The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Gospel reading from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, May 14th: Acts 9:26-31; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8)

‘I AM’ SAYS ABIDE IN ME

This week’s gospel reading is one of the many “I am” statements found in John’s gospel. The evangelist/author of the fourth gospel records Jesus using this powerful phrase on many different occasions: “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the gate for the sheep,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the Resurrection and the life,” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

One time when Jesus was teaching a crowd, He declared that Abraham had rejoiced at seeing Him. When Jesus’ opponents asked how that could be, since Jesus was far less than 50 years old while Abraham had lived centuries earlier, Jesus replied, “Before Abraham was born, I AM.”

The words “I am” were no ordinary words to the people who heard Jesus speak. Back when God first revealed Himself to Moses, Moses asked God what His name is. God replied, “I am who I am.”  God then further instructed Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

So in the minds of anyone familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, the phrase “I am” clearly referred to the Deity, the Creator of the universe. No wonder Jesus’ opponents wanted to kill Him when He made that statement about Abraham. By using the phrase “I am,” Jesus was equating Himself with God. Coming from a mere mortal, like you or me, this is plainly blasphemy. The only person in history who could make such a statement truthfully was the Word made flesh, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ.

(Which is another good reason why you can’t take the wishy-washy middle road of saying that Jesus was merely a good and wise human teacher but not God. If He was only human and not divine, then His statements make it clear that He was a blaspheming egomaniac.)

This week’s gospel reading is one of the many discourses Jesus gave during the Last Supper, as described in detail in John’s gospel. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches.”

This teaching is filled with wonderful imagery. Jesus is saying that He is the source of life and strength, just as a vine is the source of life-giving nourishment for all the branches attached to it. In a culture where vineyards were numerous, the disciples could envision exactly what Jesus was saying. When Jesus explained, “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine,” they knew just what He meant. They could easily make the connection when Jesus concluded that line by adding, “…so neither can you (bear fruit) unless you remain in me.”

(Personally, I prefer the older translations here, where instead of the word “remain,” it says, “…unless you abide in me.” I dunno, I just like “abide” better. The word seems more personal and intimate than “remain.”)

Jesus offered some very encouraging words during this discourse. He said, “Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit,” and “If you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.”

How wonderful. If we just remain—or abide—in Jesus, we will be able to bear much fruit and be able to go boldly before God and make our desires and requests known, confident that God loves us so much that He’ll answer our prayers.

There have been many books written about, and countless sermons delivered on this “I am the vine” teaching by Jesus. One of my favorite books on the subject is “Secrets of the Vine,” by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson.

Oftentimes people will focus only on the uplifting, encouraging words of Jesus in this passage. But Jesus also offered some words of warning here. He pointed out that God the Father “takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,” and that “anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.”

Whoa! That’s a little disconcerting. Anytime Jesus mentions the possibility of being thrown into a fire, we ought to pay close attention. Although Jesus offers us the priceless gift of Himself—His power and Spirit flowing through us, as the nourishing sap flows through the vine to the branches—it’s imperative that we use His power and Spirit to bear good fruit. In other words, to live righteous and holy lives and regularly perform works of charity and mercy.

If we don’t attach ourselves to Jesus at all, or if we are attached to Him but it doesn’t affect our lives, then we are in danger of being thrown out onto fire and burned. (Is that a figure of speech,  or poetic imagery, or a specific reference to the fires of Hell? I’m not sure, but why take the chance?)

Jesus made another interesting statement here: “Every [branch] that does (bear fruit) [the Father] prunes so that it bears more fruit.”

I’m not an expert on growing grapes (and I don’t think the fact that I abused wine and other alcoholic beverages over two decades ago qualifies me as an authority on vineyards). But I’ve been told that grape vines will grow wild, with branches shooting off in all directions. If many of these branches are not trimmed back, you’ll get a harvest of many small sour grapes. However, when the branches are trimmed and pruned, it concentrates the sap from the vine to select few areas, and the grapes harvested, although not as numerous, are large and sweet and luscious.

When Jesus said that God the Father prunes those who abide in Jesus, He meant that all of the ungodly things, the activities on which we waste so much of our time and energy, are cut away and removed from our lives. Each person has his own unique list of junk that needs to be pruned away, but I suspect that if we each made a list of ungodly activities that dominate our lives—activities that leave us little time for prayer, Scripture reading, or acts of charity—there would be some common themes, especially that soul-rotting device known as the television and other so-called “entertainment” pursuits.

In his book, Wilkerson notes that God’s “pruning” can be painful, but this pruning away of “self” is necessary to achieve worthwhile results. He writes, “Pruning will intensify as God’s shears cut closer to the core of who you are.”

It hurts, no doubt, but God’s pruning is just what we need. Getting rid of our self-centered view of life and changing to a Christ-centered view is the only way we’ll ever produce abundant, good fruit. Also, if we abide in Him and let His power work through us, it’s the only way we’ll ever experience true joy and peace. There’s no doubt that this is true, because I AM said so.

©2006