A homily for a Methodist Covenant Service

John 15.1-10 (NRSV)

Jesus the True Vine

15‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide 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. ⁵I 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. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

In many different places in the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as the vine or the vineyard, especially in the teachings of the prophets – Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 2:21, Ezekiel 15 and 19, Hosea 10:1, Psalm 80:8 – to cite some of the examples provided by Barclay. The vine had, by the time of Jesus, become the symbol of the nation of Israel: It was an emblem on the coins of the Macabees; one of the glories of the new Temple was the great golden vine upon the front of the Holy Place and many a wealthy person counted it an honour to give gold to mould a new bunch of grapes or even just a grape! By time of Jesus, ‘… the vine was part and parcel of Jewish imagery, the very symbol of Israel.’

When one explores the use of the vine in the imagery of the prophets, Barclay reminds us that it is always used in association with ‘degeneration’: Isaiah makes the point that the vineyard has run wild; Jeremiah complains that the nation has turned into degenerate and has become a wild vine.

Jesus calls himself the ‘… true vine …’ For many of the Jews, this would have been outrageous, a mere man claiming to be God! Barclay paraphrases the message and suggests that it is as if Jesus was saying:

You think that because you belong to the nation of Israel you are a branch of the true vine of God … But the nation has become degenerate and the prophets had tried to point this out. The fact that you are a Jew does not in itself make you into a child of God, the only thing that can save you is to have an intimate relationship with me, for I am the true vine of God and you must be branches joined to me.

Either Jesus was the most arrogant person ever to have lived, or he was who he claimed to be – the Messiah of God - and everything about him points to the latter. Barclay concludes:

“Jesus was laying down that it was not Jewish blood but faith in him was the way to God’s salvation. No external qualification can set a man right with God; only the friendship of Jesus can do that.”

Don’t you love the way the Apostle John explains things. Barclay suggests that the writers of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) were like Rembrandt, giving as true a picture as they could of the life and ministry of Jesus; John is like Picasso, an impressionist, because dealing with all this plunges us into the depths of mystery which cannot be spoken of in any other way other than analogy / metaphor / allegory. Indeed, Jesus often taught in this way, so it is difficult for me to see how anyone can take Scripture literally.

To apply this to our present situation, there is no lasting benefit if we think that everything is fine because we were born into a Christian family, or because we attend a place of worship regularly, or anything – other than our personal relationship with Jesus – as we live in obedience to what he calls us to do.

In this case we have Jesus employing a metaphor that the people he was speaking to would easily have recognised. Vines were part of their lives. They required a great deal of work and preparation if they were to be fruitful; but if all this was in place, they would provide a rich harvest. The preparation included the soil as well as the plants, and there was no place for hurrying things along; a new plant could not be harvested for at least three years.

Part of this process involved pruning – getting rid of anything that was not going to produce. This was a radical process that resulted in a large amount of dead wood which was useless and could only be burnt on a bonfire – it was not even permissible to be used as wood for any other purpose – and definitely not for use in the Temple.

People can be like this: some are fruit-bearing and others are useless because they are fruitless. Barclay reminds us that there were three groups that Jesus was referring to:

Firstly, he was thinking of some of the Jews of his day. They were indeed branches of God’s vine. But, prophet after prophet had drawn their attention to their fruitlessness, but they had refused to listen in fact they had refused to accept many of them.

Secondly, he was thinking of some Christians, those whose Christianity consists of profession without practice – words without deeds – or as Barclay puts it “… all leaves without fruit …”

Thirdly, he was thinking of Christians who leave the faith (apostates); those who hear the message and accept it but then turn away.

But even the fruitful branches need pruning, which can be painful, but we ought to rejoice, because, if we feel challenged and even guilty and needing something drastic to change in our  lives, this means that we are being made into the people God’s wants us to be, that we are alive to the promptings of the Spirit. This means that we can change, and it will be being united with the love of God that does it – if we allow it to happen.

“Uselessness invites disaster.” God invites us to be useful for him and for each other. But not in the way the world thinks. All that God wants is that we do what we can, in response to what he calls us to do.

I have known of bedridden people who have been useful for their Lord, and one particular person springs to mind. Her name was Cath Asterley who has recently died. She had longed to be with the Lord in glory since I last saw her in 2000 when she was already house bound. But she was fervent in prayer, with a telephone next to her for contact with others. She was such a source of blessing for so many people and was cherished by us all for the way she loved and cared for us.

How do we know if we are abiding in our Lord? We know it is true when we keep his commandments, when we live in love for God and we show this by the way we treat one another with love. This is very practical and is explained in 1 Corinthians 13. It is useful that we are reminded of the standard.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogantor rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  Love never ends.

Perhaps some of us are in need of some pruning – I know I certainly am – as I so often fall at the first hurdle! Floyd Filson expands on this thought:

The Father intelligently uses discipline to make possible greater fruitfulness for his service. (vs 2): ‘...Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.’ The teaching of Jesus cleansed or pruned the disciples so that they could be steadily fruitful (vs 3): ‘You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.’ By their own will and action he challenged them to abide in him (vs 4). ... If the disciples did what Jesus asked, by steady, grateful faith and by the faithful doing of his will, they would, enjoy a life filled with fruit, spiritual fruit. But the following is the most vital point of all: a fruitful life can only come when one is united with Jesus – if one abides in Jesus – if we remain in the vine.

If one is abiding in Christ in this way, at the core of our prayer will be that we will ask to yield as much spiritual fruit as we can in our obedience and service, to bring honour to our Lord and we will seek to have guidance as to how we can better serve God. This would form the basis of our prayers. If we do this, he will be enabled to abide in Christ when we keep his commandments, and by gratefully staying within the circle of his love for us. As Filson explains:

“It requires the disciples to accept discipline, to dedicate life to the fruitful doing of God’s will, to stay close to Jesus, to keep his words in mind and heart and live by them, to keep his commandments.’

If we do this, we experience a deep sense of joy, because we will know the reality of being in touch with our Lord himself in a mystical union. When we do this we will know deep at the core of our being, the depth of God’s love for us - especially when we take Holy Communion.

But for this to become real, we need to respond. This might mean being willing to have those parts of our lives that are not fruitful dealt with. When we remind ourselves of the fruits of the Spirit, those things that ought to characterise who and what we are, we notice how closely they resemble Paul’s definition of love. Paul explains in Galatians 5: ‘... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.’

At this Covenant service we are challenged to measure our lives by this standard and honestly ask: Are these fruits evident in our lives, or are we in need of pruning?

Amen.