John 15
In Jesus’ culture they knew a few things
about vines and branches. Grapes were an important part of society, and the
making of wine was a relatively common practice. (Indeed, all one had to do was
make juice and shortly thereafter it was wine as they had no means to preserve
the juice to keep it from fermentation.) They understood about cutting off
branches that didn’t bear fruit. They knew about pruning to get more fruit in
future harvests.
Jesus used the image of vines, branches,
and a vinedresser to help us understand how God takes care of His people. When
He said that the Father removes branches that do not bear fruit this was a warning
to those who heard God’s Word, and did not receive it; first to the Jews who
rejected Jesus (the Word) and then us. As churches ignore God’s Word and
replace it with human ideas and political expediency, God’s message is clear.
The Father removes them. They may still function in this world as a “church”
and an organization that promotes worship, but the worship they promote will
ultimately be idolatry and worship of self.
The other part of this image, that the
Father prunes the branches, reminded the original hearers and reminds us that
God is at work in us. Hebrews speaks of this pruning as a father disciplining
his child. God will use painful events in our lives to expose our sin, be it
some form of idolatry or another behavior that displays our brokenness. God
does this to strengthen our connection to Him in Christ. We must abide in Jesus:
that is we must live in His forgiveness which is revealed in His Word. Whenever
we begin to think we are sufficient in and of ourselves, God confronts that attitude
and we go through the painful process of pruning. It is important to remember
that this is for our good, even if we cannot fully understand how it can be. The
“Vinedresser” wants fruit. His desire is not to destroy you, indeed, He loves
you.
So we abide in the vine - which is
Jesus. He feeds us through His Word as we read or hear it, when it is
proclaimed in a worship service, and when He has placed it in Water or Bread
and Wine in the Sacraments. He sustains us and fills us with life and love. He
displayed that love for us by dying and rising for us, and it overflows through
our lives to others, bearing the fruit of faith as it draws people to Christ.
O Vine and Vinedresser, prune me that I may
bear abundant fruit through repentance and forgiveness, and in word and deed.
Amen.
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