[This sermon was preached on the Fifth Sunday of Easter 2003. It is centred on the Epistle reading, 1 John 4:7-21 and the Gospel reading John 15:1-8. If you have any questions about this sermon, please don't hesitate to leave me a message by clicking the Ch@t link at the top-right corner of this page. MRW]
We live in a world that is dependent on growth.
My father works with the stockmarket dealing with investments. My mother says that she can tell how the market is doing by my father's moods. If the market is growing, dad is happy. If dad is down, mum can tell that the market isn't growing and things aren't good for dad's business. Pensioners and retirees often depend on the growth of their investments to survive upon. Do you have any investments? Most markets last year went through a period of contraction instead of growth. The pain was felt by many people as they ended up with less at the end of the year than they had at the beginning.
Our diocese is very much interested in growth at the moment. The archbishop and other church leaders are trying to inspire growth in bible-based churches here in Sydney. Numerical growth is seen as a sign of a healthy organisation.
So much of our economy depends on growth. Farmers around Australia and the world depend on growth for their livelihood. If the pigs aren't getting fatter or the pumpkins aren't getting heavier, then the farmers are in serious trouble. What was the biggest cause of concern with the drought? Farmers couldn't get their crops to grow. They sowed seeds in the ground and at the end of the year they had ... seeds in the ground.
I don't need to go on with this - we all know the vital importance of growth in our lives. And of course Jesus knew the importance of growth. His illustrations are full of stories of farmers sowing wheat, harvesters in paddocks, mustard seeds growing into huge trees, a master leaving his servants to invest money while he was away.
Today in our gospel reading we heard Jesus' beautiful picture of the Church represented as as a vine. 'I am the true vine', he said 'and my father is the vinegrower.' And as the illustration unfolds we learn there is more to the vine than just Jesus. As Jesus' followers, we fit into this story as well. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches of the vine - we are a part of him. We are created to be like him, to do his work. Part of our mission, like a vine, is to spread out through the world. Do you remember Jesus' last command to his disciples before he ascended to heaven? St Matthew records: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' His final command was to spread through all the earth, 'to all the nations'. I think that we can safely say that this part of the Christian mission is fairly well fulfilled. There are Christians in every country in the world. But frankly, just spreading isn't enough! How do you think that a farmer would feel if his grapevines just spread their branches everywhere and did nothing else? I don't think that would be a very happy farmer! The point of a big strong grapevine is that it is big enough and strong enough and healthy enough to bear good fruit. And that's what Jesus taught that he wanted us to do as well.
In the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, talking about someone's 'fruit' mean talking about the results that someone's life produced. Jesus said things like: (Matthew 7:15-18) 'Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?' In other words - look at how a church leader lives and you can tell whether his message is true or not. You can tell the source of a message from the way that its preacher lives it out in his life. Another very famous teaching from sacred scripture about fruit is found in St Paul's letter to the Galatians. He writes: (Galatians 5:22-23) 'The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.' How do we understand that? Again, 'fruit' refers to results found in a person's life. So if a person has the Holy Spirit, that person will produce acts of kindness and goodness, we will see love and joy and peace and self-control manifested in their life. That will the the fruit of the Spirit being active in their life.
Our second reading delved deeper into what that means. Here we find a description of the sweetest 'fruit' that we can produce and its relationship to knowing God. 'Beloved, let us love one another.' It's such a simple command isn't it? We find this encouragement woven throughout the New Testament, and here especially we see some of the detail why. 'Beloved, let us love one another ... because love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.' Can you hear the tenderness in St John's style as he writes? It's no wonder that this text is used so often in wedding services, is it? But as we read through, it's not really talking about a general kind of love or the kind of love that is limited to the relationship between a husband and a wife. This love is explained in the context of the Church and of God's love for his Church. This love doesn't turn out to be a feeling or an emotion, but it is something that produces real action.
John provides us with a very powerful picture of the kind of results that this kind of true love produces. (1 John 4:9-11) 'God's love was revealed among us in this way: 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 atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.' The greatest act of love is the model for the kind of love that we need to display for one another. It's quite an act to follow, isn't it? From a first glance it's impossible. How could we how the power to do anything like that? We are called to a life of constant self-sacrificing love - something that goes against our natural inclinations and something that is beyond ordinary human power. But ordinary human power is not the source of energy that Christians look to.
Recently I haver received a few letters from Christian aid and mission agencies who have volunteers working overseas. Some of the stories that come back are astounding! I read of families going from a comfortable western lifestyle to live in the most deprived parts of the world. Of putting up with squalor, the most revolting diets (to western eyes), disease and persecution. Here's a short excerpt from on of these letters: 'Even after three years, the culture shock has barely settled. Maybe it's the typical dinner fare of cooked cats, dogs and rats. Or the impure water. Or near-constant illness. This year gets worse as we see one of our children leave home to start high school in a different city.' Further, he writes, 'Soon, our ministry of caring will open hearts. And with that to think about, all the other difficulties don't seem to matter.' Why are these people choosing to live in such a terrible place? They aren't doing it for personal gain. They aren't making sacrifices to provide their children with a better education. They aren't going through trials to advance their careers or to bring glory for themselves. So where do they get their strength from? By their 'fruit', they show that they are connected to the body of the vine. Their ability to bear such self-sacrificing goodness in their life shows who they trust and rely on. Hear Jesus' words from our Gospel: (John 15:4,5) 'Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.' Their lives show that they are given abilities by the power of God. Their ability to show 'fruit' of love and kindness for people who don't know Christ, their ability to show patience and self-control and joy under trial shows that their power-source is the Spirit of God. Remember St John's words: (1 John 4:13) 'By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.'
