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Series B – Fifth Sunday of Easter – Sunday, May 3, 2015 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:29	the holy Gospel According to Saint John
0:31	chapter 15 verses 1 through 8.
0:37	I am the True Vine
0:39	and my father is the gardener
0:42	he cuts off every branch in me that
0:44	bears no fruit while every branch that
0:47	does bear fruit he prunes so that it
0:49	will be even more fruitful
0:52	you are already clean because of the
0:54	word that I have spoken to you remain in
0:57	me and I will remain in you no Branch
1:00	can bear fruit by itself it must remain
1:03	in the vine neither can you bear fruit
1:06	unless you remain in me I am the vine
1:09	you are the branches if a man remains in
1:12	me and I in him he will bear much fruit
1:15	apart from me you can do nothing if
1:18	anyone does not remain in me he is like
1:20	a branch that is thrown away and Withers
1:22	such branches are picked up and then
1:24	thrown into the fire and burned if you
1:26	remain in me and my words remain in you
1:29	ask whatever you wish and it will be
1:31	given you this is to my father’s Glory
1:33	that you bear much fruit showing
1:35	yourselves to be my disciples
1:39	in the name of Jesus
1:42	all right texts like our gospel texts
1:45	that we heard this morning are easily
1:47	misunderstood people wrongly think that
1:50	this text says you had better get busy
1:53	bearing fruit or God the father is going
1:55	to cut you off and throw you into hell
1:58	that is not what this text is saying
2:01	Jesus is not threatening his disciples
2:04	he’s actually making a promise to them
2:05	keep in mind Jesus said these words on
2:08	Monday Thursday the night that he was to
2:09	be betrayed and so this is this some of
2:12	Jesus’s last instruction to his
2:15	disciples not making a threat to him so
2:17	hear it again
2:18	he says you are already clean because of
2:22	the word that I have spoken to you
2:25	remain in me now a better translation
2:28	would be abide abide in me and I will
2:32	remain or abide in you no Branch can
2:36	bear fruit by itself it must remain in
2:40	the vine neither can you bear fruit
2:43	unless you abide in me so notice the
2:48	bearing fruit thing
2:49	that’s actually a promise Jesus is
2:53	promising that if you abide in him you
2:56	will bear fruit
2:59	he’s not saying you had better bear
3:00	fruit or else
3:02	the verb is abide
3:05	abide in Jesus and you will bear fruit I
3:10	am the vine you are the branches if a
3:12	man abides in me and I in him he will
3:15	bear much fruit see it’s promise
3:20	so this is a promise it’s not a threat
3:23	abide in Christ and you will bear much
3:27	fruit unplug yourself from Christ and
3:30	you become a cut flower Jesus said apart
3:33	from me you can do nothing if anyone
3:35	does not remain or abide in me he’s like
3:37	a branch that is thrown away
3:39	and Withers
3:40	it reminds me when I was a child I know
3:42	that we’re in the Easter season right
3:44	now but if you mind let me take you back
3:46	to Christmas when I was growing up my
3:49	mom was all about the live Christmas
3:52	tree she loved the smell in the house of
3:56	the pine tree the fresh one in fact we
3:58	didn’t just buy a live tree
4:00	we had a family tradition there was
4:03	Lions Christmas tree farm that we went
4:06	to in San Gabriel we’d make the Trek
4:08	trick you know trip from Arcadia down to
4:11	San Gabriel to Lions Christmas tree farm
4:13	and then what you do is you give them
4:15	your your keys and your driver’s license
4:17	and they’ll give you a saw and then you
4:20	wander into the Christmas tree farm and
4:22	you find that perfect victim right and
4:26	now I loved it when I got to the age
4:28	where I can actually do the chopping
4:29	right you know just kind of cut it down
4:31	mom and
4:33	then that tree it comes down and we’d
4:36	carry it out to the you know the place
4:38	where we pay for it and they tie it to
4:39	the top of your car and then we get that
4:41	thing home and oh it would fill the
4:44	whole house with the smell of pine tree
4:46	right
4:47	now keep in mind my mom she’d say this
4:51	is a live tree
4:52	but thinking back on it I’d say no
4:55	that’s not a live tree that’s
4:58	a dead tree the thing that that tree
5:01	needs to live is still back at Lion’s
