4-19-2020 The Call to Bear Fruit in Isolation John 15:1-6
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Introduction:
It is interesting to read the articles about how different lives are being affected by the Corona-virus. From the extremely poor to the super rich. I read an article about a very wealthy couple that were “suffering” because they were restricted to only one of their several mansions, and they were unable to go shopping at their regular spots—they really felt oppressed! In the midst of all this, as Christians, we are called to live for Christ in every circumstance. I think several of us are indeed remaining holy by continuing the work of the ministry and loving one another.
Speaking on the subject of holiness I don't know how you respond when you hear that commandment: “be holy.” What do you do with that? And it's not just Old Testament, it’s in the New Testament. How do we respond to that? What does it mean?
This morning I'd like for us to turn to the gospel of John chapter 15, and the reason I chose in this passage is because it has come to define so much of my life-- this scripture working in me and shaping my life over the years, and I wanted to share that with you.
If I were to tell you about my life many years later or you tell me about your life, it would include this time, this pandemic that we are in—it could easily become a biography-- the story of your life.
But as you tell your story, you can be riding along with a story of success and achievement, and a little bit of frailty may start to creep into your life. But then you find yourself near the the end of your biography. You realize, “I'm going to die.” So then what? Then you start to think of all the achievements and all the things that you do, and all all of the the busyness of our time. What does it really matter? Because if you do die, and you probably will since you are still alive today, but someday you will die. And someone will get your corner office, and we'll get your laptop, and someone will inherit what you have earned, have worked for. You're gone, so then what? What is success? What is a life that really counts for something?
Transition:
The gospel of John in chapters 13 through 15 has these unfolding events as Christ is preparing to go to the cross—and He knows he's going to die. His disciples haven't really grasped the meaning or significance of that yet, but He has. And so in John chapter 13, we find Jesus in the upper room. And He is preparing the Passover the last supper, and he is going to institute that with them. He Is sharing a meal with one who will betray him, one who will deny him, and really all of them will forsake Him. And while he's thinking about going to the cross, they're arguing about who's the greatest-- who's going to be the greatest. And so He shows them a picture of servanthood with an illustration of washing their feet. That experience we remember as the upper room, the last supper.
They leave that place and the next thing that they do is walk down across the Kidron valley over to a garden—Gethsemane. There is where He prays in great agony, sweating drops of blood, and pleads to The Father if it's possible to let this cup pass from Him. There, Judas comes with guards to betray Him. They drag Him to Caiaphas’ house and you know how story continues to the crucifixion. But along the way from the upper room to the garden of Gethsemane, we find John chapter 15. And if you can picture this: when he speaks, when Jesus teaches, He always gives a practical visible relevant illustration. I wish I could be like that! Jesus is profound and deep, but He is also very simple—He draws pictures, and He's talking to them about something very important. This is where we come to John 15 and really will be looking this morning at verses one through 16.
Scripture Reading:
For time’s sake, I'm not going to to read the whole section here, but I’ll just read what I feel the summary verse or two of John 15: verses 15-16:
15 No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I have heard from my Father I have revealed to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and your fruit should remain, in order that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
This is what Jesus says to his disciples: “you did not choose me, but I chose you”
It's interesting: We are clear on how he says “you did not choose me, I chose you,” but the why seems to allude us often. Jesus is saying, “here's why I chose you: I chose you to do something specific: bear fruit.
“go and bear fruit”
“I chose you to bear fruit.” What exactly is this fruit?
We often talk about the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness as the evidence of Christian living. We also talk about the fruit as the souls of men & women around the world—missionary work, as the fruit of people coming to Christ.
Perhaps a very simple definition of fruit is evidence.
Fruit = Evidence
Fruit = Evidence
“The fruit of my labor,” “the fruit of my work,” “the fruit of your life.” What is the evidence in your life of authentic real Christianity? God created you. He called you to bear fruit. It’s the evidence. It is His design for each of us.
