A Life Worth Living Stays Connected

The fifth sunday of easter

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

John 15:1-8

“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. 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.” (NIV)

CIR HIRI! (Christ Is Risen; He Is Risen Indeed!) Larry isn’t much to write home about.  He’s always had trouble holding a job, frequently enduring long bouts of unemployment.  It’s hard to determine if it’s the unemployment that spurs on his drinking or if it’s the other way around.  Though he’s felt horrible about it, he’s also said and done some awful things to his wife.  Larry would not very likely be a top contender for any “father-of-the-year” awards, either, as he’s always struggled with parenting.  His church attendance has been streaky at best, and he’s spent his share of time in the Pastor’s study for any number of reasons.

Then there’s Tom.  Now Tom is just the kind of guy every dad wishes his daughter would bring home and marry.  Tom has always been a hard worker.  Nothing was given to him.  He put himself through school, passed the bar with flying colors and eventually became successful enough to open his own law firm.  Yet as busy as he has been with his career, he’s always made time for his wife, and bends over backwards to help raise the children.  He makes all the games and recitals he can, and his kids think the world of him.  He first started coming to church with his wife, and after a while Tom became a regular, attending virtually every Sunday.  He is always one to back church projects, both with his time and his pocketbook.  People cannot say enough good things about Tom. 

So which one, Larry or Tom, better serves as the ideal picture from John’s Gospel of the fruit-bearing branch: Larry, aka Mr. Lackluster, or Tom, aka Mr. Terrific?  Most would agree that Tom certainly appears to fit the mold, whereas Larry leaves a lot to be desired.  While that may be the case, more information is needed about each individual to come to a conclusion.  You might find that information surprising… as it turns out, the biggest difference between Larry and Tom is that Larry is a believer, and Tom isn’t.

Could the roles be reversed – could Tom be the believer and Larry the unbeliever?  Certainly, and we might even say that more often we’d expect that to be the case.  But as the examples of Larry the Lackluster and Tom the Terrific stand this morning, they serve to illustrate a very important point about the vine and branches section from John 15: don’t focus first and foremost on the fruit, because it’s the connection to the vine that matters most.  If there’s no connection, then there’s no fruit, plain and simple.  While certain fruit may appear to be ripe and mature and ready for picking, what appears to be the finest looking fruit on the outside, if not connected to the true vine, is merely spoiled and rotten on the inside.  On the other hand, that fruit which looks less than desirable on the outside may eventually ripen into nothing short of the most delicious fruit on the whole plant!  The difference is whether or not the branch on which the fruit grows is connected to the vine.

And so it is with a life worth living.  A Life Worth Living is one that Stays Connected. Without a connection to Jesus, the best this life has to offer is spoiled, rotten fruit.  How different is the life that stays connected, for whatever fruit it bears will be the sort of fruit with which every harvester would be delighted to fill basketful after basketful!  The difference is Jesus.  Only Jesus can offer a life worth living, and so this morning we wish for the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts and see how blessed we are to stay connected to Jesus in every way possible.

The alternative – no connection with Jesus – is not a pleasant one.  Listen to how Jesus describes it: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit” (v.1,2a).  He’s pretty straight forward, isn’t he?  Branches that don’t bear fruit will be cut off.  They will be completely separated from the tree, for since they do not produce any visible fruit, they are simply draining the trunk or vine of its precious resources, and thereby robbing other fruit-bearing branches of their vitality.

Once cut off, there is no longer any hope for that branch to bear any fruit.  The gardener does not return from the garden with pulled weeds and dead branches in hand, thinking to himself, “I will hold on to these, water them regularly, and give them plenty of sun to see if they will produce fruit.”  He knows better.  He knows that when the branch is no longer connected to the rest of the plant, there is no more hope of it bearing fruit.  Jesus said, “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  Apart from me you can do nothing” (v.4, 5c).

Now this is a mystery to the world, because the world is not qualified to view fruit the way God does.  The world sees any act of generosity and kindness toward others and says, “Ah, see, there is fruit.”  It sees noble philanthropic gifts to this charity and that, which undoubtedly provide aid and assistance to countless others, and says “Surely there is choice fruit.”  Yet the world fails to recognize that such acts, each and every one of them, if not done in and through the true vine, Jesus, count for nothing before God.  The prophet Isaiah pointed out “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (64:6).  One would hardly expect a branch with shriveled up leaves to bring forth abundant fruit.  It simply cannot  do so if not connected to the true vine.  The world thinks it sees precious fruit, but what appears to be fruit, if not connected to the true vine, is merely an illusion. 

Finally, those branches that have been cut off serve no other purpose; they are simply gathered up and burned.  “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (v.6).  The world stumbles and trips on this teaching of Jesus: that a person who does what is right, who treats others well, who gives and puts others first, who is a model spouse and an exemplary parent – a person who appears to bear all kinds of fruit – would end up in the flames of hell for eternity simply because he wasn’t connected to the vine through saving faith in Jesus.  It is a difficult teaching, to be sure, but one that is quite clearly spoken from the mouth of Jesus himself in these verses.

See what is important: don’t focus first and foremost on the fruit, because it’s the connection to the vine that matters most.

When that connection remains solid and intact, fruit will be evident.  Jesus promised as much, saying, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit” (v.5).  Not only will such a branch produce fruit, but it will bear “much” fruit.  It’s unavoidable; the branch connected to the vine – the believer connected to Jesus – will show fruits of that relationship.

How will this come about?  In order for a fruit-bearing tree to bear even more fruit in the future, the process of pruning is in order.   “[The Father] cuts off every branch in [Jesus] that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (v.2).  The branch that doesn’t bear fruit will be cut off; however, the branch that does bear fruit will be cut back.  Then it will be able to produce even more abundant fruit. 

That sort of pruning can be a painful process, but the child of God welcomes and endures it because he knows the end result will make a life already worth living even more so.  For where does the child of God turn when death strikes, when hard times surface, when frustration settles in, when pain and suffering arise?  He doesn’t look here (inside himself).  He doesn’t look at his past record of righteousness.  He doesn’t turn to worldly wisdom. 

No, he turns to Christ, just as a Christian doctor once did.  This Christian doctor had been responsible for helping and healing many others when suddenly he himself was stricken with sickness.  He remained bed-ridden for many days enduring the suffering that accompanied his sickness.  During that time, friends would come to visit him and lament how unfortunate it was that he was stricken down with illness.  “Not at all” he would reply, “the Lord brought me down so that I might not forget to look up.”

So it is with the Christian who endures whatever painful pruning God allows in his life.  He looks up, he turns to the true vine, the vine who cleans and purifies, who forgives and upholds, who promises more than anything this life has to offer.  His words and promises alone keep us connected to the vine and enable us to bear abundant and God-pleasing fruit.  Jesus said “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (v.3).  The Christian isn’t made clean by the fruit he produces, but is rather made clean by grace in order that he might then produce fruit.  That grace comes through baptism.  It comes through the Lord’s Supper.  It comes through the Word.  Through these means Jesus longs to keep the branches connected to him and bearing abundant fruit.  But without these means and apart from them, the branch slowly withers and dies and will eventually be cut off.

Rejoice that instead of being cut off, you are continually cut back.  Rejoice that your gracious Gardener cares enough about you to bless you by bearing more and more fruit.  Such fruit is a blessing to you, to God’s kingdom, and to the rest of the world.  One such blessing: Jesus promises, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (v.7).  In Christ, the believer gets whatever he wants, because in Christ, the believer is in tune with the mind of God and longs for what he wants us to have.  Another blessing is that we know the fruit we bear brings glory to the Father.  Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (v.8).  Just as an earthly father takes pride in the good behavior and praise-worthy accomplishments of his child, so does our Heavenly Father delight in our precious fruit.  The key to that blessing is staying connected to the vine.  With and by God’s grace, make that the number one priority in your life: staying connected to the vine.  Then, go and bear all kinds of fruit, and you will find a life worth living. CIR HIRI! Amen.