I Am the Vine

INTRODUCTION

Over the course of this series, we have learned that Jesus protects us, guides us, rescues us, and gives us meaning.

Now, as we close our series today, we will see that Jesus calls himself a vine. Yes, you heard that right, Jesus called himself a plant. And if you have heard this statement before, for many we read it and pass over it. But the timing of when Jesus made this final “I Am..” statement is purposeful for us.

It’s actually marvelous. As the vine, Jesus consistently grants you energy, stamina, and growth.

ILLUSTRATION: Share a story about fuel / running out of gasoline.

We’re going to take a poll this morning…show of hands who fills their gas tank up as soon as it falls between 1/4 tank and half? Ok now show of hands who rolls into the gas station on fumes?

When I first got my license, I was that person that would routinely “forget to get gas”…

Share story of Dad coming to give me gas on 1-40, then in the middle of town and a cop got involved.

TENSION

See if you want to move forward, you need fuel.

This is true for our vehicles, and it’s also true for our lives.

Sometimes our “low fuel” light illuminates on the dashboard of our hearts, souls, and minds. In these moments, we feel stuck, directionless, and stranded. So what do we do when our souls feel depleted? Jesus has an answer for that. He breaks down this principle in John 15.

John 15:5–8 CSB

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

CONTEXTUALIZING THIS PASSAGE

John’s fifteenth chapter takes place in the middle of chaos.

Jesus is explaining His rapidly-approaching death to his disciples, and after the last supper, after washing the disciples feet, after acknowledging the betrayal of Judas, Jesus begins a discourse of what would take place after His death.

With love in His eyes, Jesus shows His disciples that His presence doesn’t depend on physical location. He is trying to expand their knowledge now of who He is and the access He provides to the Father.

He gives them a run down of what truly being a disciple takes.

There is something amazing in the works.

Leveraging the metaphor of a vine and branches, Christ teaches his disciples that they can still draw strength from Him even when they aren’t in the same space. This is where remaining in Him counts.

“Remaining in Jesus” is not a physical practice but a spiritual one.

He says for a part from me you can do nothing.

We need Him in order to do everything. At the beginning of Christ’s earthly story, the angel Gabriel tells Mary in Luke 1:37

Luke 1:37 CSB

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

We know according to the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:13 CSB

I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

And Jesus finally stated, in John 14:12-14

John 14:12–14 CSB

“Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.D,

What a reminder to share as He leaves them. Remember — a part from me you can not do anything.

We must remain in Him. Attached to the vine.

Jesus gave this as the last mandate for His disciples for these 3 reasons and He gives it to us, since we are also His disciples.

Jesus Provides Fuel

What does a vine do? It gives energy and nourishment to the whole plant.

Thanks to vines, plants produce fruit.

Thanks to vines, plants grow.

Does a stem grow just from being near or in close proximity to a vine? Of course not! It must be connected to it. This is the same for us. We can’t occasionally be in close proximity to Him and other disciples and expect to grow.

Jesus is your source of fuel as well.

If you feel as though your spiritual tank is nearly empty, remain in Jesus, and He will energize you. Think about when Jesus tells this to the disciples.

He is getting ready to leave them and He needs to fuel their passion and motivate them to remain in Him. He needs to fuel what will become the foundation for His Church.

Jesus wants and can do the same for us.

When life drains you, when excitement seems far away, when purpose isn’t known or visible let Jesus fulfill you. According to this passage, you don’t have to do anything except “remain in Jesus.”

Remaining in Him is intentional. It’s a choice on our part.

Notice that “remain” is a passive verb.

Jesus didn’t say you have to pray thirty times a day. Jesus didn’t say you have to do a certain ritual.

If you’re feeling depleted, just embrace His presence, and He will fuel you. You figure out where and in what way your feel close to His presence.

Drop to your knees, whisper a prayer, read the Word, or put on a worship playlist. You do what you can do to seek Him and find Him. Be intentional in your pursuit of Him. Your goal is to just remain with and in Him. He’ll take care of the rest.

Jesus says how to do this in John 15:9-10

John 15:9–10 CSB

“As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

This is what Jesus means by if my words Remain in you.

Name a moment when following the Word of God didn’t produce Good in your life..

Remaining in God’s presence and living out his words will rejuvenate your life and will inevitably produce fruit in your life.

Jesus Produces Fruit

ILLUSTRATION: Bring out a potted plant and some scissors.

I’m going to be honest with you guys, I struggle to keep anything alive but I brought this up to hopefully make a point. I know Jill and Tasha in particular are excellent at keeping plants alive, and they know what it takes.

Vines popped up all over the place in ancient Palestine. For the people of this time, twisting vine-like plants were the primary sources of food.

That’s why Jesus’s audience would have understood the power of pruning.

Gardeners had to prune the branches (cut off little sections) to ensure healthy and abundant fruit.

When carefully pruned and protected, Palestinian plants would produce sweet grapes, fatty olives, and juicy tomatoes.

There were only two reasons that vines were left unpruned in ancient Palestine,

1) they were instructed to take a sabbath and rest in Leviticus 25:3-5

Leviticus 25:3–5 CSB

You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the Lord: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. You are not to reap what grows by itself from your crop, or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. It is to be a year of complete rest for the land.

