May 10th,
Year of Our + Lord 2026
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City
and Custer, South Dakota
Enduring Life, Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy
John
15:1-17, Jeremiah 2:21-22
Audio of the sermon can be found HERE.
Video of the readings and sermon can be found HERE.
Jesus says: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinedresser.”
Jesus’ teaching of
the Vine and Branches is wonderful. This
passage from John chapter 15 is full of both the Catechism, full of plainly
stated truths concerning the salvation doctrine of Jesus, and it also blesses
us with the most vivid imagery, capturing the mystery of the Christian faith
through the beauty and wonder of grapevines, of fruitful vineyards. Which to choose for our focus this morning, the
Catechism, or the beauty of the Vine and Branches? Could we maybe enjoy both?
Today I am also
marveling at the joy of God’s timing.
There was no planning on my part that we should hear this Word of God just
shortly after Shelee and I returned from almost two weeks in Spain. Hispania, Iberia, España: Spain, a remarkable
land full art, architecture, history, olives, and full of tremendous vineyards,
from the green north to the sunny south, rolling hills and valleys filled with
rows and rows of vines, vineyards that produce wines from the palest golden
yellow to the deepest burgundy: abundant, terrific wines.
My mom Agnes had a
grapevine on back fence of our lot, behind the garden. I do not remember that it ever produced a lot
of grapes: Forsyth, Montana is not known as wine country. But it was beautiful. Every spring the grapevine foreshadowed the
Resurrection. The bare woody vines running
along the top of the fence exploded in color, seemingly dead vines bursting
forth with bright, pale green leaves.
Grapevines attract
bees, which is probably why Agnes wanted it running behind her garden. Grape vines can also give shade, or provide privacy,
as they fill a fence with leaves. And,
of course, grapevines provide us with grapes.
I think maybe Agnes tried to make jelly from our grapes a few years, but
I don’t remember it ever working out terrifically. Regardless, our vine blessed us, and shown
with abundant loveliness.
Abundance. Do you know how much wine can be produced from
one acre of grapevines? If a vineyard
produces a low harvest, still one acre can produce 1,400 bottles of wine. If the harvest is plentiful, if the bunches
of grapes sag heavily on the vines, requiring stakes and wires to support, then
one acre can produce more than 7,000 bottles of wine. When God provides, vineyards can produce astounding
productivity.
And grapes are
almost self-vinting. All the liquid and
all the sugar needed is naturally present, in the grapes. Even the yeast needed to ferment the grape
juice into wine is just there, naturally resting on the skins of the
grapes. All the vintner needs to do is harvest
the grapes, crush them, put them in a vat, and wait. Now, making a truly fine wine takes knowledge
and experience, oak barrels and a lot of time.
But the basic wine-making process is almost automatic.
How appropriate
then that God chooses the super-abundance of grapes and wine to reveal to us
the super-abundance of His grace and love.
The amount of wine possible from the world’s vineyards seems limitless,
but God’s reservoir of forgiveness and reconciliation is even greater, is truly
limitless. And so the blood of Jesus
cleanses us from all sin.
The abundance of grapevines
is wonderful. But of course, in this
fallen world we have always had problems with wine. That is the tragedy of us sinners: we are
always abusing God’s good gifts. And not
just alcoholic drinks. God provides us
with bountiful harvests of healthy food, more than enough to feed everyone. But we tend to scorn the healthiest foods and
overindulge in empty calories, damaging the health that God has given us food
to support. Meanwhile, others souls go
hungry.
God blesses us with
wealth, and we respond by trusting in our bank and investment accounts, and
forget to thank and worship the One who has made us rich. Sex is a wonderful gift, given for joy and
fulfillment of husband and wife, and for the procreation of more children for
God to love. But far too often we turn sex
into an ugly, empty act, used to control people and sell things. Meawhile the culture of death in which we
live encourages mothers to kill their babies, if they are at all inconvenient. Leisure and pleasure are blessings from the
Lord, but we all too easily make them our idols, and forget the Giver of every
good and perfect gift.