In verses 1 to 16 of our passage, He is going to show what is indispensable to bearing fruit. In other words, if these necessary central commands, admonitions, fruits are missing, if they are not there you cannot-- you will not bear fruit. It is possible for you to live your whole good moral life and not have anything to show for it. And show that in church and being a good person, yet God not be pleased. Because in the end, that is truly all that matters-- not stock options, not homes around the world, not good health. It is whether or not YHWH is pleased with what you’ve done with your life.
So Jesus is describing this truth and He begins in verse one saying,
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
Transition:
And what is first and indispensable to bearing fruit is that you acknowledge Him:
I. Acknowledge Him
I. Acknowledge Him
You acknowledge the fact that He is! He is the vine—He's the life. He says, “my Father is the vinedresser or the gardener.”
Verse 16 reiterates what He says: “you didn't choose me, I chose you.” In other words, you must acknowledge that He is the Lord, the Master King. I'm not talking about semantics, where we just get really good at rhetoric. We can say fancy things in our public prayers and not accomplish anything but a pride boost. What this verse is saying is not rhetoric, but reality.
Does my life reflect a submission that acknowledges Him constantly as the Master of everything that I do—even during the—and especially during the “social distancing” time? The goals that I have, the way that I live now, what I depend upon, what I talk about with others, and even what enters into my decision making.
And so this is what He says, “I am the true vine, my father is the vinedresser.” We acknowledge Him—acknowledge the fact that He is vitally engaged in your life. How do we know this? Look at verse 2:
2 Every branch that does not bear fruit in me, he removes it, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it in order that it may bear more fruit.
Jesus is the vine the life, we are the branches. Is it possible for a Christian not to be bearing fruit? I believe so. I became a Christian, born again, when I was 12 years old, I remember that day. I remember receiving Christ--I sensed His Spirit all the way through me. However, from the time I was about 15 to the time I was 21, I really wasn't walking with Him. You wouldn’t have know I was saved, and I knew it!
“Every branch that does not bear fruit... he removes it”
When YHWH looks at your life and He sees how you're living, and there's no fruit, no evidence, no realization of what He created you to do, and what he created you to be, there is no love, no patience, no kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, no self control. There is no fruit of seeing others come to Christ. There is no real eternal fruit happening in your life. Does He then remove you from eternal life? NO!
Every branch that does not bear fruit in me, he removes it, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it in order that it may bear more fruit.
“he removes it” He καθαίρω it
What does YHWH do now? He gets involved. He loves you too much to just let it go. We see the pictures of vineyards of rows, and rows of grapes. What does the gardener do when he comes along and he sees a branch not bearing fruit? The actual Greek word here means “Cleanse, or purifies” καθαίρω has the root word αἴρω which means take up, carry, lift it up. It is the same word used after taking up the 12 baskets after feeding the 5000. The gardener takes corrective measure usually to lift up that branch. Maybe it is under a shadow, or it is dirty so He lifts it up, and ties it up, so it will bear fruit.
You could translate that he just cuts it off, but typically what a gardener will do is lift it up and tie it to another branch or to a trellis. This is theologically accurate, you don’t loose salvation after being grafted in, you grow! What YHWH does is He sees you, perhaps you could be okay, or even successful in your business, or in your home— you are financially healthy. Yet it's not what matters to God. When He sees that, He begins to work in correcting you. Perhaps with the still small voice in your conscience. And then He moves along to a little louder voice, until finally He brings in what Dr. Matt Olson calls the “heavenly baseball bat” to lovingly wack you upside your head. Because I need that! Sometimes it takes a pandemic bat for us to slow down, to be sill and be holy. The only thing that matters is what matters to God. We have to understand that and grasp that. He lifts you up to say to you that you're not giving yourself to what matters to me. It's not your life. You didn't call me, I called you and I ordained you to go bear fruit, and for your fruit to remain.