5:03	Christmas tree farm it’s you know the
5:05	roots right
5:07	so
5:09	um it was just a matter of time before
5:11	well that live tree that smelled so
5:15	wonderful became bone dry
5:19	and the needles would start falling off
5:21	that thing so that by the time my mom
5:23	would take the Christmas tree down right
5:25	before New Year’s I mean it was a menace
5:28	you know what I’m talking about right
5:30	you know you just if a wind comes to the
5:32	house 10 000 needles fall under the
5:35	carpet right you know what I’m talking
5:37	about so think of it that way
5:40	is that you know this is a metaphor we
5:42	all understand that tree is not alive
5:45	that’s not connected to the roots in the
5:47	same way we are not alive unless unless
5:50	we are connected to Christ Christ is the
5:54	Vine
5:55	we’re the branches he’s the root and if
6:00	we’re not connected to him then how can
6:02	we bear good fruit now sticking with the
6:04	Christmas tree metaphor here all right
6:07	do Christmas trees bear
6:09	fruit
6:11	no they don’t but they sure do look
6:13	pretty don’t they
6:14	now here’s what I would point out the
6:17	person who is going with the Christmas
6:18	tree approach to Good Works
6:21	well they are disconnected from Christ
6:24	and they are adorning themselves with
6:27	wonderful looking fruity things you know
6:31	Wonderful glittery balls and bulbs and
6:34	lights and tinsel and they are making
6:36	themselves look oh so holy
6:40	soap Pious such a sight to behold
6:44	but they’re not actually bearing fruit
6:47	they’re just adorning themselves
6:50	and be warned my friends there are a lot
6:53	of people out there who think that
6:55	bearing good fruit is about adorning
6:57	themselves and making them look holy and
6:59	Pious among their neighbors and that’s
7:01	not bearing good fruit that’s just while
7:04	mimicking something that looks like
7:06	fruit and keep in mind fruit is never
7:09	for the tree it is always for somebody
7:12	else
7:13	I do not know a single apple tree that
7:15	bears fruit in order for the apple tree
7:17	to consume it
7:18	good fruit is always for your neighbor
7:20	so think of it this way
7:23	another way of looking at this years ago
7:27	when my wife and I lived in California
7:28	we would take trips from time to time up
7:31	to Solvang Central Coast of California
7:34	and a wonderful place to be I mean it
7:37	looks like a Dutch Village if you ever
7:39	want to go someplace like that you know
7:41	just put that on your to-do list it’s a
7:42	great place to visit but outside of
7:44	Solvang they have all of these Vineyards
7:46	and they also have fruit orchards you
7:49	know
7:50	whole Orchards where you got fruit trees
7:53	out there and we were actually out on a
7:55	walk and we were going by one of these
7:57	fruit orchards and noted the fact that
8:00	how they pruned
8:03	trees that are supposed to bear fruit
8:05	and commercial production it doesn’t
8:08	look good it looks it looks awful I mean
8:11	this is you would never do this to a
8:13	tree in your own front yard at least in
8:15	California if you have you know like an
8:16	orange tree or something like that you
8:17	would not do these things to this tree
8:19	because it it just doesn’t look right I
8:22	mean they top the trees they prune back
8:24	every little thing that you can possibly
8:26	do but see the thing is is that they’re
8:28	not pruning these trees to make them
8:29	look good they’re pruning these trees so
8:32	that they yield a lot of fruit
8:34	and so Jesus In this passage notice he’s
8:37	the vine we’re the branches branches do
8:40	nothing except for get plugged into the
8:42	vine and God the father he’s the
8:45	gardener or the vine dresser and he
8:47	comes along with his pruning shears
8:50	and he starts snipping
8:54	and believe me it probably won’t look
8:56	good nope the whole idea behind the
8:59	pruning is to cut off the dead wood and
9:00	the dead wood in our lives well these
9:03	would be the sins of our flesh our own
9:05	idols and things like that and
9:07	oftentimes God the Father will allow
9:10	suffering or Calamity in your life as a
9:13	means of pruning back
9:15	and cutting off
9:16	things in your life for the purpose of
9:19	you bearing good fruit
9:21	can be a painful process
9:23	but keep that in mind it’s not a pretty
9:26	thing but it’s not about how pretty you
