2.2.25
Pastor Daniel Triller
One of the many things I’ve been thinking about over these past few weeks has been, “What do I want to preach on my final Sunday? What words do I want to leave you all with?”
The part of me that loves the odd and obscure thought, maybe this is the moment to get really weird, give you all something memorable you’ll never forget. Maybe we could finally talk about the book of Numbers with Balaam and his talking donkey, or that time Jesus sent demons into a herd of pigs that drowned in a lake, or maybe even dip our toe into some apocalyptic literature and find a dragon in Revelation. Though I am weird enough to do something like that, truth is, I love you too much to do so.
In reality, and I’m not really sure when this came to be, I’ve had my heart set and my mind made up for quite a while now, wanting my final sermon to be on this particular passage. When it comes down to it, just about everything I want to say can be found in words that Jesus already said.
This last month we’ve been in a sermon series on Jesus’s famous last words, words that Jesus shared in the upper room with his disciples, on the night before his crucifixion.
And in my estimation, our passage today, which sits in the very heart of these famous last words from Jesus, really gets at the heart of the matter. These words, right here, are what it’s all about.
So if you will, one more time, and certainly not the last time, I invite you to open up our bibles with me to page 1537.
In our passage today Jesus introduces his seventh and final, “I am” statement. He’s described himself as the bread of life and light of the world, the good shepherd, the way and the truth and the life, and here he gives us one final “I am” statement and even “you are” to go along with it.
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“I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
So here’s our big idea for today. Nothing weird on this final Sunday, and as it turns out, nothing fancy either. So here it is: We bear fruit as branches when we remain connected to Jesus, the vine.
That’s it.
We bear fruit as branches when we remain connected to Jesus, the vine.
Notice how throughout the first half of this passage, the emphasis is not so much on bearing fruit, important as that may be, but rather in the “remaining.” In other words, what Jesus really wants us to see here is that the aim is to remain. In fact, take a look with me here, he mentions this word “remain” time and time again, in verse 4, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you.” but then also again in verses 5 and 6 and 7.
The aim is to remain. To be a branch connected to Jesus, the vine, the source of life itself. We branches do not and cannot bear fruit on our own. Bearing fruit is simply the byproduct, the assumed outcome of remaining connected to Jesus.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
This word “remain” here is also often translated as “abide.” And abide basically means "to remain," "to stay put," "to linger in one place," or "to dwell."
Notice how slow those words are. I can imagine many of you in this season are feeling anxious and unsettled, feeling as though you’re in a race against the clock to find your next pastor. And with a healthy combination of urgency and patience, you should begin that process. And yet, in the words of Maria Emmer-Aanes, who sometimes says this to her co-workers when they get overly excited about a new idea, “Gear down, big rig!”
Or in the words of Jesus, “Remain in me.”
Rather than run, what you need to do more than anything is remain. Remain in Jesus, like a branch connected to a vine.
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And yet, you might ask, “Okay, I get the “remaining” thing. And yet, what does it look like? What does it look like practically speaking to remain connected to Jesus the vine?” Well, let’s continue to flesh this one out.
Notice how Jesus attaches a couple words in particular to this invitation to remain in him. And those words are “my words” and “my love.” Take a look at verse 7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Now skip down to the end of verse 9 and then 10, “Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
Remain in Jesus, remain in His word and remain in his love.
To this, maybe nothing comes to mind faster than simply getting in the habit of regularly reading your bible. This past year, a couple dozen of you read through the New Testament, and this year a bunch of you are reading it again, or adding Psalms and Proverbs, or even reading the entire bible. Few things have brought me more joy than this group, even hearing people share about how what they are learning and reading has led to faith based conversations with loved ones like never before.
And yet, I’ll let you in on a little secret here. When we started that group over a year ago now, if I’m really honest, though I wanted it for you, I needed it for me. I needed the accountability and camaraderie of reading the bible alongside other people. So thank you to those who joined - it meant more than you’ll ever know.
Friends, would you say that Jesus’s words are remaining in you, and not simply remaining in terms of being able to recall or recite them, but even more that you believe them and embody them too?
This past year I’ve been meeting with a counselor, because men, maybe you’ll relate with me and my discovery here, I’ve learned that us men have feelings too. Anyway, during one of our conversations she said something that I’ll never forget. She said, “Daniel, it’s one thing to believe in Jesus. It’s another thing to believe him.” Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. I immediately knew that what she was saying was more than just some cute play on words.
Truth is, many people believe in Jesus, they believe that he exists, that he is God, they may know him as Lord and Savior. And yet, it’s a whole other thing to believe him, in other words, to believe in his teachings, to trust in his word, to do what he says.
How about you? I imagine that if you’re worshiping with us here today you believe in Jesus. And yet, would you say that you believe him too? If that’s you, and in some ways that’s all of us, then reach out to Jesus just like one person did long ago, saying, “I do believe. Help me with my unbelief.”
We bear fruit as branches when we remain connected to Jesus, the vine.
