John 15 is a cherished chapter in my Bible. Many lessons have been learned here in my short time as a disciple of Jesus. Themes from this chapter were put to music and the Inter-Varsity group that I was a part of sang them with some gusto. So, as I come the preach from this chapter there is a significant temptation to say too much and overwhelm you. I've worked to limit myself and fight that temptation so that what I do say will be helpful. I think that I've done okay at this. You can tell me later whether I succeeded at this.
The point that I want to press home will come at the end of the sermon. So, I thought it best to tell you what that is at the beginning. Last week's sermon ended with a call to prayer. I said something like, 'So, in a way, the sermon boils down to one thing. We need to pray.' Today, I want to build on that by looking at Jesus' promise in this chapter. '... ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.' That is a very bold statement, and I think one that is so very helpful to us. It is my hope that I will be able to help you to believe it and use it for the spread of the Gospel.
When Jesus said, 'I am the Vine and you are the branches', He was drawing attention to the intimacy of our relationship with Him. Many people in our world have a creed and try to live in accord with that creed. While we have creeds that describe who we are and what we are about, the point of being a Christian is not about following a creed. Being a Christian is about being united to a person. A vine and its branches share something. They share a common life. The life of the vine flows into the branches. The life of Jesus flows into us. That is what lies at the heart of the Gospel, being united to Christ. The promise of the Gospel is eternal life. Too many think of this in terms of getting to heaven one day. But eternal life is the life of the age to come that has been given to us now, in this age. We have that life now. It is the life of Jesus and it is ours by the ministry of the Spirit. It is ours now because we are branches in the vine. We do not have this life fully – that will happen at Jesus' return – but we really do have it. The life of eternity flows in our souls. Obviously, there is more here, but I'm trying to be good and limit myself.
This life that the vine shares with the branches shows in the fruit it produces. Take a ride at the right time to North East and you know what you'll see: vineyards, vines bearing fruit through their branches. Likewise, we are branches united to Jesus, the Vine, so that we might bear fruit. Now, an apt question at this point is to ask, 'What is this fruit? We know that it is a metaphor, but of what?' That's the right question. But before we answer the what question, I want to answer why. Why do we bear fruit. Jesus is quite clear. 'By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit...' The point of our fruit-bearing is to glorify the Father. Now 'glorify' is one of those church words, words that we can use so easily without actually knowing what they mean. So, let's translate that. Glorify means to make much of. If you were to go to a reception for someone who will be retiring what would you find? Well, this past Friday I went to one. Pastor Irfon Hughes is retiring and his church had a reception. At this reception I heard different people talk about Pastor Hughes. They shared stories about him, times that they enjoyed with him, different ways in which he was a very good pastor to them. They made much of this man. When we glorify the Father, we do the same thing. We make much of Him. We tell stories about Him, talk about times that we have enjoyed with Him and the different ways in which He has been a very good God to us. In one way or another, we highlight what is so good about our God. This is what the Bible does on every page. It makes much of God. And we do it, too. When we do that before the lost, we are evangelizing. When we do that before other saints, we are being encouraging. When we do that by ourselves, we are meditating. And when we do that before God Himself, we are worshiping. Glorifying God, making much of Him in different contexts and by different means, is the reason for our being alive. We are to make Him look good in the way we live each moment and in the way that we die at the end of it all. We make much of our Father by the fruit that we bear. That's all about the 'why' question. That's why we bear fruit.
