1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “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. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15)
I will be preaching on this passage for the fourth time since the beginning of the year, this weekend, and I will be preaching a similar sermon two more times over the next two weeks as I lead the Covenant Services in the Chapels where I have Pastoral Charge. These powerful services are a part of our heritage and I believe a God given gift to the Methodist Church and one that is now often shared with and embraced by the wider church.
There are only two Gospel readings given as alternatives for this service, there are John 15 (above- and I always add vs. 11 as I think that it completes the passage- purists may shoot me now!), and Mark 14: 22-25. This year I have chosen the John passage. To be honest I will probably mostly choose the John passage because of the significance it has in my own spiritual journey- but that is a whole other blog post!
As I have been reflecting on John 15 again one thing that has struck me deeply is the organic nature of the picture we are being offered. If we are a part of the living vine then it stands to reason that we are an ever changing entity, both personally and corporately. While the personal nature of this picture is important it it the corporate picture that has captured my imagination.
If the church is truly a living thing then it stands to reason that it will be constantly growing and changing, it will change and adapt not only to the yearly seasons but also to other changes that are happening in the surrounding culture. It will also adapt and change as it grows and receives life from the vine, and the ground in which it is planted. We must be aware that different seasons produce different amounts of growth; and more challengingly perhaps that there will come a time when a branch is no longer fruitful; it has outlived its usefulness and needs to be pruned back in order than new growth can take place.
On an individual level this might mean that we will be called to give up something that once occupied a lot of our time but changes in season and circumstances call us to give it up no matter how painful. Likewise on a corporate level this challenge comes to us as a church. Many churches have come to the painful recognition that things they once did no longer have the effect that they used to have, change is needed, we must be willing to allow the pruning process to take place. If we are not willing to allow pruning then we will run into trouble, this extract is taken from a a blog entitled "How to grow grapes":
"It is not question of IF you should prune your grape vine or not; it is a question of WHEN you will prune your grape vine.
As we all know by now (so I hope); pruning is one of the most important manipulation you as a grape grower needs to do. Without pruning your grape vine the correct way, you simply cannot expect your grape vine to produce healthy, good-looking grapes; even any grapes at all!"
The article continues:
One of the main reasons so many grape growers fail to have a proper grape crop, is their ability to prune the grape vine the correct way. It is a known fact that a grape vine under stress, is much more susceptible to cold damage than a well structured and previously pruned grape vine.
The church today lives in a different climate to the one into which it was born, that climate and the needs of the churches springing from the original stock have had to adapt and change according to the new climates/cultures they have been placed amongst...
...and yet we struggle, we struggle with pruning, we struggle with new growth, and I wonder if this is simply because we forget that we are a living growing changing entity! We were never called to be static, to form an institution and set it in concrete! I wonder also if we struggle with this passage because we have a continued tendency to say that anything that needs pruning and cutting back must be/have been bad, when in truth that is far from the case. I wonder if what we need to learn to do is to not only prune but to celebrate what once bore fruit.
I realise that this emphasis is not apparent in the passage, it seems that the no longer fruitful branches are treated harshly, thrown away and burned, and in some ways we need to be/ allow the process of pruning to be this ruthless. But that does not say that the now freshly pruned branch has never been fruitful. The truth is that it probably once bore a wonderful harvest of grapes, it is just that things have grown, and in order for the plant to remain healthy it is best for it to yield to the necessary pruning! When we refuse to do that we will end up with a plant that is trying to support a no longer fruitful system of branches, a plant that saps itself of energy, a plant that will ultimately wither and die; back to our Grapevine article:
"... one of the best ways to protect your grape vines from spring frost, is the timing of when you will prune your grape vine and how you will prune your grape vines"
Again and again the mistake that we make in church is to hang on just that bit longer to a programme, a way of being, a building, a system the list goes on.We know these things have run their course, but we struggle to part with them because they have served us well and we do not know what any new growth might bring, we worry whether the new growth will produce anything and all too often we end up in the crazy position of trying to keep the old going and never letting the new have a chance.
This passage challenges us to trust in the vine, to trust God, to allow the proper and normal process of growth and pruning for more growth to take place, to be willing to acknowledge that in order to flourish in an ever changing culture we must adapt and embrace change...
...and yes from time to time a new branch will fail, it may need almost instant pruning training and guiding, as the Grapevine article suggests timing is crucial, and we of course will get things wrong, but by aiming to remain in the vine, connected and attentive we will give ourselves the best chance of not only surviving but of flourishing, and bearing much fruit! Perhaps we need to borrow another illustration at this point:
24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12)
That in dying to self and allowing the pruning we can pray with renewed confidence:
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you,
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
And now glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours, so be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
I recognise that there is nothing new in what I have said, just that we need to hear it again and again!
