Fifth Sunday of Easter

Fifth Sunday of Easter (B)

April 28, 2024

Text: John 15:1-8

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

            “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5; ESV).  That verse has always been special to me, because, as it happens, that is the verse Pr. Wellman picked for me as my Confirmation verse.  And I’d like to say a word, here, about Confirmation verses, because I’ve been thinking about Elsa’s Confirmation coming up, and I’ve picked a humdinger of a verse for you, Elsa.  If you know your Confirmation verse, hold it as precious.  Keep it in your mind.  Memorize it.  Meditate on it.  Your pastor picked it for you.  Now, it’s not that he had some prophetic insight, as though he knew some future scenario in which your verse was destined to define your life.  But it is to say, your pastor was thinking about you, and what he knew of you in that moment, and hand-picked a verse that in some way applied.  Now, if I picked your verse for you, I may or may not remember why I picked that particular verse at the time, but I promise you this: The more you meditate on that verse, the more the Lord Himself will make clear to you, and give you, what He intends you to receive from it… the more will flow into you (the branch) the nourishing sap from the Vine, who is Christ… the more you will see how the verse applies to every facet of your life.  The Word of God is always relevant.  It is always applicable.  It always delivers.  Because the power behind it, and in it, is the very Spirit of God, proceeding from the Father and the Son.

            So, “I am the vine; you are the branches,” says our Lord.  And, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  What does it mean?  Probably the illustration is self-evident.  You know how it works if you’ve ever tended any plant.  There is the stock, which is rooted, the vine.  And then there are the bits that are not rooted, but shoot out of the stock… the branches… and they depend entirely for their existence on the stock to which they are connected.  Christ is the Stock.  Christ is the Vine.  You are the branches.  And it’s all very simple, now.  If you are connected to Christ, you live.  Because your life, the nourishing sap, flows from Him.  And if you aren’t connected to Him, you dry up and die. 

            And how do you stay connected to Him?  Well, it’s not a matter of just saying, “Oh, I’m a Christian,” but then never having anything to do with His Word, not attending to His preaching, never, or rarely, receiving His body and blood in the Sacrament.  How would that work out for a branch that only sometimes wanted to be connected to the vine, but the rest of the time wanted to go its own way?  You and I both know, that’s not how it works with branches.  But that’s how the majority of those who call themselves “Christians” in this nation try to do it.  But it simply doesn’t work.  You’re either connected all the way, or you’re not connected.  You stay connected to Him, Christ, your Vine, by complete attachment to His Word, His body, His blood, immersed in the things of Jesus.  You come to Church.  You read the Scriptures, and meditate upon them.  You pray.  Rooted in your Baptism into Christ. 

            And when you do that, the living sap of Jesus flows into you and through you, nourishing you, and making you fruitful.  That is the Holy Spirit.  He is your life, this Spirit.  And you only receive Him in the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, where you are connected to Christ.  You don’t receive Him from your feelings.  You don’t receive Him from your pious opinions, your good intentions, or your upright moral life.  You don’t receive Him from the air.  You can’t receive Him apart from Christ, any more than a branch separated from the vine can live.  That branch can’t do anything but dry up and die and never bear fruit, and neither can you when you separate yourself from Jesus in His gifts.  Be warned.  Repent.  Don’t let it happen to you.

            For when you are disconnected from Christ, and dry up, and die, what does Jesus say about it?  “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” (v. 6).  Just so you don’t miss it, He is talking about hell.  Death and hell, the very things Jesus Himself suffered for you, to save you from them.

            But when you are connected to Christ, His Spirit flowing into you by His Word and Sacrament, you live!  And then what?  You necessarily bear fruit.  That is what living branches do.  That is what those who abide in Jesus, in His Word, in His love, do.  And what is the fruit?  The love of God in Christ flowing through you, and overflowing in good works that serve your neighbor and give glory to God. 

            This is, of course, Christ in you.  It is His Spirit in you.  It is His good work, first worked in you, and then worked through you.  You are given to be God’s hands and feet in the world.  You do this in your vocations and your station in life.  Apart from Him you can do nothing.  But in Him, you bear much fruit, and so prove to be His disciples. 

            Notice how St. John is speaking of just this in our Epistle (1 John 4:1-21).  Again, what does it mean to be a Christian?  It means, first of all, to believe and confess that Jesus Christ, our only Savior, is the Son of God in human flesh.  Any confession that contradicts this is of the spirit of antichrist.  It is literally a confession of something else in place of (anti) Christ.  And then, to be a Christian is to love the neighbor.  It is to love one another.  For love is from God.  We love, because He first loved us.  “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (v. 9).  “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (v. 11).  That’s just who we are, now, in Christ.  “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (v. 16).  Okay, so, faith and love.  In Christ.  Connected to the Vine.  That is what it is to be a Christian. 

            Very important, though, to get the order right, because this is precisely the point where many Christians get it dreadfully wrong.  It is not the case that we love so that we may be Christians.  It is not the case that we love in order to remain connected to Christ, the Vine.  It is rather that we love as a result of our connection to Christ.  Christ has made us Christians in Holy Baptism, and He keeps us connected to Himself by His Word and Supper.  And anyone who is thus connected to Him will necessarily love.  First faith, then love.  But yes, love.  It is necessary. 

            Beloved, repent of despising our Lord’s Word and His Sacrament.  Repent of treating them lightly.  And repent of your lovelessness.  Repent of neglecting your neighbor, or despising him.  Repent of your dead works.  These are the things the Lord prunes.  Did you notice in our Gospel reading, how Jesus says that everyone gets cut?  “Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2).  If you are fruitless, if you do not love, then you are dead, even if you are in Church every Sunday.  You’ll be cut off, and piled up with the other branches.  On the other hand, if you are bearing fruit, showing evidence of your faith by loving your neighbor, your Father will still prune you.  That is, He will lead you to repentance, by convicting you with His Word of Law.  He will give you crosses and suffering to bear.  He will cut away your idols and your sins.  He will cut away all that hinders you from abiding in Him and bearing fruit.  It will hurt.  But it will lead to greater health, and more fruitfulness. 

            But as you abide in the love of Jesus, in spite of the pruning, and even in the pruning, yourself believing and loving… there is great joy.  That is what Jesus says.  The Lord takes great joy in you.  And your joy in the Lord is made full. 

            I didn’t appreciate this verse as I should have when I was confirmed all those years ago.  In fact, for many years, I had to keep asking, “what was my verse again?”  Thankfully, my mother had the presence of mind to write it down.  God gave her that wisdom, as she was abiding in Christ.  But over time, as I read it, and heard it, and thought about it, I came to see how this was, in fact, the theme verse of my entire life.  Not because Pr. Wellman had some direct revelation from the Holy Spirit when he picked it.  But because, in meditating on the verse, the verse was having its way with me, accomplishing in me the very thing God says in the verse.  I was abiding in Christ.  And Christ in me.  And any fruit I’ve borne in my life and ministry is due to that alone… to Christ alone.  By His Word. 

            That’s what God’s Word does.  It keeps you in Christ.  It keeps Christ in you.  And you bear much fruit.  As you hear, read, and meditate on God’s Word, it has its way with you.  It does what it says… what God says.  If you know your Confirmation verse, give it a shot.  Just see what will happen.  And if you don’t know you Confirmation verse, I’ll give you one.  Then, as you meditate on it, great things will happen.  Your connection to Christ will deepen (faith).  All that is not Christ will be pruned away (repentance).  And you will bear fruit (love).  And so, you will have joy.  And your joy… because it is in Christ… because your joy is Christ… will be full.

            Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.