Abide in the Vine: John 15:1-8 - Fifth Sunday of Easter

[Jesus said:] ¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” (NRSV)

Grapevine by malavoda on flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

When I was in school, the cafeteria was not known for its good-tasting food. The pizza was tough it could stop a bullet; the spaghetti like rubber bands drenched watery, flavorless sauce.

But there was always one item on the menu that was impossible to mess up: the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

It’s a quick, good-tasting meal that’s sure to satisfy your appetite. But grapes are not the easiest fruits to cultivate. Grape-cultivation is a time-intensive and tedious task, demanding great patience, skill, and care.

“I am the vine, you are the branches,” Jesus said. “My Father is the vine-grower.” What we have is inter-relationship: every single branch exists as part of the one vine; one single organism. Each branch functions to transmit moisture and nutrients throughout the whole vine, so that it is healthy and bears fruit. 

So, do we live out this truth as the Body of Christ?

Modern life is structured to cater to the needs, desires, and rights of the individual. We say, “there’s no “I” in team, but how often do we pin the success of a business, an institution, or even a sports team upon the shoulders of one individual? Cooperation is not rewarded as much as competition. There’s precious little empathy for those who fall on hard times, as if everyone should be able to rise above life’s obstacles and achieve your dreams with no one’s help but your own.

This mindset has even infected Christianity. We speak of Jesus as a personal savior. When you accept him and ask him into your heart, you receive individual salvation. We say, “God helps those who help themselves,” which appears nowhere in Scripture. Prosperity Gospel teaches that God rewards faith and good works with health and riches for your own enjoyment. And what about God pruning things out of your life that keep you from bearing the fruits of the Spirit? That means you are not in control of the person you are becoming, or the life you will be living. For some, that can be a very scary thing.

It may be a giant leap of faith to believe that a life of dependence on God is better than living by your own desires and designs. It may be a giant leap of faith to see your well-being as inextricably bound to the well-being of your neighbors and the well-being of the earth. But when Jesus says, “I am the vine, and you are the branches,” that is good news. Every individual matters. Everyone belongs. 

Every branch of the vine nourishes and is nourished by other branches, for the good of the whole vine. The fruit you bear is God’s love, which feeds a hungry world, sweetens all of life with the flavor of God’s love, and which makes the one vine even stronger and more fruitful. Together, we are firmly and securely connected to him—in life, death, and resurrection.

Unfortunately, the Christian faith has become so individualized that most people think you do not need the Church be in relationship with God. Jesus’s words declare that thinking as flawed. It is the Body of Christ that makes Jesus real and visible. If you are not present, and the neighbor is not welcomed, there is less celebration, less hope, less fruit-bearing.

Every day, God is connecting you to God’s own self thorough your connections and relationships to other people. This is how you grow. This is how God takes care of you. This is how God acts in the world. Anything that keeps you from bearing fruit, God cuts off and throws away. That’s forgiveness. That’s repentance. That’s healing. That’s resurrection. 

The challenge Jesus sets before you today is to recognize yourself as belonging to a single living body that is bigger than you, upon which you depend as much as it depends on you. The strength of this congregation and any congregation lies not in its programs, its facilities, its bank account, or even the charisma of its leaders—but in the quality of relationships. Broken hearts will not be healed, hungry bodies fed, communities transformed, or disciples made any other way except by abiding in the vine, together—with God the vine-dresser. 

Yet who and what you are becoming is up to God. That is also a challenge—but it is also tremendously hopeful. I invite you to look back and think about the ways that God has pruned the deadness out of your life—and the ways that God has pruned the deadness out of this church. The most transformative times in your life will likely be the challenging, painful, uncertain times when God was undeniably gracious. The most Christ-like people you will ever know are no strangers to sin, suffering, and failure—yet God’s grace triumphed through them. God’s grace will triumph in you, too—and you will bear the fruits of faith, hope, and love. 

Jesus is the vine. You are the branches. We are all connected to each other, and to Christ—for better or worse. And with God as the vine-grower, we will bear fruit for the nourishment of the vine and the healing of the nations.