Sermon Notes: 4/28/24 Fifth Sunday of Easter Holy Trinity Lutheran

I love flowers in the house. I love fresh cut flowers; I also love African violets, and most recently for the last few years I have had white orchids as well. I like orchids because the blooms last a really long time -- several months, actually. I have three white orchid plants. 

About six months ago I had lost all the blooms off all the plants, and so I went to YouTube to figure out what to do and, just as I suspected, I had to cut back the plants. And not only cut them back -- but they also had to be cut way back. 

Sure enough, after waiting a few more months, two of the plants produced beautiful blooms; the other one I’m still waiting for! 

Any of you who like gardening can relate to this. Often, we have to cut back or prune a plant for it to produce better fruit, vegetables, or flowers. 

That’s what today’s gospel from John is all about: Pruning. We find God as the vine grower, Jesus, as the vine, and we are, of course, the branches. 

We hear the warning, or perhaps it is a promise, that those who produce good fruit will be pruned so that they can produce even more or better fruit. 

I’ll bet every single person here feels like sometimes they’ve been pruned so much that, like my orchids, there is very little left. I think it is ultimately God’s promise that God can bring good from even the most challenging situations. 

I think part of the lessons for us today is not only our dependence on the vine but also the responsibility we have as branches! Imagine the potential if we took the promise seriously -- if most of what we did in the world, in our own lives, and our congregation, we did with a clear understanding that we are connected to the vine? 

What would it look like to really think about how Jesus would like us to respond to various challenges? In today’s world, there is so much divisiveness. I heard a person on the news the other day say it’s hard to even get everyone to agree on what day of the week it is! 

I’ve said it before -- it’s important that when we disagree with folks we not only listen respectfully, but we also go back to what we can agree upon. For instance, most of us can agree on the fact that we all like pizza.

Another warning or promise from this passage is “apart from me you can do nothing.” While this is true, it is incredibly hard for me, at least, to remember. We do so much --we are trained to be self-sufficient. We learn in school, we prepare for careers, we work at menial jobs or amazing jobs, but we seldom think about the Vine to whom we are connected. 

It is easy to forget, or simply overlook, the fact that God gave us our health, our brains, and everything else we need to be successful in this world. 

This verse also sounds like a warning, but again it is a promise. Even though society has taught us that we are self-made men and women, maybe we can hear this as affirmation that everything we do as ‘branches of the Vine’ will be meaningful and produce good fruit. 

To help us remember these lessons we can reference the passage from 1 John that Ardy read this morning, which is, of course, all about love. And the takeaway from that is that if we love God whom we cannot even see, we must love others whom we can see. 

So, here’s the deal: We need to remember that we are connected to Jesus Christ, the Vine. We need to remember that whatever we do, we stay connected to Christ. Although pruning hurts sometimes, we can learn, grow, and become better. And finally -whatever we do, whether ministry or at work or with family, we do with the same love  we profess to have for God, the Vine grower. 

Best of luck as you think about these things this week … and put them in practice! 

Amen!