Connection (Second in Engage Sermon Series) John 15: 1-8 April 21, 2013 Rev.

Deborah Dail Denbigh Presbyterian Church

Review of Last Week and Series in General: Last week we started a new sermon series called Engage. The series will go until Pentecost Sunday, which is May 19. In this series we will explore how we will engage with God, with our culture, with one another. Last week we looked at a photograph of a bridge in Honduras. The bridge spans dry land instead of the river which flows beyond it. Years ago when Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras the course of the river changed, leaving the bridge standing, but with no purpose or function. We challenged ourselves to consider whether the church has become like the bridge. Our culture has changed dramatically. Is the church still a bridge over the troubled waters or is it so distant from and disconnected from the issues and troubles facing people today that we resemble the bridge in Honduras a bridge from nowhere to nothing? Asking those questions can leave us rather overwhelmed. How do we even begin to understand our post-modern culture what some scholars even refer to as our post-Christian culture? How do we engage with our children and grandchildren, our friends and colleagues, our classmates and fellow volunteers? How can we personally and collectively be bridges over troubled waters and share with others the Good News of Christ? We remember our connection. We abide in Christ, for apart from him we can do nothing. We rest in Christ, allowing the truth of Christs unconditional love for us transform us. We remember and nurture our connection with God. Listen now to John 15: 1-8

Scripture: John 15: 1-8 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 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 am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. Show Brennon Manning Utube video Live at Woodcrest (google Brennan Manning Live at Woodcrest the clip is about 3 minutes long) Sermon: I first heard Brennon Manning speak about 10 years ago when I attended the National Pastors Conference in San Diego, California. I recall how much his message touched me then. (Hearing him again in this utube clip reminds me why.) I am intrigued by Mannings belief that on judgment day Jesus will ask us only one question: Did you believe how much I loved you . . . desired you . . . waited for you day after day . . . longed to hear your voice? Did you believe how much I loved you? Manning of course suggests that the true believer will be able to answer yes. He also suggests that the true believer will have allowed the truth of Gods unconditional love to shape his or her life on earth. Manning challenges

us saying: I dare you to trust that God loves you as you are, not as you should be, because youll never be who you should be. In the Gospel According to John we read words Jesus spoke to his disciples right before his death: 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 am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. The Message translation: Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch cant bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you cant bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When youre joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. What does it look like to abide in Christ? What does it look like to make your home in Christ? Writers Ray Jones and David Loleng say that, based on the Greek word used in this context, abiding in Christ means leaning into or resting in Christ. They go on to explain that the word John uses here for abiding is the same word he uses to describe how the beloved disciple is reclining into Jesus, with his head on Jesus chest, during the Passover meal before Jesus arrest. (Engage, Jones and Loleng) Can it be possible that Jesus was inviting us to put our heads on his chest and to rest in him if we want to be connected to him and to bear fruit? Is it possible, as Brennon Manning suggests, that abiding in Christ is trusting that Christ loves us as we are and leaning into . . . living into that truth? Is it possible that abiding in Christ means believing with all of our hearts that we are loved by Christ even though Christ knows all the skeletons in our closets? When we connect with Christ in this way . . . when we allow this truth to transform our lives . . . we will do Christs work of loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves. But sometimes its hard to believe the truth of the Gospel. Its hard to believe that we are saved by grace through faith and not saved by our

works, our striving, our good deeds . . . . by how well we clean up. Its hard to believe that we can rest, relax and delight in Christs love. In fact, it seems that many of us do everything but rest in Christs love. We scurry about frantically trying to do everything in our own strength to manufacture fruit without having a connection with the vine who is Jesus. We mean well, but we often find that we are withering up, burning out and drying up. I have often read parts of this passage from John as some kind of threat. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned sounds pretty scary. But I have grown to believe that it is more a statement of reality than a threat. Remember that Jesus is speaking to his disciples. He says that they have already been cleansed. Some translations read that they have already been pruned by the word Christ had spoken to them. Its the same for us. We have been cleansed and pruned by the word Christ has spoken to us. But we will not bear fruit on an ongoing basis, as the disciples would not continue to bear fruit after Jesus died, rose and ascended, if we dont abide and rest in Christs love . . . if we dont continue to lean on Jesus and stay connected to Jesus. Jesus is not speaking of final judgment when he says Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. He is saying that when we dont rest in Christ and his love, when we are not connected to the truth of Christs unconditional love for us, then we will wither up, we will burn out, we will not bear fruit. If I purchase grapes at the store grapes that have obviously been disconnected from their vine and source of life they will taste good for a while. But after a while theyll get mushy. They will shrivel up. They will be of no use. And, quite obviously, when this cluster of grapes is not connected to the vine it wont produce any more grapes. This is it. If we are to be bridges over troubled waters (as we spoke about last week) . . . if we are to answer Gods call to show and tell of his

love . . . if we are to engage with our family, friends, neighbors and strangers in ways that let them know of Jesus . . . we must abide in Christ . . . rest in him . . . lean into him. If we are to be bridges over troubled waters . . . if we are to answer Gods call to show and tell of his love . . . if we are to engage with our family, friends, neighbors and strangers in ways that let them know of Jesus, we must answer with a resounding yes that we trust that Jesus loves us as we are, not as we should be. When we believe with all our hearts that Jesus loves us as we are, not as we should be because we will never (in this life) be what we should be, then we bear the fruit of loving other people as they are, not as they should be. We become less judgmental. We become less fearful. We bear the fruit of love. David Lose says: I think that part of what Jesus is saying is that by being connected to him we are also able -- even free -- to be connected with each other. Because finally what Jesus invites us to do is to be real, to be honest about who and what we are . . . Jesus invites us to be honest, to be real, and having confessed our hopes and fears, our dreams and disappointments, our accomplishments and failures, our blessing and our sin, to know what we are accepted, loved, and forgiven. Jesus reveals, after all, the God who loves the whole world enough to send the Son. But let's not kid ourselves -- being in genuine relationship and real community isn't easy. We tend to romanticize these things, especially when we're feeling lonely. But relationships have ups and downs, give and take. We have to be vulnerable in relationships, which means that we can never completely protect ourselves from being hurt. Same with community. Communities, we tend to forget, are made up of real people, some nicer, some not, but all of us have our days and tend to act like jerks from time to time. And being in community means dealing with that, sometimes running into someone who's being a jerk and at other times recognizing when we're the ones being the jerk. And then working it out. No, relationships and community aren't easy. But they are real. (David Lose, workingpreacher.org, April 29, 2012). Do you know how much Christ loves you? It is beyond words. Today take just a moment or two to close your eyes and reflect on the

truth that Christ loves you, knowing full well the skeletons in your closet, your weaknesses, your sins, your doubts, your secrets. Imagine yourself leaning on Jesus chest and feeling his love. PAUSE Now, who is the first person who comes to mind for you when you think about someone who also needs to know this truth today? How can you be a part of helping that person know this love? Abide in Christ, rest in Him and bask in his love. Out of that great love, live freely loving others in Christs name.