John 15:1-10 November 25, 2001

"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.

[9] "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. [10] If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

CCI: The Father is the one who cuts and prunes and he has a purpose when he does it.

Intro: John and the I am's.

The door; The Light of the Word; The Good Shepherd; The Bread of life; The Resurrection and the Life; The Way the Truth and the Life; I AM; The Vine.

Each are significant in Israel's history. The Vine was the symbol of the tree of life from the Garden

When you plant a garden, the purpose is that it bear fruit. However there are times that rather than fruit, what we plant grows little more than withered leaves. Sometimes that is because the soil is poor and cannot support the plant. Other times it is because the soil has too much fertilizer (I have been guilty of that). Sometimes plants wither because there is not enough water. But I can guarantee that a plant will wither if a cut worm comes along and severs the plant from it's roots. Sometimes you may not even know it has happened, but looks can be deceiving.

As followers of Jesus Christ, there is but one goal for our lives - bear fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Jesus said the Father (God almighty) is the gardener. He knows what our soil needs, he knows how much water we need, he knows how much sunshine we need. God takes care of providing what is needed for us to produce fruit. What Jesus calls us to do, is to remain in him.

Just as cutworms can destroy a tomato plant, so cutworms can destroy the fruit in our lives as well. What are these worms?

There is the cutworm of unconfessed sin. Things like: bitterness, judgement, lust, prejudice, Lying and deceit

These sins can creep into our lives very quietly. They can be dealt with only through confession and repentance. Confession . . . Repentance . . . If we will ever bear fruit, we must deal with the cutworm of sin

There is the cutworm of comfort.

In this country we don't like to think that comfort can be a problem. But listen to the warning of Moses from Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (NIV)

11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

There is a danger in comfort. We begin to think we do not need Jesus Christ. We become comfortable in our sufficiency. We become comfortable in our lifestyle.

How can we tell? It is when we have to look for things to be thankful for. Gratitude is the result of dependence.

In order to deal with the cutworm of comfort, we need to invite the Gardener (our heavenly Father) to cut away those things in our lives that are preventing us from bearing fruit. Perhaps there is a membership in an organization that is taking too much time. Maybe there is a relationship that is stopping you from growing in your faith. I am not the gardener and it is not my job to prune your lives. However, each of us must be attentive to the work of the spirit as he seeks to cut away those things that are not profitable in our lives.

The cutworm of comfort can cut us off from the flow life from the true vine. If you are beginning to wilt, ask God to discomfort and prune you a little.

There is also a cutworm of busyness. Waiting to be interviewed for a job as a telegraph operator, a group of applicants paid little attention to the sound of the dots and dashes which began coming over a loudspeaker. Suddenly one of them rushed into the employer's office. Soon he returned smiling. "I got it!" he exclaimed.

"What, he has not even called for an interview yet. How did you get ahead of us?" they asked.

"You might have been considered if you hadn't been so busy talking that you didn''t hear the manager''s coded message," he replied. "It said, ''The man I need must always be on the alert. The first one who interprets this and comes directly into my private office will be hired.''

If we would bear fruit, we can not be so busy that we do not hear the Master's voice. Some of us get so busy that we miss out on the things God is saying to us. When our "business" interferes with our relationship with God then that relationship will wither. If you ever find excuses for not spending time in prayer, or spending time reading the Bible, or going to church then you are too busy. And that busyness may be in good things. However, if even your work in the church gets in the way of your relationship with Jesus Christ, then you are too busy and you need to slow down.

The Psalmist said, "Be still and know that I am God." In our busy lives, we tend to believe that just getting things done is enough. But Jesus calls us to bear fruit and that requires waiting as well as working. If the cutworm of busyness is going to be dealt with, the Gardener will need to prune those things from our lives that are not fruitful

As you look at your life today, are you bearing the fruit of the Spirit, or are you withering on the vine? Have cutworms begun to sever your relationship with Jesus? Yesterday, I heard about a woman who said, "I have attended a specific church all my life and I have never gotten anything from it, it is simply a duty." That is someone who has been cut off by cutworms, she is withering where she stands.

I want to invite you today to put yourself in the hands of the master Gardener. He can take your life and make it a masterpiece, but only if you let him.

Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches, This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." We can bring glory to the Father as we bear fruit and we will bear fruit as we remain closely attached to the vine.