9:28	look
9:29	it’s about God bearing fruit through you
9:33	so unplug yourself from Jesus You’re A
9:35	Cut Flower you’re just like a Christmas
9:37	tree a live Christmas tree you’re drying
9:40	up so our good fruits
9:43	they are not born apart from Christ
9:46	they are born by abiding in Christ
9:49	let me read a little bit again from our
9:51	epistle text and this is love
9:54	God was manifest Among Us
9:57	God sent his only son into the world
9:59	that we might live through him in this
10:01	is love not that we have loved God but
10:03	that he loved us and sent his son to be
10:06	the propitiation for our sins beloved if
10:08	God so loved us we also ought to love
10:11	one another
10:12	so here’s the idea abiding in Christ
10:15	cannot be a done done apart from the
10:17	gospel it is done totally in the gospel
10:20	in light of the Gospel so the idea is is
10:23	that abiding is believing abiding is
10:25	believing and trusting that Christ has
10:27	truly bled and died for all of your sins
10:30	and you see God as a loving God one who
10:34	would go to Such Great Lengths to save
10:36	somebody as sinful as you as sinful as
10:40	me
10:40	and then that love of God that comes
10:43	into our life through Christ now then
10:45	flows from us to other people
10:48	if you don’t love how can you say that
10:51	you’re truly of God because God is love
10:53	is John’s argument and so to abide in
10:57	Christ is to Avail yourself over and
11:01	over again of God’s life-giving
11:05	Spirit-filled words from scripture you
11:08	hear this morning are abiding hearing
11:10	the words of Christ feasting on them and
11:14	through the words that you’re hearing
11:15	from God’s word this morning the spirit
11:17	is Flowing like sap from Christ into
11:21	your branch that God the father has
11:23	pruned in order to produce and bear good
11:26	fruit in your life
11:27	and the good Fruit by the way if you’re
11:30	not familiar with this passage Galatians
11:32	5 makes it clear what this good fruit is
11:33	the fruit of the spirit is love
11:36	joy peace patience
11:40	kindness goodness faithfulness
11:43	gentleness self-control and against such
11:46	things there is no law and love here is
11:50	not a feeling where the fruit of the
11:53	spirit is love it’s not a feeling it’s
11:54	not God is giving you fond feelings
11:56	towards other people I really feel good
11:58	about that person
11:59	no
12:01	Jesus says to love your neighbor he
12:03	doesn’t say to like him
12:04	okay you think about that okay you don’t
12:07	have to like your neighbor to love your
12:08	neighbor and the the love here is not
12:11	about a feeling the love is about action
12:13	knowing that your neighbor needs help
12:17	you go and love and serve your neighbor
12:20	that
12:22	is good fruit that Christ is bearing in
12:25	you for the sake of your neighbor not
12:28	your sake in fact a really good healthy
12:31	Grapevine out of some of the
12:33	California’s wonderful Vineyards right
12:35	when they’re full of the fruit and
12:37	they’ve got all these clusters of grapes
12:39	on them you can’t even see the vine you
12:41	can’t even see the branch
12:43	all you see is the fruit
12:45	and all of these give glory to God Jesus
12:48	says
12:49	and they give glory to God the Father
12:50	not us because he’s the one producing
12:53	them in us for his glory for his kingdom
12:58	so
12:59	we as Christians
13:01	ought to pray
13:02	Lord God we pray
13:05	that the father would come and prune out
13:07	the dead wood in our lives
13:09	doesn’t matter to us how we look to
13:12	others instead come and prune us as
13:15	ridiculous as that might look or as
13:16	difficult as that might be so that you
13:19	may be glorified in the good fruits that
13:21	you would bear in our lives this is a
13:24	good prayer
13:25	the result of it may be painful
13:28	but the result of it in the long term is
13:29	the glory of God in and through you in
13:33	the good works that God produces in you
13:34	all through the gospel and so a good way
13:38	to think about this if you would Christ
13:40	is the vine we’re the branches and if
13:43	you look at the front of your bulletin
13:45	we see the cross turned into a grapevine
13:48	right I think that’s a good way of
13:50	putting it we’re all the branches
13:52	connected now to the cross the cross