In his book Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer reminds us all sorts of ways that we can remain in Jesus, how his words can remain in us, and how we can remain in his love. He reminds us that we do so when we follow Jesus’s example and pattern our lives after him, cultivating a series of really simple (though not always easy) practices … practices such as Sabbath and solitude, prayer and community, generosity and witness. And what’s really beautiful, as John Mark Comer points out, is how the very practices of Jesus, the very means by which we remain in him have a way of bearing fruit in our lives.
So for example, Sabbath helps us find rest in a culture of hurry and exhaustion. Solitude helps us experience peace and quiet in a culture of anxiety and noise. Prayer helps us experience communion with God in a culture of distraction and escapism. Community helps us find love and depth in a culture of individualism and superficiality. Generosity leads us to contentment in a culture of consumerism. Witness invites us to create moments of hospitality in a culture of hostility.
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Once again, in all of it, these practices remind us that the aim is to remain and to trust that fruit will grow over time, just like Jesus said it would. Or as he says in verse 8, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
We bear fruit as branches when we remain connected to Jesus, the vine.
Altogether, It’s a reminder that what we put in affects what we put out. How input affects output. It’s certainly true of our bodies and nutrition, what we put in affects how our bodies function and feel. It’s certainly true of our minds as well, what we put in, through the entertainment we consume affects our thoughts and imaginations. And it’s certainly true of the spiritual life as well. What we put in affects what we put out.
Notice how Jesus draws this connection in the second half of this passage. In verse 9 he says, “Remain in my love.” And then by verse 12 he says this, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Having experienced his love, Jesus invites us to love others just like he did, and not just in a casual, when “I feel like it” kind of way, but with a sacrificial, “lay it on the line” kind of love.
Friends, this is not only the time to remain in Jesus like never before, like a branch is connected to a vine, it’s also the time to love each other and stay connected like never before. Make an effort to connect and reach out like never before. Send texts, make calls, offer rides, invite people to church.
And above all, maybe my greatest encouragement and charge to you would be to keep showing up. Practice the ministry of presence. Make Sunday worship a core commitment for you and your family. Not simply so that you can remain in Jesus all the more as you sing and read and pray and center yourself on God’s Word. But even more, your faithful presence will serve as an incredible encouragement and sign of love to one another. It’s one of the primary ways that you’ll communicate and express and reinforce your continuing commitment to this church family. Where in this season of uncertainty and transition, by coming here, you’ll communicate that you’re not going anywhere. That with both feet planted, you’re all in.
And so if you ever wake up on a future Sunday, on the fence of whether or not to attend church that day, maybe give yourself a little pep talk reminding yourself, “This is part of how I remain in Jesus. My very presence will encourage people whom I love and theirs will encourage me.”
Friends, of all the times to lean in with love, this is time to love one another just as Jesus loved you.
We bear fruit as branches when we remain connected to Jesus, the vine.
And I’ll finish with this … one of the most difficult parts of leaving this church is that I feel like I’m leaving with what I have described as “unfinished business.” Not so much in terms of things that we won’t be able to accomplish together, though that’s a part of it, but more so in terms of missing out on the personal growth and fruit that Jesus will produce in your lives over time and missing out on moments that I won’t get to see. To continue to watch little kids who have become students continue to grow up and graduate, to be a part of baptisms and weddings and even funerals, yes, there funerals that it saddens that I will not get to be there for.
A few weeks ago I was with some other pastors in town and was sharing with them all the mixed emotions that I feel about this, the strange and disorienting mixture of grief and joy, opportunities lost and opportunities gained, and I shared that phrase with them, that I feel like I’m leaving this place with unfinished business. They all understood. They all could relate. And as we were talking Jamie Gillentine, pastor at the Vineyard, said something that I’ll never forget. I’m paraphrasing a little here, but essentially what he said was this:
“Daniel, there will always be unfinished business in ministry because people are never finished. They are never finished and neither are you.”
He’s so right. Whether you feel like you’re growing or plateauing, God’s not finished with any of us just yet. Wherever you find yourself on this journey of following and remaining in Jesus, we are all a work in progress, unfinished business, under construction as it were, on a messy and often zig zag journey, a family of faith becoming transformed by the love of Jesus Christ.
Every day, like branches connected to a vine, you and I have the opportunity to remain in Jesus, connected to Jesus, obeying his word, showing his love, little by little becoming a little more Him.
Ruth Graham, wife of the late and famous evangelist Billy Graham, who passed away almost 20 years ago, has this wonderful line written on her gravestone. It simply reads, “End of construction – thank you for your patience.”
Should you and I meet again down the road here in Dillon, or Ellensburg, or somewhere in between, you and I will do so as followers of Jesus at some point before our end of construction.
And yet, someday all of us who have rested and trusted, abided and remained in Jesus, will meet again in the presence of Jesus, as new creations, finished projects. We’ll look at each other and say, “My goodness, look at you now! You're dazzling and brilliant. You’re somehow more like Jesus than you’ve ever been before and somehow more you than you’ve ever been before. Would you look at you now!” What a beautiful sight that will be.
As the Apostle Paul says, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
Until then, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit … This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
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