Most Canadians will say they believe in god. Now of course, what that means will vary greatly, and I suspect that for a good number of those who say they believe in God it is not something they have deeply examined or thought about. It might be like saying, “I believe that people have walked on the moon – I saw a little news clip and have seen the pictures”. There is no personal knowledge, and it hasn’t really had much of an impact on daily life, but there is a “belief” that it happened. People in this situation, I think, have a loose recognition that there is more to life than just this; they likely knew someone with a deep personal faith in God that they admired; they may have had an experience or two that is unexplainable by “normal” occurrences; and if there is a certain level of trust they are probably even willing to talk to you about it.
Jesus, on the other hand, is a different conversation. Ask people if they believe in God, you have a good chance of engaging conversation. But when we start to talk about Jesus, the conversation changes. I think it is because it now becomes personal, rather than nebulous. Of course it also narrows the conversation from “God” which will be understood vastly differently across the various religions of the world, to the God of Christianity.
Last Sunday I began my final series of sermons, which I’ve called “A Few of My Favorite Things”, by exploring our relationship with God the Father. Today, we turn to our relationship with God the Son.
The Image:
As you know, I am a very visual person. One of the ways God speaks to me is through my imagination as I pray and listen to God. And part of the way I imagine God the Father is of the one always strong, at home, eager to love and support, forgive and restore, empower and send. And I imagine, sometimes, my life and vocation as lived out being sent forth from that “home”, knowing that God my Father is always there and I am always welcome to return at the end of a day’s work to relationship, a great meal, and a warm bed.
And when, in my imagination, I “go out to work”, I know I never go alone. I imagine it like me and Jesus, together, going out to work in this world, with the hope and intention and every effort being aimed towards the transformation of this world so that it is filled with the Kingdom of God – “your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. Sometimes that work is like gardening – planting, weeding, watering. Sometimes that work is like war – fighting to defend the innocent, fighting against evil people who seek to exploit and destroy. And I imagine myself going out with Jesus, and taking my direction and instruction from Him. So if you ask me about my present, ongoing relationship with Jesus my response will very likely fall along those lines… He is my Lord (or “Boss”), and it is a delight to work for and with Him. He’s a good boss, He gives good direction, supplies everything I need, rolls up His sleeves and gets His hands dirty when the lifting is too heavy for one, He is never far away, the work is significant and meaningful and deeply, deeply enjoyable. As long as I do it His way. He is the kind of boss you can joke around with and you are eager to show up, the kind of boss who really actually loves you and has your best interests at heart.
Now, I use the term “boss” instead of “Lord” here, but don’t get the idea that it is an “employer-employee” kind of thing. Not at all. It is a family thing, but we are not equals. Jesus is my brother, my friend, but He remains in charge. And honestly, that is not hard for me. He knows better. He is more skilled. He is better able to see what needs to be done, why it is important, and what the best way to do it is. I am really, genuinely happy to follow, especially because I know Jesus has all my best interests at heart, will put me to work in the best place for me and for His Kingdom, and even if the work is hard it is always very, very worthwhile. And then the results are up to Him.
What do you think of that image of Jesus and my relationship with Him? Comments??
The Scripture: John 15:1-17
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
“Friends”:
This is a favorite passage of mine. The vine, branches, fruit, and theme of remaining in God… beautiful imagery, I love it, it so simply and clearly lays it out. And I long to be a fruitful vine. Let me tell you a little story…
The Branch and the Tree
Once there was a large fruit tree growing next to a town square. Each spring the people would marvel at the beautiful blossoms, drinking in the aroma and symphony of color. They were filled with anticipation as they saw the young fruit begin to appear, and then later in the summer the whole town would gather for a harvest festival and feast on the fruit of the prized town tree.
One spring a new branch started to grow, and when it saw the people come it longed to produce a whole bunch of beautiful blossoms for the people to enjoy. So it stretched and groaned and mustered up its will and energy and tried to produce a blossom. One tiny blossoms appeared briefly on the very end, so it tried harder and harder, but nothing else would grow.
“Patience,” said the old tree.
But the branch did not want to be patient. It tried harder and harder, stretched farther and farther, and when the other branches around began to grow fruit, it tried even harder and stretched even farther still. But try as it might, the young branch could not produce any fruit. When the harvest festival came, the young branch was miserable and felt like a failure, because it had no fruit.
