The True Vine
Notes
Transcript
Opening Prayer
Symbol of Lent - Crown of Thorns
Music ministry
195 Nothing But The Blood (v3)
419 Abide With Me (1,2,3,4)
349 Trust and Obey (1,2,5)
Holy Forever
Word of God - John 15:1-11
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
4 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.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Message: “The True Vine”
We continue today with our preparation for Resurrection Sunday by exploring how Jesus described Himself as the “True Vine”
There are a couple of points that came to me at the very beginning of my study for this concept of being “the true vine”
First, we do not live in an agrarian society like when Jesus was walking the earth
People used to be much closer to their food source
So everyone was more exposed to where food came from
Now, especially young people, often think food comes from the store
Which would be like thinking that babies come from the hospital without understanding hospitals don’t MAKE babies
Second, I notice that Paul is STILL re-emphasizing that there is “true-and-false”
Absolutely a binary thing
That’s apparent in John 14:1
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Jesus wouldn’t say He was the TRUE vine if there wasn’t a false vine for us to be aware of
The warning about false gods and false teachers goes way back
Just look at Jeremiah 2:21
21 Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?
What began as pure and wholesome has been perverted and become wild.
Some of you may be thinking about how one or more of your children are like that
You did your best and they started off on a godly path, then something happened
Satan is his name. Satan can influence us and take us for the goodness God designed for us, but only if we let him
This deserves emphasis
Satan is the author of lies and deceit is his tool
Satan will make what is sin sound like it is good
Satan will use slight of hand making you look away as you unknowingly step ever-farther from God and His Righteousness
And the only way to save yourself from eternity separated from God is to TURN from your sinful ways
When Peter told Jesus that he and the other Disciples would not allow the elders, scribes and priests in Jerusalem kill Jesus which would result in Jesus being resurrected on the third day, Jesus in Matthew 16:23
23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Jesus told Satan to get behind Him
But we have to do something different when Satan shows up
We much each REPENT and TURN toward God and His ways,
Because Jesus is the TRUE vine and His Father in Heaven is the True vinedresser
AMEN!
/rant-off
Jesus is the authentic, the One and Only vine that never fails
But Jesus is not alone
While Jesus provides to the branches which supplies the fruit on the vine
There is work required and God the Father is involved
You can plant grape vines and there may be some fruit
But, a vinedresser is required for real success
The Vine dresser tends to the vines
They trim off the dead and under-producing branches
That is what happens to some people in church
God literally trims them away from a productive church
You see, fruit is produced on the branches that grow out from the vine
And most fruit comes from the area of recent pruning
This is a tough thing to think about in church life
That sometimes people will fall away, which hurts, is sad personally and even can be concerning
Yet they may actually be part of the trimming that God is performing on His church
With that in mind, look again at John 15:2
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
A grapevine that is properly pruned generates more fruit
The term “fruit” is meant to communicate the “outcome of our labor”, especially for the Kingdom of God
When a Christian removes the “dead wood” from their life, they can focus on doing things of significance for God
While recreation is a benefit to us personally and can serve as a platform or means to connect with others
So we can spread the Gospel to unbelievers and build up Believers
Yet, if we are NOT using our recreation with that purpose, it might be that we need to cut or prune some of those branches
When we think about giving something up for Lent
we often give up something that took our time and money
Sometimes by Resurrection Sunday we realize that if we ALWAYS didn’t eat that item or buy that thing, we could invest in the Kingdom more
We did that years ago and were able to increase our giving to Options for Life
I have no doubt that the money given to them is doing more good for the Kingdom of God than how I was using it
Here is the visual connection
Branches don’t stand a chance of surviving or doing any good at all when it becomes separated from the vine
The best a branch can do then would be to die and become compost
Any fruit that was attached to that weak and now dead branch is also going to perish and become compost
Part of preparing for Resurrection Sunday is for us to reflect on our lives
Are we bearing fruit?
Are we bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God or laying up treasures for ourselves
As I contemplated that this week I thought of the cartoon I saw on Facebook
The older man leaning on his walker standing next to his son
As they stare at a garage stuffed to the top with junk
The father says, “One day all of this will be yours”
I don’t know if the artist intended a Spiritual connection, but it is there
At the end of our earthly lives we don’t want to have a pile of earthly junk that we think of as fruit piled up
We want to have produced MUCH fruit for the Kingdom of God
But, NO fruit for the Kingdom can come without the vine, who is Jesus
See John 15:4
4 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.
To fully understand this relationship we need to know that the Disciples are being described at as the branches
We are disciples of Christ now, so the people of Grace church are branches
Which is why it is so critical that everything we do and say must be Jesus focused be grounded in the Word of God
We are either grounded properly and producing fruit for the Kingdom of God or we are headed for the compost heap
As for me and my house, I don’t want God the Father heading toward me with clippers unless He is trimming the things that are keeping me from producing well for Him
How, you ask
Look at 1 John 2:6
6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
What does “abide” even mean?
It actually means a living place where you share living quarters
That would mean you are surrounded!
This is a point of connection to our practices today
When you have extra people living with you , you end up surrounded or immersed in each other
All your senses are involved
Touch, smell, sight, everything
When we have a baptism here at Grace, I remind people that in the NT the word we see at “Baptism” comes from “Baptizo” which means to immerse
Look at Acts 2:38
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, turn from your sinful ways, the ways of the world and become surrounded by things OF and From GOD
That’s what it looks like when you “Abide” in Christ
There is no room for sin and sinful ways of this world
It saddens me that so many Believers fail to admit to the sin they are in
What God called sin then is still sin today, even though it may seem old-fashioned or out-of-date
Each of us needs to study our lives and honestly identify the areas of sin (which is anything that separates us from God)
And we need to take the pruning shears to those parts and let the compost benefit our new productivity for the Kingdom of God
When we abide in the Lord, everything is different
We no longer want things for OUR benefit
We start wanting things that God wants
We are content, then, even to have a project or activity we enjoy cut off and turned into compost to benefit other things that ARE beneficial to the Kingdom of God
We have an example in this Jesus and all that leads up to Resurrection Sunday
Jesus prayed in the garden and prayed in Mark 14:36
36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
It was the Father’s will that Jesus accept crucifixion and wear this crown of thorns
As Jesus was the only One who could complete the task God had before Him
The true vine Jesus had to die in this world to bear the fruit that benefits all of us here
As we approach Holy Week and Maundy Thursday and the darkness of Good Friday
All times we focus on the pain and death of Jesus
He was NOT being pruned because Jesus failed or was not producing fruit
Jesus had to die so there could be MORE fruit and even more of us would come to Believe because He was fulfilling prophecy
It would have been easier on Jesus to not go to the cross, but God the Father had a better plan for the long-term
Jesus abided with His Father and did whatever His Father, the vinedresser requested
Even to the point of going to the cross to die a painful death
Likewise, Jesus tells us to follow the Commandments (they are not suggestions) in John 15:10
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
The bottom line is that we will always feel empty and alone when we fail to live by God’s commands
If we abide or are surrounded by things and activities of this world without being more focused on the Kingdom of God then Satan has us in his control
Brothers and sisters in Christ
Let us willingly accept whatever pruning God must do to let us be willing and enthusiastic producers of fruit for the Kingdom of God.
Amen
Closing Hymn/Invitation:
Goodness of God
Pastoral prayer/Benediction