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YOU ARE CHRIST'S FRUITFUL BRANCH
Easter 5 - May 3/6, 2012
Hymns: 79 (vs. 1 & 2), 168, 141, 469 (vs. 1,4,6)
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, and I will 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 a man
remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do
nothing. 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. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you
wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear
much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Dear Christian Friends:
The genetic engineering of crops has been a controversial subject for some
time now. Some people argue against it. They say, "It's not natural. You
don't know the long term effects on the plant life. You don't know how
biologically modified food will affect human health." On the other hand,
some people say, "Genetic engineering is safe. It also makes plants more
disease resistant. It also makes crops more productive. That means more
food for this world's ever-expanding population."
Well, the Bible doesn't directly comment on genetic engineering. But Jesus
is very concerned about healthy, productive crops. Of course, Jesus is not
mainly concerned about corn, wheat, and tomatoes. Jesus is mostly concerned
about you.
Jesus is so concerned about you that he gave his life so you could live. By
his death he washed away all your sins and now gives you a living
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relationship with your heavenly Father. Jesus says, You are already clean
because of the word I have spoken to you. Yes, because of Jesus, you are
clean. You are pure. You are holy. Jesus made you that way when he gave
you his Word. His Word gave you faith. By faith you are connected Jesus.
By your faith connection to Jesus you have all his holiness as your very own.
But Jesus also connected you to himself so that you can be productive. The
same faith connection that gives you Christ's holiness for your salvation also
gives you Christ's power to produce good works. Jesus puts it this way. 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 a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing. In other words, YOU ARE CHRIST'S
FRUITFUL BRANCH.
Now, Jesus doesn't use genetic engineering to make you productive. He
uses spiritual engineering. Again Jesus says, I am the vine; you are the
branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing.
Without Jesus you have no spiritual life at all. That's why it is so vital for
you to keep your faith connection to Jesus strong and working properly. And
how do we keep our faith strong? Jesus says, If you remain in me and my
words remain in you. We must receive Jesus through is Word.
That's why coming to church is so important. That's why going to Bible
Class, reading the Bible on your own, and using trustworthy devotional
materials are so important. Jesus uses those things to feed your faith.
And if your faith does not get the Word of Christ that it needs, this is what
happens. 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. To deny yourself the Word of Christ is to deny yourself
Christ himself. To cut yourself off from Christ is to lose faith and salvation.
That only results in the everlasting fire of hell.
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But, praise be to God! That is not your fate. In his grace, God has brought
you to this church. God feeds your faith with the pure Word and the precious
sacrament. Yes, YOU ARE CHRIST'S FRUITFUL BRANCH.
Now, when it comes to productivity, you have to ask, "What kind of fruit
does the vine produce? How much fruit does it produce?" Well, we know
what kind of fruit Jesus produces in us. Saint Paul tells us in Galatians, the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Now, all those are good. But there's a problem. We complain, "If I am
connected to Christ, why am I not more loving and joyful? If Christ is really
supplying me with spiritual life, why don't I experience more peace of mind?
And why do I seem to lack patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self control? It just doesn't seem like I am producing as much fruit as Jesus
leads me to believe I should be producing."
Yes, we can often feel like unproductive branches. But we can also be very
judgmental of others, too. We can look down our noses at our fellow
branches and say, "She isn’t producing much fruit of faith. She loves herself
more than she loves anyone else. And he isn't as patient as he should be. He's
always losing control of his temper and yelling at people. And they aren't a
very faithful family."
Now, certainly, we are all sinners. It does not take much effort to see the
sins, blemishes, and failures of other Christians. But if we are tempted to
judge the quality or the abundance of the fruit of faith, keep this in mind. The
main fruit of the vine in Jesus day was grapes. And in Bible times the main
purpose of grapes was not for eating but it was to make wine.
Now, you might think, "If I want to make good wine, I want the biggest,
juiciest bunches of grapes." But big grapes don't make good wine. Yes, the
grapes need some juice to make wine. But the flavor, the tannins, the color,
the body, and the texture of wine all come from the skins of the grape. So a
bunch of small grapes makes a more flavorful, more satisfying bottle of wine
than a bunch of big grapes.
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Now, don't take that analogy the wrong way. Your goal in life is not to
produce the least amount of spiritual fruit with the least amount of effort.
However, it does mean that you can't always judge your own faith or the faith
of someone else just by outward measurements. What you might consider a
small bunch of spiritual fruit, might actually be what God is looking for. And
remember. God is an expert gardener. He knows how to prune you and feed
you. He knows just where to plant you. He knows how to make you a fruitful
vine in his vineyard.
Therefore, we must never be envious of someone else's spirituality. We
must never be selfishly judgmental of someone else's spirituality. And we
must never boast about our good works, either. Listen again to Jesus, I am
the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he
will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
So, Jesus does it all when it comes to saving you from sin, death, and Satan.
Jesus does it all when it comes to producing good fruit in your life. That's
why we can't boast about our good works.
But yet, even though we must never boast about our good works, we can
rejoice in them. We can rejoice in our good works because God uses our life
for his good purpose. Jesus says, This is to my Father’s glory, that you
bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Just like a fine wine brings fame and respect to the wine maker, so also our
good works and our spiritual fruit brings greater glory to God. And what
better purpose could you have in life? God is the greatest. God is the best.
God is the most wonderful source of love, source of life, and source of every
blessing. We can do nothing more satisfying and nothing more meaningful
than to be what God has already made us by his grace. So be what you are.
YOU ARE CHRIST'S FRUITFUL BRANCH. Praise God and rejoice
because of what he has made you. AMEN.
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