Fruitful for the Father - Conclusion

‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:1‭-‬8 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.15.1-8.NIVUK I remember a number of years ago my team and I were asked to meet with a pastor at his house before we visited his church. He advised us to not take any valuables with us. He said we should stay within the church compound whenever possible. He told us that if we did leave the compound, we should never do so alone - we had to take someone with us, preferably someone from the church. And he told us that we should be ready to move quickly and evacuate if the situation became dangerous. He was the pastor of a church in a Romany village where short tempers and a lack of respect for law and order could easily cause ugly situations. In fact, there were even times when he needed a police escort to go to the church. In these verses, Jesus is preparing His disciples for His arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection and departure. This passage is not just about the beautiful picture of Him as the vine and us as the branches, or the well-known verse about being willing to lay down our lives for our friends. There is much more to it than that. This is about Him warning them of the consequences if they decide to leave Him. And they did. It would be no stretch of the imagination to say that Judas could be the withered branch, or that the remaining Eleven could be the branches which stopped bearing fruit for a while. But that's not to say that these verses have no relevance now. God is still looking for fruit from His people. But will He find it from us? We used to have a rosebush in our garden. It was sickly. For six years my wife did everything she could to try and encourage it to grow strong and tall. But each year only a few heads of roses came up, and they were always weak and covered in black spots. Eventually she decided that the plant itself was probably sick. So we dug under the roots, yanked it out of the ground and got rid of it. Some of you might be shocked that someone could do that. But, as we said, every gardener has the right to do what they want with their garden. And that is what these verses teach. They teach that Jesus is the vine. From Him we receive love in action and He expects it from us. He also demands our absolute allegiance. God the Father is the gardener. He is in charge of what happens to the vine and He is looking for fruit from us. We are the branches, and can be divided into three types of branches: fruitless, withered and fruitful. Jesus clearly states that the Father's will is for us to be fruitful (John 15:8, 16). He gives us every resource that we need to be fruitful. But are we? Do we show by our behaviour and attitudes that we really have been changed, at all times? That is a tough question that should lead to self-examination and, where necessary, repentance, until we truly become fruitful for the Father.