Branches of the Vine
John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 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.
“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. 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. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Branches of the Vine
This laptop is an HP Spectre x360. This is by far the best laptop I have ever owned. And, having now been a pastor for a year, I can’t tell you how much of the Our Shepherd ministry is done through this device: text studies, sermon writing, service folder preparation, website design, graphic design, creating the publications and promotional material for our church, Zoom Bible studies, Zoom Council Meetings, Zoom conference calls, podcasting, blogging, posting on social media, and, of course, emailing each and every one of you. This is a quality, efficient machine that is made to get work done.
But there are two reoccurring problems I have with this laptop. The first problem is, occasionally when I’m at the parsonage, my internet starts to cut out, if not drop out completely. Depending on where I’m working, I’ve discovered that some places in the parsonage have great signal, while others are dead zones. The other problem is, it always seems that when I’m in the middle of something really important, the “low battery” notification goes off.
What’s the connection between these two problems? Well the connection is their connection – or, better put, their bad connection: their ‘no connection’. This laptop - without internet - loses a massive amount of its intended functionality: no online gaming; no posting on social media; no software updates; no Hulu or Netflix; no downloads; no uploads; no messages going in, and no emails going out. I can click “send” or “submit” all I want, but that post will never post. This laptop – without being plugged into a power source – immediately loses the ability to run demanding programs on high settings. And, over time, if left unplugged, the battery on this laptop will completely lose its charge, its screen will fade to black, and it will power down. I can press the power button all I want, but it will never start.
Sure, it still looks like a laptop. Even if it isn’t connected to internet. Even if it isn’t connected to power. But without a connection to internet and power, this laptop loses all of its intended functionality – what it was designed to be, and what I, as a pastor in the 21st century, need it to be. Without the critical connection it needs, this laptop can do absolutely nothing. Without that connection, this laptop is just a $1,200 paperweight.
How’s that connected to Jesus’ words in John 15? The connection is the importance of your connection. Being connected to Christ not only makes all the difference, it makes the only difference.
John 15 places us in the upper room on the night that Jesus was betrayed. Judas had already left to round up a detachment of soldiers and officials to arrest Jesus. It was Jesus and the other 11 disciples. They were scared. Jesus had told them that night we would soon be returning to the Father, and that evidently didn’t sit well with the disciples. Not only that, Jesus informed them that one of the disciples would betray him – a betrayal that Jesus had spoken of well before that night, a betrayal Jesus broadcast as they prepared to enter Jerusalem – where he would be arrested, sentenced to death, and crucified. The mood that night was tense. The disciples’ hearts were evidently troubled.
Wouldn’t yours be? If your best friend, your leader, your teacher – the one who you hoped would be the One who was to redeem Israel – the Messiah and Savior of the world – if he was soon to be arrested, put on trial, and murdered as an enemy of the state and a blasphemer? You can imagine what the disciples were thinking. “This can’t be! He has to be the One! He is the Son of God, isn’t he? He demonstrated all those amazing miracles! He healed the sick! He raised the dead! Why, then, is he talking about being arrested and sentenced to death? This can’t be!” So, Jesus gives them, what is sometimes referred to as Jesus’ “Last will and testament”, gospel words of encouragement to emotionally, mentally, and spiritually prepare these disciples not just for what was literally about to go down in a few hours, but to begin preparing them for Jesus’ eventual ascension into heaven and return to God the Father – reminding them of a personal connection they had with him, as intimate as branches connected to a vine.
“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 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. Christ is the vine, and we, as Christians, are the branches. Spirit-worked faith in Christ – worked through the gospel in Word and Sacrament- is the only way we are connected to him. Outside of faith in him, we are incapable of producing fruit that pleases God. Jesus continues, “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. There’s only one vine, and there are only two kinds of branches: a connected branch that is fruitful, and a fruitless, disconnected one that is cut off the vine and burned.
Talk about sobering words for a somber occasion. But these were sobering words they needed to hear. You have to remember that one of the twelve disciples had just left the table to go organize Jesus’ arrest – someone who was part of Jesus’ ‘inner circle’, someone who sat at Jesus’ feet for every lesson, someone who witnessed all the miracles and wonders that Jesus performed. By all outward appearances, Judas was someone who literally followed Christ! But he didn’t have faith in Christ. In fact, Judas had rejected Christ – who he is and what he has done. So, by his own choosing, Judas was cut off from the vine. He was a branch that wasn’t connected to the vine. He was a dead branch.
To be clear, Jesus isn’t saying you need to earn your way to heaven by doing good works. Good works contribute absolutely nothing to our salvation. Period. It is through faith in Christ alone that you are saved – no catches or conditions – no fine print. But that’s just it: faith in Christ alone finds ways of expressing itself in thankfulness to God as we serve God and our neighbor. It seeks to glorify God in our lives. If faith connects us to Christ – who he is and the saving work he has done and won for us – then that same faith naturally produces fruits of faith – just as an apple tree naturally produces apples, just as branches connected to a vine naturally produce fruit. Conversely, a fruitless branch is a dead branch: fruitless faith is dead faith – and dead faith doesn’t connect you to Christ. Apart from Christ, not only are we unable to be what we were made to be; apart from Christ, we have no life.
This section of Scripture prompts a question: what kind of branch am I? “You will know a tree by its fruit,” Jesus says in Matthew 7. “…every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” Am I, then, a branch that bears good fruit? How does Jesus describe a branch that is fruitful?
A branch that is fruitful manifests itself in a joy that only the gospel gives – a joy we shine and share as Christ’s witnesses. You see that in a patience that models the loving patience shown us by God. That fruit is seen in Christ-imitating kindness and goodness done and expressed towards those in our lives. The Christian exhibits a gentleness when interacting with others. The Christian strives to live a life of self-control and self-discipline. You see the fruit of the Christian faith as they strive for faithfulness – desiring to steward all that I am for all of God’s glory – our mind, our bodies, our money, our abilities – all used in appreciation for all that God has graciously given us. The Christian loves as Jesus loves. “Love one another, as I have loved you,” Jesus would also say in that upper room. “This is how the world will know that you are my disciples – if you love one another.” The Spirit-wrought, faith-filled fruit we produce is intended to be visible to those around us – that they see us and see who our God and Savior Jesus is – we as branches of the vine! They see us and see where true joy, hope, and peace is found: in Jesus, the true vine!
So, it should rightly concern us when our lives are characterized by bitterness and hostility. It should bother us when we harbor hatred instead of forgiving. It should unsettle us when we constantly strive to be served, not to serve. It should bother us when we relegate the joy and reality of the gospel to Sunday – but is silent and absent in our lives Monday through Saturday. It should bother us when time in God’s Word isn’t seen as a joy, but a burden. It should bother us when we derive peace from something other than Jesus – when we invest our happiness and hope in money, in popularity, in acceptance – but not Jesus. It should bother us when impatience characterizes our interactions with others – when hostility, not gentleness describes our interactions with others – when passive aggressiveness and disrespect is seen in our actions. This isn’t the ‘good fruit’ that flows from the vine. This is sin.
But instead of asking “What kind of branch am I?” a better question to ask is “What kind of vine is Jesus?” The same Jesus who said, “I am the Vine” is the same LORD who said “I AM who I AM.” He is the good shepherd. He is the bread of life. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus isn’t just any vine: he’s the only vine – the true vine. He is the vine that gives life – life to the full – life now and life into eternity. Apart from Christ, we’re not only unable to be that which we were made and meant to be, apart from Christ, we’re but dried, dead branches doomed to burn. Disconnected from Christ, we had no forgiveness; we had no peace with God. So our God, in his amazing grace, came to our rescue. Our Savior Jesus died on a tree – having carried the rotten fruit of our sin on his shoulders and enduring the punishment that brought us eternal peace with God. And the vine that was crucified for you, rose from the dead for you. And that vine is what pumps life – true life – through you - fellow branches! The God who made you is the same God who saved you, who, through Word and Sacrament, sanctifies you – so you bear fruit. No, we, as sinners on this side of heaven, will never bear perfect fruit. Thankfully, where we are imperfect branches, Christ is the perfect vine.
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. 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. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Did you catch that? As we remain in Christ, Christ remains in us. There exists a mutual remaining! This isn’t just our God residing in us, but that we “abide in Christ, as he abides in us.” Our Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who resides in us has us reside in his heart. You, in Christ, aren’t just intimately connected to God: God, in Christ, is intimately connected to you! That same God nourishes and strengthens you through His Word. And that same God will lovingly prune his branches. Tenants who worked the many vineyards within Israel would prune and trim the grape vine’s branches in order that the not only produce more fruit, but that the fruit they do produce is even better. It’s no different with you. Sure, no pruning seems pleasant at the time; but God does that in love, that we, in faith, produce more and better fruit – that we grow strong and stay healthily fixed to the vine.
You’re not a laptop without power: you’re a branch intimately grafted into the vine. God pursued you with his gospel and brought you to faith through his Word. God, at your baptism, washed you and made you part of his family. Your God continues to lovingly and daily provide for you. That same God feeds your very soul with his life-giving Word. And that same God is still with you. He dwells inside of you! And the same Jesus who lives in you will come back to take you home to be with him in heaven. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” your Savior says. “You trust in God – so, trust also in me! In this world, you will have great trouble; but take heart: I have overcome the world! You are at peace with God! You are connected to the Vine that gives life.” Amen.