Abide

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 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. 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. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." (John 15:1-8)

Jesus spoke these words on that special night in the upper room. Picture him there with the disciples seated around him on the floor as they talk about things to come. 

Jesus has washed their feet. They have enjoyed the Passover meal together. He has predicted his betrayal and Judas has already left to collect his silver and lead some soldiers and Jewish officials to his Rabbi. 

Jesus knows what’s coming. He knows he has a limited amount of time now to tell these men who love him dearly the things that they need to know. And so he speaks to them. And here we see John’s words (John—self-described as “the disciple that Jesus loved”) as he tells us what happened during that time. John 14, 15, 16, and 17 are almost all red in my bible. And these words of Jesus are important. I’m quite certain that he would’ve picked his topics and words very carefully on this special night. 

Jesus says, “I am the true vine.” 

The disciples would’ve been familiar with vines and the fruit they produce. With most meals they probably drank wine which would keep and even get better with age. 

The vine itself gives life to everything else on the plant—the branches, leaves, and fruit. Jesus is using the vine here as a metaphor for all life. 

I am the vine…the TRUE vine.  I provide everything that’s needed for your life. 

But wait… in the same sentence he adds, “and my Father is the Vinegrower.” My Father is the gardener. My father takes care of all of us! My Father provides everything I need so that I can provide everything you need. 

Have any of you tended to a fruit vine. I went with a friend of mine several years to North Carolina and we visted a vineyard. It was fascinating to see and hear about the care that was put into the vines. Take a look at different parts of the vine. A gardener sees the vine as a complex plant with many parts. 

Jesus says “He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.” You see, the gardener cuts those unfruitful branches away. 

What is this fruit? It’s God’s love coming from us and it can be seen in many different ways. 

“Abide in me,” Jesus tells us. And the word abide comes from the greek word μένω (men’-o). It means remain, stay, live, endure…abide. Jesus says it 8 times. Abide in me. Live in me. Stay in me. Remain in me. 

But how do we “abide” in him? How do we live and remain in him. Well, first of all we need to understand that this is a gift. We GET to live connected to him. We GET to accept this gift from Jesus…even when it feels like he is far away. 

God’s love (from the gardner) goes into the vine where it is given to us—the branches. And we send God’s love back out into the world as fruit. Our fruit is the love of God that we send back out into the world! 

We can abide in Jesus and in God’s love by staying connected to him—praying, reading the Bible, being in fellowship with other believers, and seeking His will. 

But this is not work. Know that God does all the work. “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit.” 

 Let’s look again at the grape vine. Here it is full of fruit. 

 Here it is in the fall after the harvest season. 

This passage tells us that God prunes away the branches that don’t produce fruit, but He also prunes down those that DO product fruit to make them produce MORE fruit. From this to this. 

Although this isn’t much work for us, the branches… that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. 

Being pruned is NOT easy and it’s not always pleasant. In fact, that “cutting away” can be downright painful. 

One of my good friends often twists the phrase, “No good deed goes unnoticed.” (Which is surely true when it comes to God!) Instead, she says, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Have you ever heard that? Sometimes it feels that way. Sometimes it feels like our efforts to help someone out lead us to complications that we didn’t predict, expect, or desire. But they do help us grow. 

God prunes those of us who are fruitful so that we will bear even more fruit. God prunes his branches that are giving His love to the world so that they will be effective in giving even more of His love. 

Maybe He shows us how our good intentions led us to actions that hurt the receiver in the long run…so that we will know better next time. Maybe He makes us see the pain and suffering of those we don’t know how to help…so that we will see effective ways to help. Maybe He makes us walk in the shoes of people we have served or will need to serve one day so that we will be empathetic to their struggle. He prunes us. Cuts us back. But it’s all to make us more fruitful. 

Abide in me. 

“A branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine…and neither can you unless you abide in me.” 

Without our vine, Jesus, we won’t bear any fruit. Without Jesus in our lives, we will simply be a dead branch. 

Abide in me. 

“Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.” Do you hear that? “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.” Jesus also abides in us! We are connected to the vine but the vine is also connected to us. In fact, God LIVES in us through the Holy Spirit…as Jesus would try to explain to the confused disciples a little later. “Apart from me,” he said, “you can do nothing.” 

Not only can a person apart from Jesus bear no fruit, but they can do nothing. All of their efforts are for nothing. And it gets worse… 

Abide in me. 

“Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” 

Abide in me. 

“If you abide in me, and MY WORDS abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Jesus says, “If my words abide in you…” Jesus’ words stay alive through us! The disciples were some of the very few who got Jesus’ words directly from his mouth while we get Jesus words through the bible. Jesus’ teachings in the Bible should be alive through our words and actions. His words should abide in us. 