Now we're ready for that 'what' question. What is this fruit that Jesus is talking about? Go back to North East. Imagine someone new to the area seeing the vines from a distance. He knows that they're vines but what kind? As he gets closer he sees the grapes and what kind of grapes that they are. Now he knows what kind of vines they are. The fruit Jesus talks about is what people see of your life when they get up close to you. We can think of this individually, but instead, let's think of this in terms of our church. Imagine someone walking through those doors for the first time and beginning to get to know us, the people of Faith Reformed. What kind of fruit would we like him to see? Now there's a question worth thinking about. I did and came up with a couple of things. We would like him to see a thirst for God that affects the whole of life. 'As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.' We would like him to see a deep sense of joy that continues even in the face of great hardship. So, Peter writes to some persecuted saints, 'Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory...' (Here, I was thinking about those Ugandan widows from last week.) We would like him to see a love for others that sacrifices what is precious. 'Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.' Those are some things that I think we would like newcomers to see. Those are some examples of what Jesus is talking about. Those are some of the fruit that we are called to bear: impressive personal qualities, qualities that require a lot to develop, qualities that lie close to the heart. I chose these to make a point. The fruit-bearing that Jesus is talking about is not a matter of dealing with some area of your life that needs that little bit more to get it really right. First, what 'get it really right' usually means is making my life a bit better for me. But isn't the point to make much of the Father? Take some pagan who, because of his training, seems to be a nice guy who is able to keep life pretty much under control. He also has areas of his life that need that little bit more to get right. So, with a little more effort and a bit of self-discipline he can make that progress. And, as a result, he has made his life a better for himself. He is not impressed that you, also using the same resources, can do what he can. Nor should he be. It's important that you see that Jesus is not talking about beating the pagans at their own game. He is talking about a completely different game. And so, the fruit that He is talking about is so very different. That's why I mentioned that short list: A thirst for God that affects the whole of life. A deep sense of joy that continues even in the face of great hardship. A love for others that sacrifices what is precious. And that is only the beginning. Remember, Jesus is all about a completely different game. He's not about taking nice people and making them a little bit nicer. He's about taking sinners and doing the impossible, changing their lives, producing the kind of fruit in them that would be considered unthinkable and beyond anyone's ability. And the result of this kind of fruit? This kind of fruit will make much of the Father.
Now we're ready for the promise of the text. This promise answers the question of how to bear such fruit. How can we bear the kind of fruit that will amaze the world and make much of the Father before their eyes? The assumption of the promise is that producing this kind of fruit is completely beyond us. Completely. So, Jesus says, 'Ask Me for this. Ask Me to produce this kind of fruit. And though it will seem impossible, I will grow that fruit in your life. Ask Me. Go ahead, ask Me.' It's here that the doubting Thomases show up. 'I claimed this promise once and nothing happened.' That's supposed to put an end to our discussions on – and our expectations of – this promise. But not for me. What if I asked Jesus for something, reminding Him of this promise. 'Lord, I think it would be good if I bear this fruit. So, I'm asking, expecting that You will do it because of this promise.' And what if He said, 'Well, I don't think that's the best idea. Let's do something different.' What if He said, 'No.' How should I respond to that? Should I whine, 'But You promised!!', like some bratty kid? Should I give up on the promise, telling myself that for some unknown reason it doesn't work for me? I don't think so. I think that it would be better if I were to say, 'Thank You, Lord, for not granting my request.' To be able to say that I need to do a few things. First, I need to acknowledge that I am not as wise as I might think that I am. I thought that bearing that particular fruit was a wise choice. Could it be that there is a wiser choice? Second, I need to trust Jesus not only as the one who is full of all wisdom but also as the one who passionately loves me. He is so totally committed to seeing amazing fruit develop on the branch called Leon Ben-Ezra. Everything changes when I believe that. And then, I need to remember that the goal is not about me, about making me feel good about myself and my life. The goal is to make much of the Father. So, after I thank Jesus for not granting me my request, what's my next move? My next move is not to be more tentative about the promise. My next move is to choose again and, with the same enthusiasm as before, to pray, 'Well, Lord, how about this? This looks like a good fruit to develop. What do You think?' Our problem is not that we ask for the wrong things as much as it is that we don't ask enough. The promise is wide open. Ask for whatever! We need to make full use of it, trusting in His wisdom and His love that He won't always give us what we ask for, but rather what we need so that we can make much of the Father. So, what fruit will you ask for?
Let me close with this. As you come to Jesus to ask for this or that fruit in your life, bear in mind that what you are really asking for is more of Jesus, more of His life flowing into your soul and changing what it looks like. And for that to happen, the Spirit needs to do His work. From what I can see at this point, next week we'll take a look at the ministry of the Spirit who works in the Church today to bring about this change. You might want to pray about that.
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