April 28, 2024
Pastor John Hering
John 15:1-8
John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he is going to cut off. And he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit.
3 “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Likewise, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered, 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 My Father is glorified by this: that you continue to bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
The past couple of years there have been some major events that have had an impact on your life. Interestingly enough, they happened in March of 2021 and of 2024. This past March a ship “DALI” lost power and crashed into the Baltimore Bridge. They said this would have an $81 Billion dollar per year impact on the economy. WOW! That is until you hear what happened in 2021. The Suez Canal is not that big a waterway, but it plays a big role in the global economy. Just how big a role does the Suez Canal play? It was March, 2021 when a container ship called the Ever Given caught a gust of desert wind that blew the bow of the ship into the sand of the canal wall. That in turn caused the stern of the ship to swing across the canal and block traffic in both directions. And that’s where she sat for six days! It’s estimated that $10 billion in cargo passes through the Suez Canal each day. There were 450 ships that were forced to wait in line for the Ever Given to be set free. The crucial connection the Suez Canal plays in the world economy is huge!!!
In these words recorded for us in John 15, Jesus tells us about an even more crucial connection. It’s the difference between eternal life and death. In this Word of God the Holy Spirit wants us to
Produce Fruit From The Crucial Connection
Avoiding the Wrong Connections
Jesus says: “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” These words aren’t difficult to understand. When a branch produces fruit it is because it is connected to the vine. The vine gets the nutrients from the soil and provides the branch with the ability to produce fruit. So it is for us who are connected to Jesus through faith. It is God’s holy desire that all of us remember that crucial connection to Jesus and produce fruits to his glory!
We have been blessed with plenty of rain the past couple of weeks. But, along with the rain we’ve also had some severe storms. Did you see any branches that blew off any trees? My neighbor had a large branch split off the trunk and it didn’t take long for the leaves to begin wilting. Why? It’s been broken from its life source. The only thing that he could do with it is to cut up some of it for firewood, and drag the branches to the curb to be dragged away. The branch cannot live without being connected to the life source! Neither can you! Your New Man in Christ cannot survive without being attached to Jesus. We know that, but we all too often fail to remember how vital it is to stay connected to Jesus.
We don’t have to think very hard to imagine Satan working hard on us branches so we become disconnected to God’s Word and tempts us to be connected to other harmful vines – expecting to see similar results. For instance if we connect ourselves to
- the right people – people with power and prominence – then we will have a full life!
- a solid stream of income, then all of life’s problems will melt away!
- Good things instead of bad things we can make of ourselves and how many people want to be connected to us!
- a casual connection to Jesus. Worship so easily becomes a when or how its convenient kind of endeavor. We find ourselves not so willing to sacrifice anything for God. We’re content to be loosely affiliated with God and don’t really think that living for him or according to his will is all that important.
But none of those connections deliver. None of those sources give life!
Listen to Jesus,
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he is going to cut off.” “If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
Remember your Crucial Connection to the Vine! When our lives are making all the wrong connections life will become hallow, void of lasting satisfaction, and failing to have God-pleasing fruit. Yes, Avoid the Wrong Connections and Resist the temptation to look for life and hope in all the wrong places. Today let us repent by acknowledging the fact that we deserve to be cut off from the Vine and thrown into the fire of hell for our sins of unfaithfulness!
Transition: But that’s not the ending that our God wants for us! He wants us to have life – real life – that’s why he sent Jesus to show us his love! God wants us to Produce Fruit From The Crucial Connection. For when we are connected to Jesus we will be
Rejoicing Over The Crucial Connections
The Lord God knows that we could never remain faithfully connected to Jesus on our own. That’s why God sent Jesus to live a perfect life for us! That’s why Jesus was willing to lay that perfect life down to be the sacrifice that we needed! That’s why Jesus was willing to shed his blood, so that through his death we could have life! Jesus connected himself to us as we can rejoice over the right connections. Connected to Jesus – his peace is our peace – his victory is our victory – his life is our life!!
You heard what happens next. We miraculously produce fruit, not because of who we are, but because of whose we are. No one has ever stood over the branch of an apple tree hitting it with a stick and yelling, “Make apples!” The branch produces apples because it has the right connection to the tree! Likewise, we produce fruit because we are connected to the Jesus the Vine. God has given us that crucial connection as a gift of his grace. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener…… And he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit. 3 “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” Yes, there are difficult times for us remain faithful to Jesus, and God may prune our lives to wake us up in order to realize how vital it is to be connected to Jesus. Jesus speaks to us the words of God’s love. God’s Word is our crucial connection to Jesus. Through his Word of forgiveness, he has cleansed us and grafted us into the Vine. Through his Word, we know of the never-ending love of God. Through his Word, we are strengthened in our connection to the Vine and are made more fruitful in our lives.
Jesus gives us these encouraging words, “7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Your smoke detectors at home are only as good as the battery that you’ll find in them. The flashlight in your car is only as good the batteries that turn on the light. If you plug the little end of the cord into your phone but forget to plug the big end into the wall, you’ll be disappointed in a few hours when you come back to find a phone that’s still dead. When my grandkids come crying to me, “My toy doesn’t work!” But, then I say, “Did you plug it in?” “Well, no!” “There’s your answer. That’s why it’s dead.” There are times that I am nice to them and plug in the toys overnight so that they can play in the morning. It was on one such morning that one of my grandkids came excitedly to me with great news. “Grandpa, the scooter is alive!” When we are plugged into Jesus then we know his Word, can request his blessings according to his Word, and know God will keep his promise to carry out his will according to his Word in our lives. Then we get to live what God has made us—his faithful and fruitful branches connected to Jesus. Jesus said, “8 My Father is glorified by this: that you continue to bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples.”
Jesus is the power source in our lives, Christ Jesus the Vine. He’s done it all so that we can be connected. He’s washed us clean; he’s put faith in our hearts, he’s plugged us in…and now we are alive all due to the Crucial Connection to Christ! Rejoice over the Right Connection! Jesus connected himself to you! So don’t get stuck like the Ever Given! You are alive to produce fruits that bring glory to God. We are alive to care for the needs of those around us. We are alive to find joy no matter what the hardships we face. We are alive to see just how crucial a connection to Jesus is. We are alive to be ambassadors of God’s love to those who aren’t yet connected. We are alive to live in thanks and praise that Jesus has connected us to him and promised that nothing can sever that connection. We are alive to live a real and meaningful life here on earth. We are alive to live with him forever in glory. That’s our Crucial Connection to our Crucified Lord! Rejoice in Your Crucial Connection to Jesus. Avoid the wrong Connections, and eternally rejoice over the right connections! Amen!