Now, you might be saying, “well, Pastor Josh, I'm walking with God these days, and obeying Him. Every morning, I get up and I'm in the Bible and I'm praying. I'm already surrendered to God, and I'm serving Him with all my heart.” So if that's you, here's what Jesus says to you in verse 2 to every branch that does bear fruit:
Every branch that does not bear fruit in me, he removes it, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it in order that it may bear more fruit.
“every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it”
What? He prunes good branches? Okay Lord I'm walking with you, I'm in the word, I'm serving you, I’m completely surrendered, what do I get for that? Pruning shears cutting me. That's what our Lord does to those who are walking faithfully because sometimes we become disillusioned. We say, “Lord what else do I do? I'm doing the right thing and look what's happening to me!” We think it's some strange thing happening, but this is what God does.
After vineyards are pruned, the plants that had these big leafy green and red grapes all the sudden have only little knobs. Vine-dressers say that the older the plant gets, the more severe the pruning needs to be. Oh that's exciting! It used to seem like you can start serving God in your life and you get the Christianity thing down, and pretty soon you just have mastered the perfect Christian life. Yet reality sets in that the more spiritual we become—the older the vine gets--the more severe the pruning. But it's not because you're doing something wrong, it's because you're doing something right! Because you are bearing fruit, He is pruning you back so you can bear even more fruit.
When you understand this, it doesn't make all of the pain of the cutting go away, but you realize God is working good in your life. So don't keep looking around for what's wrong, or asking, “God why are you doing this?” start looking for what He's doing to bring you to that point of much fruit. You can't just let a vine grow without pruning, because it'll produce less and less. God wants you for fruit--more fruit.
So how do you tell the difference between the “heavenly baseball bat,” and YHWH’s pruning to the good life? well, you know when things are not right, you know when you're not walking with the Lord. You know when He's speaking to you to correct you. And you also know that to the best of your knowledge you're walking with the Lord, you're doing the right thing, and God springs this situation--and He is here in this. Your work in your life right now, this is the best time for you to glorify Him, He created you for that. But you have to acknowledge Him; He is Lord at work in your life and you must respond to these things.
5 Trust Yahweh with all your heart; do not lean toward your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will straighten your paths.
You will never have a life that counts, you will never bear fruit, unless you acknowledge--not just in word, but in deed— acknowledge him as lord master king.
Transition:
To acknowledge Him correctly, we must remain, or abide in Him.
II. Abide in Him
II. Abide in Him
So we read on in vv.4-5
Abide in me, and I in you. 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. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
“Apart from me you can do nothing.”
Do you know that means in the Greek? Nothing!
Nothing of value! You say, “I'm doing something.” In your life story you can say, “I did this, and I did this great thing, and I did this neat thing.” and you can brag all you want on the stuff you do. BUT God is not impressed by what you do for Him. Even if it's ministry, He is not impressed by what good people do for Him. YHWH is impressed by what He does for you, and in you, and through you--there's a big difference. The only way that's going to happen is abiding in him.
Verse 7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
“if you abide in me and my words abide in you”
For me to abide in him and the Christ abide in me—it takes a relationship. Authentic Christian living is out of relationship. And you cannot have a relationship with Jesus apart from His Word. It's not just that you read it every day, you meditate & apply His Word. His Word & work continues in you. What does that mean? that means every day I'm coming to know Him personally, intimately, relationally. I come to know YHWH through the Christ by His Word. If you're not doing that, you're not engaged or abiding, and you're not bearing fruit. We need his word daily! When you read His Word, His word convicts you. His work can fix you and encourages you right where you are. It provokes you, it moves you, it challenges you.
Do you respond to that now that the world has stopped? You respond in faith and obedience, and he's moving you to change during this time. There is a dynamic I believe that that is that is so powerful here for us: a word filled believer. You may read the Bible and even know the scriptures real well. But somehow, God's word isn't impacting and changing you, or convicting you, it seems to have stopped shaping you. If that is you, be still and contemplate what Jesus is teaching you. That's the way it needs to be.
