Chosen to Bear Fruit

Usually when I read John 15:1-17 I shiver a bit. It sounds lovely to be a branch attached to the vine of Jesus, but then come the words about branches that aren’t bearing fruit being thrown into the fire. This passage seems to go back and forth between blessings and warnings.

Is God trying to scare us? How will it be decided if we’ve produced enough fruit? We’re told that we’ve already been cleansed by Jesus’ words to us and that we are to abide in Him. What does that abiding look like? How do we know if we’re connected to the vine or just hoping we are? I have to admit that at times this has provoked anxiety in me. Those of us who are type A perfectionists already feel we never meet the standard or do enough.

But what if we just accept these words, starting with that as followers we have been cleansed. We’re already clean and don’t have to strive to prove our goodness or worth. If we desire to be close to Jesus, we can choose to be. If we sincerely seek Him out and to live by our understanding of His words, we will bear fruit. If we trust that God will provide, we can ask and receive. If we desire to be His disciples and live out our love for Him, then we will be those who glorify God.

For the high-strung among us, what if we look at the idea of pruning as not so much an indication that we haven’t done enough and aren’t worthy enough. What if we look at it as those things that bring death and dryness to us, those things that sap the life from us, being lovingly removed by God so that we can flourish? What if the branches not producing fruit are whatever holds us back from living abundantly in Christ and that without them we can go higher, have more freedom and thrive? This could be true of not just our individual lives but our congregational life and beyond.

Living to the fullest means living connected to the Source of Life, the generous and gracious Giver who wants us to know ourselves as who we were created to be. Abiding in Christ reminds us of the promises of God to the people of God and His example. As we live out the love Jesus modeled for us, our perspective is changed. We aren’t projects of Jesus but friends of Jesus. We aren’t second rate but chosen. And we aren’t just chosen but we are appointed to go and bear fruit.

These words shouldn’t scare us but should motivate us to reap the benefits of being close to Jesus. When we produce fruit we are living out our purpose, we are bringing glory to the One who made us and we are lavishing love on others just as Christ showed us how to do.

There are many fruits I love. What is more inviting than a laden blueberry patch, apple tree or raspberry bush? Growing up, our raspberry bushes took over the backyard. What started as just a few plants given by a family friend multiplied and some summer days we needed to go out and pick more than once. There were the large darker ones with richer flavour and the tiny light pink ones that were so sweet they were like candy. All of them were delicious to eat.

How humbling and exciting to be asked to bear fruit. How amazing to be part of the miracle of growing something so good outside of ourselves. How awesome to have the privilege of being a conduit from Christ to the lives of others, bringing them blessing and then getting to see good things happen as a result.

May our lives witness to the possibilities of God’s goodness and the fruit we have the privilege to help bring about.