“The Vine and the Branches”

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. 

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. 

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.