Bearing Fruit

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The Readings

1 John 5:1-6



Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
The Gospel
John 15:9-17


Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

The Sermon

Love and Bearing Fruit

Lets look at the first letter of John. In this passage the word love is used 24 times. That's a lot of love. John is telling us that love and God are connected. He says that if we love one another, then God lives in us and his love is perfected in us. John also gives us another side of this coin. He says “those who say, 'I love God' and hate their brothers and sisters are liars. John is telling us that everything is connected. You cannot love God and hate God's creatures.

Jesus makes the same point when he gives us the analogy of the grape vine. He says, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” The branches will not flourish without the nourishment from the vine. The branches without the vine can bear no fruit. The thing about analogies and metaphors is that they only take me so far. They need to be fleshed out. They need to be interpreted so that they apply to my everyday life.

So how do you untangle all of this talk of vine grower and vines and branches and fruit? I understand the vine grower part. God the Father is the vine grower. At the beginning of every service I start out by saying, “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known and from you no secrets are hid.” God has placed us here. God is in control.

Through God's love for us His son came to live among us and feed us with his message so that we could lead lives that would be productive. Are we the branches bearing good fruit?

How has leading a Christian life changed you. When you hear the words of the gospel does it make a difference in how you interact with the people in your life. Do you ever step back and reflect on how you are treating others? Is Jesus' message truly connecting with you. Are we all kinder and gentler because of the Christian message?

Lets take the grapevine metaphor a little farther. If you were the gardener and you were looking at your grapevine. What things in your life would you prune away. What things, if they were gone, would make you bear more fruit?

What would an unchristian Fred look like? Yesterday I found a bill for $19.92 on my desk at the food pantry. The bill was for 250 pounds of flour and I was pretty sure someone had made a mistake. After looking at it more closely I realized the bill should have been for five times that amount. I could have just let it ride and rejoiced privately that the ministry center would benefit from this person's mistake. That would have been the unchristian Fred.

That isn't what I did. I called Rose at Hy-Vee the next morning and told her about the error. She thanked me and said she would issue the correct invoice. That is the way the Christian message works. That is the fruit of the vine. If I had not let Rose know of her mistake she may have gotten in trouble and I did not want that.

We show love for each other by being kind to one another. It is all about do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Blessings,

Fr. Fred