Sermon for April 29, 2017

Today is the 5^th Sunday in the Season of Easter. Last week we took our eyes from the empty tomb now briefly to explore our faith relationship with the risen Christ and the image of Shepherd. That Christ is like a Shepherd who cares over and protects and leads and holds His sheep, His flock, His people in His embrace and care.

We focus on having a relationship with Christ today, again with another image we all have some experience with.

But first what is involved in having a vibrant, vital relationship with Jesus Christ?”  How can we describe the union that a believer experiences between her/himself and Christ?  We talk about knowing Christ, being in Christ, walking with Christ, and loving Him.  But what does that union/relationship really involve? 

Some describe it like the relationship of two people who love each other, especially like the relationship between a father and his son, where there's mutual love and respect.

Others likened it to the relationship between two close friends or between two brothers who would defend each other to the death.

But the most graphic illustration of a believer's relationship to Christ is that of a vine and branches, given by our Lord Himself in John 15 today.

The vine nourishes the branches and once they are nourished and sustained this allows for fruit to be produced. Jesus wants us, His disciples to understand the close, intimate relationship that He desires to have with us.

Jesus uses the allegory to teach His disciples about a believer's relationship with Him and the Father.  He also explains that the person who only appears to be connected to Him is not a legitimate believer and therefore will be cut off. I can take my stick & lay it against the tree trunk, they touch but they are not connected/severed. One can pay lip service, but no commitment. We can say we are Christians but do not have a relationship with Christ the vine & branches are not connected. They are severed.

Jesus explains that the branches that do not bear fruit are taken away, but the branches that bear fruit are pruned to bear more fruit. To bear fruit simply means to grow in character — to become more like Christ and reflect the fruit of the Spirit. And this is where we come to his command to abide: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4)

Let us just imagine Jesus and his disciples were walking by a vineyard one day and he pointed over the wall of the vineyard at the rows and rows of grape vines with their branches snaking along wooden fences. Perhaps the grapes were already forming in clusters on the branches, and Jesus could point to the fruit that the vines were producing.

As he did so, he said, “I am the vine and my Father is the gardener/vinegrower.”

 Now, this illustration had special significance because a giant gold grape vine with clusters of grapes adorned the front of the Holy Place on the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Josephus, famous historian of the Jews, the grape clusters were as tall as a man, which probably came from the Old Testament account of the bounty of the Promised Land. When the 12 spies, which included Joshua and Caleb, went to check out the promised land before the Israelites were to enter it, they brought back stories of a land flowing with milk and honey. As an example of the bounty of that land, they brought back a grape vine with a cluster of grapes so large that it had to be suspended between two men to be carried back.   (Think of the wine!)

So, when Jesus says, “I’m the true vine” he is conjuring up images of the Temple, the promised land, and of the nation itself. Some scholars believe that Jesus was saying, “I’m the true Israel.” The point being, His statement was loaded with meaning that his disciples instantly understood.

And, he said, “My Father is the gardener.” They understood that as well, for even though they were not farmers, they lived in an agrarian society. Olive groves, fig trees, fields of grain, and vineyards were mainstays of the agricultural system in Jesus’ day. The disciples understood well that vineyards required tending, and that tending included cultivating and pruning.

At this time of year, we usually, find ourselves trimming old branches that are left hanging to the plant to the vines from last year. We have to pull & trim them back so that we can more clearly see the vine, the plant underneath the tangled web of lifeless branches. Similarly we can be deeply engaged in "things of the Church" in very meaningful maybe even public ways, and yet the activities may not be truly connected to Christ. Does my faith enter into this? We may need to ask ourselves from time to time, why am I doing this? Is this about me or is this for the service the mission of Christ’ Church? If it is about ourselves or some other selfish motivation than we need to take those trimmers again & trim away more of the branches & get to the vine, the true vine, the source of what we are about.

The tangled web of branches cannot only distance us from getting to the vine, the life source, but those lifeless branches can represent our busy lives and the many things we are involved in, running here and there and involved in this and that & again, the vine gets distorted; you are unable to be nourished and sustained by it, because you are unable to find it for all the clutter/the business.  

