April 29,2018                The True Vine                                       

This past week, I was reminded once again that there is a difference between our physical life, and our spiritual life. One of the main writers of the old testament, called the Yawhist, because of the name he used for God, speaks of God creating us from the dust of the earth and breathing into us the breathe of life. For the Yawhist, one could be physically alive and spiritually dead, or one could be physically alive and spiritually alive.

In the gospel of John, Jesus meets with Nicodemus, a leader of the Pharisees, who seems to have forgotten this teaching. Jesus tells him, he must be born of anew, and that being born anew is not a physical birth, but a birth of water and the spirit. The reference to being born of water is of course baptism – in which we put to death the desires of the flesh, and turn to life in the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

And so, keeping this in mind, I read the gospel passage this week about Jesus being the true vine, and tried to discern what the writer of John was trying to tell us this morning.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the Vinedresser. In our Epistle letter this morning, also written by John, we are told what the true vine is, it is God’s love for us revealed in Jesus Christ. That love is such that it gave up it’s physical life for us, so that we might live in the Spirit of God. In that passage, love is mentioned some 20 times, and it is that love for others in which we find life in the Spirit.

This week we had a memorial service for Jim Kroening, and as usual I spent time with the family and invited them to share their good memories of him. When I do this, what I am really looking for, are those memories in which this love for them was present in their lives. I am looking for memories of humility, grace, forgiveness, listening, healing, compassion, and concern for others. This is the Spirit of Christ, that gives life to us, and to each other. That is why Jesus is the vine, because in him we receive our Spiritual life and sustenance.

He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Those who do not love, do not have these kinds of life giving relationships. Remember the passage in which Jesus says, what will it profit you if you gain the whole world by give up your soul? If one does not have this kind of love in their hearts, they may have every physical desire they can acquire, but they are spiritually withered and dead. As for friends and family, how can one have relationships, if one does not love, if one only lives for themselves? I know as the vinedresser, that God is said to be the one who causes this to happen, but only insofar as God has ordained that love is the power by which we have life in the Spirit, if we choose not to love, than we condemn ourselves.

Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. Ahh, the pruning part of this verse, which is the most difficult part of this verse for me. Now some may think of this as the pruning we experience in facing difficult times in our lives. It is important to remember that these events do not come from God, but are the result of the powers of sin and death in our lives. In these moments, we are called to turn to God to find meaning, purpose, and strength to overcome these situations. 

But in our gospel lesson this morning, I am inclined to think that Jesus is more specifically talking about how faith in God leads us to prune our lives of our more wasteful practices that lead to sin and suffering in them. Other sermons and commentators I read this past week, focused on our human obsessions with wealth, fame, power, sports, music, collectibles, and etc. Obsessions that can lead us into temptation, sin, and suffering in our lives. But those who have life in the Spirit, as much as they enjoy these things, place first their relationships with others, seeing these things as a way to share their passions, and to experience the passions of others.  

When our relationships of love are the primary focus of our lives, then the things, pleasures, and experiences we have in our lives will not become corrupt. In all of this, our vinedresser prunes us, in order to bear the fruit of God's love in our lives. This pruning is not intended to harm us, but to help us to grow in our love for one another, and to grow in our experience of God’s love for us. For in that love there is life, and abundance, and everlasting life.

         My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. This morning in our adult study class, I spoke about Jesus seeking to establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth. This cannot be done through force of arms, or even by most just of governments. It can only be done when people have a love in their hearts for one another. 

        In the days of the early church, the apostle's founded communities dedicated to this kind of love called churches. I see this love in our church, as this church family cares for each other, and for those beyond the church. I also see this love in the members of other churches as well. Despite the trials, sin and suffering in the world, there are many followers of Christ working together and in their lives to make this love known. To them, Jesus is the vine through which they are sustained, and they are the branches which bear much fruit! 

      And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ!