Sermon on John 15:1-8 for Confirmation Sunday, May 3, 2015
In the Name of Jesus, the True Vine, dear fellow
redeemed—especially Logan, Chelsea, and Micah
Unless you’ve grown grapes or spent time
around a vineyard or winery, calling Jesus the Vine, doesn’t quite seem to
work. When some of us think of vines, we think of something that grows off of
the branches. We think of something that Tarzan might swing on as he travels
from tree to tree.
That’s not the kind of vine Jesus is
talking about today. Jesus was thinking about grape vines. On that plant, the
vine is the trunk or stalk of the plant. Jesus is like the vine. Each one of us
is like a branch coming off of that trunk. It is the branches, not the trunk
that bear fruit. And so, Jesus has called us to be the branches. “I am the
vine; you are the branches.”
Followers of Jesus, the branches, do two
things, they hear His Words and they bear fruit. We’ll look at these two things
this morning.
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| The branch was looking especially droopy on Monday evening when I took this picture. |
First,
let’s talk about bearing fruit. Take a look at this branch. I cut it off a tree
in our back yard just last night. Look at what’s happening to it already. The
leaves are withering. The sap is bleeding out end. It looks like the branch is
dying—actually it’s already dead.
This
branch is from a maple tree. Even though the fruit this tree produces is those
wonderful little helicopters, this branch will never produce fruit again. So
what should I do to this branch? I’m going to do exactly what Jesus says we do
with branches like this. I’ll throw it on a pile of dead branches, let it
finish drying and burn it.
That’s
what Jesus says happens to those who don’t bear fruit! There is a stiff
warning! Remain in Jesus because without Him, everything you do will amount to
exactly nothing! Jesus would say in another place, “What good will it do a man
to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”
Sometimes
it feels like we’ve become that branch—broken and seemingly separated from
Jesus. However, if you’re worried about this, chances are pretty good that you
haven’t been thrown away. Those who are separated from Christ don’t care about
it.
Jesus
says another thing is happening in our times of trouble. He says, “Every branch
that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Pruning
is necessary for trees. We have to trim some branches off of the trees in our
yards or orchards. If we didn’t do that, some branches would die, rot, or cause
trouble for the other branches on the tree. Look at a tree after a professional
tree trimmer gets through with it. You might be mad because it mike look like
there are no branches left!
God
doesn’t lop off parts of our body to prune us. (Okay, sometimes He does—you
could say I have a pruned colon.) Just like it is painful for a tree to be
pruned, sometimes God leads us through painful times.
Why
would God do such a thing? If He’s really a loving God, why would He let
anything bad happen in the first place? Jesus gives us the answer here. God is
“pruning” us so that we bear even more fruit then before. God has a goal and a
purpose with all of our suffering: bear fruit.
Just
so we’re clear, when God calls you to bear fruit, He’s not calling you to plant
a bunch of fruit trees and harvest the fruit. Instead He’s clearly defines the
fruit that we should bear. He does this in the fifth chapter of Paul’s letter
to the Galatians, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things
there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Really
you could sum all of those fruits up with just one word—love. In your
questioning on Friday night, you guys said that love is the summary of the
commandments. Loving God is the summary of the first three. Loving your
neighbor is the summary of the last seven.
So
when God brings us to and through difficult situations in our lives, He’s
calling us to be loving to people around us, to share the joy we have in Christ
and peace we have in His forgiveness. He’s calling us to be patient and wait
for His deliverance. He calls us to be good to each other, faithful to each
other, gentle to each other, and to control ourselves and put other people
first.
If
we feel like we are being “pruned” that does not mean that we’ve been cut off
and thrown away. It actually means the exact opposite. It means that God is
trying to make us more fruitful—more loving to Him and to others.
This
isn’t easy to do when things are going well, much less when things are
difficult. But that’s where the second thing comes in. Jesus’ followers—that’s
us—listen to Jesus’ words.
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| No matter the liturgical color, this is always the symbol on the pulpit. It's actually a metal piece that gets screwed to a bracket on the pulpit. Holy Cross is the only church I've ever seen where you need a wrench to change the altar cloths! |
Down below me on the pulpit there’s an
interesting symbol. Even if you’ve been going to church here for years, you
might not have taken a good look at it. At first glance it looks like a chicken
sitting on top of a really scrawny bush. That’s not what it is. It’s actually a
nice visual of what Jesus is telling us in our reading today.