A missionary in Africa lived in his central mission which had a small generator to supply current for his church and small rectory. Some natives from an outlying mission came to visit the padre. They noticed the electric light hanging from the ceiling of his living room. They watched wide-eyed as he turned the little switch and the light went on.

One of the visitors asked if he could have one of the bulbs. The priest, thinking he wanted it for a sort of trinket, gave him an extra bulb. On his next visit to the outlying mission, the priest stopped at the hut of the man who had asked for the bulb. Imagine his surprise when he saw the bulb hanging from an ordinary string. He had to explain that one had to have electricity and a wire to bring the current to the bulb. Sermon Writer By Dr. Mickey Anders

As a source of power of electricity in this case had to be connected to the light bulb for the light to work, the branches must be connected, joined to the vine.

So how do we abide in Jesus? What does that look like, what must we do?

There are at least three disciplines to which we need to attend.

• Service to God through public worship and support of the church.  (God)

• Service to others, in particular service to those in need of support and assistance. (others)

• Service to self through personal prayer, devotions, and scripture study. (self)

Fruit was an important source of food for the people of Jesus’ day. It was also an important cash crop. A good fruit-bearing tree (one that grew abundant fruit) was a blessing to the owner of the vineyard or orchard. Good trees enhanced his standing in the community, and bad trees could lead to his impoverishment.

In this verse, fruit is a metaphor for the fruits of disciples living—Christ-like living. That kind of life gives glory to the God, because Christ-like lives manifest themselves as faithful, hopeful, and loving. As 1 Corinthians 13:13 says “Faith, hope and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love.”. People are drawn to people with those qualities., We should emulate the character of Jesus, and especially his love. A branch should have the same DNA as the trunk. If God is love, then we should so love.   

The real measure of our lives is not all about what we believe, but to whom we are connected. The better we are connected to the vine the more we are transformed by God providing the nutrients we need to get a grasp on our downfalls that too often can  control us. We can’t do this kind of pruning by ourselves. We need the gardener/vinegrower, to give us the strength and the will to want to change. We need the Holy Spirit to help us cut out the dead wood and to grow beautiful fruit. That’s why it is ever so important that we are connected to the vine. From the vine, Jesus, we receive the nourishment we need to live as his disciples.

Thomas Merton, in one of his taped lectures to the novices at Gethsemane monastery in Kentucky talked about abiding in Christ this way. “It’s like you’re trying to catch a plane. You’re late. You hop in your car and speed to the airport. Every delay gives you ulcers. You reach the parking lot, grab your stuff and race down the corridor to get to the right gate. You rush onto the plane, flop down in your seat, and heave a sigh of relief. You made it. In one sense you’ve reached your destination. Then the plane takes off, and you’re on your way to other places, going higher, faster than ever before, but now you are not frantic or worried. Now you can take a deep breath and know you are there- you are on your way – you are connected. what

We are still in the Easter season. Because the vine lives, so do the branches. The life of Christ flows to us though the Word and Sacraments. As Jesus said,“I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit…”– the fruit of faith and good deeds. May the life-giving sap of Christ’s love make us all fruit bearing branches.                Copyright 2006, Vince Gerhardy. Sermon Writer John 15:1-8.

Working Preacher - Susan Hedahl - Professor Emerita of Homiletics Lutheran Theological Seminary Gettysburg, Pa.

Sermon Writer Commentary on John 15:1-8

Copyright 2006, Vince Gerhardy. SermonWriter. John 15:1-8

By Dr. Mickey Anders Sermon Writer
ChuckWarnock.com: A Lesson From the Vineyard

The True Vine - By Dr. Mickey Anders – ) “Illustrating text and theme.” Lectionaid 8 (02): 72 (LectionAid, Inc., P.O. Box 19229 Boulder 80308 – 2229) May 2000. Quoted in a sermon by Jerry Fuller posted on PRCL May 17, 2000

Are You Securely Attached? BibleTrekToday.com

 (4)  The True Vine By Dr. Mickey Anders