Reflection on John 15:1-8

 

John 15:1-8 (NRSV)

[Jesus said:] 1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide 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. 5I 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. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” 

Reflection

“I just do not know who I am anymore,” she said as she used the tissue to dab her eyes, trying to preserve her makeup; trying to preserve what little was left of her identity.  “We did everything together, and I mean everything.  His friends were my friends.  My interests were his interests.  Our home…”  The makeup was destroyed at the thought of her home never being the same again.  “Who am I now?” she asked, hoping that someone could answer.

She was not alone as she asked who she was.  I have heard the questions many, many times.  Often it is out of the mouth of a teen, not yet discovering their place in this world.  Other times, it is out of the mouth of a man who has just retired from a career that he loved, wondering who he is now that he is not his job.  I have even heard it out of the mouth of a mother who appeared to be the most grounded person in the world: the head of the PTA and the scouts.  But after her last child went off to college, the crisis of identity snuck up out of nowhere.  It was disorienting, anxiety causing, and devastating.

Shout out to all of my friends who are having an identity crisis.  You know who you are…I guess you don’t.

Whenever I have an identity crisis, I go into the bathroom and look in the mirror.  It’s the best place for self-reflection.

Sorry, bad joke.  You know, identity is an inside joke.

I do not mean to make light of it.  I actually share the bad jokes in order to sand the edges off of the sharp loss of identity that so many of us can feel.  It is so painful and sharp.  After-all, it is the loss of yourself.  Who are you when you are no longer you?  Who can you hold onto and trust when you can no longer trust in yourself?

Sometimes, people are quite the opposite.  Sometimes, people know exactly who they are, but who they are probably does not look anywhere close to the person that God crafted and molded at the start.  A couple of years ago, I ran into a pastor who was proud to be someone who did not care about other people.  “When you care too much about others, nothing gets done.  I get things done,” the pastor proudly proclaimed.  “I am not like other pastors.  I do not care if someone needs to get stepped on in order to accomplish a ministry goal.  You want something to get done, but are too worried about what others will think, come to me.”  I am not so sure that Jesus taught us to step on people in order to get things done.  That seems like a twisted sort of Christian identity.  Rather, when Jesus talks about who he is, he says things like:

“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35)

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:51).

“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

“I am the gate for the sheep” (John 10:7).

“I am the gate.  Whoever enters by me will be saved” (John 10:9).

“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14).

“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

“I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

“I am the true vine” (John 15:1).

“I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:5).

What jumps out at me in all of these different images describing Jesus is that they are all relational.  In other words, Jesus is who he is because of who he promises to be connected with.  Jesus describes himself as the bread of life, bread of us straight from heaven.  He describes himself as a gate, who keeps us safe.  He describes himself as a shepherd, who knows his sheep and does not forget any of them.  These images of Jesus’ identity all have to do with us, and caring for us, and infusing us with life. 

This is probably most easily seen when Jesus describes himself as the vine and us as the branches.  He says, “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” (John 15:5).

I want you to notice something here.  Not only does he identify who he is and what he is about, “I am the vine,” but also identifies who we are and what we are to be about.  Jesus says that “you are the branches.”  Notice that he does not say, “You can become the branches, if...”  He does not say, “You were the branches at one time, but…”  Nor, does he say, “They are the branches.  Look at them.”  Rather, he declares in no uncertain terms that “you are the branches.”

That means something.  To the woman who is struggling to figure out what to do now that the love of her life is gone, “you are the branches” means something.  To the teen who does not know what a good life even looks like, “I am the vine, you are the branches” means something.”  To all who do not know who they are or who they will be, “you are the branches” provides what they could not find themselves.  They are all branches of Jesus, the vine.  Their life connects directly with his.  Their worth is tied directly into his worth.  What do branches look like?  Well, they look a lot like the vine.

Even the pastor who seems not to care about the destruction that he causes is told that he is one of Jesus’ branches.  Jesus desperately wants us to see that we are attached to him; we gain our life and strength from him.  And, that may require some pruning.

Jesus says, “my Father is the vinegrower.  He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2).  If we were honest with ourselves, we would all realize that there are probably some things about ourselves that need to be pruned and trimmed away.

“It’s my anger,” the teen blurted out immediately.  I asked the confirmation students what it was about themselves that God probably needs to prune.  I had expected the usual silence and uncomfortable shifting in their seat as they weighed whether or not to share something so personal.  But, to my shock, this teen blurted it out almost before I was even done asking the question.  I was kind of proud of the young man, because so many of us cannot even see the things about ourselves that need to be pruned, much less share them with peers gathered around.

“I get angry way too fast and it hurts other people, a lot of the time.  I don’t want to hurt them, it just happens because I do not take the time to think.  I just get angry,” the teen finished.  Most of us around the room were nodding in agreement, not in agreement that he needed to prune away his anger (though that was probably true), but because we could all see a reflection of ourselves in the words he shared.  He was our mirror, and it helped us identify the things that needed to be pruned away from us as well.

“I am too self-conscious,” one girl offered.  “I talk too much and it gets me in trouble,” another offered.  “I stink,” the one who had just removed their shoes remarked.  We laughed, because it was true.

So, we prayed, and asked to be pruned, so that we might, as Jesus put it, “bear more fruit” (John 15:2).  But, we also took some time in the prayer to remember who we were, despite the dead parts that needed pruning.  “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me,” we reminded ourselves, using the promises of Jesus to shape our prayer.  “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit” (John 15:4-5).  And so, I want to do the same with you this morning.  I want to pray that you too might discover that you are one of Jesus’ essential branches.  Let us pray.

Open our ears to hear your words Jesus, and open our hearts to accept them as true.  Even though we may lose a sense of who we are, you know exactly who we are.  You are the vine and we are the branches.  Our life and purpose comes from you.  Prune all that does not feed off of your vine.  Remind us that we are a branch who is worth pruning and attending to.  Lord Jesus, give to us your life and your love always.  Amen.