Pruning

My in-laws always had a garden in the various places where they lived. In this one place they had forsythias. My mother-in-law particularly enjoyed them. This one year my father-in-law was pruning them, and he cut them way back. My mother-in-law was concerned that he may have cut too much. But he said that you had to cut them back to where the branch was still green, still alive. That's how you can make sure that the pruning will work. And the following year he was proved right. The forsythias were lush and beautiful because of his pruning.

We are still looking at Jesus' parable of the vine and branches. Last week we looked at what He has to say about bearing fruit. Today, we're going to look at pruning. Listen to what Jesus said.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (John 15.1-2)

Jesus is describing an aspect of following Him. He tells us that the Father prunes the branches of the vine. He prunes you. He does that so that you can flourish just like that forsythia bush did. I would like to explore this notion of pruning so that you can live well as disciples of Jesus.

Let's start with this. Pruning hurts. When you prune you don't just take away the dead part of the branch. You cut where the branch is alive. That will hurt. The Father's pruning doesn't have to be some major crisis in your life. Pruning can include lots of things that are nowhere near a crisis. Pruning can also show up as the little disappointments that come at us. But whatever form it takes, it hurts. The Father is pruning you. So, when something has happened and you are hurting it just might be a good idea to ask, 'What is God doing? Is He pruning me so that I might flourish? Is that why life is hurting now?' That will not remove the hurting, but it gives a reason why you hurt. And that will help you to deal with that hurt.

Let's relate this to life in modern America. One of the mottos of our culture goes something like this. 'At all costs, avoid pain.' That seems reasonable enough. Who wants to hurt? It makes no sense to hurt. Except that Jesus says that it does. The Father's pruning makes total sense. You see, it's from that pruning that fruit comes. Using a different word, Hebrews echoes the same thought.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Jesus isn't saying that we are to like the pain of being pruned. Pain is never pleasant. But He does want us to look to the result. The Father's pruning results in fruit, some expression of the life of God that you have been given.

It needs to be said that if you adopt this kind of thinking your friends and neighbors will think you're nuts, especially when you tell them that you are grateful to the Father for His pruning. That will sound absolutely insane to them. Remember their motto: 'At all costs, avoid pain.' But you can give thanks in the midst of the pain of pruning because you can say, 'My life is going to be changed because of this. It will be better. I will flourish because of what the Father is doing now. Jesus promises me that.' So, yes, pruning hurts. But the pain is for a good reason. You will flourish.

There is another reason to be grateful for the Father's pruning. This is one of the ways that He tells you that you are doing a good job at being a disciple. Listen again.

… every branch that does bear fruit he prunes …

The Father does not prune dead and fruitless branches. We'll take a look at what He does with those in the weeks to come. But when it comes to those branches that are doing well, that actually are bearing fruit already, these He prunes so that they will bear even more fruit. So, when life begins to hurt, when the Father is pruning you, He is telling you, 'You're doing well. I see fruit. And to help you to do better at that, I'm going to prune this over here.'

Now, even that praise from the Father will not make the hurt go away. And there may be times when you need to cry out for the grace to deal with the pain. Read the Psalms. But in the midst of all of that, you can be encouraged. 'I'm doing a good job. That's why the Father is pruning me. I'm doing a good job.'

I hope that you agree that there are good reasons to accept the hurt that comes when you are being pruned, when life hurts because of what the Father is doing. I hope that you can now say, 'I will accept the pain of pruning because I know that it is going to result in my life flourishing. I will become more of a real person, a whole person, because of what the Father is doing.' That's good, but it's not as complete as it needs to be. And there is the potential for great danger when an incomplete bit of truth is accepted as the whole truth. So, let me add to it a bit.

Pruning is good because it leads to flourishing. But it's not just you that will flourish. No one who looked at that forsythia bush in my in-laws' backyard ever said, 'Look at that branch and how beautiful it is.' No, it was, 'Look at that bush!' The Father prunes you, each one of you, so that the whole vine will look beautiful. We live in a culture that is all about the individual. But the Bible is about more than the individual. It's also about the group, the whole vine. Your pruning is important and of great benefit because of what happens to the other people in this room. The pruning that each of you experience is a way for the Father to bless all of us as a group. So, you accept the hurt of pruning for the sake of the group. Your pruning will do you good, and it's helpful to remember that. But, particularly because we have all been touched by the idolatry of the individual, it's important to remember that your pruning does the group some good, too. It's the whole vine that flourishes and not just one branch. And what is this but another application of the command: ‘Love one another.’ We accept the pain of pruning for the sake of the group.

Here's one more reason to accept the hurt of pruning. Listen again to Jesus.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Bearing lots of fruit is good for you, and it's good for the group. But for Jesus there is something that is more important than either of these. Bearing lots of fruit makes the Father look good. And the only way to bear a lot of fruit is by being pruned – a lot. So, you see, when life hurts, when you are being pruned and some part of you that is still alive is clipped away and you really feel it, you can tell yourself, 'I am dealing with this so that the Father will look good to the people watching me.' And we're back again at one of those key themes of the Christian life. We exist to make God look good. We can do that in times of great happiness. But there are going to be those times when we will do that when life hurts. We accept the Father's pruning, and we do that because we love Him. He is, after all, our Father.

You need to understand that as you pursue this kind of life you will face opposition. The world, the flesh and the devil will tell you that you're crazy. 'Life isn't about hurting. Life is about enjoying yourself, having fun. Who thinks that hurting is supposed to be a part of living life well? No one thinks that. That’s just nuts.' And that kind of thinking can be very persuasive. So, what do you do in the face of all of that? It all boils down to trust. Jesus has explained one aspect of what it means to flourish. He is telling us that the Father's pruning leads to flourishing. Now, a person either believes Him, or he doesn't. It may be that a Christian struggling with this might pray the way that father in the Gospels did, 'Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.' I completely understand that. But even in his struggles that man did believe. If all you've got is faith the size of a mustard seed, that's good enough to start. So, we're back again to the same theme. Believe the Gospel. Jesus has just explained a part of it to you. Believe Him.