Sermons

Dear fellow branches of the Vine, When you hear the phrase, “I heard it through the grapevine” what comes to mind? Maybe some of us recall the 1984 lyrics written by Norman Whitfield and Barret Strong put to music by Credence Clearwater Revival under the same title, “I heard it through the grapevine.” Or maybe others are reminded of the way news sometimes spreads throughout a small community or even in a Christian congregation. Somebody at the post office tells you something they heard from someone who talked to them at the grocery store who had just come from the barbershop. Such a linkage of communication is often referred to as the “grapevine” and so when asked about where you received your information the response is often given, “I heard it through the grapevine.” But that little expression describes one of life’s most unreliable sources of information. Silly rumors, juicy gossip, second, third and even fourth hand information are usually all you get when you listen to the grapevine. But not today! My friends, I heard something through the grapevine this past week and I’ve just got to share it with you. Don’t Worry! It’s not juicy gossip, nor is it a silly rumor. This grapevine isn’t one of those unreliable kinds of this world. No, this Grapevine is Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. In the words of our text Jesus calls himself the vine and he urges us, the branches, to stay connected to the vine. Today Jesus has a message for each of us. It’s a message he wants us to hear only through the Grapevine because 1) it’s a message of encouragement 2) it’s a message with a promise. I AM THE VINE, YOU ARE THE BRANCHES. Those are the beautiful words that our Savior Jesus so tenderly spoke to his disciples on that last night they were together before he died on the cross. In the statement Jesus calls himself the vine and us the branches. The picture language with which Jesus speaks is pretty straightforward. Jesus, the vine, is the source of our spiritual life. We, the branches, will grow and flourish spiritually only as long as we stay attached, or connected to him. Today we hear this message through the Grapevine. But this message isn’t gossip, or rumor or secondhand news. It’s the truth because it comes from Jesus, Grapevine. The first message we hear through the Grapevine is a message of encouragement. Jesus says: REMAIN IN ME. Thirteen times Jesus repeats this idea of remaining in him. But before we can understand what it means to remain in Christ or stay connected to Jesus, we need to know how we ever got connected to Jesus in the first place. Getting connected to Jesus is called, among other things, conversion. In order to understand the Holy Spirit’s work of conversion in the light of Scripture, we need to know that we did not choose Christ to be our own, but Christ chose us to be his own. In the verse following our text Jesus himself said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). In other words, our coming to faith is not the result of a decision we made, but the result of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through the Gospel and bringing us to faith in Jesus as our only Savior from sin and hell. That’s why the Apostle Paul in the Book of Ephesians refers to our coming to faith as an act of God’s grace, not of our own work or doing. The Bible says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). Simply put, your faith is a gift from God. That’s how you got connected to the Vine. God gave you that gift at your baptism. God did it. God wanted it to be that way. Since God gave us our faith, we are not the ones who can claim responsibility for coming to faith. God did it. God gets to credit. However, once we are in the faith, how we use it, act on it and live it out is our responsibility. Therefore, this is our Savior’s encouragement: REMAIN IN ME. When Jesus encourages us to "remain in him," he is suggesting that there are steps we can take to "remain in him." But how can we properly understand this encouragement since our faith is a gift from God in the first place? What can we do to remain in Christ? In order to answer this basic question we must again remember that we certainly can’t do anything to make our faith stronger than God’s Spirit wants it to be or has already made it. Having said that, however, we can certainly avoid doing those things that God tells will weaken our faith or prove to be detrimental to our gift of faith. So how do we remain in Christ? First and foremost, we remain connected to him through being actively involved in Word and Sacrament. Worship, Bible study, personal devotions, and daily contemplation of Christ and what he has done for us through his life, death and resurrection keeps us close to Him. Taking the Lord’s Supper regularly and thoughtfully keeps us close to him. So how closely are you connected to the Grapevine? Are you connected when it’s convenient for you? Worship attendance proves the point that less of God’s people are staying connected to the Vine during the summer months than during the other months of the year. And it’s not just because of out of town family vacations. It’s because worship isn’t as convenient when other things are factored into the busy family summer schedules. We need to hear it through the Grapevine. “Remain in me,” Jesus says, even during the summer months. Not only do we hear words of encouragement through the Grapevine, but words of promise. Listen once again to the Grapevine: REMAIN IN ME AND I WILL REMAIN IN YOU. NO BRANCH CAN BEAR FRUIT BY ITSELF; IT MUST REMAIN IN THE VINE ... I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES. IF A MAN REMAINS IN ME AND I IN HIM, HE WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT; APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING. Did you hear the promise that comes from the lips of our Savior, the Vine? Just like the sap from the vine flows into its branches making them alive and fruitful, so Christ’s life, Christ’s strength, Christ’s will and