I am The True Vine
There are different ways of describing the church in the Bible. Our Lord Jesus talked of His relationship with believers using the metaphor of the Good Shepherd and His Sheep. Jesus Christ is our Shepherd and we are His sheep in the sense that He provides for all our needs, physical and spiritual, while we trust in Him completely, not in our own knowledge or strength.
In today's Reading, Jesus uses another illustration. He says this: "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser." Furthermore, "I am the Vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; because apart from Me nobody can do anything."
What does this mean? A vine has its roots in the soil to conduct water and nutrients to its branches. On a previous occasion, Jesus spoke of the church as God's flock. Now He talks of the church as His branches. The church does not exist apart from Jesus Christ; the church is united with Christ in a most intimate communion. We are the church: we are the branches of Christ. In Christ we have our life and our purpose. Without Christ, we cannot live. With Christ, we may bear much fruit. What is this fruit? Good works.
But are we not saved apart from works? Most assuredly, we are justified by faith in Christ, not by our own works. Jesus says: "Already you are clean, because of the word that I have spoken to you." What is this word? The Gospel of Christ's suffering on the cross, His death and resurrection. Only because of Jesus Christ do we have the promise of life eternal.
However, Jesus also says: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." Good works are the sign of a living faith in Christ, yet they are not our works, but the works of the Holy Spirit.
That is why our Lord warns us, "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." Beware, there are many who say, "I am a Christian," because they like the idea that God loves everyone and does not desire anyone's condemnation.
It is true, God does not desire anyone's condemnation. God the Father sent His Son to save us, yet not just to save, but also to free us from sin. He who will not abandon a sinful lifestyle cannot be in communion with Christ and His church. The mark of a Christian is a transformed life, dedicated to Christ.
Jesus said, "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." Remain in Christ and see what He will do.
True repentance is the desire for a changed life, which God brings about by the work of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who says, "I am a Christian," but does not bear the fruit of the Spirit is a dead, dry branch that one day the Father, the Vinedresser, will cut off and throw in the fire.
We can ask the question what is this fruit of the Holy Spirit ? The answer is given in Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The longer we live our lives as christians the more of this fruit should be apparent in our lives.
From time to time someone will tell me that they are not good enough to go to church. They will tell me that they will try to improve their lives and then they will come to church. That would be like a branch trying to produce a grape in order to earn a place on the vine.
An alcoholic was living rough on a park bench outdoors at night. He had come to a very low ebb with his alcohol addiction. He had a history of crime and being in and out of prison.
Some Christians came to witness to him about the love of Christ. He was dismissive but they kept coming back to him. When he ended up in hospital they came to see him.
He became so ill the doctors considered switching off his life support however his mother stopped them from doing so. Eventually he recovered and became a Christian. He felt that he no longer had any desire for drink and has stayed sober for the rest of his life.
He is now in Christian ministry to prisoners in jail and witnesses to young people who would be involved in crime. He is happily married now with a family.
A young vine is not allowed to fruit for the first 3 years of its life and each year it is cut back drastically to develop and conserve its life and energy. This turns it into a more fruitful and abundant vine. God can prune our lives through difficulties to help us to grow in the Christian life and to make us more fruitful in our lives.
An illustration of the importance of being connected to Jesus comes from the story of Laurance of Arabia. When Lawrence was in Paris after World War I with some of his Arab friends, he showed them the sights of the city: the Arch of Triumph, the Louvre, Napoleon's tomb, the Champs Elysees, but none of these things impressed them. The thing that really interested them the most was the faucet in the bathtub of the hotel room. They spent much time in turning it on and off. They found it amazing that one could turn a handle and get all the water he wanted.
Later, when they were ready to leave Paris and return to the East, Lawrence found them in the bathroom with wrenches trying to disconnect the faucet. "You see," they said, "it is very dry in Arabia. What we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want." Lawrence had to explain that the effectiveness of the faucets did not lie in themselves but in the immense reservoirs of water to which they were attached, and he had to point out that behind this lay the rain and snowfalls of the Alps.
What a tremendous application to our Christian lives. Like the faucet by itself, so as individual Christians by ourselves, without Christ we are useless (John 15:5), ". . . apart from me you can do nothing." The lives of many Christians are as dry as the Arabian desert. They have their faucets, but there is no connection to the Living Water. May we trust God by faith so that our lives may be abundantly fruitful. Don't be a fruitless faucet.