May 22, 2011
Dear friends in Christ.
I have always been amazed at how the Lord has blessed this great country of ours. Though it began out of 13 colonies it has grown to contain 50 individual states, which are able to operate independently within the system of our National Government. Yet, even though each state is free to act independently in many ways, no state is able to exist apart from our National Government. Though about 150 years ago some states tried to succeed from the nation and go it alone, It was the determination of President Lincoln that those states should remain part of this nation and that this nation should remain a unified whole. Thus, today, we find ourselves living in the best of the 50 states—states that have remained together as a nation. Well today, as we study the lesson before us from John 15:1-8, we will hear Jesus speaking to us about the importance of remaining together. However, he will not be speaking about the importance of remaining together as a nation. Rather he will be calling on each and every one of us to remain in him, the true vine.
Now, when Jesus spoke these words, he was speaking to his disciples one last time on Maundy Thursday Evening. Though in our Gospel lesson from John 14 Jesus and his disciples were still in the upper room, by the time Jesus is speaking in chapter 15, they have left the upper room and are most likely together in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you,” (John 15:1-4a).
As soon as the disciples heard these words, their ears must have perked up, for all through the Old Testament Scriptures, the Lord had used the illustration of vines and vineyards in reference to his chosen people Israel. However, rather than speaking about his chosen people, this time Jesus is drawing their attention to himself. This time Jesus is telling his disciples that he is the source of their faith and their life. In essence, what Jesus is doing in these last moments is boiling down the last three years of teaching and assuring his disciples that if they remain in him, Jesus will remain in them. Well the same thing is true for you and me today, for in the same way that the branches of a grapevine depend on the vine for sustenance, we also depend on Jesus for our lives. He is the one who has called us to faith. He is the one who nourishes our faith through his Word. He is the one who comforts us and assures us in every trouble. He is the one who strengthens us and protects us when the hardships and challenges of life come our way. He is the one who is faithful to us and has promised us that if we remain in him he will remain in us, because he is the vine and we are his branches. If we remain in him we will continue to grow, but if we don’t remain him we will quickly begin to wither and die. This, in fact, is the very warning that Jesus gives us as he tells us “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.” (John 15:6).
Around here, we don’t see too many grapevines or other vinery plants, but we do see trees, and I’m sure that we’ve all seen a tree that is just thriving, but has a few dead branches here and there. We had a tree like that just outside the fellowship hall not too long ago. During the winter, one of the branches broke either in the wind or under the snow. Though it was winter, the prognosis for this branch was bleak. It had broken and no sap would be able to flow to the limb and nourish it. There would be no leaves on this branch come spring because it had broken and died. Though this broken and dead branch hung there in the tree through the winter, a couple of months ago, it was removed by the city while they were cutting down the tree at the neighbor’s house on the other side of Smith Street. It was cut off, hauled away, and if it hasn’t already been burned up it will be burned up the next time the branches are burned down there by the river. In the same way that this branch was removed, so also will be the fate of all those who do not remain in Christ the True vine, as Jesus himself tells us, “[My Father] cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit…it is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown in to the fire and burned,” (John 15:2a,6).
Sadly, there are many who, though they once were fruitful branches in the Lord Jesus are no longer bearing fruit. There are many who, though they once held tightly to Jesus their true vine, have loosened their grip on him and have allowed themselves to wither. There are even some who have allowed their faith in Jesus to die and are like that dead branch in the tree outside, simply waiting to be removed completely. This is why Jesus tells us in verses 4-5, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me, 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,” (John 15:4-5).
Now, with your permission, I will ask you an obvious question. If I were to go out to vineyard, find a nice branch form a grapevine, cut it off and bring it home, could I expect it to produce grapes for me? No, I couldn’t because that branch is now on its own. It is no longer attached to the vine. That branch is no longer receiving the life sustaining sap, which allows it to flourish and grow and produce grapes. All that is left for that branch is for it to wither and die. We are the same way. Only when we are connected to Christ by faith can we bear fruits of faith. When we neglect to read God’s Word and speak to him in prayer; when we neglect Holy Communion; when we allow our church attendance to drop because we are too busy doing other things; we are in effect taking a saw and cutting ourselves off from the Jesus the true vine. We are separating ourselves from the faith sustaining sap that Jesus the true vine provides us, and as we know apart from Jesus we can do nothing. This is quite a warning for us to behold, because if we do not remain in Jesus our Savior, our faith will die, we will be removed from him, and we will be cast into the fires of hell where we will pop and crackle like the burning branches in the campfire.
However, if we remain in Christ Jesus our Vine, he will remain in us. When we remain in Christ, we are like the branches of a grapevine that are laden with clusters of succulent grapes, as we bear fruits that flow from faith. When we remain in Christ our faith quite naturally shows itself in love to our fellow neighbor. Our faith blossoms into simple acts of kindness, a gift given for no particular reason or two children quietly and peacefully playing a game. When we remain in Christ, our faith blooms into patience and self-control as we learn to accept the crosses that the Lord has given each of us to bear in this life. When we remain in Christ, our lives glorify our Father in heaven, for through our lives, we bear much fruit and show ourselves to be his disciples. This is what Jesus was teaching his disciples that day, and that is what he is teaching us as well. Though no one can look into the heart of another human being and see who is a Christian and who isn’t, we can see the results of faith in the way people live and the fruits that they bear in their lives. This is why our Lord Jesus calls on us to remain in him, to bear fruit with our lives. As we live and remain in Jesus the true vine, he gives us the promise that we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer. Just as he tells us in verse 7: “If you remain in men and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you,” (John 15:7).
Now this passage has often given people trouble, because they are not exactly sure what Jesus is saying here. Sometimes people think that this means that when they become Christians Jesus will give them everything they ask from him. But the truth is Jesus is not telling us that everything we want will come to us just because we prayed for it. Rather, Jesus is teaching us that when we remain in him and he remains in us he forms the minds of his faithful people into a single will. He makes us to love his commands and desire his promises. When we remain in Jesus, we will pray that his will be done, just as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and he will work his will in our lives just as he did in the lives of the disciples. When the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parables to him, Jesus did so. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus taught them the Lord’s Prayer. When the disciples prayed that the Lord’s give power to his servants to speak the Word of truth boldly, that is exactly what the Lord did.
What about us? How many times haven’t we received whatever we ask for in prayer? How many times haven’t we prayed for safe travel and he has given it to us. How many times haven’t we prayed for good weather or rain and he has given it to us? How many times haven’t we prayed for the growth of his Church in all the world and he has given it to us. How many times haven’t we prayed, “Thy will be done,” and his will has been done. Yes, we know that it is true! We know that when we remain in Jesus the true vine our will understands God’s will and asks that God’s will be done. This is how we receive whatever we ask for in prayer.
Dear friends, we belong to Christ in the same way that branches belong to a vine. Remain in Jesus Christ, our true vine. For when we do so, he will remain in us. We will bear much fruit to the glory of God the Father. We will receive whatever we ask for in prayer.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN
