For Jan 18

 

Sermon Notes: Chosen To Bear Fruit

Intro: Last week we spoke about being chosen by God. We saw that In the Gospel of John, Chapter 15, verse 16, Jesus tells His disciples, and it applies to us, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” There’s a lot of meaning in that verse, so It’s important to read and understand that whole verse. So, this morning, we’re going to focus on the meaning of that verse,

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I.  Choosing and Control

A. At first, we may not appreciate the significance of Jesus choosing us instead of us having chosen Him. It may not even seem important, as long as we have accepted Christ as our Savior. It would even seem that the real issue is how we respond once we have accepted Christ in our lives. But the difference lies in our human attitudes about being in control. Yes, God created us with free will so we could choose whether to love God, or not. We want to feel we are in control of our lives. Frank Sinatra sang about looking back over his long life, having planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway, with the final crescendo of “I did it my way.” William Ernest Hensley’s poem, “Invictus”, Latin for undefeated, boldly asserts, “ I am the captain of my fate, the master of my soul.” And, in her song, “I am Woman,” Helen Reddy proclaimed “I can do anything, I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman”. Inspirational quotes to convince us we have control of our lives. Conquerors... at least until we confront our mortality in death.

B. But King Solomon warns us in Prov 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death". We have free will to choose our path, even if it seems right, but leads to spiritual death and destruction. Although the world also preaches our freedom to choose, it then tries to dictate right and wrong - and what to choose.

C. So, the concept of God choosing us, rather than us choosing God, puts control in a much different perspective. Our all knowing, perfect, righteous God choosing us on our way forward, rather than mortal man, imperfectly choosing what seems right but leading to death and destruction. So, it is important to understand that God has chosen us. Chosen us from conception. From the moment of our birth, the Holy Spirit begins nudging us to choose Christ, even if we may not be able to understand what’s happening at the time. John Wesley calls that prevenient, or coming before Grace. Then, at some moment in time, in our free will, we may choose to respond to that nudging and accept Christ into our lives, which Wesley called Justifying Grace. Grace, God’s undeserved favor, means allowing us choose to walk with God, in step with Him, not Him keeping up with us. That means He is in control, yet desiring a personal relationship with us so that as we sang in our Hymn of Preparation, our choice is that we’d rather have Jesus than all the world has to offer. Choosing to be led by His nail pierced Hands that were even pierced for His choosing to die in our place.

D. Now that we’ve determined that God has chosen us, we might then ask, “Chosen for what?”  Israel had come to believe they were the chosen, the ones God loved because of their faith in God. But God had actually chosen Israel to become the protected nation through which He would reveal Himself to the world through His Son, who would be born according to the prophecies given to that nation, and would be from that nation. The nation God hoped would be the showcase of faith for the world to follow. With God’s plan of salvation implemented with His death and Resurrection, Jesus then commanded His disciples to go beyond Israel, baptizing all nations in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s Plan from the beginning.

E. So then our answer to “chosen for what?” is revealed to us in the Scripture from John 15:16,  I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Jesus chose us....appointed us...as in giving us our purpose...to bear fruit. Not just fruit, but fruit that will last. Fruit of eternal life.

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II. John 15:1-9

A.  So now, the next question should be, “How do I do that? Jesus enlightens us in our Gospel Lesson from John. As Dana explained, the people of that time understood vineyards and growing grapes. Grapes provided wine that was often better than their water. There was even a difference between ordinary wine and quality wine. Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine at the wedding in Cana. When the chief steward sampled the new wine, he exclaimed it was even better than the first wine served that was intended to impress the guests. Jesus would only have provided only the best quality, and appointing us to bear fruit for Him, He would expect that same quality from us. So, His teaching about spiritual fruit, using a familiar analogy of growing grapes, would have been about producing quality spiritual fruit, eternal fruit that lasts.

B. The vine is the major element that provides the essential nutrients from the earth to its numerous branches on which the fruit, the individual grapes, are developed. Nutrients such as water, sun produced chemicals from the leaves, and chemicals drawn through the roots, flow from the vine to the branches to the grapes. Too much, or too little of particular ingredients can adversely affect the quality of the growing grapes. Jesus says He is the true vine, the source of the necessary nutrients to us, the branches that produce the fruit, the grapes. Jesus provides the elements for our spiritual growth - truth, love, hope, joy, peace and so on, that enable us then to produce the desired fruit.

C. As long as we, as branches, remain attached to Jesus, the Vine, we can provide good fruit. The more completely we remain attached to the vine, the more complete nutrition will flow through us to produce better quality fruit.

D. In this analogy, the Father is the Gardener. The gardener watches over the health of the vineyard. The gardener provided protection for the growing vine, keeping animals from damaging the vine and branches, and stealing the fruit. Animals, like foxes, would eat the grapes, and in the process make a mess of a vineyard. Satan’s foxes can make a mess of unprotected vineyards.

E. The gardener was also concerned with the state of the growing branches. If a branch was no longer producing fruit, it was wasting the nutrition from the vine and taking up valuable space. So the Gardener would prune, or cut away those branches to be burned in the fire. The gardener would also keep the growing grapes from laying on the ground and rotting. He would provide support to a sagging branches to keep the grapes growing properly.

F. A human gardener could build protective walls, cultivate the soil around the roots, prune the branches to provide optimal growing conditions for the branches, but can do little about the weather conditions. But as our heavenly Father’s world, He can control what’s needed for our growth and ability to produce fruit that lasts. In our Gospel reading, Jesus tells His disciples if we remain in Him, and His Word remains in us, we may ask whatever we wish, and it will be done for us, so that we will bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be His branches, His disciples. We must still be careful about asking whatever we wish, for if what we wish hinders our ability to provide good fruit – fruit that lasts – we will be just taking up space, and finding ourselves pruned from His vineyard. If we are to remain in His love, as He commands us to do, we have to continue to receive His nourishment, and not ask according to our human desires.

G. Our call to worship this morning from Psalm 1 describes yet another process of developing lasting fruit. Those who meditate on God’s Law, take delight in God’s law, and follow God’s ways are continually nourished in faith. They are like trees planted by streams of water, yielding good fruit in season, whose leaves do not wither, and whatever they do prospers.

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III. Galatians 5:13-25

A. So, having seen the processes of producing good fruit, we can look at some examples of spiritual fruit that lasts. Paul offers such a perspective in his epistle to the Galatian church. The context of his letter involved the main contention between Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles and the Jewish law of circumcision being imposed on Gentile believers.

B. Circumcision was originally a sealing of the covenant between God and Abraham, and Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites commonly referred to as Jews. Paul was a Pharisee, raised in the strict adherence to the Jewish requirement of circumcision. The Jews required new converts to be circumcised as a show of obedience to the God of Israel. But the churches Paul was establishing were not converts to Judaism, but followers of Jesus, later to be called Christians.

C.  Not only was circumcision a discouragement for Gentiles joining the church, but Paul argued that salvation through Jesus meant freedom from the Law. The Law could not save a person, because no one could fully keep it. But faith in Jesus, rather than mere obedience to the Law, was the requirement for salvation. So after heated debates, the Church conceded the requirement for circumcision, as Paul continued to stress freedom from sin through Christ instead of the past legalistic requirements under the Law.

D. But this greater concept of freedom could be taken too far. Paul instructs the Galatian church that freedom from the Law didn’t mean they were free to indulge in the flesh. The Gentiles of Galatia, having grown up in the pagan lifestyles of immorality, had to learn what faith in Jesus meant. So Paul is teaching them to instead walk in the Spirit so they wouldn’t gratify the desires of the flesh, for the desires of flesh are contrary to the Spirit. They didn’t have the freedom to do whatever they pleased, but rather were to be led by the Spirit, and if they were led by the Spirit, they were not under penalty of the law. Paul was teaching that God’s entire law was summed up by the command to love one another, and all that loving one another meant, living by the standards Jesus taught.

E. Paul was not one to leave things vague. He even lists some of the practice of the former pagans, like sexual immorality, witchcraft, drunkenness, orgies, and hatred. Rather than just listing the Thou Shalt Nots of religion, Paul shows them nine desirable fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, forbearance or patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

F. What if we were to associate each of these fruits of the Spirit with an actual fruits, so that each time we saw or even ate that piece of fruit, we would remember one of the traits Paul lists. Let’s try one or two. What could we say about love?  That it was sweet, juicy, easy to share?  What fruit would that remind you of? 

G. What about a sweet, juicy watermelon? Then every time you had a piece of watermelon, you would think of love. Perhaps you might even think about someone you needed to love, and finding yourself wanting a slice of watermelon? 

H. Now let’s try ‘gentleness’. What piece of fruit would you consider gentle?  How about a banana?  You can peel a banana gently and eat it hardly any disturbance.  And you have to be gentle eating a banana to avoid damaging it. Perhaps if someone treated you rudely, you might think of eating a gentle banana to avoid any thoughts of retaliation.

I. The next time you’re in the produce section, try associating the various fruits you see there with a fruit of the Spirit. Be careful, though, others might see you smiling with Joy, and you would have to tell them you are a fruit of the Spirit.

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Conclusion: By now, we should have a greater understanding of John 15:16, that we didn’t choose Jesus.. but rather He chose us,...appointing us to bear fruit...spiritual fruit that lasts. He chose us, long before we even knew God. Even though we like to think we are in control of our lives with free will, we can best use that free will to choose to follow Jesus, trusting Him to help us produce eternal fruit. O for grace to trust Him more. Amen