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| The True Vine, by Norma Boeckler |
KJV John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
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This sermon by Jesus is unique to John's Gospel and well worth studying in depth. The reader must know a little bit about gardening to grasp the basic meaning. A grape vine, like roses and many other plants, must be pruned (purged) to make it fruitful. And dead wood must be removed to keep it actively growing. Dead wood is not simply cut off and left around the plant, but gathered, removed, and burned, since plant cuttings can foster disease when left to decay.
There is a double use of pruning here. One is the removal of all those who do not remain in Christ through the Means of Grace. The other meaning is the forgiveness of sins.
Newbie rose growers do not understand their plants. They are too timid in pruning, if they do it at all. They say, "I do not want to hurt the plant." If the rose actually blooms under their uninformed care, they let the rose set seed, making the rose even more reluctant to bloom again. The plant was created to flower, fruit, and set seed. Mission accomplished - back to sleep.
Newbie rose growers do not cut away the dead wood on a rose plant. Those dead stems and errant branches simply take away from the vitality of the plant,
The only way a rose is going to bloom is on the plant. And we bear fruit for the Kingdom by remaining with Christ through the Means of Grace.
We are also pruned, that is, cleansed through the forgiveness given to us daily through faith in Christ.
Sincere faith, as Luther wrote, means we will necessarily confess that truth, no matter what. And that always leads to trouble, from the shunning of family and friends to the Satanic anger of district officials.
But this extra study, this confession of truth, and the buffeting from the great and wise of the visible church - all contribute to making us more fruitful.
The Book of Concord is boring and irrelevant - to boring and irrelevant parsons, who spend more time at the gym than they do in visitation.
But the Book of Concord is a treasure-trove of spiritual wisdom for those who want to know the truth of the Scriptures.
The Book of Concord is our best Bible-study book, one that gives all honor to God's Word rather than the institutions of man - "I am surprised that you have abandoned the clear teaching of our synod on UOJ."
