This teaching, entitled The Vine and the Branches, was delivered by the Reverend John W. Howe at the Friday night prayer and praise service held at Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia on March 13, 1981. The scripture reference is John chapter 15. 

Father, let the Spirit who brooded upon the face of the deep brood upon our hearts and minds. Let Him who inspired the prophet and apostle to write the words of this book open them to our understanding and write them upon our hearts. For we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. 

I want to take a look at a passage of Scripture that I think is familiar to us, but it's familiar in its three parts. And I'm absolutely sure that God intended us to see it in its unity, not just in its parts.

And that's John chapter 15. If you study the chapter as a whole, I think it's very clear that one part flows out of another and that, as I say, Jesus really intended that we see all three of, at least the way it's broken in my Bible, it's broken into paragraphs and all three paragraphs fit together. The first part is a very familiar parable in which Jesus calls himself the true vine.

I am the true vine, he says, and my father is the vine dresser or the gardener, the one who's tending the vine. I am the true vine he's implying something there are a lot of vines which are not true there are a lot of vines which are growing which the father is not tending there are a lot of weeds that somebody else has sown in the garden you remember perhaps in Matthew 15 how he says every tree which my father has not planted will be uprooted if my father didn't plant it he has no stake in bringing it into some kind of maturity that's the wrong maturity if my father didn't plant it he has no stake in renewing it sometimes we go around and talk to people in the so called renewal movement and I think a mistake that we make is thinking that whatever we have started we'll just ask God to bless you know Jesus said if my father didn't plant it he isn't going to bless it he's going to rip it up, destroy it. He says, I am the true vine.

I'm the one that God is concerned about. As a matter of fact, I am the true vine. And in this parable, at least, he's the only thing going that the Father's interested in.

Alright? There are different ways of expressing the same truth. In this parable, Jesus is the only vine that the Father's interested in.

And he says, and you are the branches. do you understand what he's saying you and I have no independent existence and we think we do but that which is worthwhile and that which will endure is what we are in him and everything else is going to go by the board you are the branches you are plugged into the vine you're not some other vine out there the Father is tending you as well. You are part of this vine or you're nothing.

This vine has been planted in good soil. Jesus has sent down His roots into the soil of God's Word. His tap root He's sent down after the streams of living water.

He's found their source. He's sucking that water up. It's coursing through the parent vine and out into the branches and giving them life.

That's who we are. That's what we are. Branches in Him.

Now, get the point of this. You cannot, and He will not, produce fruit in any other way. He chooses not to produce fruit except through you and me.

He chooses not to do that. He will not do it except through His branches. You and I are the branches.

we cannot he will not and he says the point of the whole thing is fruit verse 2 he says every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit and then down in verse 5 he who abides in me and I in him he it is that bears much fruit fruit more fruit much fruit that's God's will that's not an optional extra fruit, more fruit, much fruit people telling you you're kind of fruity that's good you're right where you're supposed to be fruit, more fruit, much fruit that's God's will and you know the basic story here he says if a branch is not healthy if it's dead, if it's non-productive my father, the vine dresser, the gardener will cut it off and burn it up it will be destroyed that which is not holy that which is not true might as well relinquish it to him right now he's going to destroy it one way or another but it's much more sobering than that because pruning involves cutting into good living productive tissue as well Dave had a word from the Lord tonight Dave Barton at the beginning of our time he said you desire to bear much fruit well if you do bear in mind God is going to cut into living tissue some of you have worked with plants and horticulture and you know that the way that that a vine or a plant or a tree becomes more productive is that they cut it back at the very point where it is productive where fruit is being born they cut it back further and that puts the life back in to produce even more and so I suggest to you that means that God interested only in cutting that which is sinful out of our lives, but that which is perfectly legitimate, even good, he may begin to cut into, and it may be very painful until it is totally yielded to him. Lord, you can take it, you can throw it out, you can put it on the shelf, you can give it back to me, because if you give it to me, it's still yours anyway. And then he's able to use it.

How many times we've seen God give us some particular blessing and we knew when he gave it he intended it to be shared with others and somewhere along the way we began to become covetous of it clutch it to ourselves and it became the very opposite of what God intended he's going to cut that out until that's yielded back to him he can't use it so be aware of that you don't need to be afraid of it but you do need to be aware of it you can expect God to cut into your life even in areas where it seems perfectly legitimate. And it's going to be painful. You don't have to do anything about that.

The point of the whole parable is abide in me. Our attention is to be directed to the parent vine. And my father, he says, will worry about the other end of the branch.

Do you follow what I just said? You know, we can get so worried about whether or not we're producing fruit that we really turn our backs on Jesus and look at what's happening out here at the end of our branch. That's not the point of the parable.

He says, you will be cut. You will be pruned. It will be painful.

That's okay. God knows what He's doing. Now, abide in Me.

You will pay attention to Jesus and let Him worry about the other end of the branch. That's the first piece of John 15. The transition comes with this word abide.

Abide in Me, He says, and that is defined as keep my commandments. Keep my commandments. Verse 11, These things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

This is for your joy. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. What is the principal fruit that God wants to produce in us?

well you know from Galatians 5 the fruit of the spirit is love joy, peace, patience, long suffering gentleness and so on a whole list of nine fold fruit the principal one is love what I want to produce in you is love says Jesus love is the fruit out of which all the other fruit comes alright what my father is about is the production of the fruit of love That's what he's interested in. That is the point of cutting away that which is unproductive and that's the point of pruning that which is. Is that we might become the more loving.

