Sermon 127
THE GARDENER
John 15:1-8
The Church is a Garden
The Church is the garden of God’s grace. It is the place where the saints grow and bloom.
The image of the vine may have been suggested by some visible object. Thus around the windows of
the guest-chamber the vine may have thrown its tendrils, or on the slopes of Olivet the vineyards
may have been prominent objects, or the burning heaps of vine-prunings may have suggested the
idea.
Again, if they were pausing in some apartments of the temple-court, the golden vine, the image of
Israel, upon the gates, may have caught their eye.
The vine was the image of Israel. The prophets and psalms abound with this reference (Isaiah 5:1,
etc.; Ezekiel 19:10; Psalm 80:8-19), so that our Lord was giving a new meaning to a familiar figure.
Israel became "an empty vine" (Hosea 10:1). The failure of Israel to realize the ideal leads our Lord,
as the true Israel of God, to say, I am the true (or, ideal) vine. These words were spoken Maundy
Thursday. These were words when Jesus sat together with them and instituted the Lord’s Supper
showing His great love for them. So the Lord says, “As the Father loves me, so have I loved you.”
Now he also says, “Remain in My love.”
The parable of the vine and its branches.
1. One Gardener
The Father is the gardener. Never was any gardener so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard,
as God is about his church!
Sometimes, we think that it all depends on us - our skill, our generosity, our mission plan,
our generosity……
2. Incorporation of the disciples into one entity with Christ.
The branches of the vine are many, yet, meeting in the root, are all one vine; thus all true
Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, meet in Christ.
Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and unable to stand alone. They must be
held!
And we are to be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes, and from a Christian we look for a
Christian temper, disposition, and life. We must honour God, and do good; this is bearing
fruit. It is the great concern of all Christ's disciples, constantly to keep up dependence upon
Christ, and communion with him.
The unfruitful are taken away. And even fruitful branches need pruning; for the best have
blemishes, that require to be taken away. For this pruning, we are to be truly thankful!
v.2 ‘Prunes’ is ‘cleanses’ Kathairei (from katharthos). The word of Christ is spoken to all
believers; and there is a cleansing virtue in that word, as it works grace, and works out
corruption. And the more fruit we bring forth, the more we abound in what is good, the
more our Lord is glorified.
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The Intimacy of the Table
The table is one of the most intimate places in our lives. It is there that we give ourselves to
one another. When we say, "Take some more, let me serve you another plate, let me pour
you another glass, don't be shy, enjoy it," we say a lot more than our words express. We
invite our friends to become part of our lives. We want them to be nurtured by the same
food and drink that nurture us. We desire communion. That is why a refusal to eat and drink
what a host offers is so offensive. It feels like a rejection of an invitation to intimacy.
Strange as it may sound, the table is the place where we want to become food for one
another. Every breakfast, lunch, or dinner can become a time of growing communion with
one another.
Those who do not in Christ, though they may flourish for a time in outward profession, yet come to
nothing. The fire is the fittest place for withered branches; they are good for nothing else. Let us
seek to live more simply on the fulness of Christ, and to grow more fruitful in every good word and
work, so may our joy in Him and in his salvation be full.
MY DEAR FRIENDS
My dear friends,
shall we let God's goodness fall upon us
like sweet rain falling in our mouths,
blending with our tears,
washing, always washing us,
readying us for what is new?
My dear friends,
shall we let God's goodness slide
down our bodies like fragrant oil,
protecting always protecting
even as it softens us,
readying us for what is new?
My dear friends,
shall we let God's gifts of bread and wine
become our bodies,
feeding always feeding,
even as they comfort us,
and ready us for what is
oh-so-very
new?
Mary A Bowen
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Jn. 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
Jn. 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while
every branch that does bear fruit he prunes [The Greek for
prunes also means cleans.] so that it will be even more
fruitful.
Jn. 15:3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to
you.
Jn. 15:4 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.
Jn. 15:5 “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.
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Jn. 15:6 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.
Jn. 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
Jn. 15:8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit,
showing yourselves to be my disciples.
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