“I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. This is Volume 54 from the American Edition of Luther’s Works, a particularly
famous book called Luther’s “Table Talk.” For years, friends
of Martin Luther sat around his table with him at suppertime in intimate
conversation with him and writing down what the famous Reformer said.
When Terry and I, and my brother and sisters who are here today, visited
Luther’s home in Wittenberg, Germany last summer, we saw the very table where
Luther’s famous “Table Talk” took place. Today’s Gospel Reading is part of Jesus’ own “Table Talk.”
If you have a Bible with the words of Christ in red, you will notice that in the
Gospel of John all of chapters 14, 15, 16 and 17 are in red.
These chapters record Jesus and his friends the disciples gathered around the
table in the Upper Room in intimate conversation at the Last Supper. One of those disciples who was there for the Last Supper in the Upper Room
was the Apostle John, whom tradition says was the youngest of the Apostles, only
a teenager, and a cousin of Jesus. Just as Luther’s friends
wrote down what the famous Reformer had to say, in his Gospel John records for
us the “Table Talk” of his friend and cousin, the famous Rabbi Jesus. “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” This statement from
Jesus represented a change in his relationship with his disciples.
If you are married you may remember the moment it became clear for the
first time that your future husband or wife was interested in being more than
just friends. In that moment there was a life-altering change
in your relationship. In the same way, when Jesus declares to
his disciples, “I am the Vine; you are the branches,” it shatters their
conceptions and misconceptions about him as he makes it clear that he is much
more than they think. For three years they have looked upon Jesus as an exceptional human being;
now he makes it clear that he is much more than a human being.
They have looked upon Jesus as a great teacher; now he makes it clear he
is much more than a great teacher. They have mistakenly
looked upon Jesus as a political figure; now he makes it clear he is much more
than a political figure. “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” Still today, many
look upon Jesus as just an exceptional human being. But, he
had to be more than a mere human, because he came into the world to solve a
problem beyond the power any human, the problem of sin. As we
confess in our liturgy, “We are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned
against you in thought, word and deed. . . We justly deserve
your present and eternal punishment. . . we cannot free
ourselves from our sinful condition” The problem of sin was beyond the power to solve of even the most exceptional
human. But, in his “Table Talk” with the disciples at the
Last Supper, Jesus explains that he is much more than just an exceptional human
being. “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father except through me.” The Apostle Paul puts it
this way in 2nd Corinthians and Colossians: “God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself, not counting men’s sins against them. . . For
God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to
reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood, shed on
the cross.” Jesus is much more than just an exceptional human being.
He is the Son of God, your Savior. Your sins are not counted
against you because through his blood shed on the cross you are forgiven and
reconciled with God. “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” Still today, many look upon Jesus as
just a great teacher. Even non-Christian religions such as
Islam, Mormonism, and Buddhism are willing to admit that.
But, also many Christian churches have taken to emphasizing what are considered
to be the “practical” teachings of the Bible, and deemphasizing to the point of
forgetting the Bible’s spiritual teachings about sin and salvation. In the last community I served there was a church that advertised the topic
of their service each week, and for a whole year they had sermons on a wide
range of topics including, genetic engineering, stress reduction, decluttering,
crop circles, UFO’s, and internet addiction. But, this
self-proclaimed Christian church didn’t have one single sermon about Jesus
Christ, his life, death, and resurrection, not even on Christmas and Easter. One “Church Growth” expert advises pastors, “The how-to section of a
bookstore provides a great resource for relevant sermon ideas. The psychological
and self-help sections prove especially helpful.” But, that
diminishes Jesus into an ancient Galilean version of Oprah or Dr. Phil.
In his “Table Talk” with the disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus explains
that he is much more than just a great teacher. “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” Still today, many
mistakenly look upon Jesus as a political figure. A recent
letter to the editor in The Kansas City Star criticized churches as being only a
big “political action committee.” While that is harsh, it is
true that some churches and ministers have become heavily involved in secular
politics. Christians should be active as individual citizens,
but the Holy Christian Church was founded by Christ to be a spiritual
organization, not a political organization. As Jesus told
Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” The popular notion among Jesus’ contemporaries was that the Messiah when he
came would be mostly a political figure, who would overthrow the Romans
occupying their land and establish and earthly kingdom.
Jesus’ own disciples bought into this distorted idea, as the two disciples on
the road to Emmaus said, “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to
restore Israel.” Jesus own disciples thought that his #1 mission was political, but in his
“Table Talk” with the disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus explains that he is
much more than a political figure. “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” The British
theologian J.B. Phillips wrote a famous book titled, “Your God Is Too Small.”
That’s what was wrong with the disciples’ conception and misconceptions
of Jesus as they gathered around the table at the Last Supper that night.
Their conception of Jesus, as an exceptional human being, a great
teacher, their misconception of him as a political figure, were all too small. “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” This statement from
Jesus represented a change in his relationship with his disciples. They must
look beyond their petty conceptions and misconceptions about him.
He is making an extraordinary claim about himself. He
nothing less than their very source of life—life in this world, and eternal life
in the world to come. “If a man remains in me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If
anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” Like Jesus’ first
disciples we must look beyond our petty conceptions and misconceptions about
him. To make him only an exceptional human being, or a great
teacher, or a political figure, is too small. He is nothing
less than your very source of life—life in this world, and eternal life in the
world to come. “You did not choose me,” he says, “but I chose you and appointed you to go
and bear fruit, fruit that will last. . . This is to my
Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
. . Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself;
it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” It is an old custom to dispose of the leftover Communion wine, and the water
used for washing the Communion vessels, and leftover Baptismal water, by pouring
it outside on the ground. At a church I served in western
Kansas there was a shrub by the back door that, even in the midst of a severe
drought we were experiencing during those years, was always green and
flourishing. I finally asked an elder, “Why is that one shrub
green and growing while all the others are brown and dying?”
He replied, “Pastor, don’t you know? That’s where we pour out
the water and the wine.” Be like that shrub, with the water
and the wine poured out on you regularly, and you will thrive. Remember daily who you are through water of Baptism poured out upon you, the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, through which you are born
again as a child of God. At the Lord’s Table receive from him
his body and blood in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, given and shed for
you for the forgiveness of sins, spiritual nutrients from the Vine to strengthen
you in the true faith unto life everlasting. And as today’s
Introit, Psalm 1, says, “Blessed is the man [whose] . . .
delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water.” Be like that shrub, with
the water, the wine, and the Word poured out on you regularly, and you will
thrive. “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves
to be my disciples.” Amen. Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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