You see, when we ABIDE in Christ and we bear fruit for the Kingdom of God and we live as disciples for Christ, we glorify God. And that’s the whole reason we were created. In fact, there are 54 verses and passages in the Bible that indicate this is true. The Westminster Catechism (written in the 1700’s by our forefathers of the reformation) states it succinctly; “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Period. 

Abide in me. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a preacher who lived during World War II. He was a great theologian who sought to end the tyranny of Hitler’s regime and spoke out with the love of Christ in support of the Jewish people and against evil. He was imprisoned…and eventually he was martyred. But generations of people have grown from the fruit of his ability to abide in Christ through his suffering. Listen to his words from his posthumous book “Letters and Papers from Prison”. 

“In me there is darkness, 
but with You there is light; 
I am lonely, but You do not leave me; 
I am feeble in heart, but with You there is help; 
I am restless, but with You there is peace. 
In me there is bitterness, but with You there is patience; 
I do not understand Your ways, but You know the way for me.”




“Lord Jesus Christ, You were poor and in distress, 
a captive and forsaken as I am. 
You know all man’s troubles; 
You abide with me when all men fail me; 
You remember and seek me; 
It is Your will that I should know You And turn to You. 
Lord, I hear Your call and follow; 
Help me.” 
 ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison 

It’s not always going to be easy. If it is, I think you have some questions to ask yourself. Because if you are bearing fruit, you will be pruned. 

Abide in him. 

Let’s pray. 

Father in Heaven, we thank You that You are always faithful to us…that you abide in us, even when we pull away from You. Lord, sometimes You seem so far away. Help us to remember that You are not. You are with us..abiding in us. You grafted us into the vine so that we, like your chosen people, could bear fruit. We are grateful. 

Father, help us also to rejoice in our suffering knowing that You will use all things for good. You are the vine grower. You are the gardener. You will prune as You see fit…even when we don’t understand. Give us the strength, courage, and faith to trust in You and to continue to abide in you during these challenging times in our lives. Amen.

A New Commandment

Sermon 6

April 28, 2013

When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:31-35)

Love one another.

In Leviticus when God gives his commands to the people through Moses, he says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

It’s repeated by Paul in his letters to the Romans and Galatians where he says that this command sums up all the others.

It’s repeated by James—thought to be the brother of Jesus but certainly the leader of the Church in Jerusalem. He says that it’s the “Royal” law—Love your neighbor as yourself.

You may remember that in the book of Matthew, a story is recounted where the Sadducees and Pharisees tried to test Jesus with a trick question—“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” To which Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’“ He goes on to say, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love one another.

Said in the Old Testament and now said again in this new commandment. So is this a new commandment? Hmmm…

How is this a NEW command when the Israelites were told to love one another thousands of years prior. Let’s look at this more closely. In Leviticus...and in John.

Maybe this IS a new command.

Jesus’ love for us and our love for ourselves are not equal. In fact, I don’t know about you all, but sometimes I don’t love myself very much…and certainly don’t always treat myself with love. It seems to me that Jesus is telling us that our love for ourselves and for our neighbor has fallen short so he has modeled for us a new kind of love. His love. Our love falters…but his never does.

You may not have noticed this about the gospel reading, but the first few words were “When he was gone, Jesus said….” When I read that, did you wonder…when WHO was gone? Well, let me tell you who. Judas. You see, this scripture reading comes from the upper room on the night of Jesus’ arrest – a night when Jesus models just exactly what it looks like to love others as He loves us.

On this evening, Jesus got up during the meal, removed his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist,
filled a basin with water, washed each of the disciples’ feet, and dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Twelve men…twenty-four filthy, callused, crusty feet. Jesus set an example. Not only are we called to love one another, but we are called to do so with humility…with the attitude of a servant.

Did Jesus know at this point that Judas would betray him? Yes, the bible makes it clear that he did know. In fact, he indicated that the disciples had not ALL been made clean by the washing of their feet. If we were to list Jesus’ enemies, I am fairly confident that Judas would make the list. Judas…the “treasurer” of the disciples who stole from the common purse. Judas…the betrayer. Yet, Jesus did wash his feet. In fact, Jesus loved Judas. He loved all of his disciples.

Imagine yourself in Jesus’ shoes. You are surrounded by your dearest friends and companions…the people that you trust the most in the world. Yet, you know that one of them will trade your life for about 4 months worth of pay.

How would that last dinner together with your friends have gone down? Would you have verbally attacked him and tried to turn the others against him? Would you have physically restrained him so that he couldn’t carry out his plan? Would you have punched him in the face? But you know what Jesus did. He loved him. He allowed him to betray him with a ….kiss. Would you let your enemy kiss you?

