Staying Connected
Posted on May 03, 2015 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
As I mentioned last week, in the Gospel of John, which we read from often during the Season of Easter, Jesus uses powerful language to describe himself. Language that implied to the people of the first century that he was no ordinary man. No, according to John, when describing himself to others, Jesus often used language that in that place and that cultural would have had a much more obvious meaning to, and impact on the hearers than may be immediately obvious for us today. Eight times in John’s story Jesus makes very specific, outrageous statements about himself and he makes these statements without any explanation. He just blatantly claims he is the things he claims to be.
So what are these statements you are wondering? Well, they are “I am the bread of life” (John 6: 35, 48), “I am the light of the world” (John 8: 12, 9:5), “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8: 58), “I am the gate” (John 10:9), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11), “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and lastly, as we heard this moring, “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). Now, as I also noted last week, we often turn to these saying to receive comfort and hope, but when Jesus first offered these words they were in times of conflict and challenge, and they were most likely heard as words of challenge and balsphemy.
Today, we heard Jesus say, “I am the true vine and my father is the vine grower” (John 15:1). Now, this is a beautiful statement, but when we think about it and take it to heart, I wonder if we really can, or want to live up to its meaning. Let’s take a look at what I mean. After his initial statement that he is the vine and his father, that is God, is the vine grower, he then says, “I am the vine and you are the branches” (15:5). Wow, I like that thought. If Jesus is the vine and I am one of the branches, that means I am always connected to him. That means that my very life is dependent on him and as long as I am connected to him, I have everything I need. Well, that is one of looking at it.
But, let’s look at it from another perspective. A few weeks ago, many of us gathered here at Salem on a Saturday morning to do a little spring-cleaning. Most of us worked outside cleaning up our landscaping and I was struck by something that we did and that was the pruning of some of the plants. Now a couple of weeks before this I had done some cleaning up in my own year and Jill and I pruned all our rose bushes. We thought we did a good job, but when Mike Dougherty showed us how much to actually prune back the branches on the rose bushes here, I was shocked. I went home and cut off several more bags worth of branches and to my amazement, the bushes are more beautiful than ever and I can’t wait to see the flowers soon. It took a lot of pruning to get those bushes just right.
So, if I think of Jesus as the vine, me as the branch and God as the vine grower, then using the story I just told about how much we needed to prune off the roses so they would grow well this year and bear many flowers, I have to wonder, what is God attempting to prune off me, so that I can grow and flourish in my faith? If we are the branches, then what is God attempting to prune from us so that as a faith community, we might be able to flourish and bear much more fruit?
You know, when we finished pruning those rose bushes, they didn’t look like much, but look at them now, they are alive and well, and soon, their flowers will be blooming and we will all be admiring their beauty. Yes, those branches stayed connected to the trunk, but much of the branch needed to be pruned away to allow the plant to do what it does best and that is grow flowers, or as Jesus might say, bear fruit.
As I prayed about that this week, I wondered how often God might be challenging me to let go of things that is God is trying to prune me, and in response I trim just a little bit out of my life because that is all I can bear, but then, because I have not let go of enough, I do not change, and I do not bear the fruit I have been created to bear? As I look at us as a faith community, I wonder what God is trying to prune off of us, so that we might flourish and bear the fruit we have been created to bear?
You know, though, the more I prayed with this text, the more I realized I was focused on the wrong thing. I kept focusing on the pruning part. I kept thinking about how hard it is to cut things out of my life. But that is not the point of this story. No the point of this story is two fold. First, and foremost, as the branches, we must remember that we are connected to Christ and our strength and our very life comes from him. Secondly, our purpose is to bear fruit. The last verse of our text says it all, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples” (15:8). We have been created to bear fruit that glorifies God.
The pruning is only necessary so that we might bear more fruit. The pruning might hurt a little. The pruning might mean we have to give up some things we like or we prefer, but it isn’t about us. It’s about glorifying God. And it is important to remember that the branches don’t live off their own fruit. The fruit that the branches bear is for someone else. The fruit we bear is so that others might be fed, which glorifies God.
So, what does this mean for us hear at Salem if we are to take seriously this notion that Jesus is the vine, we are the branches and God is the vine grower? Personally I think we have to start asking some tough questions? What is God attempting to cut from us so that we might bear more fruit? Do we need to drastically change how we worship, so that others, who are struggling to experience God, might experience God here at Salem? Oh, I know, we love how we worship now, but if we look at worship as some of the fruit we bear, then it isn’t for us, worship is for the other.
When it comes to our ministries, or our facilities, what must we cut, so that we might bear more fruit? Oh, I know we love the things we do and this place, but it isn’t about us. Salem exists not to glorify this building, but to glorify God. What must we change now? What must we cut so that we can flourish and bear much fruit that will glorify God?
I don’t have these answers, but I know as part of my sabbatical I will be praying about and studying over these questions and I pray that you all will, too. I pray you are here next week to hear more about what Jesus has to say about this and to hear our challenge for this summer. I pray that as you go about your summer you stay connected and allow yourselves to be pruned to bear much fruit. I pray our graduates know that you graduation is not an end, but a new beginning and that you, as you go forward in your lives will stay connected to Christ and use your lives to bear much fruit.
Brothers and sisters, God’s love, presence, and pruning are gifts. If we want to bear the fruit that glorifies God, then we must choose to remain connected to the vine so that we might be nourished in ways that allows us to nourish others. Amen