The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.
Easter 5, Year B
John 15:1-5
Bearing Fruit That Lasts Forever
As you travel throughout our country, have you noticed grapevines growing in all kinds of locations where you’d never expect to see them? They’re an especially welcome sight in summertime as an oasis of green, when all around is brown. These vines give every indication of being lovingly tended and cared for. Vines grew everywhere in Israel when Jesus said: “I am the Vine”. They were pictured on Jewish coins and over the entrance to the temple in Jerusalem.
A vine is a symbol of self-giving. A vine doesn’t grow fruit on its branches for its own sake, but for the benefit of others. A vine exists for the good of those who enjoy is fruit. Its fruit is a symbol of joy. Psalm 104 praises God for giving us the fruit of the vine to bring us joy and gladness. The vine was believed to be the most fruitful of all fruit-bearing plants.
Our Lord uses this symbol to cheer and encourage His gloom-filled followers. They are in need of deep assurance as they’re in emotional turmoil over the imminent possibility of the death of Jesus, the best Friend and Counsellor they ever had. These words of reassurance are deeply moving, each phrase packed with meaning and profound comfort and consolation. No wonder these words have been chosen countless times to be read at confirmation services and weddings. The imagery of the vine and its deep attachment to its branches also features in our funeral hymns and songs. Consider the words of verse 3 of hymn 472:
I am a branch in Thee, the vine,
And nothing shall us sever.
Since Thou, O Lord, wilt keep me Thine,
My heart rejoices ever:
For when I die, I die to Thee;
Thy precious death hath won for me
The life that never endeth.
The vine symbolises the closest possible union between two parties.In Baptism, we are grafted into our Lord so that we can bear fruit for Him that lasts forever. Jesus says: “I appointed you to bear fruit that will last (John 15:16).” Baptism brings us into a life-giving, fruitful relationship with our Lord and all who share His family home with Him.
In order that our lives will bring maximum blessing to others, Jesus pleads with us: “Make your home in Me, as I make Mine in you (v.3).” Our Lord invites us to feel as much at home in His presence as He feels at home with us. Jesus’ closest friends had no difficulty following Him wherever He went, because wherever they could hear Him speak became home for them. Jesus became the new central point, the secure base and refuge of their lives. He wants us too, to let Him and His life-giving Word remain as that place where we constantly return. Jesus says: “If you make My Word your home, you will indeed be My disciples, you will learn the truth and the truth will make you free (John 8:31)” – free from fear, anxiety, pessimism or despair; free to be able to stay in constant touch with Him. Home is such a wonderful word. It suggests warmth, cosiness, friendliness, sharing each other’s joys and sorrows. It is the one place where we can feel relaxed and at ease.We’re in the presence of those we love, wrapped about with affection and affirmation, safe from the burdensome pressures of work.
A farmer once said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” His wife expressed a deeper insight. She said, “I would have called it something you somehow don’t have to deserve.” Home suggests somewhere you belong, somewhere you’re treated with undeserved kindness. Thank God, the heavenly viticulturist, that we don’t have to do anything to deserve the love and kindness of Christ. Children and grandchildren love returning to their parents’ home. Home suggests lifelong relationships with those we’re closest to. Jesus longs to share our lives, so that He can enrich them with His blessing, and guide our lives step by step, day by day.
Embracing God’s loving grace involves letting ourselves be held by Jesus as a branch holds onto the vine. Our Lord promises to never leave us or forsake us. He is more eager to help us than we are to seek His help. Don’t become discouraged by the lack of fruit for Christ you seem to be producing. Remember, it takes three years before a vine branch bears grapes ready to harvest. Growth can be a slow, gradual, and unspectacular process. Often nothing seems to be happening and the vine only produces fruit for such a sort time. Yet the time of growth following pruning and leading up to harvest, determines how successful that harvest will be.
Pruning may look cruel, but it is essential for healthy new growth. Dead branches are pruned away because they can harbour disease. So, what may appear as a setback to the vine actually contributes to its later maturity and to the quality of its fruit. Pruning is done to produce more fruit. Sometimes the best vines are those that are pruned the most. Jesus says this about us, His branches: “Every branch that bears fruit, God prunes to make it bear even more (v.2).”
We sometimes wonder why God lets hardships, troubles and setbacks happen to us. They seem at the time to be pointless, unnecessary and maybe even cruel. We let our busy schedules and everyday priorities interfere too easily with our growth in faithfulness and commitment to Christ, the Vine. Or our loved ones cause us concern and we can be overcome with the feeling that we’ve failed them. “The course of true love never runs smooth.” Much better to have to handle the problems associated with loving imperfect persons than to have no one to love. Hell is the only place where everyone is free of the problems that come with loving someone. God lets troubles come so that we don’t take one another for granted, but continue to pray for each other.
God prunes our lives to remove non-essentials that hinder growth. Life’s troubles and misfortunes remind us of how much we need each other, how much we need our fellow branches. The closer we come to Christ, the closer we are to each other. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, our lives as God’s potentially ‘forever people’ are intertwined and interwoven. Church members belong together in a deeper sense than every other earthly group. Why? Because, through their faithfulness to Christ, they will spend eternity together. The more time we spend together, the greater use we are to Christ and our community. The better we know those we worship with, the more beneficial our worship will be. God has placed us here to be co-creators of each other’s joy.
The proverb “No man is an island”, is even truer of Christians. We can only belong to our Lord by also belonging together, to affirm, uplift and encourage all those around us. As we thank God for the branches that surround us, for our fellow church members, God enables us to express our gratitude for all the good they’re doing for Him, in their daily lives, behind the scenes. We are all branches that support each other. We are God’s gifts to each other. Goddoesn’t want us to receive His gifts without passing them onto others. Martin Luther doesn’t mince his words when he challenges us as follows:
“You are willing to take all of God’s goods in the Sacrament, but you are not willing to pour them out again in love. Nobody extends a hand to help another, nobody considers the other person, but everyone looks out for himself and his own gain, insists on his own way and lets everything else go. … What a terrible blasphemy against God that we all take the Sacrament and want to be good Christians, but none of us is willing to stoop down and serve his neighbour.”
Finally, the vine is also a symbol of Holy Communion, where, by means of wine and bread, our Lord gives Himself to us in love and grace. When we receive Holy Communion, it is not just for our own sake, but also for the benefit and blessing of others. It is through Holy Communion that our Lord enables our lives to be richly fruitful, to bear fruit not just for the present, but for eternity.
Each time we see a vine, let it remind us of Christ, the true Vine, and His life-giving union with us. And whenever we see a bunch of grapes or glass of wine, let it remind us of our Lord’s “cup of blessing” in the Lord’s Supper, where He blesses us so we may be a blessing to others.
“Bless, for to this, you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9) – a blessing that lasts forever. Amen.
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