“I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches”
“I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches”
A provocative image for anyone who loves plants, especially gardeners, farmers, and winemakers, which would have been the majority of Jesus’ listeners. It immediately speaks to us about how we grow, receive sustenance, live, and thrive. We can either be connected to the source, abiding in Jesus or we can be cut off and experience our life slowly shriveling away. We are meant to belong to, be connected with, and depend on Jesus our vine so much, that he is the only one that can give us sustained and lasting life.
The most repeated word in our gospel reading is Abide. “Abide in me and I will abide in you”, “abide in my love”, and more. Abide relates well to the idea of being a branch in the vine. Abide means to accept so much that we take something in, it means to act in accordance with, but in the Scriptural context, it also means to live in and to dwell in. So what we abide in gives us our inner and outer world along with how we act and behave in both. So abiding in Jesus means that he shapes how we think, what we see in the world and how we act. As Jesus tells us this abiding is essential because unless we take in, live in, and act out the love and truth of Jesus we will never bear fruit and instead, we will wither away.
The fruit Jesus is talking about is something we all want. We can think about this fruit as the fruit of the Spirit - Peace, joy, perseverance, love, hope, and more. Society knows how important these things are, even if they have no idea how to get any of them, especially in any lasting way. We know we want love, joy, peace, and hope and that we want it for others. So we want to bear fruit. We must be connected to the source, the sustainer, the one who gives nutrients in continuity if we ever hope to receive it.
We should also think about this fruit as the spreading of seed, like in the parable of the sower. This fruit is the sharing and planting of God’s Word in the soil of others' hearts. If the only way we can bear fruit is by being connected to Jesus who lives forever and gives all good gifts, then that means that if we want this fruit of love, joy, peace, and hope for the world, especially those around us that means that we need to lead them to connect with Jesus too. We all need to be grafted into the vine if we ever hope to bear the very best things that come from God.
Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we are bearing fruit - joy, hope, love, and peace can feel distant, but remember the other aspects of the Spirit’s fruit - faithfulness, patience, goodness, kindness, self-control, and gentleness. These are things that we can live out even when we don’t feel all aspects of God’s fruit. What we will find is that the other aspects of God’s fruit will be realized in us as well. This is what it means to abide in Jesus’ love. We might not always feel it, but if it lives in us, around us, and out of us, we will put it into practice no matter what and Jesus will bear fruit in us. We do get the hard challenge from Jesus, that if we aren’t truly bearing aspects of this fruit and practicing it in the world, then we aren’t actually abiding in the vine, in Jesus and so we aren’t being fed and nourished by him out of our choice, so we are cut off. This is a scary idea, but important, because it is Jesus trying to warn us of danger and trying to reinforce how immensely important our connection is with him; nothing else should take its place.
How do we connect ourselves to the vine, to Jesus? Well, it does really matter what we surround ourselves with and what we take in. You might have noticed this, if you watch certain movies or TV shows or read a book, or have a certain food, you may find yourself feeling a certain way and sometimes even acting a certain way. Alcohol or drugs might be the most obvious example, but our phones, the internet, sugar, and video games can have similar effects. Well, everything affects our spiritual and lived-out fruits. All of the things already mentioned, but also who we hang out with, how we respond to what we hear, read, or see, and even what we find delight in.
The psalmist today contrasts two examples of what we are taking in. On one side he shows us a tree planted by the water, that never goes without and always bears fruit in due season. People who delight in God’s word and meditate on it are like these trees. On the other side, you get those that hang out with different types of people: the wicked, those who make bad out to be good, and those who put others to the side. The sinful, are those whose lives are not directed towards God. The scornful, are those who disrespect, and look down, on people, leaders, institutions, and God’s world. If we spend time with these kinds of people we are compared to chaff, the empty stalk of corn or wheat that will blow away in the wind. This might feel harsh, but what God is trying to show us is that we are fed and changed by the things around us. Our minds and our thoughts are morphed and manipulated by what we hear and see. As an example, media has had a lasting and impressive effect on how people think about themselves and what they need. These things out in the world don’t feed us or give us what we need. They aren’t shaping us to see and experience God’s Kingdom or the fruits of the Spirit. To experience and live in these realities we need to be ingesting, fed by, and surround ourselves by God, his word, and his people.
