Sunday, 20 September 2009

Pruning and bearing fruit

Pentecost year B 09 Sermon

John 15:1 ff

Did you hear what Jesus said?

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit…he prunes…so it will be even more fruitful.”

This passage from John fifteen… often gives people the willies… I mean they worry… ‘I wonder if I’m fruitful ….what if I’m a branch of the vine that bears no fruit…

is God gonna chop me off…and toss me on the compost heap

and that bit about pruning ….sounds painful doesn’t it …letting God clip away at us…or maybe we feel anxious… about what’ll be left of us…when all the pruning is done

It may be you come to a sermon on pruning…feeling like you’re going to the dentist. Maybe you can just fall asleep during the sermon…and when you wake up… it’ll be all over …but if you think going to sleep…means God wont get into you… you’ve got it wrong.

The image of the vine Jesus offers us… in John fifteen…would have been quite familiar to his Jewish friends… because it’s an image woven… right through their scriptures… as a symbol of the people of Israel…the nation of Israel.

Remember the Psalmist prays…You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

The prophets reminds the nation…Israel was a spreading vine; God brought forth fruit for himself; In the first three Gospels...Jesus often refers to the vineyard in his stories and parables…and by the time we get to John’s Gospel… the vine… is no longer the people of Israel…the vine is Jesus himself...and his branches will be a new Israel bearing the fruit of Shalom reconciling all creation to God…I am the true vine, and my Father…

is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me… that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit… he prunes… so it will be even more fruitful. [pause]

Jesus disciples were as familiar with the grape growing industry… as we are here in Central Otago. They knew… the purpose of pruninga grapevine… is what…to get more...[look up] GRAPES. Exactly … there is only one purpose…

And if you’re any kind of gardener or winegrower…
you’ll know there’s a right time to do the pruning. You don't just wake
up one day… smack in the middle of summer … and say… ‘I think I’ll just go out and chop some vines.’ [pause]

And pruning a vine is complicated … a very technical procedure… if you prune at the wrong time or at the wrong angle… or at the wrong distance from the bud…there’ll be no grapes.

This business of pruning is no easy matter.

There the right time for it…and a right way to go about it …and all the time…what the gardener has in mind…is the next season’s production…of grapes… [pause]


So if Jesus is the vine and we are the branches…what’s the point of pruning and getting rid of deadwood for us… as individual believers… or …for us collectively…in our life together as the church… as the the Body of Christ…

What’s the point of pruning us?

[ask congregation] Jesus can only be talking about one purpose… more fruit….more fruitfulness. Pruning makes fruit more likely…

By cutting off deadwood and pruning… the gardener …God…is encouraging the branches…that’s us… of the vine… that’s Jesus…to bear more fruit. Encouraging us…helping us…enabling us…to bear more fruit. To make more followers of Jesus more people on earth committed to peace with justice compassion and mercy…more people capable of loving

So there’s no reason to be afraid of a sermon on pruning… is there…no reason to be afraid of the pruning work of God…

because as every good gardener knows…pruning and dead-wooding … allows more sap to flow to the fruit bearing branches.

In our personal Christian journey…this pruning’s about letting God… deal with all those things… that aren’t helpful…in our relationship with God… and with each other.

What are you aware of in your life… and your relationship with God that needs some trimming and attention.

Last Sunday we talked about one thing that might need attention… our unhelpful images of God…we talk about healing our image of God. Using the vine metaphor…this would mean cutting away all those negative images of God… that don’t square with Jesus revelation.

Another thing we noticed are the unhelpful images we have of ourselves. As unforgivable…or worthless…labels that are lies…. When held up to the light of a loving God…

Cutting away that dead wood allows us to open ourselves to the flowing of God’s love …God’s spirit…allows us to grow leads to new life wouldn’t it.

And all Jesus talk about pruning and dead-wooding points us to the mystery of his death and resurrection doesn’t it …reminds us how Jesus dies… and by the power of God is raised to new life. So we understand…the journey into Jesus is a journey into life… by way of dying.

When we’re baptised we share in that journey down into the deep waters of death and come up the other side… into a new life. And remember what Jesus hears as he comes up out of the water…. ‘You are my beloved child and with you I’m well pleased’

A lot of this pruning is so that the message can get through to us that we too are a beloved child of God. Each morning when we wake up the question can be… where is God calling me to new life…to a fruitful me.

Where is there something bursting out in me…and what do I have to die to…so it can blossom?

So we can help with the pruning… by noticing the things that prevent us from being more fully alive…attitudes that stop from saying yes to God’s invitation to grow ….

And here’s where timing comes in…especially when we think we know… what needs to be pruned… or cut off in someone else’s life. Remember God is the gardener… not us and if we jump the gun we could interfere with the work of the Spirit.

When we care for people…we don’t want them to hurt … we want to help them…sometimes we have to be patient and stay in the place of our own anxiety for them… long enough for the work of God to be completed in them. These are times God is likely to do his best work. And we don’t want to bring it to an end… prematurely.

