Abiding Connection - A Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Easter April 28 2024
GOSPEL: John 15:1-8
The holy gospel according to John.
Glory to you, O Lord.
On the night of his arrest, Jesus taught his disciples about the relationship they would have with him. Those who abide in his word and love bear fruit, for apart from him, they can do nothing.
[Jesus said:] 1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
I am not an expert with computers,
yet, since becoming a pastor,
I occasionally receive a phone call
asking for help with technology.
I remember one such pastoral computer phone call,
from many years ago -
it went something like this:
“Pastor, no matter what I try, my screen stays blank.”
I asked “Have you been having any issues
with your computer before this?
“No, not really.”
“Can you click on anything or type anything?”
“No, nothing happens when I move the mouse
or click the keyboard.”
I asked,
“have you tried ctrl+alt+del?”
Yes. Nothing.
“Have you turned the power switch
off and on again?”
“Yes. It wont work.”
I thought about it for a moment,
and asked;
“Is the computer plugged in?”
Oh, no.
How embarrassing.
Apart from the power source,
the computer can do nothing.
The power source allows energy
to flow through all the circuits,
bringing the otherwise
dead plastic and silicone to life.
Like electricity in a computer,
Gas in a car,
Water in a faucet,
Strings on a guitar,
Paint on a brush,
Or branches connected to the vine,
So is our life,
our being,
our everything in relation to Jesus Christ.
Without Christ,
we are merely a dusty keyboard,
a rusting Ford,
a dry faucet,
a silent instrument,
or an empty canvas.
Nothing good comes of us
apart from God,
apart from the true vine.
Some will find this offensive.
I know and love people
who want nothing to do with the church,
but they do good in the world.
It is easy for me to say
I believe this is God’s Spirit at work in them,
they might disagree.
Yet God is the Vinegrower.
Jesus is the Vine.
We are the branches.
The Vinegrower does the work.
The vine is the lifeblood for the branches.
Fruit grows on the branches.
Some will wonder as they hear this parable
- and perhaps you are one -
if they are in fact connected to Christ,
to the True Vine,
or not?
Some would say that faith without works is dead,
and if there isn’t good fruit,
there isn’t faith.
Others might say that it is the Vinegrower,
the gardener,
who decides if the fruit is good or not.
Martin Luther might says,
“An apple tree bears apples.”
A tree is known by it’s fruit.
grape vines yield grapes.
The kind of fruit depends upon the kind of tree.
And the goodness of the fruit can vary based on conditions.
the branch can’t control the sunshine,
nor how much it rains.
Some years the crop is better than others.
The Vinegrower - God -
does the work to bear fruit.
Fruit comes when the branch
abides in and with the vine.
But we want certainty,
we want to know we abide.
Jesus’ words sound scary:
“Whoever does not abide in me
is thrown away like a branch and withers;
such branches are gathered,
thrown into the fire, and burned”
In this parable,
there are two kinds of branches:
branches that are connected to the vine
and pruned to yield good fruit,
2. and branches that are removed from the vine.
I think a literal translation from the Greek
would be helpful here.
In the Greek,
Jesus says “the vine-grower takes
every branch that does not bear fruit.”
There is comfort in this translation:
God does not remove branches from the vine,
so much as God takes branches.
Even the branches that are taken,
are taken by the Vinegrower,
they are still connected, then, to God.
Whether producing fruit or not,
on the vine or not,
all of God’s branches
remain connected to God
one way or another.
Our God, who is faithful and just,
gracious and merciful,
slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love
decides what to do with the branches.
If God throws them into the fire
then God is just and good in doing so.
Take heart, my fellow branches.
You are not deadwood for the fire.
You are the baptized,
you are Christ’s disciples.
Jesus declares to the disciples,
and with it, to Christ’s church:
You have already been cleansed,
you have already been pruned
by the Word I have spoken.
The spoken Word of God prunes.
the spoken Word of God cleanses.
Interesting tidbit:
the root of the Greek word is the same
for pruned and cleansed.
It might seem less intrusive
to be cleansed rather than pruned,
but they essentially mean the same thing here.
God’s Living Word, Jesus Christ,
shapes us,
cleans us,
prunes us,
for greater faithfulness –
for bearing fruit.
God is already shaping you,
cleansing you,
pruning you.
God is at work in you,
bringing forth good fruit
in and with Christ.
You can only be you.
you cannot be something you’re not.
An apple tree can’t bear oranges.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made by our God.
knit together in your mother’s womb.
God knows you,
God is not going to ask you
to be something you’re not,
or to bear fruit you cannot bear.
You are the branches.
Be the branches.
Branches are kind of like
the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch.
They don’t wait for the right rainfall to drink.
When God provides rain,
branches drink.
Look - here is water,
what is to prevent me from being baptized?
the Eunuch says in faith.
Why wait?
abide now,
be cleansed now.
drink now.
That’s what branches do.
When God provides water,
drink.
Look! Here is water - remember your baptism.
be baptized - this is who you are,
Baptism is not just something that happened,
the waters of baptism,
like the connection to the vine
is our lifeblood.
And here is bread!
Here is wine!
What is to prevent us from drinking deeply?
what is to prevent us from being fed?
Christ is with us.
Loaves abound.
The best wine is saved for last.
Here is Jesus!
what is to prevent us from abiding?
My blessing for you this day
comes from Daily Discipleship
(Written by John and Robin McCullough-Bade, Copyright © 2006 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
Remain in Christ … remember your baptism.
Remain in Christ … remember you have been grafted
to the vine through the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
Remain in Christ … plant your roots deep in God’s love.
Tap into the living water.
Remain in Christ … and the fruit will come.
The fruit will come …
not because of what you do,
but because of the Life-Source
flowing in and through you.