We by our inherited
fallen nature are always at risk of worshiping created things, instead of the
Creator who has provided us with them all. Such abuse is certainly possible with wine. I am not a prohibitionist; it is false to say
that any consumption of alcohol is a sin.
But I can understand the feelings and thoughts of Christians who have
suffered through the ravages of alcohol abuse and addiction, their own or in
their families. The impulse to reject wine
altogether is very understandable if it has ruined your family, your life.
Good gifts abused by
sinners is a constant theme in Scripture.
The prophet Jeremiah uses a choice vineyard gone bad to describe faithless
Israel. God’s special chosen people,
Israel nevertheless became faithless idolaters, through the worship of alcohol
and other created things.
And so we learn
that life as God’s people in this fallen world requires discipline, and correction,
daily repentance, and constant prayer for the Lord to return us to His Way.
To bring in the Catechism,
salvation is always God’s work, we sinners cannot add anything to our own
rescue, our conversion is God’s work, for us, 100%. As Jesus told His disciples, “You did not
choose Me, but I chose you.” The
Apostles were not saved by any decision or work of their own. For “by works of the law shall no man be
saved.” Salvation from sin and death
are a free gift, from God’s gracious heart, a gift given, without an merit or
worthiness in me.
We do nothing to
save ourselves, but we are not saved for nothing. We are saved for something. Jesus teaches “You did not choose Me, but
I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your
fruit should abide,” endure, last forever.
God saves us so that we will then bear fruit, by loving one another, by playing
our part of God’s ongoing mission, by living as Christians in this world, still
sinners, but at the same time also saints, eager to please our Savior.
Being saved by
grace, not by our works, is true and wonderful.
But we must beware of our sinful flesh and the temptation to think that Christian
life is like driving on cruise control downhill, requiring no effort on our
part, no concern for sin, no concern for bearing fruit. This is a dangerous lie. Jesus saved us so that we can bear fruit. Besides, salvation is about life coming out
of death. How can we who died to sin
still live in it? May it never be!
So, discipline is
required, Christians are called to avoid abusing God’s gifts, to avoid sin, and
also to love, to seek to serve the people God puts in our lives.
Still, the potential
for our abuse does not stop God from using His wonderful gifts to help us
understand and believe in His salvation.
The Old Testament poetic book “Song of Songs” uses the romantic,
physical love between a man and a woman as a metaphor to proclaim the
relationship between Christ and His Bride, the Church. Jesus Himself provides super-abundant meals,
filling thousands of bellies with miraculous bread and fish, even though He
knew some diners would worship the meal, instead of the Host of the meal. The joy of a good glass of wine is used to
describe the joy of heaven. At the Wedding
at Cana, Jesus meets the earthly need of a wedding party running out of wine,
not with just a bit of wine, but rather He creates 120 gallons of the best wine,
saved for last. Jesus did this to show
His power, His identity, and to point us to the joys of heaven, the eternal
feast of the choicest fat meats and the very best fruit of the vine.
Yahweh Sabaoth,
the LORD of Hosts, our Savior God, revealed in Jesus Christ, is all-knowing,
infinite, all powerful, eternal, and holy.
For all these reasons, our worship is always reverent, and centered on
the forgiveness we need to come into His presence. At the same time, our God is also eminently practical,
working out mundane, earthly solutions, for our good. Why did God choose to use vineyards and wine
as both a central metaphor and as chosen instrument of salvation, as one of His
special means of grace? Well, despite
the risk of our abuse, the Lord, by using wine as a means to deliver the Gospel,
expands our opportunity to see, hear and taste His grace. Through the Cup that we bless, the Lord shares
His wisdom, the Lord draws us into heavenly mysteries. In, with and under the wine of His Supper,
Jesus pours out His love, given for us to drink into our mortal bodies, preparing
and securing us for the glory of heaven.