In fact a tendency to interfere could be exactly what God may be wanting to prune in us…So noticing…paying attention to…

the things that get in the way of our relationships with other people or prevent us from growing in God… is the first part of this process of prunning.

The second part is admitting what needs to be cut off or pruned from our lives…we become entirely ready… to have God remove or trim… this troublesome aspect of our lives… ready to be as available and open as we can be… for God’s Spirit to work in us.

And becoming entirely ready is quite difficult…because we often want to hold on our defects…afraid if the pruning process goes too far…there’ll be nothing left.

But sooner or later the lack of fruit in some area of our lives…begins to bother us enough to do something about it… sooner or later when we become completely ready to give it up to God…then it’s time for the third part of God’s pruning and dead-wooding process…

It’s time to pray…time to humbly ask God to remove all those things that get in the way of our relationship with him and with others…humbly praying that God will cut off what doesn’t bear fruit in us…and trim and prune those parts of us which could O so much more fruitful than they are…

Noticing, becoming entirely ready…and humbly asking God to remove these defects…a three part process that allows the great vinedresser to work on us. [pause]

And what happens when the pruning is over… well…

It’s the future and its fruit…that vindicate the vinedressers in their craft isn’t it? As the proverb says…‘wisdom is vindicated by all her children’

What happens when the pruning is done…well we’re left with the core of this mysterious wonderful journey with Christ…the journey through death…to abundant life…

free… and pruned down to the bare essentials.

And if we’ve got it right… if we’ve listened accurately to God…if we’ve surrendered sufficiently…then we will bear more fruit…as individuals… and as a church… as part of the Body of Christ on earth…

my prayer is that we will allow God to access our most vulnerable parts…so his will may be done in us…for the master gardener knows what they’re doing.

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Healing our image of God

Pentecost 16 year B 09 Sermon Mark 8:27-38

As a result of his miracles… word is spreading among the Jews… that Jesus might be a reincarnated Elijah or Jeremiah … or maybe John the Baptist… raised from the dead…and there’s growing speculation… he just might be… the long-promised Messiah…everyone knew… would take back Jerusalem from the Romans… by force.

Rome’s Jewish puppet king Herod Antipas… hears these rumours with growing concern Jesus is about to become a dangerous rival. And though Herod can’t believe

Jesus actually is the expected Messiah… his popularity could make Jesus bold enough to lead a rebellion.

Herod can no longer risk Jesus remaining at large and free… and seeks to eliminate him…just as he had Jesus’ cousin
John the Baptist.

Warned by friendly Pharisees…

Waterfall slide

Jesus heads away to the north… into towns with largely pagan populations…Tyre and Sidon and the Decapolis…

and on with his disciples…into the lush green catchment
of the headwaters of the Jordan River…into
villages controlled by another Herod…named Philip…into Caesarea Philippi…

Caesarea slide

Herod Philip’s Caesarea was a centre of Greek culture…
and chock a block… with pagan temples…theatres and fine sculpture…where Herod colluded with Rome’s claim …

That its kings were gods

Philips father…Herod the Great…built the white marble temple… you can see on the left … in fine political form he built it in front of a cave… sacred to the pagan population… and dedicated this temple to the worship of Caesar Augustus. It had no back wall but opened into the grotto… so the great cave became the inner sanctuary of the Temple. [pause]

Pan slide

Next door… was another cave-Temple…Herod Philip himself built…also mindful of his ratings in the polls
this one Philip dedicated…
to the half man…half goat…god Pan. [pause]

And with these shrines to the gods Pan and Caesar as a backdrop … Jesus asks his disciples

Slide words

"Who do people say I am?"

Well up on the gossip… Jesus friends report …
John the Baptist…maybe Elijah…maybe one of the prophets.

That’s fascinating news… Jesus says
"But what about you guys…

Slide words

who do you say I am?"

Here they are in front of the Cave of Pan… which leads so deeply into depths of the earth…its widely assumed to be the entrance to the ghostly underworld…the home of Hades…the god of the lower regions…a region inhabited
by the disembodied spirits …of the dead.

But Peter says – I don’t think you’re a recycled prophet…
I believe

Slide words

"You’re the Messiah." [pause……….]

Blank slide

For heaven sake! Jesus’ shouts…don’t go around telling people that! Mate You’re gonna get us in deep trouble. Mention the title Messiah… and its curtains
Herod Antipas already thinks… I have my eye on the throne. [pause]

And that’s exactly what most Jews thought the Messiah would do…be God’s anointed king in the line of David… promised by the prophets…who’d overthrow the all occupying armies…restore the land and wealth to Israel …unite and rule her tribes…all heralding the Messianic Age of peace… at least for Israel’s people.