He washed his feet, gave him the opportunity to leave without a scene, and allowed him the freedom to act on his own free will. In the other gospels we are told that he warned him, “Woe to the man who betrays me.” Yet, he didn’t prevent him from doing so.

Oh…free will. That is one of the beautiful things about this country. Our freedoms allow us to exercise our free will whereas in many countries, people lack this freedom. Free will/freedom is a blessing and a curse. Some use it responsibly and with respect toward God and others as it was intended. While others use it against God and others.

We can’t change that…that’s freedom! And people have been abusing freedom/free will since time began. “Woe to those who betray our God.”

But did Jesus have the power to keep Judas from betraying him? Well, of course. Does Jesus have the power to stop evil now? Certainly! Yet, just as he modeled at that table back then…he allows people to live out their free will now. And he loves them.

Could you do this? If your enemies were outside these doors, could you refrain from verbally attacking them? Refrain from physically attacking them? Could you serve them? That’s what Jesus calls us to do. That’s what Jesus modeled for us to do. But, again I say, woe to those who betray our God.

Friends, Jesus’ heart was heavy that Judas, his friend, was following the voice of Satan rather than the voice of the Father. We live in the middle of a battlefield, a battlefield that we cannot even see, but one in which spiritual forces are fighting daily for our very souls. John tells us when talking about Judas that “Satan entered into him.” Well, folks, Satan still “enters in” to people now. There are people in this world who have been hijacked by evil.

What should our response be to those people who spew hate? Sorrow. Compassion. Love. Their souls are compromised and they don’t even realize it. “Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Earlier you saw a preview for next week’s Lifetree Café’. You may remember a few years back when a man entered a one-room Amish school house and murdered 10 young girls before killing himself. But, you know what, those people of faith…those Christ-followers, didn’t react according to the culture of this world. They responded in love…with forgiveness. One of the fathers said of the killer, “He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he’s standing before a just God.” You see, the Amish understood that this man had been led astray by evil. They surrounded his family with love…and they knew “woe be to this man who betrayed God.”

But how can we do this? It must take superhuman strength! Well the Amish affected by this tragedy would be the first to admit that the love they have exhibited was not their own, but the love of Christ.

If we read a little deeper into the book of John (Chapter 15) Jesus is continues this speech, the longest speech that is recorded in the bible of Jesus speaking to his disciples. And he uses a parable…an illustration that we could understand thousands of years later as we continue to study his words.

“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.” (John 15:5) Who is God in this parable? Why, He’s the gardener! Jesus goes on to say, “As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” (John 15:9)

But how do we “remain” in his love?? In the next verse he tell us,“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love…” (John 15:10) But what command is Jesus talking about? “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Repeated in John 15 just as the command was given in John 13.

We must stay connected to that vine. It’s our life source…our love source! But how do we do that? How do we stay connected to that vine…to Jesus Christ.

Through spiritual disciplines. Prayer, fasting, meditation, study, and worship. Things we are told to do throughout the bible. Timeless disciplines that God has given us to help us stay connected to him.


Is this kind of love risky? Yes. And it was for Jesus also. Just as Jesus’ love ended in a sacrifice for all, our love also entails risk. Will we be criticized? Avoided? Mocked? Most certainly. Will we be killed? I pray against such horrible persecution. But, you know what, in countries where there is the threat of death, they don’t pray for the persecution to end. In fact, they feel that this persecution forces them to make a REAL decision about their faith. Only a true believer would face death rather than deny Christ.

C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite theologians and the writer of the Narnia series, said this: “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

If you know that faith in God and a risen Christ means you could suffer and die, you aren’t going to make this decision lightly. You are either going to be all in—HOT, or all out—COLD. The book of Revelations, God says through Paul’s vision, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

I worry that the church in America is becoming the church of the lukewarm. I’ll praise God when it’s convenient and revel in my sin when it is not. I’ll follow Christ when his teachings agree with my convictions and I’ll disregard him when they don’t. But Jesus was certainly not cold. His life, his LOVE, was fully given for God’s will. Fully given. The very next verse in John 15 says this…“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) He laid down his life! For you, for me, and for them.

We have been called to love one another—not simply as we love ourselves, but according to Christ’s new commandment. We are called to love one another as Christ has loved us.

• With humility as a servant. 
• Even when we perceive others as enemies. 
• And to the extent that we are willing to lay down our lives for one another. 

Lord, we thank you for your love. We thank you for the gift of free will. Father, we confess that we sometimes find it difficult to love others and even ourselves. We confess that sometimes we abuse our free will and use it to hurt others. Lord, give us your love to pass on to our brothers and sisters. Give us empathy for others and an awareness of the spiritual war that is going on around us. Give us the courage to confess and ask for forgiveness when we abuse our free will and hurt those around us. Surround us with your love. Amen.