Drink & Be Merry

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“Peace be with you.”
John 15:1–11 NASB95
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 bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are 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 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Let’s Pray:
Father, may your will be done. Jesus, may your word be proclaimed, and Spirit may your work in us be accomplished we pray. Amen.

1. Context

During the last moments with His disciples, Jesus not only eats a meal with them but also engages in conversation telling them things that will happen, to not be fearful, but have peace, to take courage, and He prays for them. But in his final words to them, he turns to an analogy. And for whatever reason I have found it a curious thing. Either because the Spirit is wanting me to pay more attention to it or my own curiously has been captured. Either way I began to investigate the scriptures to see if there is more to this analogy that Jesus used about the vine and the branches. Come to find out, that what I believe Jesus is doing here is more than drawing an analogy. Jesus has just turned his conversation into a musical.
You may not be aware of this, but there is an ancient old song about a vinedresser and his vineyard. In fact there are two full verses to this song found in the book of Isaiah. When you listen to this song, you will find a deeper and richer meaning behind Jesus’ analogy of the Vine and the branches.
What I want to give you is the full version of this song so that after you listen to this song you may come to better understand what Jesus is saying so we can grow in our love for him and learn how we can love others better. There is two verses and one chorus.

A. Verse 1

Isaiah 5:1–7 NASB95
1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. 2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. 4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? 5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. 6 “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
Here is what we learn, that God has built a vineyard, one that has everything it needs to produce wine. But when it came time to harvest there was no good fruit and therefore only bad wine. It turned out to be a worthless vineyard. So God gave it over to the thorns and thistles, the foxes and wild animals to devour, he didn’t water it. He let it go to become what it wanted to become- a fruitless and desolate place. This is the song of Israel. The people for God’s own possession. A people that were to be the choice vine from which God would drink and be merry from the wine they produced.
But the song doesn’t stop there. There is another verse.

B. Verse 2

Isaiah 27:2–6 NASB95
2 In that day, “A vineyard of wine, sing of it! 3 “I, the Lord, am its keeper; I water it every moment. So that no one will damage it, I guard it night and day. 4 “I have no wrath. Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle, Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely. 5 “Or let him rely on My protection, Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me.” 6 In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout, And they will fill the whole world with fruit.
In verse 2 we learn that God has come to reclaim his vineyard and is back to keeping it and tending to it. But what has changed. What has moved him to reclaim what he has given over to itself? We find that answer is the chorus of this song which is what I believe Jesus is singing to his disciples. Listen to John 15:1-11 again but this time as the chorus to this old song.

C. Chorus

John 15:1–11 NASB95
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 bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are 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 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

II. What the song means is this:

A. The Reason behind the vineyard- wine.

God has a reason that he has planted a vineyard. We learn that the reason for the vineyard, just like any vineyard, is to produce fruit that then can fill a wine vat, and make wine. God wants to drink wine and be merry.
Now, when I was sharing my thoughts about this passage with Melissa, and I brought up this point, she said, “The first Sunday you preach at the church as their pastor and you are going to talk about drinking wine?” Then I responded, “The vineyard and wine are analogies.” So follow me in this analogy.
The song makes specific mention of a wine vat. The wine vat is the whole reason a vineyard is planted. Moreover, we are also told what wine does to God when he drinks of it:
Judges 9:13 NASB95
13 “But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?’
God and men drink wine and it makes this merry, fills them with joy.
Metaphorically, wine is outcome of our union with Christ. Our union with Christ produces in us fruit which is turned into joy for both God and us. God plants Christ in the world so that those who are grafted into him will bear fruit, good fruit as God intended and will produce joy. .

B. There is a Response.

1. Rejoicing.

Just to confirm this to be true, Jesus tells us why he is telling them this vineyard song in verse 11.
John 15:11 NASB95
11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
The reason for the vineyard, is so God and men can drink and be merry in one another. So, God can enjoy the fruit of his labors of redeeming fallen man, and man can enjoy the blessings of God’s loving-kindness and grace through their union to Christ. Therefore, the reason for the vineyard is to drink and be merry.
Solomon confirms this:
Ecclesiastes 8:15 NASB95
15 So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
Solomon’s wisdom here is rooted in this vineyard song we have listen to. He declares to us that nothing good exists for man except to eat, and drink, and be merry. In other words, the only thing that being joys in your life is to feast on and drink from your union with Christ. He is the bread of life. He is the true vine. And joy only come from tasting and seeing that He is good!
Do we not, drink from the fruit of Christ’ redemptive work for us? We do this as often as we remember it in communion together. But how does God drink from the fruit of his vine? Do you remember what Jesus says at this last supper meal?
Matthew 26:29 NASB95
29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
God is patiently waiting for all He desires to save to have union with Him, to begin living a fruitful life. Then he will drink and be merry. But in the mean time, WE get to drink and be merry from the wine of the redemptive work of Christ. Christ has made our joy complete and you can only find that abundant joy in union with Christ.
So may your life be like Paul’s:
Philippians 2:17 NASB95
17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
May your life be a drink offering to God through your service of your faith in Christ. So men can see your good works and then glorify God in Heaven. And so that God can pour himself a glass of the wine of your life and be merry.

2. Reciprocation.

Not only do we find rejoicing in our lives from our union with Christ. We also find reciprocation. Jesus in his chorus of this song reveals that through our union to Him and His Word we are able to ask His Father for anything we need to bear fruit and he will given it to us.
What this means is that it is through our union with Christ that our prayers become effective! That our relationship to the Father is a reciprocated one. We abide in him and he abides in us and that affords us a direct connection to God who is not far off but up close and personal. A God who is involved in the relationship. A God who cares and is mindful of all those who He as union with. He knows their name, the number of hairs on their head (or lack there of). He sees them and runs after them when they go astray. When they have true needs, especially those that are in line with His Will for their lives, he will give them everything they need to succeed.

C. There is Reclamation.

(Worthless to Fruitful)
This song reveals that God the Father reclaims his vineyard and replants it and makes it fruitful. That He intends to always provide all the vineyard needs to be fruitful and fill his wine vat. This is something that each and everyone of us can relate to. All of us have at some point proven to produce worthless fruit or even a fruitless life. A life that left to ourselves couldn’t accomplish anything of value or worth. Our sin prevent us from experience our fill potential and we were powerful to be rid of this life of sin. But hear the good news, God the Father reclaimed the vineyard, he took it back from the wild beasts who consume it, he trampled under his foot the thorns and thistles that sought to choke out the vine, He built back better his might tower, and He himself tended to its every need. Then he plants a true Vine, His Son, who knows not failure but only success. Who always bears fruit despite death or drought. It is our union with Christ that is the only things that is able to reclaim the barrenness of our lives. Union with Jesus is the only means to resuscitate and cause us to be reborn from our lives of death. I know much about this and can stand before you and testify to this life that is given when you are in union with Christ.

1. God standard is High.

God doesn’t settle for anything else than perfection. All that God commits himself to is perfection, Because He is perfect. Therefore, when his vineyard produces what is less than perfect, He gives it over to itself.
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