Now hang on a minute Peter…Jesus says…your image of me could be all wrong…you’ve got a lot to learn about what it actually means … to be God’s anointed one…[pause]

Remember at his baptism Jesus had come to understand his identity as the anointed one of God…but because of how the Jews foretold the promised Messiah…such a title could only land Jesus in deep trouble… with political and religious authorities … especially those colluding with Rome’s proclamation that Caesar is god… insisting Caesar’s will… be done on earth as in heaven.

If you’re going to stick with me…Jesus tells his followers…if you’re going to follow my teaching…
you need to know there’s gonna be a cost...

So here in front of what locals call the very gates of Hades…Jesus warns his friends…of the suffering… rejection and… yes….even death… he’s likely to experience
even alluding to the Roman’s favourite method of execution … public torture on a cross.

Slide words

He said all this quite openly. [pause………..]

Peter is appalled…and tries to shuffle Jesus out of earshot of the others…and begins to tear a strip off him…

But before Peter can get a word out Jesus shouts get behind me you accuser… you Satan… and turns his back on him

Slide words

You’re setting your mind… not on divine things but on human things. You’re not looking at this from God’s point of view…you’re seeing it all from a human perspective!

If any want to become my followers,

Slide words

let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life… will lose it… Yes…they can sell out to the powers and principalities… and yes maybe save their life…but if you follow me

slide words
even if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it.

If you lose your life because of me and the good news I’m teaching… that will be life saving in the end. The powers and principalities don’t have any respect for your life…

why you could become the richest Jew
in the whole Roman world…and it still wouldn’t save you…
if they decided you were no longer useful.

Slide words

Indeed, what can the sell outs give in return for their life? They’ll have nothing to bargain with. And Jesus goes on

Blank slide

…but I grant you this is an adulterous and sinful generation ….and those who are ashamed of me and of my message …well I’m gonna be ashamed of them when my purpose is fulfilled…and I come in my Father’s glory with the holy angels. [pause]

Jesus has a complex assignmentpart of it… is to heal Israel’s image of God…and reconcile even the pagans to God …That’s a big ask…

As long as Israel sees God as their property …as long as they hold onto a vision of God… as a powerful punishing
judge when they sin…and a God who smites their enemies when they’re good…the cycle of war…revenge and retribution will never end…nations will always keep score …people will continue to commit acts of emotional and physical violence…in the name of God…

Peace and forgiveness would never stand a chance. [pause…]

And like Peter and other Jews of his time…if our image of God is out of whack…our logic about God will be flawed…

At my conference last weekend…one of the speakers told us how his image of God was shaped by watching his barrister father in courtrooms…As a child he actually pictured God as a judge with a great heavy gavel…dishing out punishment. Another woman used to picture God as an unapproachable king… sitting on a throne.

Some people have an image of God who will bring wealth and power to his chosen ones… while raining down destruction on their enemies. A God who’ll reward them…
if they rain destruction down… on their enemies.

I want you to talk to your neighbour for moment about the image of God you first formed…

Chat and Discussion

To follow Jesus we have to shake
every image we have of God…every image …that doesn’t line up with Jesus teaching about God and Jesus’ life

Peter was appalled when Jesus claimed…
their longed-for Messiah… would be so vulnerable… in the face of hatred and violence…but he was…and instead of striking his persecutors down…Jesus prayed they be forgiven. [pause]

When we surrender our lives… to the God revealed by Jesus
…yes we might end up suffering for our beliefs…we might end up martyrs battling against injustice and prejudice…we might end up denying our own desire for revenge… and acting …
only out of sacrificial love for our enemies

When we surrender our lives to the God whose image is revealed in Jesus…we might end up poor instead of prosperous …the world isn’t happy
when its idols lose market share…

And when we surrender our lives… to Jesus’ revelation of God’s will on earth …God’s way of peace with justice… compassion and mercy…at least Jesus’ God…full of mercy and forgiveness… won’t be among the things we fear… [pause]

Being good Jews…Jesus friends have an image of God shaped by thousands of years of victory in war against weaker nations and a conquered people …subject to stronger nations

Their image of God was like this

when we’re winning… God’s with us…when we’re losing… God’s against us… we must have done something wrong.

But that’s a totally illogical image for the God who anointed Jesus… to preach good news to the poor and proclaim liberation to the captives…That’s not a logical image for the God whose anointed one…would be pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities…whose saving message and suffering… could bring the world reconciliation … peace and healing at last. [pause]

Does your image of God lead you to expect mercy or condemnation? Does your image of God lead you to forgive …as you’ve been forgiven? Does your image of God’s love for you… strengthen you in the face of rejection… or when you cling to the gospel of peace? Does it strengthen you so you can stand up to any power of injustice oppression and hatred… wherever they are found…
knowing your popularity could take a nose dive?

Over the next week I want you to take a look at the image of God revealed by Jesus and see where your image of God needs to be healed? My prayer is that you’ll surrender all your images… for a vision of the God of Love…
revealed in Jesus Christ. …Andrew…