Revd Len Abrams John 15:1-11
Over the past few weeks we have been looking at the I AM sayings of Jesus as recorded in John’s gospel. These together give us an insight into who Jesus is. Today we are looking at the last of these sayings in John’s gospel “I AM the true Vine”. This was made during Jesus’ farewell discourse at the Last Supper.
Jesus uses the imagery of the Vine which his listeners were very familiar with the Vine is a symbol of Israel. Quote Isaiah 5: 7.
The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
At the time of Jesus Jewish coins had the Vine on them as a symbol of Israel. Herod’s grand temple Jerusalem had an impressive Vine covered in gold over the entrance portal. Synagogues today are often adorned with the symbol of the Vine. So Jesus’s listeners knew exactly what he was talking about when he mentioned the 
Vine. And here we have at the Last Supper Jesus saying that he is the true Vine. He redeems Israel which has not lived up to the expectations of the Almighty. In doing so he reaffirms once again that he is the awaited Messiah.
In the picture which Jesus paints, the father is the vinedresser, Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches. We, as branches, get our sustenance, our life, our sap from the Vine. The branches cannot survive without being connected to the Vine. We have to remain attached. If we do remain attached we will bear fruit, if not we will wither and dry out and be separated. If we are attached the vinedresser will prune us and discipline us so that we bear more fruit. The New International Version of the Bible uses the words “remain in me” which is a weak translation . The Revised Standard Version uses the stronger language of “abiding in Jesus” .
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.
I want to tell you a story about a meeting which I had last year in Namibia. It was a meeting of high ranking government officials from several countries which all share the Zambezi River basin in southern Africa. I was a lead consultant in a team who were supporting the countries to develop a strategic plan for infrastructure in the Zambezi River basin.
During the meeting it was necessary to set the date of the next meeting and the chair suggested the 8th of July 2019 for the next meeting and all the officials agreed. I spoke to my colleague and said that unfortunately I would not be able to make the meeting. The officials were not happy – after all I was a mere consultant and I had to be at the future meeting. I had on my iPad a picture [see below]. I said to them that for the past 41 years I and my wife had a photograph taken on the day of our anniversary each year and this is the collection of pictures and therefore I simply could not miss the 42nd picture. The officials, many of whom I had known for many years, all thoroughly agreed and they changed the date of the meeting.
Whilst I was working in development which took me to 26 countries in Africa over the years, at times I travelled for between 180 and 200 days a year but Karen and I made every effort, which did not work every time, to speak to each other every day. This is for me an example of abiding. We looked after that aspect of our relationship – staying close to each other, even when we were apart, and the years looked after themselves. Neither of us are perfect and we’ve had our ups and downs but I do believe that looking after the daily process of ‘abiding’ together is what is needed and the rest will look after itself, more or less.
What does it mean to abide in Jesus? It means to live with Jesus and to have him live with us. We are not instructed to bear fruit – we are instructed to abide in Jesus and, if we do, fruit will be the consequence, the result. How often are we tempted to think that it is the other way round! We think if we do the right things we will get close to Jesus. If we get the abiding right, all else follows.
The commentators on this passage agree that, in this teaching, the emphasis of Jesus is to the collective church, to the disciples together, rather than to Christians as individuals. When the Apostle Paul speaks of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 he is Speaking of individuals. Each of us having different gifts and being different parts of the body of Christ, but in this discourse which we are discussing now, Jesus is talking to the disciples, and to us, collectively.
If we look at verse 7 of the passage, bearing in mind that Jesus is talking to the disciples collectively, let us see what it says “If you abide in me (collectively) and my words abide in you (collectively, as a church community) then ask whatever you wish (as a church) and it will be done for you”.
I am convinced that this is central to the life of the church and to the community of Christ Church, South Nutfield. If we focus on abiding in Jesus, all the rest will come as a consequence. If our prayer is that God – the vinedresser – would add to our number new families and individuals who are putting their faith in Jesus, it will be done for us; if our prayer is to meet our financial responsibilities, it will be done for us; if our prayer is to get through this Corona virus crisis together, inclusively and safely, it will be done for us – as a consequence of abiding in Jesus.
And why would it be done for us? The answer is in verse 8: “My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples”.
There is so much in this passage that we could be here all day but I just want to emphasise 2 last points. In verse 10 we read “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”. Ah, we say to ourselves – here is the rub! It’s not just a matter of abiding in Jesus, we have to obey all these commandments as well. There had to be a catch.
However, in verse 12 , which was not included in today’s reading, Jesus says “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” So it is not all the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”. The commandment is to love, but there is still a catch – you will recall when Jesus was asked what the two main commandments are he said the familiar answer, to summarise, “love God and love your neighbour as yourself”. But what Jesus gives us in verse 12 is a substantial raising of the bar.
Now the measure of our love for others is not how much we love ourselves but how much Jesus loves us. We are to love each other in the church community, and I believe in the world abroad, as Jesus has loved us. This of course is not possible unless we abide in Jesus – only then there is a possibility of us loving each other with his love which is much greater than our love can ever be. If the church had only obeyed this command, human history would be very different today.
And finally, Jesus wraps up this bit of the discourse by giving us a reason why he is saying all these things. He’s saying these things to us so that we may have joy – his joy which is far deeper than happiness. He is enticing us to abide in him so that our joy may be full and complete.
And so I conclude – the central message of Jesus for us today is to abide in him as a community, to live with him day by day and to have him live with us.
Well, on Thursday Karen and I will take the 43rd photograph of us “on the day” to mark 43 years of abiding together under the blessing of our Lord.
Amen
John 15:1-11
The Vine and the Branches
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.