Perhaps my greatest burden as a pastor is the constant realization
that so many of my people so often live far beneath their privilege in Christ.
Life in this compromised world seems to entice us toward settling for far
less than what Jesus Christ actually died and rose again to provide for us.
This concern is what led to a series of messages that I placed under the borrowed
title, “The Life You Were Meant to Live.” (There are a few books
published with similar titles). The foundational question for the series was,
“Is there enough power in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ
to transform a person’s life?” What is your answer? I would imagine
anyone who genuinely believes in Jesus as the Son of God would answer, “Yes.”
Certainly there is enough power in what Jesus did for us on the Cross and
in what was sealed for eternity when God mightily raised Jesus from the dead,
that our lives truly can be changed.
But if that’s true, then among those who claim the name
of Christ and who truly have received Jesus as Savior, why are so many of
us so unchanged? Why are so many Christians without victory over the trials
and temptations of this world? Why are so many Christians living with a constant
sense of anxiety and fear? Why are so many who claim to be Christ-followers
not living lives that are distinct from the average, happy, American pagan?
Why are so many Christians still entangled by sin?
This series seeks to bring biblical answers to these important
questions.
Vital connection is at the heart of what Jesus was talking about
in this passage on the vine and the branches. Jesus is teaching on what it
takes to be vitally connected to God and consequently to each other in ways
that bring life and health.
The life we were meant to live begins right here. God created
us with the need for connection. Of course the primary connection we need
is to God. Jesus uses a word picture to describe it to which anybody can relate.
He says it’s like a vine and the branches of the vine. If the branches
stay vitally connected to the vine, they live and bear fruit. If the branches
are not vitally connected to the vine, they cannot fulfill their intended
function and they eventually die and are cut off from the source. It’s
a simple lesson. We see it in nature all the time. But there are some particulars
of this lesson that we need to get, if we’re really going to understand
what Jesus is inviting us to here.
For example, Jesus says, “I am the true vine” (v.1).
That qualifier “true” seems to suggest there are other possibilities—vines
that offer themselves as a source for life but cannot produce. It seems especially
true in a world like ours. There are so many options, nearly limitless choices
to make, many of which claim to be the source of true happiness and fulfillment.
Jesus also makes a big deal in this passage about staying connected.
Five or six times in what we heard He says, “Remain in me.” The
translation I grew up on says, “Abide in me.” Jesus says in effect,
If you really want vital connection, if you hunger for a meaningful sense
of purpose, then stay put! How do I do that? Jesus gives the answer in verse
3 and repeats it in verse 7. It’s through His Word. “You are already
clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (v. 3). And then, “If
you remain in me and my words remain in you . . . “ (v. 7). He’s
assuring these disciples that if they want to stay connected to Him, it’s
no big mystery—it’s by living in the truth of His words about
who the Father is and where life is really found.
Perhaps the most difficult part of all this is the part about
pruning. To see God’s love as the fruit of our discipleship takes pruning;
it doesn’t come to us naturally. And this pruning deal can be ugly.
Have you ever seen a tree or vine or plant that is freshly pruned? It doesn’t
look very good, at least to my untrained eye. But the painful pruning process
is what enables a healthy plant and good fruit to emerge.
And right there is the connection for which our hearts long.
That ache for deep connection that exists within the heart of every one of
us cannot be met by just any old connection. It can only be met by life-giving
connection to the One who prunes and shapes through the struggles and trials
of life, until we conform to the image of Christ and live to the glory of
God.
We were created with a deep need for meaningful connection.
Yet in spite of all the things that are supposed to facilitate relationship
building, we are profoundly disconnected. This is why so many of us struggle
to find our real sense of purpose in life. It’s because God created
us in such a way that our deepest purpose can only be discovered in the context
of meaningful relationships.
God in Christ through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit
has provided this deepest and most meaningful connection of all. It is out
of that most important connection that all other connections are made possible
and productive.
Several responses are called for in this text. One is to recognize
that the only real source of life, hope, and even happiness is Christ. He
is the true vine. Our response is also to “abide” or “remain”
in Christ, which happens through obedience to His Word. We are also called
to fulfill the perfect law of love, our true purpose in life. Loving God with
all of our hearts and loving neighbor as self is where we find our real purpose
and the only reason for living that finally satisfies.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons”)
I opened this sermon by talking about the amazing contemporary technologies that are supposed to make us more connected than ever. However, in spite of all our “connections” we seem to find ourselves with more sense of “disconnection” than perhaps ever before. How can that be? It has something to do with the nature of the connection for which our hearts long. This is a connection that can only be met in the way Jesus is talking about in this familiar text. We only find our real sense of purpose in life when we can finally let go of all the ways this world offers to make life meaningful and pleasurable, and turn to live life totally in God’s direction.
