"making Our Home In Jesus"

John 15:1-17

“Making our Home in Jesus”

In our Gospel Lesson for this morning Jesus likens Himself to a Vine and God the Father to a Farmer.

We, believers in Christ, are the branches.

But notice that Jesus doesn’t just say that He is any old vine.

He says, “I am the Real Vine.”

Why would He say something like that?

To get to the reason, we need to look at the context in which Jesus was speaking.

Jesus was talking to His Jewish followers some 2,000 years ago.

And within Jewish tradition, the vine was a picture of Israel.

According to Psalm 80, God brought God’s vine out of Egypt and planted it in the Promised Land.

Later, prophets like Isaiah said that this vine that was Israel, had produced only bitter grapes rather than sweet ones.

And now Jesus is saying that He is the True Vine, the True Israel.

He is the One on Whom all of God’s promises are now resting.

And His followers are members of God’s true people—if they belong to Him and remain in Him.

The picture of the “vine” isn’t just a clever illustration from gardening, although it incorporates that.

The first disciples listening to Jesus speak about Himself being the “True Vine” would have known what He was referring to and it would have been, perhaps, pretty shocking and even scandalous.

But it is the Truth!

Where Israel failed to be what they were called to be: “The light to the nations,” the “salt of the earth,” the ones who shared the love of God with the world—Jesus came to do.

With human beings it is impossible to save the world.

With God, all things are possible.

“For God so loved the world…”

So, Jesus defines Himself over and over again to His followers and the Jewish people as a whole in ways they can understand.

He is “the bread of life,” “light,” “the door,” “the good shepherd,” “life,” “the way,” “truth,” and now “The True Vine.”

All of these metaphors point to relationships…

…relationships with God through Jesus and relationships with other people through Jesus.

You know, the Israelites were a communal people.

And the basic imagery Jesus gives us in the passage is about the communal and relational nature of the Christian life.

We are called to be connected to Jesus and thus connected to one another.

And this is kind of radical in our 21st Century society which promotes independence and making something of ourselves.

And although this is a very valid goal, our self-worth tends to get caught up with our own personal success at work, at making money, and how many friends we have.

In our world, it becomes very easy and natural for us to think it’s all up to us and our own greatness and so forth as we seek to solve problems, meet life’s challenges and find hope and meaning.

We become competitive, cut-throat, and sometimes, even mean and hateful to one another.

But this is not the way life is supposed to be.

This is not what following Jesus, being connected to Christ produces.

And if we are living cut-throat, angry, “out for number one” lives we maybe ought to re-evaluate our relationship with Christ.

Branches that are connected to Jesus produce good fruit, good results, and above all—love.

“Make yourselves at home in my love,” Jesus tells us.

“If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love…

…I chose you and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil…

…remember the root command: Love one another.”

It seems that the result of remaining in Jesus is Love—unconditional, action-oriented, agape love.

It seems that the measure of whether or not we are connected to the vine and thus bearing the fruit of Christ is if we are producing, with our lives unconditional, action-oriented agape love.

This is vitally important.

It’s sooo important right now when the church is seen by so many as a hate-group.

This should cause us all to sit-up, take notice and look closely at our relationship with Christ—our connection to the vine and why we are getting a bad rap.

Are we loving all people without respect to age, race, gender, personality, social status—whatever?

Do we discriminate and treat some people better than others for any reason whatsoever?

Do we leave anyone out?

What a beautiful privilege and opportunity God offers us.

It’s amazing, really.

And it’s easy to forget or take it for granted!

Jesus says: “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.”

But still, I so often separate myself from the VINE, leave the Home God has created for me and try and go it on my own.

And, I’ll tell you, every time I have tried to go it alone, without Jesus…without relying on Jesus I have been unhappy, and not filled with joy.