Transition:
There's a final word that we see in verse 7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
"ask whatever”
III. Ask Him
III. Ask Him
and also again in verse 16:
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and your fruit should remain, in order that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
"whatever you ask the Father”
We must ask of Him. Ask by prayer. Ask whatever you wish and it will be done. Well, boy howdy! This sounds more like it! what will you wish for?
Obviously it doesn't mean a lot selfish wishes will magically come true as if He is a genie in a lamp. No! This means when you read His Word, abiding in His word, the you you begin to have Holy desires that you ask God for. Then YHWH does answer. And when God answers those desires, you are being holy and producing fruit. I have found that when you are growing in your faith, YHWH calls you to live a life that's really outside the realm of your ability--No matter what it is impossible. God calls us to impossibilities that necessitate, and demand His grace. I think of this as going back to God directing my life up to Northland.
What does God lovingly do to a young guy like me? Same thing he's done here to you: He sent me to the north-woods of America. After Northland, I’m called to preach here! I’m offered the Pastorate position here and then there came a sub conscious voice saying, “you can do that, with a degree from Northland, I’ll have by next summer over 100 people here. Now, that was a pride problem—I’m thinking, “I've got a little experience, and a lot of education— you know what? I'm not only pastoring this church but I’ll plant churches, and run leadership organizational readiness teams in my spare time. Well, God hit me with that Matt Olson bat— It's like He said to to me, “you can't even pastor 50 people without me. And I'm telling you this that it was probably the most humbling of all of my experiences. To come to the realization: “Without me you can do nothing. Nothing. YHWH, out of His love καθαίρω -ed me as a vinedresser working in my life to remind me of this: that if my life will matter, if it will count, I will bear His fruit.
I can't let up, I can't depend upon my college degree to grow our church. I can't do it, He can. Every day, His word flowing through me, changing my life, every day crying out in prayer and dependence: “God, I need you!” And when we give up and go to asking God, He opens the windows of heaven and does His work--that is fruit and everyone knows it! It wasn't you, it wasn't my leadership, it wasn't my competency, it wasn't your experience, it was YHWH. God gets the glory and the church praises Him for that.
So What?
So What?
There's nothing wrong with being successful in life and making money and it is not sin to be wealthy. But at the end of the day, we have to ask the question, is God pleased with what I’ve done? Is it lasting fruit or just stuff that does not matter? Wherever you are in life this morning—whether you're young or old— we have an opportunity to re-evaluate value in our lives. Is my life really living for what matters? What's going to last? what's going to be fruit that remains that Jesus talks about. So after this, He leaves and goes to Gethsemane to ready Himself to die a painful death. But I think this message really brings these disciples to concede that this is what fruit looks like. This is why He says this in verse 8:
My Father is glorified by this: that you bear much fruit, and prove to be my disciples.
“You prove to be my followers!” This is the evidence! This is the route to prove this, and then here's what He lists: abide in His love, so love is a mark of His fruit, love distinguishes your life. Love is what should distinguish every believer's life. So that is proving, verses 10 & 14 by keeping His commandments: your own obedience. As a Christian, you obey God's Word. Verse 11= Full joy. You're not a Debbie Downer, you're not always hanging your head, you're no! A Christian who is abiding is full of joy. And the verse 15 says you live like a son and not a slave. Your own it all, you're not just hired. You're not just working. Those are the things that matter, you're the difference between an employee and an owner.
In Conclusion:
You're an owner. You're a son. That's how you exhibit joy, and love, and obedience, and how you prove to be his disciples. So the challenge for me, for you, for some of us, it is acknowledging Him, for some of us is re-engaging in the relationship--abide in Him. For some of us, it’s learning to ask of Him in various points our lives. He is glorified by much fruit. My prayer is that this church will produce much fruit, and nothing, no energy would be wasted.
Let’s bow together & Pray
Father we thank you for your Word for its power, Its relevance to us--where we are today--each of us individually. Lord, I pray that we not forget these words—that we would contemplate, meditate, and respond in faith--believing it'll bring fruit. We pray in Jesus name.