Christ’s desires flow into you and me when we stay connected to the Vine. No matter who you are, boys or girls, students in high school or grade school, Moms or Dads, Grandpas or Grandmas, Jesus Christ is an unlimited source of spiritual nourishment and strength for you, not just to drag yourself from one day to the next, but to live a joyful, meaningful, and fruitful life as a branch connected to the Vine. But is that the way it is? Just what kind of branches are we right now at this stage of our life? How firmly and securely are we attached to this Good Vine? Are we drawing all we can from the unlimited source of spiritual nourishment? Jesus gives us a very simple answer to these important questions: IF A MAN REMAINS IN ME AND I IN HIM, HE WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT. Fruit-bearing branches in Christ; that’s what a Christian is. Like the Vine, so are the branches. The Vine hates all sin and loves everything that is God-pleasing. So do his branches. The Vine is patient, unselfish, and kind. So are his branches. IF A MAN REMIANS IN ME AND I IN HIM, HE WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT. These words of our Savior explain why a Christian home is a place where there is joy and strength flowing from husband to wife and from wife to husband, from parents to children and from children to parents. This explains why followers of Jesus will forgive those who mistreat them and love those who aren’t at all lovable. This explains why Christian young people and Christian adults love to be in church, hearing the Gospel, receiving the sacrament and serving others with their gifts and abilities. This explains why followers of Jesus can still smile at the worst of times and look beyond their momentary trials to the glory of heaven. These are branches that bear much fruit. These are the branches connected to the Vine. Is that the kind of fruit hanging from the branches in our lives, in our homes, in our congregation? I confess that it isn’t always that way in my life? How about yours? So why not? Why aren’t we bearing much fruit? Why is it that so many times our list of good intentions is so much longer that our list of good accomplishments? Why is it that so much of the time we produce so little fruit for Jesus in our lives? May I suggest that it is because we sinners seem to be inflicted with a bad case of I-TROUBLE in our day-to-day living. Now this isn’t the kind of I-TROUBLE where you need to wear bifocals or have some cataract surgery. You see, this I-TROUBLE isn’t spelled E-Y-E. No, it’s spelled I—T-R-O-U-B-L-E. One of the most common symptoms of this I-TROUBLE is the thinking that “I can get along in life without Jesus. I don’t need church every week, Holy Communion every time it’s offered, an open and well read Bible every day.” “I don’t need to ask God for guidance every morning and again in the evening ask for God’s forgiveness for not listening to his words of love and direction.” This I-TROBLE also shows itself in other ways. “I can’t say no to all those temptations to go along with the crowd.” “I can’t seem to make my marriage work.” “I can’t seem to get through to my teenagers.” “I can’t get along with my parents anymore.” “I can’t stop worrying and complaining about how bad things are going my life.” “I can’t seem to cope with the stress of my job, the tension in my family and the struggle of making financial ends meet.” Should we be surprised at such statements? All of these statements focus on what I can and what I can’t do. If we are listening to the Grapevine we would hear him telling us: APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING. The branches with that kind of I-TROUBLE will eventually fall off the Vine and finally be good for only firewood. But the message that comes to us through the Grapevine give us a wonderful promise: REMIAN IN ME AND I WILL REMAIN IN YOU ... IF A MAN REMIANS IN ME AND I IN HIM, HE WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT. Remaining in Christ is staying connected to the Vine. It’s staying close to the Savior. Remaining in the Christ will lead each branch to the Cross in true and sincere confession of sin, for it was our sins the caused Jesus to die and suffer hell. Remaining in Christ will lead us to travel with the women and the disciples to the empty tomb again and again to hear the message of the angel, “He is risen, He is not here.” Remaining in Christ is believing that because Jesus lives again we too shall live forever in heaven. Remaining in Christ causes each branch to cling to the last word spoken by our Savior before he ascended, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” Such love coming from our Savior Jesus cures our I-TROUBLE. Such love coming from our Savior changes how we look at our worship and prayer life from that of feeling “I have to” (to go to church, read my Bible, and pray) to “I want to.” I want to go to church; I want to read my Bible because Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life is assuring me of his love and forgiveness. And when I heard that message through the Grapevine it also changes how I view things in my every day living. It makes me realize that I can’t always change things. I can’t avoid temptation. I can’t avoid the problems that arise in relationships with my spouse or my children. And I can’t remove those things that cause me to worry or cause stress in my life. But this is what I heard the Grapevine: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4 13). Our Savior close the words of our text with this promise: IF YOU REMIAN IN ME AND MY WORDS REMAIN IN YOU, ASK WHATEVER YOU WISH, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN YOU. This is your Savior’s invitation to take everything to God in prayer. He promises that your prayers will be heard and answered. This word of promise and encouragement is the most reliable message you will ever hear because you heard it through the Grapevine, Jesus, your Savior, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.