to be attached to the body, to the church, to the worship life, to the good news of Christ which is proclaimed each Sunday.
Maybe a picture from today’s garden will help us to understand what Jesus.is saying. Last summer I grew some cucumbers. As they grew the branches began to grow a long distance from the vine. Then little flowers, then
little cucumbers would appear. The little cucumbers would begin to grow, but sometimes I wasn’t as careful walking through the garden, or picking some of the larger cucumbers and I would pull or break some of the branches from the vine. I wouldn’t notice it at first, but a couple of days later, I would notice the small cucumbers hadn’t
grown and the leaves on that part of the branch were drying up, then I would wonder "what is the matter."
I would trace the branch back to the vine and find enough it had been separated in some kind of way. That branch
that fruit apart from the main vine would not bear a cucumber any longer, it would just die.
So Jesus says it is with us, you and I who are part of the Christian community. Apart from this community our faith, our acts of love, our trust, our commitment to Jesus Christ begins to die. Jesus is saying we need to remain faithful to him and to the community. Because here in the community of the faithful, we receive strength to live and be in Christ.
It is here where Jesus has promises to be in his word and in his sacraments. It is here on Sunday morning in worship that we are reminded again and again of the love God has for us through his Son Jesus Christ. It is here through the words spoken, through the gift of bread and wine, through a hand extended in love that we see and experience God’s love new and fresh each time we come to worship.
Today, as you come to eat and drink, you will be reminded again, you will experience in a very physical way, through the body and blood of Christ his love for you. In that experience you will receive none other than God himself through Jesus.
This morning in the service we have a visible and real way we encounter the forgiveness of God, or cleansing of God through the bread and wine of the Lord’s supper. Today, as you come to eat and drink, you will be reminded again, you will experience in a very physical way, through the body and blood of Christ, God’s love for you, His forgiving power in your life. In this meal, your sins are forgiven and you at the same time are given the power of almighty God to continue to bear his fruit as part of the vine of Christ. Communion is a both/and experience. At one and the same time, God through Christ’s body and blood, comes to you in a personal way, and assures you of forgiveness of all those things which remind you daily you are not what God intended for you to be, then at the same time, because it is God Himself which is encountering you, you are filled with His power to continue to bear fruit as part of the vine of Christ.
In his book The Hand That Holds Me Pastor Michael Rogness says on p.99, "The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is the most sublime moment of the Christian life, the most awe filled moment, but also at the same time the most human. There at the Lord’s table, God comes to us----the over-whelming, majestic, creator of all the galaxies--right where we are most human and worried about so many mundane and human thing, there through the bread and wine, God comes. He stoops way down and comes to us in the common elements of bread and wine as we try, but do not success as being, standing, thinking, and praying right at that moment." It does not matter that we are not "perfect" at that moment of encountering God, because God chooses to come to us in our sinfulness to forgive us, to cleanse us, to prune us, to make us able to bear more fruit for Him.
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
We need to be part of the vine so that we may bear much fruit. Bearing fruit in this case means to offer a helping hand to another. Bearing fruit means to share my faith with another. Bearing fruit means to walk with another as they experience the brokenness of life.
Being part of the vine means we also need each other. A song which I enjoy while in high school comes to mind as I think about needing others, it says: " No man is an island, no man stands alone, each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own. We need one another and I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend." We do not stand alone in our faith walk, as part of the vine of Christ we need and do rely on each other.
Dietrick Bonhoeffer says in his book "Life Together":
" God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother/sister, in the mouth of a man/ woman. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him/her. He/she needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying their truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother, his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure."
In this vine of faith, I need your faith to sustain my faith. You need my faith to sustain yours. We are intertwined. And together we need Christ’s love for us to sustain the vine, the church.
As we are attached to the vine, the church, then we help each other to sustain our faith. Then we go out to proclaim that faith to those who are not attached. We proclaim, we act.
Some once said, "The best sermons are lived, not preached". Which means we are not just to proclaim the Gospel. but we are to live the Gospel. We are to reach out a hand to another.
We need to be alive in Christ as we are attached to the vine, the church. This should make us alive, vibrant in Christ.
Many years ago some prospectors were panning for gold in Montana when one of them found an unusual stone. Breaking it open, he saw that it contained gold. Working eagerly, the men soon discovered an abundance of the precious metal. With unrestrained delight they shouted, "We’ve found it! We’ve found gold! We’re rich!"
Before going into town for supplies, they agreed not to tell a soul about their find. While in town, not one of them breathed a word about their discovery. When they were about to return to camp, though, a group of men had gathered and were ready to follow them.
"You’ve found gold," the group said.
"Who told you?" asked the prospectors.
"No one," they replied. "Your faces showed it!"
Does your very being show that you are attached to the vine of Christ?
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale May 8, 2006
You may freely use this as is or in parts. Please somehow give credit if possible, thanks! Not for commercial use.