This is my commandment, that you love one another. We have an interesting circle here. The way you produce fruit is by abiding.

The way you abide is by keeping his commandment to love, which is to produce fruit. you produce fruit by abiding you abide by producing fruit and that's the point of the whole thing my father he says wants you to be donors of love give and give and give of yourself and the standard is as I have loved you a new commandment I give you. That you love one another as I have loved you.

What's new about it? As I have loved you, not just love your neighbor as yourself. That's high enough for most of us that we would love somebody else as much as we love ourselves.

Jesus says, not high enough. The standard now is that you would love each other as I have loved you, which is with a willingness to be crucified for each other. You with me?

and by each other. That's what Jesus said. I allow you to crucify me.

And I tell you to love each other with that same willingness. How are we going to be pruned unless we're caught? Where is the pain going to come from?

A whole lot of it is going to come from the brethren. and how do we respond to that? By getting hard and paying back or by allowing it to cut us and the fruit of the Spirit to be produced in that place.

The fruit of love. Verse 16, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. This is why I chose you.

You thought it was because you were so lovely. no I chose you to bear fruit what fruit? fruit of love what kind of love?

the kind that is willing to be crucified that's why I chose you that I might reproduce myself in you this I command you to love one another I've said this over and over and over I need to hear it again maybe you do too there is nothing nothing in God's list of priorities for us, but that we would fall more and more deeply in love with each other. Do you believe that? That everything else we're about counts as nothing if we're not in love with each other and living it in a costly way.

So somebody irritates you. Maybe he or she is sitting in this room. Are you going to allow that irritation to break fellowship?

When Jesus said, the most important thing is that you're willing to be crucified by that person. You go and receive and welcome the pain and go on loving. Go on loving.

Go on loving. By this shall men know that you are who you claim to be. That you love each other.

the world can legitimately conclude we're a bunch of hypocrites and phonies. Don't care how much money we give away, how many buildings we build, how many mortgages we pay off, how many excellent sermons are preached and books are written and libraries are founded and hospitals are started and doctors are sent and missionaries go out. It doesn't add up to anything unless we're in love with each other.

And that's part two. And part three, If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. He says you're to be donors of love and recipients of hatred.

Are you prepared to follow that kind of a commission? If the world hated me, says Jesus, it will hate you. I'd put it to you this way that the more we become like Jesus the more likely it is that we're going to receive the same treatment he got think on that unless human nature has changed the more we become like him the more likely it is we're going to receive the same treatment he got he said beware when all men speak well of you you're hiding your light under a bushel let it shine they're going to try and put it out a servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. We haven't had a whole lot of that around. I mean, the things we call persecution, what?

A relative kind of cocks an eyebrow at us. Holier than thou. Goody, goody, two-shoes.

That's persecution. Oh, is me. You should have met the bishop from Mozambique.

Tell you about what it's like living under communist government. He said, people come up to me and they say, how did he put it? Isn't it hair-raising?

It's not hair-raising, it's faith-raising. Our brothers and sisters in many parts of the world are living under the threat of death. I say this very hesitantly.

I don't like gloom and doom preaching. I try to avoid it. And I'm not a very good political prophet.

But I believe that the darkness is going to be closing in and the persecution of Christians is going to intensify in the next few years beyond anything that you and I have ever seen. And I personally believe, and I may be completely wrong, I'm not telling you God is saying this, this is my belief. I personally believe that as Christians in the United States of America are throwing their muscle around in every area from sex education to the teaching of evolution, there is going to be one heck of a backlash.

So enjoy it while you've got it. But I believe that there are going to be some hard times for us. And whether or not the specifics of that work out, as any of us can see, I want us just to see the three paragraphs together.

You are the branches, and my purpose in calling you, in choosing you, in appointing you, is that you produce fruit. And the fruit is the fruit of love. That you go on giving love as you receive hatred.

And if you would be my disciples, that's what I call you to. You can't possibly do it by yourself. not a chance in the world he says abide in me let my word abide in you let my spirit abide in you let my spirit course through you you worry about abiding let him worry about fruit production my father will certainly prune you but it's to his glory would you bow your head with me Lord we have such an easy discipleship we would be those whose lives are marked by self-sacrifice for each other and by undaunted courage in the face of opposition.

Lord, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that if there be any here tonight who have unresolved conflicts with their brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, that You would cause them by Your Spirit to resolve this moment to do whatever they can to heal those broken relationships. God, forgive us when we allow our opinions, our tastes, the particularly quirky way that we like to do things to get in the way. of the fellowship of your body.

God, cause us to be creative in seeing ways in which we can support each other and give to each other, give of ourselves, that the bond of love might become so strong, so palpable, that people would come into our midst and know themselves to be in the presence of God. Lord we would fall in love with each other let your spirit make us one Father we would be vulnerable to opposition keep us from the sin of being defensive we would stand boldly for you and let the chips fall as they may and Lord if you give us the grace of relative freedom from persecution we thank you for it we only pray that if and as it comes to us you'd give us strength in the face of it Lord we would hold up our brothers and sisters around the world who in many cases are literally laying down their lives for the gospel. Lord, we pray for the church in China, for the church in Mozambique, for the church in El Salvador, for the church in Chile, the church in Russia, strengthen your church that it might stand Lord God be exalted in your church be exalted here in this place be high and lifted up Lord we would worship you tonight Lord we would renew our commitment and our desire to follow you no turning back no turning back though none go with me still I will follow no turning back no turning back Amen