Raisin Capital of the World!

John 15:1-8  (NRSV)  
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

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I go to a lot of events where I am expected to introduce myself by name and the church and/or city I come from.  I always say I am from Selma, California, the Raisin Capital of the World.   When I was interviewing with the search committee from First Christian, I was delighted to hear that my potential new home was the source of one of my favorite treats.   Although I grew up in a farming community and understood the rhythm of plowing, sowing, growing and harvesting, I had never lived anywhere with vineyards, so the rhythm of that particular fruit’s life was new to me.  Having now lived here for a couple of growing seasons, and having witnessed all the things that John describes in this passage, it came alive for me in a way that it never had before.   That was one of Jesus’ gifts, of course.  His stories and parables were based in the kind of reality his listeners understood - fishing and agriculture, household chores, and family life - so that his meaning could become clear in a way that was new and powerful to those hearing him.  

There’s something else about Selma, besides raisins, that is different from anyplace else I have lived, and even from most places I have heard about.  Here, all of the churches come together and work together for the healing of our city, regardless of differences in theology or practice.   Here, it is as if we are all bound together, the way vines twine around each other, to do God’s work in the world.  It is a blessing beyond expectation to live and work and serve God here. 

There are those who read this passage and believe it means that those who don’t believe or behave the way they think is right will be condemned to Hell. Those individuals, they believe, are the branches that are pruned and cut away and tossed onto the fire, because they do not bear fruit.   I used to think that - and that I was one of those fruitless branches.   I don’t believe that anymore, because my understanding of who God is has changed over time. Also, I have learned to read the Bible in context, reading what comes before and after, so that I can better understand what points Jesus was busy making at the time.   We need to remember when we read this passage that when Jesus said these words he was addressing his disciples - not a huge crowd, but only those who were gathered with him in the Upper Room, at that last meal they shared together.  He was speaking to the hearts of those who knew him best, who had shared his daily struggles, who had heard all of his preaching.  He was preparing them for his death, which would come in less than 24 hours, and he was preparing them for going out into the world to carry the Good News.  So he was speaking to specific individuals, and about their own lives.  He was inviting them to let God remove those parts of them that were not fruitful, not healthy, so that they could produce healthy fruit in his name.   He has already promised them that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit would come to them, and teach them all that they would need to go forward.    And his next words would be these, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 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. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”  If you keep my commandments - to love one another - you will live in my love.  And if we live in Jesus’ love, we will become fruitful.  

Another thing we must remember when we read this passage is that the fruitfulness Jesus speaks of is not gaining a whole bunch of new church members, although that it what some folks preach.  Rather, it is each of us growing the fruit of the Spirits our lives change through living in Jesus and the Holy Spirit.   As Paul told the church in Galatia, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”   Living in Christ’s love, doing our best to love one another, will bring these things into our hearts, and our lives will change entirely.

Let me share with you just how drastically lives can change when God is allowed to reach into our hearts and prune away the lifeless, the diseased, branches from our lives.  I went on my first ride along with a Selma Police Officer on Wednesday afternoon.   Parts of that ride along were calm and informative, just kind of riding around seeing parts of the city I hadn’t seen before, learning things about how our Police Department works.  Parts of it were a little scary - like when I realized that people really don’t pay attention to lights and sirens.  I did my best to be silent and non-reactive so that my Officer could concentrate on avoiding all the cars who didn’t see her.   And parts of it filled me with gratitude.  Ok, it’s pretty well known that I write a gratitude list every morning - 10 things that bring me joy or that I really appreciate having in my life on any given morning.  But Thursday morning’s gratitude list was much deeper, much more intense than my usual gratitude for cats and coffee and faith. On Thursday morning I wrote (among other things):

I am grateful that no one is beating me today

No one is brandishing weapons around my house

No one is worried I will kill myself

I am helping people instead of hurting them

People call me when they have troubles

I take responsibility for myself today

My life is so different than it was before I learned that God loves us.  I am not afraid today, of what the next hours or even minutes will bring.  Today I am not praying, “Get me out of this one, Lord, and I swear I will never do it again.”   When I decided to welcome God into my life, when I decided to abide in Jesus’ love, my life changed and those things are no longer part of it.  I invited God to prune away those things that took me into those places, and asked God to help me grow in such a way as to produce the healthy fruit, the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  The greatest blessing of all was when I realized that my past was simply that, my past.  God had not rejected me permanently for my mistakes and transgressions.  Those things are forgiven because God loves me, and I have learned to love God, even when things aren’t going well.  I know today that God has thrown those parts of me that will not ever produce good fruit into that fire, destroying them.  And they will not grow back, so long as I remain in Jesus.

Today I know that, just as Jesus promises in this passage, I can ask for whatever I wish, and receive it, so long as I live in Jesus and in God’s Word.  Not a new car, or to have my student loan debt suddenly disappear, or to magically lose the weight that I put back on, although those things would be nice.  I don’t even ask for those sorts of things anymore.  Today I ask for those things that will help me serve God and God’s people better - usually, some of that fruit that I don’t quite have a handle on yet.  I ask for my life to be a blessing to others, and to be more forgiving, and to practice acceptance better.  

When we love God and our neighbors, as Jesus commanded us to do, our lives become filled with the fruit of the Spirit.  And that fruit, which is the result of love, when poured out upon others, produces more fruit.  Just as a smile begets a smile, so love poured out into the world will produce more love, more kindness, more generosity, more compassion.  When we are filled with God’s love, our lives can change all those we touch.   My brothers and sisters, the gift of God’s love is the greatest gift we can ever receive. When we go from this place, then, let us touch each person we meet with the love we receive from our Lord.  And now let us stand and sing about “The Gift of Love”