Juiced: The Inner Life of Vines Fruit Bearing Words
by Ken Wilson
John 15: 1-8 Jesus is presenting himself as vine, new community of God; he's a vine, we're branches; he's a connectional networked kind of someone. When you get on network, juice flows--what animates him, animates us and together we're to drink deep and bear fruit. Our job: remain in this branched vine, partake-participate, not make it happen; when we do, good things flow to us and thru us.
This text itself is like a vine--themes running thru it are intertwined: vine, branches, bearing fruit, remain in me, my words, my love.
Today pull out two strands for inspection: WORDS & FRUIT
WORDS are one of prime ways the vine life flows into us: "You are already clean by the word [logos] I have spoken to you" (3); "If you remain in me and my words [rhema] remain in you…" (7); "If you obey my commands, [entole] you will remain in my love."
Note emphasis: "the word I have spoken; my words; my commands"
Something very wonderful & dramatic is happening with appearance of Jesus. God's getting closer. This has an impact on our under-standing & experience of his word. Paul notes this transition. He says we're moving from the letter to the spirit; from words engraved on stone, ink on paper; to words at work in the heart." (see 2 Cor. 2: 3-6)
If we treat Bible as ink on paper, words engraved on stone, we tend to say, "OK, let me get my arms around this sucker. Let me master this. Let's nail this God-thing down." The mastery approach.
"You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (Jn. 5: 39-40)
The word has a heart-beat now, a pulse, a body temperature.
This vine image is part of the great transition. If you remain in me and my words remain in you. Intimate-Mysterious connection at heart of it all. Not us here, God there. But us in there (in the vine) God in here with us. My words [rhema, sayings] in you.
Remember words are the conveyors of the deepest intimacy. A word is spoken by a person to another in order to bring the thoughts of one person into the inside of another person. I say the word, "elephant" and a picture of an elephant happens in your head. I've really gotten under your skin, haven't I?
To Jesus, words are not stones: hard-unflinching-inert packets of truth, so much as seeds to be planted in soil (see Mark 4:3): packets of life, packed with potential, that burst into life underground. Not a static kind of thing, a transformative kind of thing.
To Jesus, words are inside things more than outside things.
They come from the heart into the heart.
Editorial comment: What we have too much of. Too much of people treating the Bible like it's nothing more than ammo for our arguments.
Not that we don't have to reason together at times, making the case, sharing our understand of scripture as part of that process. But I just wonder sometimes, the people with the biggest bullhorns quoting Scripture, do they often--have they ever--let the words of Jesus slip under their skin and into their hearts and burst into life there, so that they, for example are moved to tears or filled with joy or experience a profound peace calming an inner storm? Or are the words of the Bible just cannon fodder for the culture wars?
Jesus is using the vine image--if you remain in me and my words remain in you- so we understand that his words are conveyed in a mysterious, intimate and deeply personal way. That the words of God are now conveyed with the voice, tenor, tone, resonance of Jesus.
There's a hunger bordering on craving for the sayings of Jesus. Two books coming out. One here. Another on way. First: The Words of Jesus of Nazareth by Lee Cantelon. Published by Zondervan. Words of Jesus arranged by topic. Just the words of Jesus, nothing else. Lee Cantelon is a music producer; most reknowed rap artists--far outside camp of Christian contemporary music--begging him to participate in "the Words Project" where they offers songs inspired by the words.
Phyllis Tickle has a book coming out soon. A sayings gospel. All these gnostic gospels have come out--like gospel of Thomas, Judas--product of Gnosticism, view that matter is evil. Presented as sayings.
Tickles' book is arranged like that, only sayings are from canonical gospels rooted in Hebrew scriptures where the earth is the Lord's and it's good. Earthy Jesus, Hebrew Jesus, not refined, pie in sky Jesus. I got a peek at mss.:man does it pack a wallop!
Cantelon's book is going to gather a whole crowd of people outside the camp and Tickle's book is going to gather a whole different crowd of people outside the camp, because for all the church's efforts in recent decades to infringe on the Jesus brand, to make it look like a particular culture war crusade, there is still a craving by those turned off by the trademark infringement for the real deal Jesus.
This hunger manifest in a desire for his words….
FRUIT: Do you get the impression fruit is an important part of this vine image? " 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… No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me…If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The business of remaining in him is toward one end: fruitfulness. It's the point of every point in this text: no fruit is the reason for being cut off; reason for pruning is to be more fruitful; reason to remain in vine is to bear fruit. Makes sense since the point of a vine in the first place is not to provide shade or foliage. It's all about the fruit, baby!
