A Trellis to Bear Fruit

Prayer

What’s Your Way?

Over the last several months we’ve been talking about the core of the Christian faith, being a follower of Jesus, his apprentice. Learning from him how to live life in the kingdom of God. And that means the three-fold goal of being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing as Jesus did. That’s what it’s all about.

We focused on the need to slow down, simplify our lives in order to abide in him, that beautiful image of Jesus as the vine, and we the branch, connected to him because that’s the only way that we will bear fruit.

That abiding in Jesus, being with him, leads then to becoming like Jesus. This is the heart of spiritual formation. We intentionally engage in practices, we immerse ourselves in the teachings of Jesus, we work to establish relationships with other Jesus followers - all in step with the Holy Spirit, in order to be formed into the likeness of Jesus, into people of love.

As we become like Jesus, we become more and more people who did what Jesus did. We share in the three main aspects of his ministry - making space for the gospel, hospitality, proclaiming the gospel, actually telling others about Jesus, and finally, as we talked about last week, demonstrating the gospel, sharing in the works - even the miraculous works, that demonstrate the presence of the kingdom of God.

That brings us to, what now? How do we actually do this, how do we put into practice, practicing the way of Jesus? The best place to start is to look at Jesus’ way, how he actually lived. The practices he engaged in and taught his disciples to do. What Jesus did that opened him up to the power of the Holy Spirit coming on him, leading him, and enabled him to live in complete obedience to the Father. Now, you won’t find this listed out in the Gospels, but as you go through the Gospels, you’ll see the things Jesus did, the practices he engaged in - even if sometimes they’re mentioned just in passing.

For instance, Luke 6:4 - He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. That last little note there tells us a lot - one of Jesus’ habits was honoring the Sabbath. Jesus kept Sabbath - so many of the stories in the Gospels, his conflicts with the Pharisees and religious leaders, happen on the Sabbath.

As Jesus is about to begin his public ministry, what’s the very first thing he does? He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to fast (and pray, I think we can safely assume) for forty days and forty nights. So we see that Jesus’ practices include Sabbath, prayer, and fasting.

And we know Jesus had been diligent in reading and studying the Scriptures because he quoted them all the time - in fact, every time Satan tempts him in the wilderness, Jesus responds by quoting Scripture. As he himself says, Matthew 4:4, Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus saw reading the Scriptures as life-giving, it fed him, his soul - it was absolutely one of his practices.

When you read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, it’s clear that Jesus assumes the practices of prayer and fasting and giving. In his teaching on each of these, he begins with “When you” - “and when you pray” and “when you fast” and “so when you give to the needy.” He doesn’t say, if you happen to pray. If you find yourself in a situation where you might give to someone in need. If you fast. No, he assumes these practices. When you give. When you pray. When you fast.

Luke 5:16, another beautiful example - just a short little verse, so easy to miss, but so telling: But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Notice that he didn’t just do it occasionally? Or every now and then. No, Jesus did it often. It was his regular habit, to engage in the practice of solitude.

When we consider the practices such as Community - Jesus surrounded himself with twelve close disciples. Witness - Jesus went everywhere proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Service - Jesus lived a life of service, and even made it a point to teach the disciples to follow his example after he washed their feet, John 13:12-17, When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Just a quick glimpse at Jesus in the Gospels and we see Jesus engaging in and teaching about all these spiritual practices: Sabbath, prayer, fasting, giving (or generosity), Scripture, solitude, community, witness, and service. Not just engaging in them, but that they were habits for him. Central to his way of life. And if we’re going to follow Jesus, practice his way, then we must engage in these practices as well.

What’s remarkable is that the first followers of Jesus did not refer to themselves as Christians. That word is used only twice in the Bible and it was first used as a derogatory term by others for believers in Jesus. Rather, the early church was known more commonly as the Way. Because they followed the Way of Jesus (as opposed to the way of the world). Throughout the book of Acts, you’ll see them referred to as “the Way” - Acts 9:2, Paul was looking for those “who belonged to the Way.” Acts 19:23, About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.

This morning, we’re talking about what it looks like for us to practice the way of Jesus. What do we actually do in order to be with Jesus, and become like Jesus, and do as he did? How do we, as John Mark Comer writes, create a plan to be with Jesus so that over time we would quote “become the people who naturally do and say the kind of things Jesus said and did.”

Essential to recognize that we must be intentional about this. We must have a plan. Growing as a follower of Jesus will not happen otherwise. As John Ortberg writes, “you must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday life with God.”

Reason why having a plan is so essential is that you already have a way - you already have habits, morning routines - evening routines, things you believe, relationships - that are forming you. All the little things that make up our day-to-day lives - how we use our phones, social media we engage in, what we read (or probably more likely for some of us, what we watch), who we spend time with, how we spend and manage our money - all that is forming us. The question then is - is it giving you the life you want? Are you becoming the type of person you most deeply long to be (hopefully that means a person like Jesus!)? Likely, not as much as we’d want.

The Way of Jesus - A Rule of Life

So, we need a plan. An ancient Christian practice has been to develop what’s known as a Rule of Life. Important to note that it’s not rules for life, but a rule of life. It is a plan to give our spiritual lives structure, to help us organize our lives around being with Jesus, becoming like him, and doing as he did. A plan that centers us in Jesus Christ - who alone is worthy of our lives being centered in.

Most helpful image brings us back to John 15, where Jesus teaches us that he is the vine and we are the branches, and his Father is gardener. And if we are to bear fruit, we must abide in him, make our homes in him. Without him we can do nothing.

Vineyards - the vines, their branches, are always supported by a trellis. Trellis is simply the structure that holds the vines and branches up off of the ground, so they can bear much fruit. If the vines are laid on the ground, they would have limited sunlight and be prone to disease and damage and predators. But given the proper support, a trellis, the vines have the ability to flourish, to, in Jesus’ words, bear much fruit.

So that’s the idea. We put together a trellis, our own Rule of Life, a plan that includes practices that we want to engage in on a regular basis - some we’ll want to do daily, others weekly, still others on a monthly or seasonal basis. We do this not as an end unto itself, as if following Jesus is just a list of practices we engage in - we do it in order to be intentional about organizing our lives around following Jesus, to open our lives up to his Spirit’s transforming work in us.

Jesus’ followers have been doing this from the very beginning - notice the description of them, in what they did in practicing the Way, Acts 2:42-47, They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

There’s so much in there - we see these practices that they devoted themselves to - to teaching (Scripture), to Community (both in the temple and in each others’ homes, sharing meals), prayer, breaking of bread, generosity (even selling property to give to those in need). And it wasn’t just them engaging in the practices to be with Jesus and with one another - notice how they were becoming like Jesus - glad and sincere, full of praise, people were drawn to them. And they were doing what Jesus did - proclaiming the good news, demonstrating the gospel through wonders and signs. It’s a beautiful picture - you can’t help but look at them and think - that’s how it should be!

And it begins with their devotion to practices, to committing themselves to these habits, practicing the way of Jesus. Truth is we need these commitments, we need them to anchor us, to help us stay true to following Jesus. We form habits, and then the habits form us.

So, crafting a Rule of Life. There’s a lot involved in doing this, so I want to just give you a taste of what it might be like. Know that it’s not a one-and-done deal, it evolves over time, we make changes as seasons in our life change, add and subtract practices. We might just try a practice for a while - some practices will work better with our personalities, some we might do just for a season. But always, always, guided by the Holy Spirit. We don’t to put a plan together on our own, but prayerfully, thoughtfully, seeking God’s leading - after all, it is his transforming work in us. He knows what we need.

Having said that, let me offer some thoughts, some encouragements. One is simply to say that you’re not starting from scratch. Most of you have well-established spiritual practices in your life, you’re already doing some, if not many, of these. Sunday morning worship. Many of you are involved in Bible study (both personally and in groups). You give - your tithes, for Blessing Box, Shoeboxes. Daily prayer. Community - we have our monthly meals. As a church we’re growing in our practice of Witness, praying weekly (some of you, daily!) for people you’d like to see come to know Jesus.

And what we want to do is be thoughtful about engaging in the practices, to have a clear plan - and to think of it as whole, Rule of Life. That means thinking about what you will do daily, what you might do weekly, and what you will do monthly or seasonally.

Daily may well include a commitment to prayer and Scripture (and I hope you do, these are central!). Make a plan - when in your day? Where will you have this time? How long (may need to start small, start where you actually are, not where you think you should be)? Consider how will you begin your day (time of silence? Prayer of self-offering? Verses you pray?) A practice at the end of your day, what might that look like? And what will you give up or change in order to make this happen? For many of us, that will involved how we use our phones.

Consider weekly practices. Those may include keeping Sabbath. If you don’t think you can start with a 24 hour period, start with half a day - to stop, rest, delight and be with the Lord. By the way, for all of these practices, there are helpful guides on the practicing the way website - both in the Session videos and in the companion guide. Weekly practice of Sunday morning worship, make that a commitment if it isn’t already. Perhaps our Spiritual Formation Group, our Women’s bible study or another bible study group.

And then those practices that you might engage in on a monthly or seasonal basis. Your giving. Acts of service (that service may include what you do here at the church, for some of us, it’s something like Capernaum). Practice of witness - invite friends or neighbors over for a meal once a month. Take a friend out to lunch.

There’s no shortage of ways to do this. So being willing to engage in trial and error. Key is this. Make a plan. Write it out. Be intentional. Goal is to create your own Rule of Life, how you make space in your life to be with Jesus, open yourself to the power of the Holy Spirit in you, so you can be with Jesus, delight in him, learn from him, become like him and do what he did.

Start where you are, not where you think you should be. Don’t be like the overly ambitious person starting a new exercise regime and immediately over does it. You can only find God in your actual life.

Know that you will fail. And fail. And fail again. Key is to keep at it. More often than you keeping your commitments, it’s your commitments that keep you. Live in the grace of Jesus, his faithful steadfast love for you. Trust that Jesus has the patience of a parent who is watching their infant start to try to take their first steps. Like with us, there’s going to be a lot of tumbles, but he is with us. And he is for us in this, as he is in all things.

Know that it will require change, which is always, always challenging. It will require subtraction, giving things up, doing less. Slowing down. For some of us, that’s going to be easier, stage of life where you have more free time. For others, not so much. So you’ll have to be creative in finding ways to be with Jesus (driving to work, memorize Scripture or pray for people you want to see come to faith as you brush your teeth).

The goal is this: to be with Jesus. To love him and be loved by him. So important to remember this because you can do all of these practices and still be far from Jesus (Pharisees being a prime example here). You can come here for worship, or give, serve, engage in community and not be with Jesus. These are means to an end - we need to be intentional not just about making a plan to be with Jesus, this Rule of Life, but intentional about directing our hearts, minds, our very selves to him. I promise you, nothing, absolutely nothing, will make a greater impact on your life and who you become, than being with Jesus. That’s why he came, to give you life, full forever life.

Practicing the Way, Session #8: Rule of Life builder on the website - practicingtheway.org. Also, lots more info in the book and in the Companion Guide. No small groups this week, but next week (last Session)

Prayer - offering of our life to Jesus, that he would be our Rule of Life