John 15:1-8 (Easter 5B)
St. John, Galveston 4/28/2024
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

“I am the  true vine (Jesus says), and my Father is  the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit  he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,  that it may bear more fruit. Already  you are clean  because of the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide  in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
 
To be cut off and discarded...or, to be cut back nearly to the vine; I suppose, from the branches perspective, neither option would seem to be a good one. Both, after all, inflict a wound on the branch. One though kills the branch. The other takes away the dead wood so the branch can produce fruit in season, at the proper time.   
 
The fruit of the vine is harvested in mid to late summer. The harvest is an interesting process, one that has it’s own tenor, or temperament, if you will. The clusters of grapes are handled carefully so that the fruit isn’t crushed, or bruised in the harvest. In some respects, the symmetry and the fullness of a cluster of grapes is a work of art, God’s art, “for He opens His hand and He satisfies the desire of every living thing.” Indeed, the beauty of God’s creation never ceases to amaze us and to bring forth praise from our lips. “There is none like You among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like Yours.  For you are great and do wondrous things.” 
 
God causes fruit to grow on the branches of the vine. He has ordained, however, to bring about the summer harvest through a process that takes place in the dead of winter. At that particular time of the year, the branches, look as if they should be cut off and burned. They have no leaves and no fruit on them. They’re gnarled and tangled. If there is any beauty in them, any redeeming quality, it is only in the eyes of God and, perhaps in the discerning and hopeful eye of the vintner.
 
On a cold winter’s day, pruners trample through the vineyard and they handle the branches rather savagely. Everything to within a few feet of the main trunk of the vine is cut and ripped away. Piles are made of the cut branches, pieces sometimes 15 or 20 feet in length. The piles are gathered up and put into bigger piles in order to be burned. If branches could weep, would they not weep then!? If they could cry out to their maker and creator, would they not cry out then!?
 
As we live our lives in Christ Jesus, you and I have all experienced what the branches experience, although on a deeper and more profound level. God created us and then when we became gnarled and tangled in sin, He recreated us in Christ Jesus that we might bear fruit. In Holy Baptism, He grafted us into His Son as branches that produce fruit, fruit that serves and gladdens the heart of His creation while giving glory and honor to Him.      
 
There are two settled principles to be gained from Jesus’ words here in John 15 about the vine and the branches. The first is this…if the branch is cut off from the vine it can do nothing. The second is that…unless the branch is pruned it cannot produce fruit.
 
The first point seems self-evident. If you cut a branch off from a vine the branch is going to die. In fact, as to its relationship or its connection to the vine, it is already dead once it’s been cut off. Oh, it can be re-rooted and replanted, but, in that state it will no longer be a part of the vine that bore it.  Thus, if it produces fruit, it will be the fruit of its own making. The fruit may appear startling and glorious, but, it is rejected by God because it isn’t the fruit of the true vine.     
 
Jesus says, “cut off from Me you can do nothing.” Without faith, without being graphed into the vine, that is, into Jesus who is the true vine, “it is impossible to please God.” The point of this analogy is that everything in our lives, apart from sin, of course, is considered good by God, full of fruit that supports and loves our neighbor and gives glory to God, because He makes our lives good. So, we get up in the morning to go off to work and God’s says, “It is good, well done!”  We change our baby’s diaper and because that is what God has given us to do, He says, “It is good, well done!” We hold our grandchildren or great grandchildren in our arms and God says, “It is good, well done!” The point is, you can’t make anything in your life good. Remember, you’re the branch, not the vine. But, because you are grafted into the vine, into Christ, the fruit of your life is good! 
 
As you look out over the vineyard in January, you see the gnarled and tangled vines, void of leaves and fruit. Again, they are beautiful only to God and to the discerning and hopeful eye of the vintner. They are still connected to the vine, but, they won’t produce fruit in the summer unless they are pruned.  And so, the savage ritual begins. 
 
God puts the shears to the branches, cutting away what is gnarled and tangled, so that they will produce fruit. In our case, so that we will produce fruit to our neighbors good and to God’s glory. This is the second of the principles gained from this text in John 15. Unless the branch is pruned it will not bear fruit.
 
What we often think of as God turning His back on us, of Him abandoning us, is actually His pruning us so that we might bear more fruit. Again, it’s sometimes a painful process, but, quite necessary, nonetheless. If the branches could cry out, would they not cry out then!?
 
“My son (the Scriptures say),  do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For  the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  If God didn’t love you, He wouldn’t be active in your life. If He didn’t love you, He wouldn’t take the time to prune and nurture you. If He didn’t love you, He’d cut you off from the vine and discard you. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews quotes this very passage from Proverbs and then he concludes his comments regarding God’s discipline, saying, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields  the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
 
Having come to see God’s tender hand in adversity and trial, we make the simple confession that “we don’t always understand His way but we do want to be part of it.” We cling to His word because He makes sure and certain promises to us in it. He assures us that “nothing will ever be able to separate us from His love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 
 
And then we kneel before the altar to be grafted again into the vine. The fruit of the vine is laid upon our sin parched lips. Christ’s broken body is given to us. We are united with God, one with Him in purity and righteousness. Buds of fruit blossom in our lives, beginning with the simple confession that Jesus did this, gave His body and blood, for me! For me! 
   
As is true of several of you, I’ve harvested grapes and I’ve pruned the branches too. The two activities couldn’t be more strikingly dissimilar. The harvest is filled with joy because the branches have fulfilled their intended purpose. They provide the fruit to lighten the hearts of men and to give glory to God.     
 
They suffered, however, the pruner’s shears.  If they could have wept, they would have wept then!  “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit  he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,  that it may bear more fruit.”  

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +