Abide

4-28-24

Hoonah-Hadley

John 15:1-8

Call to Worship Psalm 22:25-31

Daily Verse John 15:4

John 15:4 “Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the fine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” Abide, to persevere, accept, remain, continue, endure, dwell. Jesus of course is speaking to us here and when we read on in the following verses, we’ll better understand the enormous weight and eternal consequence of abiding in Christ or not abiding in Him. Psalm 91:1 “Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” This psalm is in its own right, a dwelling place. Its setting is a battlefield were pestilence and warfare are the order of the day. Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it? Whether its nation waring against nation or darkness clouding your day, this psalm is a rock in a fallen and broken world. We’d do well to write this one on the tablet of our hearts, knowing we can come and drink from it as often as we need, or as often as we like. The author puts a high priority on trust. Verse 2 “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. There is safety in abiding in the presence of God. Abiding is dwelling, we simply cannot say it enough or too often, there is no substitute in life for a sincere, deliberate, tenacious, intentional drinking from this river of life that will never leave you thirsting. Not only do we find comfort there, but rest, strength, courage, peace, mercy, grace, love, forgiveness, through this battlefield called life.

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This “abiding” is a union with Christ and can be seen throughout scripture.  From Genesis to Revelation, this is the overwhelming theme of the bible. In Genesis chapter 9 God sets the rainbow as a sign, a reminder, a covenant between Him and all living creatures. 1 Corinthians 3 we are God’s fellow workers, His temple, His Spirit dwells in us. Romans 7:4 “…you also have become dead to the law…that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Romans chapter 5, death in Adam, life in Christ. 1 John 3:16 “…because He laid down His life for us…” 1 John 4:4 “You are of God…because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Revelation 3:12 “He who overcomes…I will write on him the name of My God…” Revelation 21:27 “…but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” There are words throughout scriptures like, “called”, “chosen”, “elected”, “predestined”, all bearing witness that we love Him because He first loved us. God’s word is His love story to us, with us, for us, the depths of which you cannot exhaust in a lifetime. The picture of the vine and the branches in our lesson today suggests an organic union and a relationship of complete dependance. Like a tree or plant that drinks of the minerals of the earth, the organic nature allows the nutrients to be carried along from the vine to the branches. Institutions and organizations restrict that natural flow. There is an underlying message here, but in its simplicity, organic and organization, two very different things. At the end of John 14 Christ says, “Arise, let us go from here.” Our lesson in chapter 15 is among the last moments and teachings of Christ’s earthly ministry. The last of His parables, His encouragement before He would take on the sin of the world. 

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It was here the eleven followed along, hanging onto every word of Christ as they passed through the vineyards that grew around Jerusalem at this time as they made their way to Gethsemane. We can only imagine our Lord motioning with his hands toward the vineyards and saying, “I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser.” Jesus taught in a way that was simple and relatable, He used what was available to teach eternal truths. In this case vineyards where a dominant agricultural crop of the time.  Vs. 2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Christ is not only the “vine”, but the “true” vine. The vine is to Israel like the eagle is to America. This national symbol was a way of life and is found throughout scriptures. Our Lord was specific in His delivery giving the disciples as we say today, “Words to live by.”  When Jesus says, “…and My Father…”, He is establishing who He is, but even more so, whose He is. Christ is not alone here, He Himself is “abiding”. He is in a constant state of “abiding”.  When does darkness come upon us? When we’re alone, when we go it alone? There is sufficient evidence in the daily news what life without Christ looks like. In fact, Our Daily Breads devotion on 4-17-24 was essentially a message on abiding or not abiding in Christ. There are 2 types of branches in our lesson, fruitless and fruit bearing. There is something here that can easily slip pass unnoticed that is massive. “Every branch that is in Me…” This is the “body” of Christ, the church, believers. The one that does not bear fruit, the vinedresser, God, takes away or cuts off. God sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing, the gospel message is a two-sided coin. To preach one and not the other is not the full counsel of God.

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God is continually cutting off and cutting back. As the farmer or vinedresser is doing his work, one of his duties is to observe and manage what are called “sucker shoots”. Among other things a “sucker” is defined as “to deceive or trick.” Trees have them, tomato plants have them, politics has them, churches have them, they’re everywhere. They are non-fruit bearing branches or leaves that drain the plant of nutrients that would other wise go to the fruit. So, the first work of the vinedresser is to remove fruitless branches. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away.” This is a difficult task, not easily discernable and one many struggle with. We see it in our lives every day, things we love or enjoy that are actually sapping the life out of us, deceiving us and God often takes them from us, however painful it may be. We cling to these “sucker” shoots and “dead” branches in our lives hoping some day they will bear fruit. We often see them as investments, like planting a garden, our hope is to get a return on our investment. John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us…”  The second work of the vinedresser is to prune the fruit bearing branches, not a cutting off, but a cutting back. “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” There are questions we can all ask ourselves. Do we have relationships that are not God honoring? Do we spend money on things that are not kingdom building? Do we worship things that honestly are a royal waste of time? Is ESPN a matter of life or death? Are 18 holes of golf enough? Are 200 channels to much? Pruning and cleaning are a daily necessity, a lifelong process, it is God’s will that we bear more fruit. What is this fruit? Galatians 5:22-23 “The fruit of the Spirit is…” How do we do this? “Abide”, to dwell, remain, continue, endure.

Trust the vinedresser. Amen