Printer Friendly VersionFor the next six weeks I will be preaching a series of messages
under the title, “The Life You Were Meant to Live.” My greatest
burden as a pastor is the constant realization that so many of us so often
seem to live far beneath our 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.
Let me ask you a simple question as we begin: Is there enough
power in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ to transform a person’s
life? Yes or no? I think 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 un-changed? 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 distinct from the average, happy, American pagan? Why are
so many Christians still entangled by sin?
It’s out of those concerns and burdens that I cried out
to God saying, “Lord please give me a way to talk to my people about
what you want to do for us and what you can do for us if only we’ll
receive it.” Out of the prayer emerged this series and several key texts,
six of which I’ve selected for this series. These texts are, in my judgment,
at the heart of what Jesus wants to do for us.
So, let’s begin with Jesus’ final instruction to
His disciples, just before He went up to Jerusalem to face the Cross.
[Reading of the text]
Electronically speaking, we are more connected than ever. The
technology of our age has enabled us to make connections with one another
in ways we never imagined just a few years ago. Isn’t it amazing to
reflect on how email and Internet and cell phones have become such a part
of our lives? And yet we know very well that in spite of all of our “connections,”
we are having trouble staying meaningfully connected to each other.
We understand something about what Mamie Adams was talking about.
She always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees
there were so friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas
one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there
was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby.
To which Mamie replied, “I know, but the machine won’t ask me
about my arthritis.”
People are hungry today for almost any kind of personal connection.
What an opportunity for our church to make a meaningful difference in this
neighborhood. 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.
Vital connection is at the heart of what Jesus was talking about in this passage
on the vine and the branches. Jesus was teaching on what it takes to be connected
vitally 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 used a word picture to describe it, one to which anybody
can relate. He said 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 said, “I am the true vine.” The true
vine. That suggests 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, many of which
claim to be the source of true happiness and fulfillment. Modern spirituality
has become a buffet of choices where we are invited to go through and pick
and choose according to our own preferences. But Jesus does not invite us
to a connection of our own making. He did not say here, “Find the connection
to God within each of us.” He did not say, “Get connected to your
spirit.” No, Jesus said, “I am the true vine.” “If
you really want to be plugged into the source of life and if you really want
to find vital connection, it’s through Me—and no one else.”
No matter what others may preach, there are not, according to
Jesus, many paths to God. He is the way, truth, and life—no one comes
to the Father except through Him. We need to get that first. If we don’t,
we can expend lots of effort trying to find our purpose in life, but it will
be futile work until we are connected to Christ, the maker of our hearts.
Now once we are connected to Christ that’s not the end
of the story. Jesus made a big deal in this passage about staying connected.
Five or six times in what we heard, He said, “remain in me.” The
translation I grew up on says, “abide in me.” It’s kind
of an old-fashioned word, abide. As someone pointed out, highway motel signs
don’t say, “Abide with us tonight.” They say, “Stay
here.” And that’s really the sense of what Jesus was talking about.
“Stay here.” It has to do with persevering, continuing, lasting,
staying with it. Maybe that’s why the word “abide” has fallen
out of use. We live in a world of constant change. And yet Jesus said, “If
you really want vital connection, if you hunger for a meaningful sense of
purpose, then stay put!”
How do I do that? Jesus gave the answer in verse 3 and repeated
it in verse 7. It’s through His word. Listen to this: “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 was assuring these disciples that if they wanted to stay connected
to Him, it’s no big mystery—it’s by living in the truth
of His words about whom the Father is and where life is really found.
Interesting that this passage takes us right up to the moment when Jesus was
betrayed. These were His final moments. Surrounding Him now are the 12 who
would, each one, fail to abide with Him. And Jesus had some rather frightening
words for those who fail to abide. Verse 2 pulls no punches, it’s just
right out there. The Father “cuts off every branch . . . that bears
no fruit.” This is an all-or-nothing proposition. If you stay vitally
connected to Jesus by living within the truth of His word, you are alive.
If you don’t, you are dead. Simple as that.
By the way, it’s important to note that these “barren
branches” Jesus talked about are not completely outside when they become
unfruitful. These branches are also connected to the vine but they are not
connected in life-giving ways. Even though they may look attached to the vine,
they are really trying to draw nourishment from elsewhere. They may go through
the motions of “church,” but they are seeking their life from
places other than the vine. Do you realize what He was saying? He was saying
that hanging around the church won’t get it done. Just being part of
a community of faith like this won’t keep you vitally connected to Christ.
In fact that may be one reason so many people are going from church to church,
blaming the churches for not meeting their needs when in reality they are
nothing more than dried up branches trying to hang on.
The unproductive branches of which verse 2 speaks are those
people within the Christian faith community who do not bear fruit. And the
fruit bearing Jesus had in mind here is love. Just a little earlier, in chapter
13, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As
I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (v. 34). When I
realize this fruitfulness Jesus is talking about is love, I remember that
only God can do this in me. This kind of fruit bearing cannot be of my own
making. Somehow God has to make this happen or it won’t happen.
A number of years ago, God placed His finger on a major flaw
in my Christian character. I had to face the hard truth that while my love
for God was total, my love for others was deficit. It was hard to admit. I
wanted that to change but I knew that in my own power, I would not be able
to love you like Jesus would love you. So I began to pray that God in His
mercy would fill my heart with His love for you. That’s a dangerous
prayer to pray! If you ask God to help you love others you will begin to discover
just how costly a prayer that can become. But today I can honestly say as
your pastor that I do love you. The work is not complete in me yet, but it
is much different than it was. I only tell you this because it is God’s
doing, not mine. If there is any fruitfulness at all in my ministry, this
is why. It’s all about being connected to the Life-Giver.
Now the hard part of all this is implied in my testimony. In
order to see God’s love as the fruit of our discipleship, it takes pruning.
It doesn’t come to us naturally. And this pruning deal can be ugly.
Have you ever seen a freshly pruned tree or vine or plant? It doesn’t
look very good, at least to my untrained eye. But what happens later? Because
of the pruning it is able to leaf out and produce fruit way beyond what it
could have done without the pruning.
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.
Jesus’ teaching is really quite simple. If we stay connected
to Him we will live productive and meaningful lives. If we try to find our
source in anything or anyone but Christ, we will dry up and die. The life
you were meant to live begins right here. You will only find your real sense
of purpose in life when you can finally let go of all the ways this world
offers you to make life meaningful and pleasurable, and turn to live your
life totally in God’s direction.
Do you have a source for living that enables you to rise above the stresses
and strains of living in this world? Do you sense the very lifeblood of Jesus
coursing through your veins? Or do you feel dried up? Lifeless? Like dead
wood in danger of being burned up? It doesn’t have to be that way. The
risen Christ is here to breathe His life into you and give you the most vital
connection of all. It’s a connection that will satisfy that ache deep
in your heart to love and to be fully loved.
The invitation is for you. “Remain in me and I will remain in you.”
