That It May Bear More Fruit
John 15:1-8
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fifth Sunday of Easter is the Gospel reading John 15. Napa Valley in California is filled with grapevines. Row after row of them as far as the eye can see. All these vines have the same purpose. They are there to produce wine. In order for the grapes to be useful for that purpose, the vines have to be pruned. Without attentive and careful care, the vines will become wild and unruly. Some vines will produce so many grapes that most of them are not good for anything. Other wild vines will become so overloaded that they can’t find enough nourishment to sustain themselves. They will wither and die. Pruning isn’t always pleasant for the vine but it is necessary. If a vine is pruned in early winter, it will bleed a lot of sap. But in the spring, it will be healthier and produce better fruit. The best vine is a pruned vine. A vine that is carefully cultivated will produce good fruit.
Jesus said these words in our Gospel reading for today. “I am the vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit”. Our Lord tells us that there are two kinds of branches. There are the branches that remain on the vine and bear fruit. They are pruned by the vinedresser so that they can bear more fruit. Then there are the branches that do not produce any fruit. They are removed from the vine. They wither and die and they are thrown into the fire to be burned. There are only two types of branches. The ones that remain on the vine and the ones that are removed.
Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. That means that Christ Jesus is our source of life. Jesus forgives us through His death and resurrection. That forgiveness won for us on the cross has been given to us personally in the Gospel. Jesus has also grafted us into Himself through Baptism. Jesus is the source of life, and it is through Him that we receive life – eternal life. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches.
Today five confirmation students will make a confession before God and before the congregation that they will remain connected to Christ. In a few moments they will confess their intention to continue to come to church to hear the Word of God and to receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully. This is no small matter because Satan, the world, and their sinful nature will tempt them to turn away from the Lord. They will be tempted to cut themselves off from Christ. We all face the same temptations. Cut off from Christ would mean that we would again be dead in our sins. This can really happen – our faith can die – if we separate ourselves from His Word, which is our connection to Him and His forgiveness. Jesus warns us that branches that do not produce fruit are spiritually dead and no longer believers in Him. The Father removes such branches casting them into eternal fire. But those who abide in Christ will produce good fruit and have eternal life.
Our Lord gives us eternal salvation and as forgiven, loved, and redeemed branches we bear fruit. Through Christ Jesus we bear the fruits of faith. The fruit that Jesus is talking about includes joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The fruit that the Lord is taking about is love. Christ loved us and so through Him we also love one another. Recall what John said in our epistle reading. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another”.
Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. It is the Lord’s desire that we remain in Him and bear good fruit. It is the Lord’s desire that we remain in Him so that we can be pruned by the heavenly Father. Pruning is not always pleasant, but it done for the good of the branches. When God prunes us it is not always pleasant at first but it is done for our own good.
I came across a cleaver quote from Martin Luther that talks about our Gospel reading and what it means to be pruned. Let me share it with you. “This requires the art of believing and being sure that whatever hurts and distresses us does not happen to hurt or harm us but is for our good and profit. We must compare this to the work of the vinedresser who hoes and cultivates his vine. If the vine were able to be aware of this, could talk, and saw the vinedresser coming along and chopping about its roots with a hoe and cutting the wood from its branches with his clippers or his pruning hook, it would be prompted by what it saw to say: Ah, what are you doing? Now I must wither and decay, for you are removing the soil from my roots and are belaboring by branches with iron teeth. You are tearing and pinching me everywhere and I have to stand in the ground and bear it. You are treating me more cruelly than one treats any plant or tree. But the vinedresser would reply: You are a fool and do not understand. For even if I do cut a branch from you, it is a totally useless branch; it takes away your strength and your sap. Then the other branches which should bear fruit will suffer. Therefore away with it! This is for your own good. You say: But I don’t understand it, and I have a different feeling about it. The vinedresser declares: But I understand it well. I am doing this for your welfare, to keep the foreign and wild branches from sucking the strength and sap of the others. Now you will be able to yield more and better fruit.
When God prunes us, it is not always pleasant at first, but it is done for our own good. God prunes us with His Word. It is the Word of God that makes us aware of our sins. We don’t always like this. When we are confronted in our sins we can get very defensive. We have a tendency to justify what we are doing. But it is God’s Word that does indeed expose our sins and shows us that we are in need of forgiveness. God prunes with His Word. It is the Word of God that makes us aware of our sins and works contrition and repentance in our heart. We turn to the Lord and receive His grace. What is created in us is a grateful heart.
God prunes us with His Word, but He also prunes us by allowing suffering and disappointments to enter our life. We are not always going to understand it when God allows suffering in our life. We are not always going to like it. But we must remember that God is pruning us when He allows things to happen to us. It is for our good. It is in times of distress that often cause us to turn to God and trust in Him for all things. It is the experience of suffering ourselves that makes us empathetic to other people’s suffering.
It is God that tells us that any pruning that is done to us either through His Word or through the things that He allows to happen in our lives is done for our good. The pruning done to us by God makes us spiritually healthy and it produces fruit. Those who are in Christ Jesus will produce good works for the benefit of their neighbor. It is Christ’s love for us that produces fruit.
Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and the Father in heaven is the vinedresser. Jesus is the one who sustains us with His Word. He gives us the gift of life and salvation. We now look to the Lord and trust in Him. Recall what He said. “Abide in Me, and I in you”. It is the Father who prunes us. He cuts off what is sick and dying and makes us spiritually strong. He does this according to His good and gracious will. He works in us the fruits of faith. It is the fruit of love for God and each other. It is a glorious thing to abide in Christ, to be pruned by God and to produce good fruit as we wait for the Lord to deliver us to the heavenly kingdom. Amen.