So there are moments when God tending to and pruning your vineyard may look like rest. This is Him taking good care of your vineyard. Rest is also essential for good fruit

2) the vineyard had been left unpruned due to the intentional neglect of the Gardner, or it was a sign of judgement. It was a warning.

Have you guys ever seen those memes that say, “if I won the lottery I wouldn’t tell anyone, but there would be signs”…I feel like God does the same with us. If we have gotten ourselves in a place of needing pruning but are refusing it, or are not connected to the vine at all, there may be signs…

Our Gardner, according to Jesus, is the Father. He wont neglect us or cause us to not produce fruit. He must prune us and tend to our vineyard.

And that doesn’t sound super fun, but we must let Him…

To ensure that you produce healthy and abundant fruit. Why is it necessary that we produce good fruit?

Well Jesus gives us an explanation about trees and fruit in Matthew 7:16-20

Matthew 7:16–20 CSB

You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.

Our fruit distinguishes us and sets us a part from the rest of the world. Well only produce fruit connected to the source, the vine and be pruned regularly. Because our lives become a display of seeds that we throw out and Jesus said in Matthew 13:23

Matthew 13:23 CSB

But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

The point of our lives living for Christ is to make other disciples who believe and remain wholeheartedly in Christ.

God is a good gardener.

In this passage, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.

That means that Jesus is our source of life and we are the branches that produce fruit. What kind of fruit does God want to see in your life?

The Apostle Paul laid it out for us by listing “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

This Good fruit requires thorough pruning. God picks up your branch on the vine of Christ and says, “I am going to clip away some of these unhealthy-looking leaves.”

Those leaves may be sinful behaviors, dangerous thoughts, or unhealthy patterns. Whatever they are, God wants to cut them out of your life to ensure you produce the best fruit.

God’s pruning process isn’t always fun though…it may look like..

Him allowing your sin to be uncovered.

He may snip away your selfish ambition.

He may allow a relationship to fall to the ground and wither away.

The process of pruning is often painful, but the results are directed by God and produce His fruit in your life.

Fruits like love, joy, and peace will come bursting forth from your branches.

Embrace God’s pruning because it produces healthy fruit.

Jesus Pushes You to Flourish

God is at work in your life. Like a gardener, He’s removing weeds, tossing aside stones, slicing off diseased leaves, and stomping invasive insects.

He’s removing the things in your life that you have grown beyond. We need to let Him remove these, otherwise they may hinder and quench what we are becoming.

Jesus, the vine, is giving you fuel. God, the gardener, is helping you produce fruit and He wants you begin to flourish.

According to Webster, flourishing means to “grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.”

Notice the second part of that definition.

Flourishing requires a favorable environment.

I have had many people in the past state that they don’t need to go to church in order to live a Christian life, and while yes that’s true…. Absolutely Jesus saved the thief on the cross, Philip prayed and baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch on the road..all without a church

But I have a solitary flower that just would not grow for me. I had it in its own pot and watered it constantly, but once I placed it around other flowers it began to grow due to the soil it was surrounded by…the same can be said for us as people.

We were designed for community and relationships. We may not need church to be saved, but the environment of accountability certainly helps us live the life Christ wants us to live.

That’s why Jesus uses this metaphor in our last “I AM” statement. Christ is building the perfect environment for you to thrive in life.

You, the branches, receive life-giving nourishment from the vine.

Jesus, the vine, is your only source of life. And He places people around you that point you to Him.

God wants to see you flourish in every facet of your life. That’s why He works so hard to protect your environment and provide your energy.

Have you sought or listened to the Holy Spirit when He is trying desperately to protect your environment? When he is trying to grow you beyond something?

He wants to grow you beyond bad or old habits. He wants to sometimes remove people from your environment that are hindering you from flourishing.

Flourishing is the evidence to the world of what God has done in your life. it is meant to be on display. Paul experienced this firsthand in Acts 26:14-18

Acts 26:14–18 CSB

We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

This is our purpose. We each had this moment of Christ calling us. Saving us. And He is actively changing us. The world is meant to see our lives changing and becoming a flourishing branch rooted in a healthy vine.

How timely was it for Jesus to use this I Am statement of being the vine right before leaving his followers for the cross.

This is the final teaching moment for the entire group right before the garden. And the message — the lesson was —{PADS}

Remain in Me and let me remain in you.

We often are looking for a magical pick me up message that will persuade us to remain in Christ or get back to where we need to be. I have often wondered what was it that caused this group of people to lay down their lives for this cause?

And the truth is, there isn't a magical message that will persuade you to live whole heartedly for Christ.

Simply put, we just have to choose… to rest in Him, rely upon Him, and remain in Him intentionally.

To love Him with all of our heart, soul mind and strength.

The “magical message” that drives our intentionality are The “I AM” statements. Jesus talking about who Jesus is intended to be in our lives, just in His own words.

He came to shatter every divider between you and God.

Ultimately, Jesus is saying, “I AM everything you need.

These all revealed His way of saying “I AM already with you.”

So today I want you to take a moment.

Are you connected and remaining in Him?

Is He evident in your life?

Are you being intentional daily in remaining in Him and allowing Him to prune you?

Are you trying to control the environment He wants to create for your growth?

Heads bowed — the purpose of us gathering here is always for

1 - worshipping together

2 - growing together for the purpose of making disciples in our everyday lives.

This was the final I Am statement given to every disciple including you.