Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Hudson, OH.
Thank you for
being with me today.
This Sunday is
the 5th Sunday of Easter, and our theme begins to shift a little.
The first three Sundays of Easter are about Easter Sunday; they retell the
events of the Resurrection from morning to evening. The 4th Sunday
of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday, when we read from John 10. The last three
Sundays of Easter take us to readings from the night Jesus was betrayed when
Jesus was talking with the disciples in the upper room. He has much to say
about how we live in light of our faith in Him and the impact of His salvation
on our lives. We might say that these Sundays focus on resurrection living –
that is; they focus on how we live in light of Jesus’ resurrection.
The Reading:
John 15:1-8
"I am the
true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me
that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit
he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean
because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the
vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you
are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much
fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not
abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are
gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my
disciples. (ESV)
Comments
As I mentioned
before, Jesus spoke these words in the upper room to his disciples on the night
that He was betrayed. This is one of the longest records we have of Jesus’
teaching. He is preparing the disciples for life without Him being visibly
present with them – life after the resurrection.
Jesus used an
agricultural image to help us understand what our relationship is with Him. He
says He is the true vine. Not only that, but His Father is the vinedresser – the
one who takes care of the vine cutting off branches that do not bear fruit and
pruning the ones that do so they’ll bear more fruit.
He says, “You are
already clean.” In other words, you are already in a relationship with Jesus.
You are branches connected to the vine. You are connected to Jesus. The is
because of the word Jesus has spoken. Remember that faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the Word of Christ. We have heard Jesus’ Word through the Apostles
and Prophets – and the Word has created faith in us. We are branches connected
to the vine.
So … now what?
What does Jesus want us to do?
Abide in Him.
Remain connected to the vine. And bear fruit.
Branches that are
not connected to the vine are dead. This is why at our church we use wreathes
made from dried up old grape vines during Lent. They are obviously dead, dried
up, and if we put a match to them they’d burn in a hurry. That is us apart from
Jesus. We must remain connected to Him. He is our life. To abide in Jesus is to
have faith in Him, to rely on Him, and it is to receive His Word. His life
flows into us through the Word and Sacraments. (And remember that the
Sacraments are God’s Word connected to visible elements for the purpose of
delivering forgiveness of sins to us.)
As for bearing
fruit: I have heard and read far too many messages that urge Christians to bear
fruit so that they won’t be cut off from the vine. As if we can produce fruit
in our own power. Think back to when you were a child. Did your parents have to
remind you to grow? No? Why not? Because when a child is healthy he or she will
grow. The same thing is true of bearing fruit. I have an apple tree in my yard.
I do not need to go out in the spring to remind it that it needs to start
growing apples. When the conditions are right it bears many more apples than we
can even use!
The point is
this: For the Christian to bear fruit, the most important thing is to be
connected to Jesus – to abide in Him. We abide in Him and His Word abides in us
– because Jesus’ Spirit is present in His Word to make us into vibrant fruit
producing people.
So what is the
fruit we are looking for? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
gentleness, self-control. Against these things there is no law. Notice that these
attributes are all about our relationship with others. It is in our
relationship with others that we get to show our faith, to be Jesus’ witnesses,
to share the life He has given us with others.
Meditate on this
today: You are connected to Jesus. He calls you to abide in Him. Abide in Him
so that You can bear much fruit – fruit that grows because He is at work in You.
Prayers
Lord Jesus, You
are the vine. We are the branches. Thank You for cleansing us from our sins so
that we can be connected to You and bear fruit to the Father’s glory. We
recognize that we don’t always bear the fruit You want to see in our lives, and
in truth that is because we don’t abide in You as we should. We want to live
life on our terms. We want to live in our own power. But that will only leave
us dried up and dead. Forgive us. Renew us. Where there are sinful behavior,
please prune us and remove anything in our lives which would keep us from
bearing fruit for You. Help us to abide in You, and let Your Word abide in us.
We pray these things in Your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Memory Verse: John 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the
branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn. 15:5 ESV)
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
Would you do me a
favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
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me get the word out, and hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to
others.
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God bless you!
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