Just as those people serving God across the world are given strength by the Spirit to do God's work and produce lives reflecting Christ, we need to pray that God will grant us his Spirit to do the same here - in our community of St Basil's, with Christians across our diocese and across the world. Sometimes that is easy. Sometimes that is very difficult! How can we be assured of God's Spirit living in us and giving us the power to live for him in this way? (1 John 4:14-15): 'And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.' Deep in our hearts, we need to know and trust that Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. If that is our true belief, we need to be able to confess that. We have the opportunity to do that every week here in church. Do we confess the Creed - or do we just recite it? Are we saying what we believe or just mouthing the words as part of the order of service? If we are truly saying that we believe that Jesus - the man who walked on this earth - is truly the Son of God and is truly the Saviour of the wold, we are guaranteed the Holy Spirit and his power. And if we confess that Jesus is the Lord, the Ruler of our life, what are we saying except that we want to live his way? And if we want to live his way and be his disciples, we will want to bear the fruit that his life bore.
His life gave great testimony to the greatest fruit - love. He taught us a new commandment - that we love each other as he loved us. his nature was to always have mercy - he taught us to forgive each other. He served the needs of others - he was like a servant to his disciples - he provided for their practical needs - humbly going so far as to wash their feet. And further than that - he was willing to die for his friends. Even in the short time that I have been here at St Basils, I have learned of some of the beautiful ways that practical love has been shown by people in this community. Jesus said that we prove our love for him by bearing fruit like this. I am sure that none of us can say that we have perfected showing love, have we? There is always room for us to grow deeper and stronger into Christ.
Lord God, give us, we pray, a love for your truth. Send down your Holy Spirit on us, Lord, that we may have the power to faithfully live in love with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen
If we come back to the gospel reading, we see the importance that Jesus placed upon his disciples living out his message. I am the true vine and my father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. That is such a sobering statement, isn't it? If God knows that my life isn't going to bring forth anything pleasing to him, he will reach down and tear me away from being a true member of Christ's church. If we come to grips with this we find that Jesus taught that just saying 'I'm a Christian' isn't enough. People associate with the Christian church for many reasons. Who does Jesus say are really part of his Church? Those who are truly, really, deeply connected to him. Remember these words from the gospel reading: (John 15:4) 'Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.' These words are comforting to Christian believers, but for those who have a form of spirituality not based solely on Christ, they are a stern warning. Jesus said we need to stay connected to the him - the only sure, true source of spiritual growth. You know what happens to a branch if it is broken - its source of nourishment is gone. It doesn't have power in itself to produce fruit. Unless it is grafted back into the vine or the tree, it dries up and is worthless. 'Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.'
We have two very special ways, this morning, of staying connected with the vine. We have been strengthened by the voice of Christ and his teachings. His words have encouraged us to consider whether we are really connected to him, to ask ourselves if he really is the source of our spirituality, and to consider - if we claim him as our leader - whether we are bearing the fruit of love that he calls us to.
In a few minutes time we will have another way to build our connections stronger to Christ. If you say that Christ is the ruler of your life, and if your life isn't showing that is a lie, then you and I will have the opportunity to feed on the holy meal which nourishes our spirit as well as our body. In the Holy Communion, as we take bread and wine into our body, we take Christ into our whole soul. Every day as we eat, we acknowledge our dependence on natural food for nourishment. And as we take the elements of the Communion this morning, we acknowledge our dependence on Christ as the source of all our life. We say, 'Jesus, I am connected to you and depend on you for my strength.' And we say to God, 'Accept our souls and bodies as living sacrifices.' In other words, my life isn't mine, I have given it up for you. Do with it what you will. And he replies: (1 John 4:10-11 paraphrased). 'This is the real love, not that you loved Me but that I loved you so much that I sent my Son to be the atoning sacrifice for your sins. My Children whom I love, since I loved you so much, you also ought to love each another.' Let's take God's promise of strength and live that way this week and every week.
Lord God, we thank you most humbly for the gifts you have given us - your Word and your Spirit. We thank you for strengthening us through Christ and for drawing us deeper into all that his life meant. We ask that you will strengthen us to grow deeper into the mission you have given to us. We ask that by your Holy Spirit you will make us grow like strong branches in the body of Christ and to bring forth much good in our lives. We pray this that we will prove ourselves as Christ's disciples and bring much honour and glory to you. In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.