Pruning
and John 15
One of the
best known passages in the Gospels is also a lesson about pruning roses. When
we understand pruning, John 15 is more vivid. The believer will find it
impossible to separate Creation from this simple act that improves, protects,
and renews roses and similar plants.
John 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman.
This beautiful I AM sermon reminds
us that the Son of God spoke as the Angel of the Lord addressing Moses from the
Burning Bush (Exodus 3). The attributes of the Savior are taught in the I AM
sermons. Like many other passages in the New Testament, Jesus teaches about
Creation as the Creating Word.
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.
Grapes are like roses. They need the old growth to be cut
away, to spur growth and fruiting. Once the branch has produced fruit, it must
be cut to keep the plant in production. Otherwise, the plant senses its work
done and stops producing. Taking away and purging are two words used for the
same one in the original text – cleansing.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken
unto you.
The use of “clean” makes more sense when we realize the
word for pruning used above is “cleanse.” We are cleansed by the Gospel, through
repentance and forgiveness, to become more fruitful.
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.
The relationship we have with the Savior is two-fold. We
abide in Him through the Means of Grace, the Word and Sacraments, and He abides
in us the same way. We cannot be productive for the Kingdom unless we remain
attached to the True Vine through the invisible Word of preaching and teaching,
the Visible Word of the Sacraments. Grapes do not grow apart from a vine. Roses
do not grow when separated from the rose bush.
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.
This verse repeats and emphasizes the concept that the
Christian Church consists of the branches growing from – and never apart from –
the True Vine. Those who abide in the Savior through worship, study, prayer,
and the Sacraments are especially productive. Without those basics of the
Faith, nothing can be done that is worthwhile.
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.
When someone no longer abides in Christ, his lot is no
different from the unproductive branch. This is brief look at Final Judgment,
warning people against the effects of abandoning the Gospel, as so many have,
especially in the leadership and teaching positions of the established
denominations.
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.
In contrast, remaining with the True Vine, through the
Means of Grace, guarantees that our prayers will be answered. By being
productive as believers we glorify the Father and the Son and remain true
disciples, students of the Gospel.
Thus
Pruning Roses
Nothing
makes the new rose gardener more squeamish than pruning roses, but that is what
the plants want and need. A relative had two old roses bushes that no longer
flowered. I said, “These need extensive pruning. John 15. Cut the dead wood and
cut the roses once they have bloomed.”
She resisted, so I suggested a
long shopping trip with my wife Chris. When they came back, both bushes were
severely and properly pruned. She cried. I said, “Give them two weeks and water
them generously. Mulch them with grass clippings to.” We received a phone call
two weeks later. She was bawling again. “Those rose bushes are completely
filled with blooms.” I have told many people what I repeated to her, “Keep
following John 15. Cut away all dead wood. Cut off the roses that are spent.
Cut diseased, damaged, or crossing branches. Water and mulch.”
I take long walks with our dog
Sassy, and the one thing I see most is the unpruned rose or crepe myrtle bush.
If gardeners pick peas, or beans, or tomatoes, they know the plant will flower,
offer up pollen to bees, and produce again. The beans or peas left on the vines
will become mature seeds. The pods will dry up, and the vines will go into retirement.
And yet, people fail to see the same thing happening on roses, which grow
flowers to have them fertilized and produce hips, or seed pods. At the end of
the season we want roses to go dormant for the winter. During the growing
season we want them pruned all the time to produce even more growth on top and
root extensions below.