So much of religion of his time was all about show: fluff & pretense with very little substance. Jesus came to town saying, "Where's the beef? Show me the money! Where can a guy get a glass of wine? How about some actual fruit?"
Religion is a strange thing. We size each other up by all sorts of things. A favorite is the confessional statements we subscribe to or not. The beliefs we espouse. But Jesus, being the vine, didn't size people up like that. He was looking for fruit. Matt. 7: 16-20
So fruit, what's that look like? It looks like lives that touched by good news. People who do better in life because they find and give support, community. Which, btw, makes people measurably healthier.
Fruit looks like children who have a better shot at building a spiritual framework for their lives and live fuller ones as a result.
Fruit looks like single moms their kids getting cared for. [48 people here to serve at MNO] It looks like homeless people being fed, but even more, loved. It looks like gospel moving out in church planting and people like Emily and Sarah going to Middle East.
A great fruit test is this: if the church closed next week, would anyone miss it other than its members? If not, it's a good thing it closed, because it wasn't actually a church; it was a club, doing nothing more than servicing its members. If you love only those who love you what credit is that to you? You don't need Christianity to do that.
Why should the world pay any attention to the church, if we are not actively engaged in being the salt of the earth, being good news in the face of the big problems facing the earth?
Spoke at Lets Tend the Garden Conference hosted at Boise Vineyard.
On the vanguard of a move of the Spirit within evangelical church world to put principles of environmental stewardship into practice.
Because of culture wars many evangelicals have had their attitudes toward the environment shaped by AM talk radio. In a state of denial over the growing global environmental crisis.
What crisis? 80% of the developing world doesn't have access to clean water. Whole stretches of Africa in a state of complete environmental collapse, land unable to sustain crops. An issue for "limosine liberals" some faith people think. Except the world's poor depend on environment [forests, land, fisheries] for their livelihood more than we do.
Artic ice cap melting ahead of previous projections. Greenland ice too. Sea levels rising, leading to increased flooding in low lying areas. Worlds poor don't have flood insurance either. People who sound alarm berated as "environmental whackos"
So in the middle of the reddest state in the union, Idaho, God has raised up this vineyard church to say, "Wait a minute! God's first order of business for humanity in Gen. 2:15 is to tend the garden, guard and protect the environment. We're to care for the creation as stewards. A day of reckoning is coming when we will have to answer for how we took care of God's stuff and the vulnerable of the earth."
Not just talking about it: doing it. Recycle center for their town. Making their facility energy efficient. [coal generated electricity: mercury levels in 1/6 children]
Environmental community taking notice. Many of them realize that without a "spiritual and cultural transformation" all the science that we throw at these problems will be useless. Hearts need to change. We need to care. We need to take concern for future generations.
At conference major environmental organizations were in attendance. Sierra Club. Idaho Conservation. Northwest Climate Change…
Worlds leading environmental scientist E.O. Wilson has said that the key to dealing with the global environmental crisis is the bridge between science and faith community, especially evangelicals.
So these scientists came to the conference with open hearts.
Invite to receive prayer; several leaders from environmental groups stood. Not people of faith. Agnostics, secular.
[Looking to A2VC because we've made a start….unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate that the gospel is good for something.]
No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "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.
Ain't that the truth? Apart from him we sure can do nothing!
Apart from him we can easily do nothing but put on a good religious show without producing any kingdom dough.
Apart from him we can easily do nothing but love those who love us.
Apart from him we can easily do nothing but take care of ourselves
But what fun would that be?
A vine without grapes.
A table without wine (or favorite non-alcoholic beverage).
A life with an income but little outcome.
Income is good. But God is looking for outcome. What is your money
producing that will last?
"Wait till I get a lot more" we might say. Good, but I found in my own life that it was easier to get into the habit of giving when my income was smaller, because the habit of not giving is one of the hardest habits to break. So we began practice called tithing--a tenth of earnings given so the vine can be fruitful.
The churches that make a difference on the planet, that do something rather than nothing have people in them, many people, who do that.
Glad we started early, easier to maintain as income increased. Our use of income is one of the ways we bear fruit. One of the key ways we love beyond ourselves.
We don't become generous unless the words of Jesus on giving are whispered in our hearts. Where your treasure is there will your heart be. Give and it will be given to you. Inner words, outer fruit.
Ministry: God is at work in us, by putting us in touch with the deepest desires of our heart. Not noisy distracting desires, but deepest ones.
Like a desire for children. Or for connection. Fruit bearing life.
It's work of the Spirit within us to breathe on those deepest desires.
Breathe on them gently so they start to ache and yearn and rise up.
Today: if he's been breathing on you, bring deepest desires to him to let him breathe some more