David Bahn – Reflections

The first sermon of my own was based on this passage from John 15. I recall very little about the message, but quite a bit about the experience. It was in a small church in central Illinois. The pastor was on vacation and had arranged through the seminary for me to preach and lead worship. I do recall working to make that message true to the text and meaningful for the people. God will have to judge as to whether I succeeded on those counts.

John 15:1-11

[Jesus says,] ¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I 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. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

I also remember a time when this passage was the subject of a conference I attended. The presenter asked, “What is this passage about?” Several answers were offered: fruitfulness, true discipleship, the vine and the branches. But no one answered: “Abiding.” That was the presenter’s answer, however. And he is right; this passage is about abiding. Look at how many times the word is used in these few verses: eight times in 11 verses (and that does not even count the number of times the word is meant to be supplied). For example Jesus says, “Whoever abides in me and I in him…” We might well supply the verb again: “Whoever abides in me and I abide in him…”

To abide in Jesus is to be connected to him as branches of a vine are connected to the vine itself. It means being connected to something true (note that Jesus is the “true vine.” To be connected to Jesus is to be pruned so that we are fruitful in our walk with Jesus. To abide in Jesus is to take our nourishment from him. To abide in Jesus is to glorify the Father because we bear the fruit of love and faithfulness.

We enter a Time of Abiding for a three week period at St. John in Cypress. During that time our very busy (sometimes overly-busy) calendar will reflect the high priority of worship as we glorify and honor the One who has saved us and draw strength for our continued life of discipleship. All other meetings have been canceled. During this week I will reflect on these words of Jesus and seek to abide in him in an intentional manner.

Abide in Jesus and he will abide in us, and we will bear fruit that glorifies the Father. That is a worthy calling.