Jesus tells us that we are cleansed by his word. This can help us realize how we can be cleansed from the manipulation and wickedness of this world and show us how we become something different. For Jesus’ followers, it would have seemed impossible for them to dwell in God and God in them because God’s perfection and justice would have been like a fire to the chaff of their lives. Yet, Jesus is telling them and us, even if we are broken and struggle, we can dwell in the perfection of God by listening to his word and finding delight in it. The Word draws us in and through it, God enters into our hearts and minds. So we begin to be fed by him.
God’s word does change us and challenge us. We hear that the Father, our great gardener will prune us so that we can bear even more fruit. Pruning is a common practice where something, maybe a bud or a branch (dead or alive) is cut off so that the plant will focus its energy on creating fruit - this can also be for the health of the plant and the farm in general. If we think about pruning in our lives, this could suck, at least at first. Here is a way that we are trying to grow: we want to look good with flowers, we want to take up more space, and all of a sudden that is cut off from us. This could bring great pain, disappointment, doubt, and more. Yet, if we trust what God is doing we will see that fruit of the Spirit come to life in us in even greater ways. Another example of God’s pruning: we could be holding onto something that is really important to us, but it is dying, it is taking away our nutrients from God, it is making it so we can’t bear God’s fruit. God knows how to judge and he will cut off that thing, even though it is really important to us, so that we can find life in its fullness in him. Pruning is not easy, but it is very important.
Abiding in the vine of Jesus, means that we abide in the things that are of him. We hear that part of this is abiding in his word and his love. We like love. It gives us good feelings and we know what living in love can mean for our life. Jesus’ love is even greater than what we know in this world. It does have the aspects of love that are comforting it is welcoming, embracing, intimate, and forgiving, and it acts to feed and nourish. We can understand this in our great vine. We often forget other aspects of Jesus’ love though: he could resist those closest to him when they speak or act wrongly (he calls, Peter, one of his closest friends Satan), he challenged people to go in another direction to see the way, the truth, and the life, he challenges people to change (he forgives the adulterous woman, but he tells her to go away and sin no more), he shows people when they are being hypocrites, and finally, he dies for what is true and good, he suffers and dies to show them their wrongs and a better world. This last part of Jesus’ love which has a lot of resistance is as much about love because it is about guiding people into what is true and good, what they need, and not just stepping back as they hurt themselves. This is a harder part of love, but for Jesus, it is an essential part as it is the work of building God’s kingdom in the world. In all things, Jesus’ love is to point to the Father. That is what we are meant to abide in.
Jesus tells us that he is the vine and we are the branches. We need to be grafted into him if we ever hope to live. With the help of our Father, that great gardener, the Holy Spirit will bear his fruit in us: the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, hope, goodness, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and more. The only way we can bear this fruit is if we abide in him so that our outer and inner world along with our actions are according to Jesus’ life and love. We can only get to that if we are fed by him, delighting in his word, and meditating on it. The other things in this world do not feed us, instead they can do the opposite. Sometimes we need to be pruned of such things, or even the things in our hearts. God wants to bear in us great fruit that will change us and this world. That is something we want. We need to be shaped and live out Jesus’ love, because it is Jesus' love that will change this world and its people into what it needs to be. AMEN
Outline:
Abide in the vine
You have been cleansed by my word
Shaff that blows away or the tree planted by water
Wicked, Sinners (turning away from God), scornful
Vs. delighting in the law, meditating on it
What is fruit
Bearing Fruit - Growing in this
Pruning
Acting on the love of Jesus - Welcome
Embrace
Bring Healing
Forgive
Feed
Resist Satan (in others too)
Show people the way and truth
Challenge people to change
Point towards God
Not our doing - Grafted in - Fed by the Vine so that we can actually do something
