In our gospel reading for today, Jesus gives us another description of the Christian life using pictures from nature – last week Jesus was shepherd and we were sheep; this week Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. And if we thought being sheep wasn't much of a job description, now we have the great honor of being branches on a vine – unable to do anything on our own, and subjected to random pruning. Our goal is to produce fruit – the more fruit, the more glory God receives. But the power to make this fruit does not lie in US, it lies in the VINE, Jesus Christ – and our task is to ABIDE in him....
You have probably all heard this expression, “It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.” For me, that place is Hawaii. It is an amazing place to visit – stunning landscapes, perfect climate, and oh, the fresh pineapple. So why wouldn't I want to live there? Why would I not want to ABIDE in Hawaii? Because abiding in Hawaii means making a commitment to Hawaii, and that means leaving behind THIS place and all the things we enjoy here – minus 50 wind chill; dusty summers with no rain; and of course, the sounds of anxious cows at 2 in the morning, and freight trains at 3. I am unwilling to give these things up, to make a commitment to Hawaii, and so, for me, Hawaii is just a nice place to visit. Now, Wenona, on the other hand....
For many people, life with Jesus is a nice place to visit, but they wouldn't want to live there. It's wonderful to get together here in church on Sunday and catch up with folks, hear the words from the Bible, sing some praises...have a nice sit-down with Jesus. But on Tuesday, when there's an opportunity to take advantage of the gray area of a business deal...on Thursday, when there's a chance to pass along the JUICIEST, and most likely to be false, gossip of the year...on Saturday, when the wedding banquet you are at features numerous young women who are not your wife, dressed to slay...that's when abiding in Jesus takes commitment. That's when abiding in Jesus means leaving somewhere else behind. And that is what Jesus asks for in today's lesson. “Abide in me; whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch, and withers.”
In fact, the Greek word MENW that we translate as “abide”, is also used to mean “stand fast in the heat of battle.” Now there's a better job description for us – the Christian life means standing fast beside Jesus in the heat of the battle. And the heat of battle often comes to us when we are in the process of being pruned. God, the vinegrower, periodically prunes us and shapes our lives by removing things from our lives – sometimes gently, sometimes violently. And since this process is very painful to us, Satan attacks, trying to convince us that God is heartless, cold, and malicious, or at least, that our misfortune is a sign that we are withering away from the vine. But these are times when we are called to stand fast beside Jesus in the heat of battle, and put our trust in the vinegrower. And this is much easier to say than to do, because it takes COMMITMENT on our part to abide in Jesus.