We have clearly defined trunk to this
vine or tree. We’ve got branches connected to the vine. Look and you will see
that the branches are bearing fruit—so far, so good! But we still haven’t
gotten to the bird.
When
we think of a bird in the world of Christian symbolism, the first thing we
think of is the Holy Spirit, who took the form of a bird at Jesus’ baptism.
That’s why we have the bird looking thing hanging over the baptismal fount.
The
Holy Spirit is there, perched on the tree because the fruit we’ve talked about
is the fruit “of the Spirit.” Notice this image is attached to the pulpit. This
is to remind you that your ability to bear fruit comes from hearing Jesus’
words.
Think
about it. A branch doesn’t have life because it bears fruit. We don’t get
connected to the vine because we bear fruit. It’s opposite. We bear fruit
because we are connected the vine and receive life from Him. Jesus says that
this life comes from hearing His words. He says, “Already you are clean because
of the word that I have spoken to you.”
Jesus’
Words have given you life. He takes dead branches and grafts them in. He takes
you and me, sinners though we are and fills you with life. This life comes from
His death and resurrection for you. That’s what His word is all about. You
remember the verse you used to describe the purpose of the Bible, John 20:31
“These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and
that by believing you may have life in His name.” You have life in His name
because He died and rose for you.
He says to you, “Your sins are
forgiven.” From the cross He says, “It is finished”—that’s all His work for
you, in your place. The benefits of His death and resurrection—forgiveness,
life, and salvation—have come to you through His word. He not only speaks this
word to you but pours it over you in the water of baptism and puts it in your
hands and on your tongue in the Lord’s Supper.
God
has been filling you with His words just like a branch is filled with nutrients
from the vine.
Jesus
calls Himself the “true vine” He does this because there are so many other
“vines” that want you to plug in and find their identity in them. This could be
anything that desires you to fear, love, or trust in it more than you trust in the
Lord Jesus—the desire for acceptance through sports, good looks, money,
relationships or friends. Plug into these vines and all the things you do will
amount to nothing—or at least nothing good.
As
is our tradition, each of you has chosen a confirmation verse. Like every other
verse of scripture, these Words from Jesus keep you connected to Him. They are
to remain in your mind for the rest of your lives.
Chelsea, your verse fits really well: Philippians
4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This is exactly what
Jesus is saying in our text. Apart from Him, all that we do amounts to
absolutely nothing. But with Christ, the Vine, strengthening you, you can do
all things.
Now keep in mind that when Paul wrote
these words he wasn’t thinking about hitting a home run or sinking a three
point shot. He tells us in other places in Philippians that he is in Rome, in
prison, and expects to die soon. Yet Paul knew that there was still fruit to
bear. He could do it because Jesus was strengthening him. Chelsea, no matter
what you go through Jesus will strengthen you so that you bear fruit.
Micah, your verse is similar: Isaiah
40:31 “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall
mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall
walk and not faint.”
In the chapters leading up to Isaiah 40,
we read about the Assyrian invasion of Judah. Were it not for a miracle from
the LORD, God’s people would have been wiped off the face of the earth. Then,
Isaiah foretells that the people will go into exile in Babylon. The rest of the
book, starting with this chapter is encouragement for the people of Israel not
to give up. They will be pruned, but it is only so that they bear more fruit.
Micah, our prayer for you is that no matter what trouble comes your way, that
Jesus the Vine would give you the strength to thrive in the midst of it.
Finally Logan, your verse is a wonderful
description of the confidence we have in Christ: Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a
stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” Nahum
is one of the Minor Prophets. The book is directed at the city of Nineveh. It’s
gloom and doom because God is about to destroy them.
This is good news for God’s people.
Nineveh, you see, was the capital of the Assyrian Empire which had caused so
much trouble for God’s people in Judah. The enemy would be destroyed, but God
has this wonderful promise for His people. The LORD is good. He’s going to
protect you because He knows you. He knows you.
God knows you because you have been
connected to Him in baptism. Our prayer for you is that you would continue to
take refuge in Him no matter what trouble comes your way.
As we’ve seen, this passage is not just
a command to bear fruit. It is a reminded that we belong to Christ. Logan,
Chelsea, and Micah—you have belonged to Christ since the day you were baptized
and even before. Remember that you belong to Him. Though He may prune you, He
gives you the strength to bear the fruit of love in a hungry world. May God
bless you as you do just that.
Amen.