13:56	then becomes
13:58	that vine by which we draw our
14:01	sustenance and so you are here abiding
14:04	today today you’ve heard the words of
14:06	the Absolution today you are hearing the
14:09	words of the gospel and God’s
14:12	Spirit-filled words
14:14	speaking right now through Mark as well
14:17	as myself and in just a few minutes
14:19	you’re going to also receive Christ’s
14:21	body and blood for the Forgiveness of
14:23	your sins in the Lord’s Supper these are
14:26	the ways in which he sustains us and by
14:28	which we abide we’re not here for a flu
14:30	shot we’re here to get that wonderful
14:34	Spirit-filled power of God’s word and
14:37	the life-giving sustenance given to us
14:39	in the body and blood of Christ because
14:41	this is what how God then produces these
14:45	fruits through our branches right and
14:48	sustaining us
14:49	and to close
14:51	with this kind of meditation today I
14:54	would like to read to you something
14:55	that’s really old and I know I’m kind of
14:58	a nerd that way but um in the
15:02	the writings of the church fathers there
15:04	is an old poem
15:06	talking about the vine of the cross
15:09	and we don’t know who wrote it some
15:11	think it was cyprian of Carthage others
15:13	think it was tertullian but the reality
15:15	is we don’t know so technically this is
15:17	an anonymous poem and I won’t read the
15:19	whole thing but with that picture of the
15:22	Cross being the vine here’s what one of
15:24	the church fathers wrote long ago he
15:27	says there’s a place we believe at the
15:30	center of the world and it’s called
15:31	Golgotha by the Jews in their native
15:33	tongue here was planted a tree cut from
15:37	a Barren stump
15:38	this tree I remember hearing produced
15:41	wholesome fruits
15:42	but it did not bear these fruits for
15:44	those who had settled there it was
15:46	foreigners who picked these lovely
15:48	fruits
15:49	this is what the tree looked like it
15:51	rose from a single stem
15:53	and then extended its arms into two
15:56	branches just like the heavy yard arms
15:59	in which billowing Sails are stretched
16:01	or like the Yoke beneath which two oxen
16:04	are put to the plow the shoot that
16:07	sprung from the first ripe seed
16:09	germinated in the earth and then
16:12	miraculously on the third day It
16:13	produced a branch once more
16:15	terrifying to the Earth and those above
16:18	but rich in life-giving fruit
16:20	but over the next 40 days it increased
16:22	in strength growing into a huge tree
16:24	which touched the heavens with its
16:27	topmost branches and then hid its sacred
16:29	head on high
16:31	in the meantime
16:33	It produced 12 branches of enormous
16:35	weight and stretched forth spreading
16:37	them over the whole world they were to
16:40	bring nourishment and eternal life to
16:42	all
16:43	the Nations and teach them that death
16:45	can die and then after a further 50 days
16:48	had passed from its very top the tree
16:51	caused a draft of divine nectar to flow
16:54	into its branches a breeze of heavenly
16:56	spirit all over the tree the leaves were
16:59	dripping with sweet Dew and look beneath
17:01	the Branch’s Shady cover there was a
17:04	spring with Waters bright and clear for
17:07	there was nothing there to disturb the
17:09	calm and all around this tree countless
17:12	races and peoples gathered of different
17:15	stock sex age and rank married and
17:17	unmarried widows and young married women
17:19	babies children and Men both young and
17:24	old
17:25	and so today we We Gather underneath
17:27	that tree the tree of the cross
17:30	the True Vine
17:32	that we have been grafted into the life
17:34	sustaining body and blood of Christ
17:36	feeding us and bearing fruit in our
17:39	lives and because Christ has so loved us
17:42	now we truly can love our neighbors so
17:45	go this morning after you leave church
17:47	and find that person who needs your help
17:51	find that person it could be your own
17:53	spouse or your children or a neighbor or
17:57	somebody you don’t even know or a
17:58	perfect stranger
18:00	find the person who needs your help and
18:04	love and serve them for their sake and
18:07	for the sake of Christ because in this
18:09	God is glorified in the name of Jesus
18:13	amen
18:14	[Music]

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