James Harader-Ellett & Roger Martin
John 15:1-17
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 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. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Roger: James, Jesus says a lot of things in these verses. Vines, branches, fruit – all this stuff gets pretty confusing to a guy like me. I mean, I’m no farmer. What do you make of this?
James: When times get hard, you tend to have an instinct to say, “I can’t.” Is this what God wants? No. He wants you to say, “I believe.” That’s why Jesus says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” That’s verse 7, by the way.
Roger: But Jesus says he’s a vine and we’re the branches. I mean, I thought a vine was a vine, period. I didn’t know it had branches. I mean trees have branches – but vines? We don’t get too many of those around here, yunno.
James: It’s simple, Roger. Forget all the vines and branches. Jesus is saying that if we’re offshoots of him – if we believe and show we believe by acting like him – then together, we’ll bear a lot of fruit. And to be offshoots, we have to remember his command. We have to love each other. I guess if we’re all branches off the vine of Jesus, then those we love become our branches – or maybe our twigs.
On the other side, you’ve got those who get frustrated. Like sometimes they get frustrated when nobody understands what they are saying, or when they feel like they can’t do something. And when they do get frustrated, they’ll bear no fruit.
And those who hate . . . well, they’re going to just wither up and die. And get thrown into the fire, Jesus says. And you know they don’t need fire in heaven, so it’s not heaven he’s talking about.
Roger: So you sound like you’ve got this all figured out.
James: I wish. The truth is that things get hard anyway, at least sometimes. Then I pray. And when I feel lonely, God comes.
Roger: To be honest with you, some of what Jesus says scares me. Like when he says, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Like if you’re not with me, you’re nothing.
James: But Jesus doesn’t just sit by and watch. He helps. Just like God helps him. Jesus says that God cuts off every branch in him that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so it produces more fruit. Then Jesus prunes us and that gives us the ability to grow. He does this in a powerful but gentle way.
Roger: OK, let’s talk about the fruit. Pear trees produce pears, apples trees, apples. What are human trees like us supposed to produce?
James: Love. You know what words appear most frequently in verses 9 to 17 of the 15th chapter of John? Take a look. (Holds up a word cloud illustration in which the words “love” and “loved” are prominent.)
Somewhere in the Bible, Jesus says we have to love God, our neighbors and ourselves.
Roger: In Matthew 22, I believe.
James: If you see an old man or woman who can’t pay for everything at the grocery store, just walk up and say, “I’ll pay for that.”
Roger: But, James, times are tough right now? What if you don’t have the extra cash to do that?
James: How about your wife, then?
Roger: But what if she’s not along? How do you help that old couple then?
James: If you can’t pay . . . just pray.
I mean, when was the last time you helped a disabled adult or child? I mean really helped by giving to them – not just your money but your time?
If you’re scared of people who aren’t exactly like you – who are poor or helpless for some reason – you betray God. And if you do that too often, you wither.
Roger: And could wind up in the fire.
James: I think God wants us to walk up to strangers who look like they could use our help and say hi. I’m a God guy. (Turns to look at the congregation.) How about you?
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