April, 22 2020
1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 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. 5 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. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 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. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
Trying to take a picture of a marching band is much like herding cats. The photographer gets one section right where they want them and then another section moves out of place. Putting the tubas in the front always covers up the flutes in the back. The tall musicians standing in the front of the shorter musicians covers them up and one cannot see their faces. No sooner than the photographer gets everyone in place and then someone needs to use the restroom, or someone gives bunny ears to the person in front and then they move. The sun glares in the trumpet section’s eyes and then they move. Getting a picture of a marching band is tremendously difficult because the players have great difficulty staying.
Jesus also has a lot of trouble getting people to stay. But while the photographer needs to get the musicians to stay in their place and not move or fidget or annoy their neighbor, Jesus has difficulty getting people to stay with him. In our text from John, Jesus says, abide in me as I abide in you. The word in Greek for abide can also mean remain or stay. So, the text reads, stay in me as I stay in you. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has come to the heart of the believer and chosen to live or dwell or remain there. The great difficulty is that while Jesus is staying with us, the person tends to drift away from Jesus, they tend to stray away from Jesus. Hence the command or the exhortation from Jesus to stay. Stay with me as I stay with you.
Why is this staying with Jesus such a big deal, why not some time in Jesus and some time away from Jesus. I am thinking of the average course of our week. We have time we spend with Jesus in prayer, study, worship, and service, but we also have time we want to spend apart from Jesus perhaps in work, leisure, or fun activities. We have moments for sure when we want to stay with Jesus, but we also have moments when we want to leave Jesus. Jesus gives the reason why, because apart from me you can do nothing. He is not saying that we cannot do things apart from Jesus, but he is saying what those things we do will be like without Jesus. Without Jesus what would our careers be like? Without Jesus what would our relationships be like? Without Jesus what would our leisure time be like?
A career without Jesus is prone to harmful tendencies and temptations, selfish ambition, insatiable greed, environmental destruction, and consumerism. Relationships without Jesus are also susceptible to destructive and traumatic tendencies. abuse, neglect, manipulation, and violence. Give someone free time without Jesus and one is vulnerable to self-destructive tendencies, chemical abuse, over-consumption, spiritual malaise, and rampant hedonism. But the most sinister of all is a religion without Jesus; these temptations are the most destructive. A religion without Jesus is cruel, judgmental, divisive and snobbery; and we can see that today.
The reason why we can see some in our religion without Jesus is because some in our religion are without love. To stay in Jesus is to stay in love and to love. 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. To stay in Jesus continually is to stay in love, and to stay in love is to love each other. But some in today’s religion are quite without love and therefore without Jesus and therefore have left Jesus. Many in the spotlight are cruel to others in the name of ideologies or selfish agendas. Many in the news are judgmental, particularly around politics and elected officials, even going so far as to condemn someone for voting for the “devil’s” candidate. Some are even with loud and obnoxious voices dividing the Church of Jesus Christ into a uniform belief system, which have you ever noticed is always theirs. Does this look like and sound like disciples abiding in Jesus because he abides in them?
Perhaps then the Father needs to do a little pruning. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. Those that have been baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit that will not stay in Jesus and bear the fruit of Love, are removed from Jesus and fit only to be burned. The warning is that God has gone to great lengths and at great personal cost so that we might produce bushels and bushels of Love. By giving us Love, God wants us to Love each other and to Love him. If we will not, if we only fight and defy, then what course does God have, but to do some pruning. The removal of the stubborn and nasty and the replacement by those who will obey by loving.
But the text says after the warning, but you, 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. Being attached to vine, cleanses the branch of all its stubborn defiance giving it a new will and attitude of obedience and subordination. The key is to stay. In Jesus, we have the heart and mind of Jesus, a willing obedience to God. In Christ we have a new attitude and a new priority on life. But we all too foolishly refuse to stay, to remain to abide in Jesus. We foolishly choose to leave, to drift, to stray.
My friends, I understand all too well how difficult it is to stay. Many of us are even unable to stay home during the quarantine and look at the mess that makes. But the most important place to stay is not in a physical place, but a spiritual place. The most important place to stay is in Christ; to remain in Christ, to abide in Christ, to stay in Christ. And the harsh and iron-fisted truth is that only those who Love like Christ are those that truly abide in Christ. So, stay. Stay where God has put you, baptized into Christ, baptized into Love, baptized into God. Stay in God as God stays in you, and in God continue to be godly. But that means Love not hate, nastiness, cruelty, judgment and divisiveness. To be godly is to Love as Christ Loves us, in humble service; a lesson American Christians need to learn. Will you stay and learn it?
Prayer
O Holy and Loving God, we thank you for the pouring out of your Holy Spirit. Give us the mind and heart of Christ, that we may gladly choose to spend all our lives abiding in you. Help us to Love each other as you have loved us, in humble service. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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