“Patience,” said the old tree, “the fruit is my business, not yours.”
Instead the young branch began to look at its leaves. “I may not produce fruit, but I have the nicest leaves of all the branches.” It took great pride in its leaves, in their deep bold greens and the shade they provided on warm days. And then their color began to change, and the young branch marveled even more at the fall beauty. “Surely, I have the nicest leaves of the whole tree!” thought the young branch.
But then one day a leaf let go, and fell to the ground. “Oh no!” screamed the branch. “This will not do! What is happening to me?” Then another let go, and another, until one day there were no leaves left at all.
“I am worthless,” thought the branch, “I am bare and ugly and awful. I don’t produce fruit, and now even my leaves are gone and I am only an ugly stick.”
The wise old tree whispered, “remain in me.”
Winter came, and the tree welcomed sleep. Even the young branch eventually stopped being frightened by the strong winds, stopped trying to shake off the snow, stopped fighting against the cold, and snuggled back into the tree.
When spring came, the branch awoke and said to the tree, “I am worthless. Please have the gardener cut me off to make room for a branch that can bear fruit.” The tree smiled, and said, “patience. Remain in me, and you will bear much fruit.” The branch hung its head, hung on to the tree, and sighed.
A few weeks later, the branch looked down to see a young boy, about eight, looking up and smiling. It turned its eyes in the direction of the boys gaze, and just out of where it knew its reach had ended it saw a huge cluster of the most incredible blossoms it had ever seen. “That other branch is beautiful,” it thought sadly, and in its sadness it hung even closer to the tree.
The blossoms changed to young fruit, and the branched hugged the tree closer. The fruit started to ripen, and the branch hugged tighter, and the fruit grew large and vibrant and beautiful and juicy.
The town people arrived for the harvest festival, and the branch sighed. It watched as the ladders came out, and the pickers started to climb.
Suddenly the branch felt something funny, something tugging. It looked up and saw a man with his hands on one of the fruits. And it felt the tug again. “What is happening?” thought the branch, and it looked back to the old tree. The tree smiled, and said, “well done, young branch. Because you held tight to me, you have grown. Look…”
The branch looked first at where it was holding to the tree, and was surprised at how thick and strong the connection was. Then it looked along its branch, followed it to where it thought it ended, and with surprise continued past where it used to end along to where the blossoms had been and where now, it saw and felt the hand of a man tugging at the ripe fruit.
“Is that me?” said the branch, with surprise. “No,” answered the tree, “it is me. The fruit is my business. Remain in me.”
The young branch looked back at the man, who tugged off the largest fruit and dropped it down to the young boy. He caught it, took a bite, then smiled through the juice that had burst out and was running down his chin.
The branch smiled, and hugged the tree more closely again.
Friends:
John 15 is mostly about this idea of the branches “remaining in” the vine – mostly about us “remaining in” Jesus and letting Jesus produce the fruit.
But even more than all of that, there is something absolutely incredible in this passage: Jesus said, “Now you are my friends”… Pause in that for a moment, will you? “Now you are my friends”. Jesus – God the Son; and He calls us “friends”. Like I said earlier, it is not an equal relationship, but it is still, absolutely, a friendship. Have you ever really grasped that – that God the Son calls you His friend? There is a closeness, a mutuality, a tenderness, a level of comfort with each other, an idea of time spent and ideas shared and laughter flowing, all contained in that simple idea: God the Son calls you His friend.
Wow. That is pretty amazing. And it leads to a good question: are you a good friend to Jesus? Do you spend time with Him? Do you listen? Do you share your life with Him? Is there an actual relationships there, or is it more a head-knowledge or intellectual “belief” that doesn’t really impact daily life? Are you, today, this week, “remaining in Jesus”? It has to be more than just an intellectual belief, it has to be more than mere words or songs, it has to be a real, genuine, day by day relationship.
When I look back on 23 years of ministry here, I desperately hope this theme has come through loud and clear: Christianity is about a lived-out, daily relationship with God, we walk with Him, work with Him, together with Him we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, and we enjoy it together.
“Remain in me”… “Now you are my friends”… and we will “produce much fruit.”
