“Productive and Fruitful”  2014

Isaiah 5:1-7                John 15:1-11

 

Isaiah 5:1-7     

Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!

 

John 15:1-11

”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide 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. I 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. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

 

I love this vine & branches passage of John,  but I didn’t always.

            I remember hearing it taught and preached since my youth,

                           and it was almost always as a guilt-inducing challenge

                                    to work harder,  to be more productive and fruitful.

 

No matter how hard I tried it was never enough,  so I felt guilty.

      These verses called for unobtainable & impossible achievement

                     that not even on my best day, and by no amount of effortà

                            would or could I ever be fruitful enough to please God.

 

Many of the preachers I’ve heard defined “fruitful”

            based on “the fruits of the Spirit” of Galatians 5:22

                        “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”               

                        … and measured on that basis,   I wasn’t very fruitful.

 

Others defined “fruitful” based on   fruits of discipleship,

            or on evangelism and making new believers and disciples…

                        … and measured on that basis,

                                    I was a failure with very few converts to my credit.

 

Granted, those teachings about this passage  seem reasonable,

            for that is how most of us see that the world around us works,

                            and defining “fruitful” as productive and effective                                                                                     made perfect sense to me as a businessman.

 

In my retail stores, I carefully tracked how every item,

            how each sales display and product line sold in each store.

  I knew which were most profitable, most productive and fruitful,

      and I would drop or discontinue the ones that were not.

 

That’s how you make decisions that build up a business,

            focus on productivity and cut-off any that are not fruitful…

                        … for this is how this world seems to work…

… but actually,     that’s not the point of this John 15 passage.

 

Jesus said:            John 15:1-2

            "I am the true vine,    and my Father is the vine grower.  He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.  Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.

 

Some, hear this primarily as a threat,

            a warning to try harder,  to be more fruitful,  or else…

                                      … be removed to wither, and be burned in a fire.

 

But the Greek word that is translated, "he removes",

            also means "to lift and raise something up off the ground".

Grape vines in particular

            cannot produce their fruit  if they are lying on the ground;

                        so vine dressers will gently lift up any fallen vines

                                    and carefully tie those branches onto the trellis,

                                          which then enables them to produce & be fruitful.

 

The Greek word that is translated, "he prunes";   (kaqarizw)

            also means, to cleanse, to heal, to nurture and to restore,

                        and obviously simply cutting of a branch

                                    isn’t going to make that branch any more fruitful.

            The idea of this pruning is to make it whole,

                and to renew or repair whatever is damaged or broken.

 

                        One time when a hurricane blasted through our area,

                                    it did terrible damage to my poor little garden.

Afterward I had to gently clear away all the fallen debris

            then tenderly trim, prune and tie up the injured plants,

                        trying to heal & restore my garden from the storm damage.

 

   That’s what Jesus is describing in this passage,

            trying to heal and restore us from storms of life  we endure.

 

The John text is not about an angry or brutal vine-dresser,

            who endlessly demands more work and productivity, and whoà

                  hacks off any damaged or broken limbs or fallen branches.

 

This passage isn’t trying to teach us

            that our God gives up on us in harsh and wrathful disgust

                            nor is it intended to be a warning about God’s judgment

                                    against damaged, and nonproducing fallen branches.

            In John 15, Jesus is describing

                        the nurture and care that enables fruitfulness & grapes.

 

Either grow more and better fruit or you’ll be cut-off and burned? 

 

* That misses the point and denies the graciousness of God's love;

            for Jesus came,   because   we cannot   do it for ourselves…

… as Jesus declares: vs. 5

            I am the vine, you are the branches… apart from me you can do nothing.

 

I am not sure if we have them in New Mexico, but one year

            back in North Carolina, my garden was attacked by cutworms,

                  and in one afternoon they completely decimated my garden.

 

Corn, zucchini, acorn squash, cucumbers and watermelons,

            every stem, every branch was cut-off from the vine;

                                and with no flow of water and nutrients to the crop,

                                        I watched all of them wither and die away,

                                                and that year, my garden produced very little.

 

It wasn’t that

            the branches weren’t trying hard enough or were being lazy.

    In truth, what can a branch actually do other than staying

            attached to the vine to be more productive and fruitful?

 

As Jesus explains in vs. 1, 4-5

            I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. Abide 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. I 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.

 

The Puritan writers often described God’s grace and goodness

            as an ever-flowing fountain of gracious love,

                        and that we are like pipes through which God’s grace

                                    flows into us   and out through us  to the world…

            … and as long as that flow is unimpeded and can run freely,

                        our life in Christ will grow,   be faithful and fruitful.

 

But we can easily be distracted & enticed by things of this world,

            and  too busy pursuing wrong and unworthy goals and desires.

Like a clogged pipe we accumulate stuff in our lives that impedes

    and gradually cuts off the flow of God’s grace and blessings.

 

Our task then      is to abide,

            to allow the gracious work of God to flow unimpeded … 

… our task is to abide and not cut ourselves off from God’s grace.

 

The question of being fruitful is not   are we trying hard enough,

            but  are we abiding in Christ  and clinging to the true vine

*                so grace can flow,  and Christ can produce his fruit in us.

 

This John passage is really about grace, hope and encouragement,

            especially for people who are  weary and tired of struggling,

                 or frustrated & discouraged,   that for all they try and do…

                                      …they still feel like unworthy failures and frauds.

