Having a Fruitful New Year
John 15:1-8
©Copyright December 30, 2007 Bruce Goettsche SERIES: Jesus: In His Own Words
We are at the end of another year and as a year ends we try to evaluate the preceding year. People use different tools for this process,
These tools don’t work so well when trying to evaluate the work of a church or the growth in our spiritual lives. How do you measure spiritual growth? Do you look at how much of the Bible you’ve read? How many verses you memorized? The number of services attended? The acts of service you’ve extended? Do you try to count up the number of people you have witnessed to? They all seem to fall short of giving an accurate picture.
This morning we turn our attention to the last of the “I Am’s”
of Jesus. John 15 is part of what is
called “the Olivet Discourse”. These are
the words we believe Jesus spoke as He and the disciples were walking to the
Let’s look at the text. Jesus said,
“I am the true
vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because
of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will 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.
5 “I am the vine;
you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much
fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain
in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are
picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me
and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples.
Jesus described the disciples as branches on the vine. He Himself is the True vine. This is actually
quite a radical statement. Just as an
eagle reminds Americans of our country, the vine reminded Jesus’ listeners of
their nation,
In these words Jesus told the disciples that God’s desire
was for them to “bear fruit”. Admittedly that is a little abstract for us. Paul said, “the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control.” [Galatians 5:22,23]. Bearing
fruit is not only about what we do; it is about who we ARE.
As we look at this text we see some clues for what we need to do to be
fruitful in the year ahead. Let me state
these clues as Resolutions for the New Year.
RESOLUTION #1: REMEMBER MY ROLE
Jesus emphasized that HE is the Vine.
He calls the Father the gardener (the One who tends the vine). Jesus told us that we CANNOT bear fruit apart
from Him. He says, apart from Him we can
do NOTHING.
The thing we must remember is that the only way for us to be fruitful
is for the life of Christ to flow through us.
We are but branches . . . we are not the vine itself. As branches, we
are dependent on the Lord for our very life.
If we become detached from the vine we may look healthy and competent
for a little while but in a short period of time we will wither and die.
A person on kidney dialysis knows that they need the dialysis to live. After awhile, some people grow tired of this continual cleansing of their blood. They feel fine. Some decide to stop dialysis. Some actually feel better for a few days, but before long the toxins bring on a coma and then death. In the same way, if we become detached from the Lord we will wither and die.
Throughout the course of this year we need to constantly remind
ourselves of this truth. He is the King; we are not. When the circumstances of life are difficult
we must remember that He is the One who knows what is best; not us. When we become impatient and try to force
things to happen the way we think they should, we need to remember that His
timing is perfect; ours is not.
Back in the 70’s there was a popular Christian group that was one of the founders of what we call “Contemporary Christian Music”, the group was called “Love Song”. They wrote a song called “Front Seat, Back Seat” and here are the insightful lyrics,
I was runnin’ from my Master
And I tried out every new thing I could find
But my life turned into one disaster
Without the Lord I almost blew my mind
I went barrelin’ out full speed ahead
I went runnin’ every stop sing that I’d see
Thinkin’ I’d give the Lord a shortcut
But I found out He don’t need no help from me
I was sitting in the front seat
Trying really hard to be the driver
Thinking’ I was making real good time
But always winding up a late arriver
But now I’ve been trying out the back seat
And I find it is a very great relief
Now, I’m riding in the back seat
And I’m leaving all the driving to the Chief[3]
The song is a little sappy but it understands that He is the vine and
we are the branches. Our job this year
is to leave the driving to the Lord.
It is interesting that Jesus does not tell the disciples that their job
is to produce fruit. No, their job is to
remain close to the vine. It is our
relationship with Him that will produce the fruit. In verses 4-7 Jesus used the
word, “remain” eight times!
Have you ever lost track of your child, even for an instant, in a
department store? It’s a terrifying
thing. Most parents will tell you that
their child was standing right beside them and they turned to look at something
and an instant later when they turned back, the child was gone. Your child did not set out to get lost, they
just became distracted. He/she saw
something that interested them and they went to check it out. Children are easily distracted. So are believers.
We start out with eagerness but we become distracted by
The list could go on and on. Jesus
reminded the disciples that they would have to make a deliberate effort to
abide and follow through. In order to
remain (or abide) in Christ we must develop discipline. Some of you have learned the value of
discipline when it comes to money, exercise, dieting and even your work. We need that same kind of discipline when it
comes to walking with Christ.
Practically, if we are going to remain in Him we need to make time
to be with the Lord every day. Jesus
said the disciples were already cleaned (v. 3) because of the Word spoken to
them. The Bible is God speaking to
us. It is the Word of God that provides
the standard by which we are to measure our lives. As we allow the Word of God to search us and
direct us we are “cleansed” and made fruitful.
It is not just reading the Bible that is important, it is hearing it and
applying it. James said we are to be “doers of the Word and not hearers only.”
Let me give you an example. Suppose you are reading about gossip. It’s great to underline the verse and maybe even memorize it. But God calls us to do more. He wants us to look at our own behavior and see if we are saying things about others that should not be shared or may not be true. We need to search our hearts and determine if we have drawn conclusions about others without ever checking things out by actually talking to the person. If we find that we are guilty, we should stop and ask God to forgive us. We then do what we need to do to make things right. That is the kind of daily exposure to God’s Word that leads to fruit-bearing.
Think about how our lives would be changed if we did this with commands about humility, forgiveness, gentleness, resentment, generosity, commitment, and love.
I encourage you to establish a regular Bible reading program this
year. Here are some things you might try,
If you are like most people, you will start out with great energy but then
you will get distracted. When you see
that happening, come back and pick up where you left off.
Second, we need to keep a maintain a constant conversation with the
Lord. We should sit down and pray
but we also need to learn to talk with God throughout the day. When you do something foolish, confess it
immediately. When you have hurt someone,
ask for the strength to apologize.
Discuss your decisions with the Lord.
Thank God for the blessings as you recognize them. Stop and pray for people who are in need. Keep the lines of communication open.
Third, listen carefully.
Listen for the whisper of God’s Spirit.
Be open to God’s instruction. Do what God tells you to do in the
Scriptures. Learn to ask: “What does the
Bible say?” Do what He says even when you don’t want to do it. Trust His judgment.
Anyone can make resolutions. The person who grows in faith is the one
who follows through. Jesus said that those
who remain in Him we can “ask whatever we wish and it will be done for
us.” This isn’t magic; it is common
sense. If we abide with Him we will understand
what God desires for us. We will then
ask for what is in accordance with His will and we will see God gladly answer
our prayers in staggering ways.
Everyone who works with grapes understands that the key to fruitful
vines is pruning. Pruning determines the
health, the taste and the abundance of the grapes. To prune a vine a skillful
hand is necessary. The owner must know
how much to trim, and when to do so. Timing
is everything. The owner must wait until
the branch has been fruitless for a month or so and is truly dormant for the
season. This way the pruning will not
rob the branch of its nourishment.
The Lord teaches us to be dependent on Him and to trust His pruning in
our lives. Unfortunately, the pruning
process is often not very pleasant. If
you were the branch that was being pruned you would probably believe that the
Gardener was trying to destroy you!
In the book of Hebrews we are told that we should “endure hardship as discipline.”(Heb. 12:7) It is hard for us to understand that because God loves us He often allows hard things to come into our lives.
Little children believe that parents should give them everything they want. They believe their parents should solve all their problems and cater to all their desires. Children often get mad when we say “No” or require that they do things they do not want to do (like take a bath, brush their teeth or put money in the bank). Children want immediate gratification. As parents, we want them to learn life skills that will help them to stand on their own two feet.
Likewise, we don’t understand why God
doesn’t give us everything we want. We
don’t understand why He sometimes says, “no” or allows difficult things into
our lives. The answer however is that
God desires something more for us than what we want for ourselves. He wants us to develop roots. He wants us to be fruitful. He wants us to bring Him glory.
Sometimes God will prune us,
Max Lucado writes,
You’ve seen gardeners realign a plant, and
you’ve probably seen God realign a life. The family uprooted and transferred to
another city—was it so they could learn to trust God? The person so healthy,
suddenly sick—was it to remind him to rely on the Gardener? The income stream
dried up—was it God’s way of lifting you out of the soil of self and drawing
you closer to himself? Leaders with questionable motives and morals are
elected. Is it God’s way of stirring people to revival?[4]
We all know people who face difficult times and
become angry and hard. Our challenge for
the year is to trust the hand that does the pruning. There will be times when we don’t understand
what is going on. These are the times
when faith must have deep roots. If we submit to God’s pruning and seek to
learn from life’s experiences, we will become more fruitful. If we resist, we will become just a gnarled
mess of weeds.
If you have ever had an infection you were probably given antibiotics and
been told by the Doctor or Pharmacist that you need to take ALL of medicine. Many people start feeling better and stop
taking the medicine. This is dangerous. If the bacteria has not been completely
killed, it will adjust and become a stronger and more resistant bacteria. You may end up sicker than you were in the
first place.
I believe Jesus is telling us the same thing as the Doctor or Pharmacist. If you want to make progress and bear fruit
in your walk with God, you need to follow through. Satan and the sin nature
within us will not be defeated unless we stick with it. So during this next year I encourage you to,
If we will do these things there is no guarantee that others will
declare our year to be “successful”. But
what will happen is that we will grow closer to the Lord. We will grow spiritually. We will have a greater sense of fulfillment
and intimacy with God. God’s heart will
pulse more effectively in our frame. And more importantly, our Lord will be
glorified, His Kingdom (the only thing that really lasts) will be advanced, and
there will be a smile on His face and a “well done!” on His lips. If we do these things, it will be a very good
year indeed.
©Copyright December 30, 2007
Bruce Goettsche SERIES: Jesus: In His
Own Words
[1] Psalm 80:8-9, 14; Isaiah 5:7, Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 19:10; Hosea 10:1
[2] Steve Brown IF JESUS HAS COME (Grand Rapids: Baker 1992) p. 190
[3] Copyright 1971 Dunamis Music. Words and music by Chuck Girard and Tom Coomes
[4]Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder : Hearing God Through the Storm (Dallas, TX: Word Pub., 1995), 145.