Why is wine such a
good choice? Wine in the ancient world
was a staple; it was often necessary for life.
For most of history, finding clean water to drink and keeping it clean
in storage has been difficult. The
ancients may not have understood germ theory, but they knew that water could
quickly become undrinkable. The liquid
we need for life easily became so full of disease that drinking it would threaten
life. But, the fermentation process
makes the water in grapes safer to drink, and easier to store. The alcohol in wine kills or prevents the
growth of many organisms that can make us sick.
So, taken in moderation, wine was often vital for life, providing hydration
to our bodies when clean water was hard to come by.
Through wine, God
the Creator and Provider gives us hydration, and delight, even great joy,
especially when combined with a plate of calamari, or cheese, or ribeye. Just as He did with water, bread, and plain
old human speech, the Lord chose common, earthly things to deliver His Good
News of free forgiveness. Choosing such common
earthly means helps us earthly creatures to grasp His truth, to understand
salvation, to access His love. God is
good, and practical.
The Vine and Branches passage, full of mystery
and beauty, is also full of propositional truths. In these few verses we find many connections
the Catechism, to the teaching of Christ, the truth that saves sinners, the
truth that sets us free.
I AM the True
Vine. This is one of Jesus I AM metaphors,
by which He identifies Himself with the God of the burning bush, who appeared
to Moses: I AM who I AM. True God and True
Man, Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh, the Lord God, in human flesh, come down from
heaven to be our Savior.
Christocentricity –
only in Jesus is there salvation. Salvation
and good works depend on being connected to Jesus. “Abide in Me as a branch to a vine, and you
will live, and produce good fruit.” Be
warned, of course, God the Father, the divine vinedresser, is going to work on you,
pruning you clean throughout your life, so that you will produce more and more
good fruit. God through His Word
corrects, forgives, restores and moves His faithful to love their
neighbors. The life of the Christian
depends on the Word daily; we live in daily repentance, forgiveness and
love.
The risk of
eternal damnation – any branch that does not bear fruit, the Vinedresser
removes, and throws away to be burned. Christian
faith not a lucky rabbit’s foot, a lucky charm, kept in a drawer, only to be
brought out when danger threatens. No,
Christian faith is a living, active, busy thing, the very center of life.
The Centrality of
God’s written and proclaimed Word. Faith
is created in us and endures by God’s Word: “You are already pruned clean”
Jesus assures, “because of the Word I have spoken to you.” So, abide in Christ by abiding in His Word!
In the Vine and Branches
we see the unity of the Church. We are
one, because we are all rooted in Christ, joined to God, and so also we are joined
to each other. The Holy Spirit does not
make “Lone Ranger Christians,” living solitary lives. Every saint is joined to Jesus, and to each
other, one Vine and many branches, the very family of God. And so we love one another. We do good to all, but especially we do good
to those of the household of faith, because we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
That sinners like
you and me should have the closest communion with God, this is the Lord’s goal. That we may be His own, and live with Him in
His Kingdom, in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Abiding in Christ our Vine is true life, joyous,
abundant life, the foretaste of the heavenly feast to come, that has no
end.
This is love, not
that we loved God, but that in Jesus, He loved us. Living from Jesus’ self-sacrifice, we are
loved, and we are moved to love each other sacrificially. None of us has to lay down our lives to pay
for the sins of the whole world. Jesus alone
could and has done that task. It is
finished. Abiding in Him, we receive the
life that flows from His Cross to this altar.
Here, from the One Cup, we who are many receive Him who drained down to
nothing the Cup of God’s anger against our sin.
Jesus has drained the Cup of God’s anger, down to the dregs, so that now
we receive His forgiveness and new life, the Cup of the New Testament, in His
blood. By loving us in this way, Christ
in us moves us to love others in our daily lives.
Enduring Life,
Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy, for you, and all who trust in the True Vine,
who feeds us with Himself, today, and forever and ever, Amen.
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