Text: John 15:1-11
John 15:1-11 is the famous passage where Jesus says he's he vine and we are the branches, but he says some things that could send us into a panic:
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . . . If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John. 15:2,6)
We may easily ask: “But what if I don’t measure up?” “What if I don’t produce fruit?” “What if I don’t have what it takes?”
When we read the bible it’s important to find out what the writer is driving at so that we can understand what he says that leads up to it. It may surprise us when Jesus reveals his overall intent at the end of this section:
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11)
Warnings and joy? Hmm? Here’s an illustration that may help:
I remember the try-outs for my high school band. Our high school had triple-A accreditation. We also had a that band was known state-wide for its concerts and marching band performances. After we were televised as the featured band at a Detroit Lions game, some of the best college bands in the country used our routines. Even our high school jocks respected us!
Well in 9th grade, after playing trumpet for seven years, I had to finally face the prospect of try-outs for the prestigious high school band, and I was really up tight. Since you only got one chance, if I failed I would be humiliated and seven years of practice would go down the drain. I wanted every possible chance, so I decided to take private lessons over the summer. But where do you get private trumpet lessons? The only teacher I could find was the dreaded high school band instructor, but since he had known my brother he was willing to take me on. I studied and practiced with him all summer, but somehow I was so focused on improving my trumpet playing that I was oblivious to the relationship that I was forming.When the fearful day arrived there were eight of us candidates in the band room, and we were literally pacing the floor. The tension mounted as one by one the high school band director called us into a private room for our try out. After he had tested everyone else, I said, “Well, I guess I’m next.” “You!” he said. “I already know what you can do.” And with that, I was in! Somehow I hadn’t realized that the relationship that I had developed with him over the summer had fully established me as a serious and capable student in his mind.
Now in John 15, the disciples were in a similar situation. Yes, Jesus gave them serious warnings, and those warnings were real. But He had already established a close relationship with them so He went on to explain:
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. . . . As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:3,9-11)
There it is! They were already in Him and in His love! They had been following him, learning from him, and travelling the country with him. They had fully committed themselves to him. There was no need for “try-outs.” And so he exhorted them to simply remain in Him and in his love. Why? So that they would bear fruit for God, and so that His joy would overflow in their lives.
So it seems that instead of anxiously trying to produce fruit and live a good life, we really should be asking, “Where am I with Christ Himself?” It’s that relationship that determines everything.