 

Abide means staying  in a growing-deeper relationship with God,

            and we abide by creating   space and time   in our busy lives

                  to wait for God to speak, for Spirit and grace to guide us.

 

*     God has given us His love,   and abide is the way we receive it.

 

Abide is anywhere and everywhere  that we receive and reflect

            God's gracious presence and steadfast loving kindness,

                        and to live in an authentic relationship as God intends.

 

To abide is a long term loyalty and commitment,

            sustained by God’s grace, promises and Holy Spirit,

                  and it’s responding faithfully to blessings given by God.

 

*  That is how the Isaiah passage fits in  with the John passage.

                            The prophet was intending to explain why

                                    the nation of Israel would go into exile to Babylon.

 

            The writing begins as a love song

                        about Israel as a vineyard and God is the owner, vs. 1

                                    Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

 

As God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt,

            blessed them and provided the Promised Land for them,

                        so too the vineyard owner provided generously                               

                                    everything the vineyard needed to be fruitful.

 

When the vineyard failed to produce the grapes as expected          

            despite all the blessings that the owner had provided,

                                    he withdrew his protection and allowed

                                                the vineyard to be trampled and overgrown… à

            … just as God would eventually allow

                        the nation Israel to be conquered and taken into exile.

 

At this point, the love song shifts to a complaint,  vs. 3-4

     And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

           

The vineyard hasn’t produced or been fruitful

            so the owner will allow destruction of the vineyard,

                        just as God will allow the Babylonian exile…

 

    … because Israel had turned aside from the Lord and God’s Law,

                 worshipped the idols and false gods of their neighbors,

                          had abandoned the righteousness and justice of God,

                                                and was not the fruitful vineyard God intended.

 

The nation of Israel had rejected the blessings God intended,

            and refused to abide in the love & gracious ways of the Lord.

  Israel became a false vine  that produced wild and bitter grapes.

           

In the John passage, the obedience of Jesus stands in contrast

            to Israel’s failure to abide in the Lord,     vs. 1, 10, 9

                        ”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. … I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love… As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

 

**  So what does all this mean for us, today?

 

Ancient Israel pursued the corrupt ways of their surrounding culture,

            and refused to abide:  to trust, honor and obey God,

                        and as a result, they only produced bitter fruit.

 

But it’s not that they didn’t try hard enough.

            God knows they were religious with all their rules & rituals,

                        but they didn’t abide, stay connected  with God’s grace…

            … and Jesus who is the true vine,

                        came to save us  and to show us another way.

 

Jesus never said to try harder, to do more or be more religious.

            His message was    don’t focus so much on the external fruit,

                        but abide, walk in faith and in gratitude with God…

            … focus on listening and connecting with God’s grace,

                        and the fruitfulness  will most assuredly follow.

 

*  Jesus calls us to abide, and it’s up to God to produce the fruit.

 

Let’s get practical and personal about what it means to abide ---

            -- so here are some ideas and techniques that have helped me

                           to focus on connecting and drawing nearer to the Lord.

 

We can abide in all the many and varied, wonderful and mysterious

        experiences and events of Christian living and faithfulness;

                   anywhere and everywhere that we receive and reflect

                          God's gracious presence and steadfast loving kindness.

 

When I get stuck, it helps me to get out

            amid the beauty, wonder and glory of God’s creation.

 

I am helped by digging deep for my real questions and concerns

            by saying out loud or writing out whatever is bothering me,

                            and then doing a lot more listening than speaking,

                              as I wait for God’s answer in his way, in own his time.

 

Sometimes I abide best by prayer and studying Scripture,

            by discussing and arguing about it with colleagues,

                        then suddenly seeing how connects with my own life,

                                    often in ways I don’t recognize until much later.

 

I can abide with God through inspiring music,

            when I’m touched by a great movie or an inspiring book,

                        or feel God’s closeness fixing a meal or washing dishes.

 

Our God is often wonderfully present amid the mundane,

            as somehow God breaks in, and the Spirit blesses expectedly.

 

            Sometimes we abide with an open heart quietly listening

                        sharing and being available, present and caring

                                    during someone else’s struggle and hurt and grief…

            … other times it’s in the shared laughter, humor and joyà

                        of a good story, a joke or a funny moment,

                              as we find ourselves lifted into God’s very presence.

 

Abide is really about our attitude and our affections,

            a perspective that offers every bit of my life to the Lord,

                        and looks for God’s work and grace amid life’s ordinary.

We can abide in all

            the many wonderful experiences and joys of Christian living,

                        serving others, welcoming a stranger, hugging a child.

 

To abide is an openness, awareness and appreciation of the Lord,

            by which we draw nearer and what to please our God,

                   who in the process, produces the fruit through our lives.

 

The point is: 

            that just as branches get their life from the vine,

                        so  we get our life  when we abide by walking with Jesus.

 

We as branches, connected to Christ, as the vine,

            will indeed thrive and produce fruit,  for connected-nessà

                  feeds and nourishes,  sustains and enables our growth.

And without connected-ness, we will fall away, wither and die.

 

            The call isn't to try harder, but to draw nearer and deeper.

And if we abide in Christ, then we will be fruitful;

                        and if we're not fruitful in our faith and living,

                            then we need to improve    the how and the why  we abide.

 

Jesus explained and promised:                John 10:10, 15:4,9

            I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.  Abide 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.  As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.