Nancy and I enjoy visiting wineries in CA. We have been to winemaking regions in
Temecula, Santa Barbara ,
Paso Robles and Napa/Sonoma. In doing so
we learned a maxim that winemakers will tell you. “How do
you make a million dollars in the wine industry? You start with 2 million.” If there is one investment that has more to
do with the heart than the head, it’s vineyards.
Wineries and vineyards are the second most popular tourist
attraction in California , the first one is Disneyland . The United States
is the larges retail winemaker in the world, and this industry employs 35,000
people. Annual shipments in the U.S. total some
14 billion dollars.
Jesus brings a different perspective when it comes to
vines. Rather than speaking from an
economic perspective, Jesus talks about vines from a spiritual perspective, as
a metaphor for the connection or relationship of followers to him in the kingdom of God
Think about the many ways we are connected today: You have
an insurance claim, but you’re in good hands with Allstate; you have car
trouble, you call AAA; you are looking for a job, you turn to networking as a
resource; you undergo surgery and receive pints of blood donated by volunteers;
you desire safety in your neighborhood, you are part of a Neighborhood Watch
program; you have chest pains, call 911 and paramedics arrive in minutes. I haven't even mentioned our connections
through social media like face book.
Which leads us to Jesus’ message about grapevines. Jesus
draws upon the image of a vine to convey the nature of our relationship with
Him. “I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower, you are the
branches. As the Father has loved me,
so I have loved you; abide in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have
kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
Jesus commands us: “Abide
in me as I abide in you. A branch cannot
bear fruit unless it abides in the vine.
Apart from me you can do nothing.”
Abide in Christ, that is, cultivate a relationship to Jesus Christ, an
intimate relationship of commitment, trust, love, honesty, and obedience. Live daily in Christ. Seek and expect God to guide you, to direct
your paths, to teach you, to renew your spirit.
Abide is about cultivating a spiritual union, communion with the Spirit
of Christ.
I recall when we were living in CO when I was pastor of the
Monument Community Presbyterian Church. We had the opportunity to go skiing and
I was surprised to see a blind person skiing. The blind skier, wearing a bright
colored vest, was skiing down the mountain directly behind an instructor,
listening for instructions from the instructor.
It was beautiful to behold. Over
the next several days I saw many blind skiers, invariably following the
instructor, skiing gracefully along trails and slopes safely down the mountain.
Abiding in Jesus means staying near, following closely, fostering a close
spiritual relationship.
We cannot live the Christian life and be fruitful Christians
apart from Christ, any more than branches can live after being torn off the
vine. Every branch draws its identity,
it sustenance, its life from the vine.
No two branches are the same and yet they are all the same. Every Christian is unique and yet every
Christian is the same. Our life and identity
is derived from the Vine.
God established the principle of dependency - Life is connected to life. Life is interdependent and dependent; it
requires constant care, nurture, nourishment, sustenance and love. It requires personal investment. Relationships don't deepen and grow
automatically or magically.
But despite the truth of Jesus’ teaching, people will act
the opposite and disregard his wisdom.
Over the years, I have seen examples of how Jesus' warning comes to
pass. Marriages become an empty shell or
lead to divorce, because the couple start leading independent lives and
gradually stop investing the energy and time that a marriage requires. Parents and children grow apart and become
estranged because they are doing their own thing and don't make time for one
another. Kids are more and more on their
own, unsupervised, without parental guidance, and we all know the price
children pay and society pays when this occurs.
One’s faith gradually diminishes because worship becomes rare, prayer is
spotty, the Bible collects dust, and sharing with others in ministry fades into
oblivion.
Someone took the excuses people use for not participating in
church and applied them to another area of life – 7 Reasons Not to Wash. I. I was forced to
as a child. 2. People who make soap are
only after your money. 3. I wash on special occasions like Christmas and
Easter. 4. People who wash are
hypocrites—they think they are cleaner than everyone else. 5. I used to wash but I got bored so I
stopped. 6. None of my friends wash so
why should I. 7. I’m busy, I can't spare
the time to wash. Like removing a hot
coal from a bed of coals, and setting it off by itself, one’s spiritual life
will eventually wither away and grow cold.
Jesus further speaks about spiritual pruning in the Kingdom of God Kingdom of God
And that's why God prunes.
Pruning is a metaphor for spiritual discipline. God never tempts us, scripture is clear about
that, but God sometimes disciplines us to strengthen our character and
faith. God sometimes tests our faith
through divine pruning. God allows us
to suffer the consequences of poor decisions or judgments or to go through
difficult periods to prune us. “If you are having a tough time, ask, God, are
you pruning me?”
What needs pruning in your life? What is prohibiting you from bearing
fruit? You may know exactly what needs
pruning in your life. I can assure you that
God knows what needs pruning in your life and in mine. I’m going to pause a moment now and in
silence, invite you to ask God to get out his pruning shears. Why? Because we all need it, I need it, you
need it. Why? Because God wants us to
bear more fruit.
And the glorious news is that if we abide in Him we will
bear fruit, much fruit. Jesus' speaks
about abiding and pruning not to be a killjoy, but so that his joy may be in
us. We experience joy when we are
bearing fruit in His name. Joy is the
by-product of bearing fruit. Joy is
the surprise which comes when we are using our gifts and talents for the Lord
in His Kingdom. Joy comes when we are
doing what God wants us to do and are where God wants us to be.
According to a Gallup
poll, which makes a distinction between happiness and joy, nearly 60 percent
all Americans today feel happy. But a
new study cautions that there's something much more important than happiness,
because happiness fluctuates. It is
finding meaning in life or a life purpose.
Having purpose and meaning in life increases overall life satisfaction
and contentment. After interviewing
nearly 400 Americans, the study found there is one major difference—happiness
focuses on "taking" while meaning/purpose focuses on "giving."
The researchers concluded that happiness is about feeling
good, its about thinking life is easy, and being able to go places and buy the things
that one needs and wants. The study stated, "If anything, pure happiness is linked to not helping others in need."
In contrast, people leading meaningful lives get a lot of
joy from giving to others. Having more meaning in life was associated with
activities like buying presents for others, taking care of kids, or serving
others. People whose lives have high levels
of meaning help others even when it comes at the expense of happiness. So what's your most important goal in
life—happiness or meaning?
Bearing fruit shows forth a Christ-like character in your
everyday life in fruits of - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
It glorifies God, it pleases God, it expands His Kingdom; its about
being productive. As branches of the
Vine, Jesus Christ doesn’t expect us to produce more than others or more than
we can, for we are unique persons. But
Christ does expect us to produce all that we can, by the power of the Holy
Spirit working within us. That is often
more than we might think possible.
Someone wrote: “We often expect
too little from God and we attempt too little for God.”
Jesus says: ”I am the
vine, you are the branches.” We are
connected, let us go forth and bear fruit.
Amen!
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