1. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we celebrate National Lutheran Schools week is taken from John 15:1-5, it’s entitled, “Fruitful Lutheran School,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. We enjoy the “fruits” from our favorite growing places. Maybe it’s the juicy apple from the orchard in the fall, the tasty strawberry from the patch in spring, the fresh vegetables from the family garden or farmers’ market during the summer, or the colorful grapes from the vines in the vineyard. We celebrate the God who creates and provides.
3. We are blessed with the more significant “fruits” from God’s faith-growing places. We celebrate that our Lutheran school, Early Childhood Center, and Martin Luther High School are part of God’s spiritual fruit-producing places. In our theme text for National Lutheran Schools Week (John 15:1–5), Jesus is gathered with His disciples in Jerusalem. Jesus has washed His disciples’ feet and then shares with them His final teachings (John 13–17) before He leaves the room to be arrested in the garden and tried before Caiaphas, the high priest, and Pilate, the Roman governor. He carries His cross to Calvary’s hill and then submits to crucifixion for the sins of the world. Jesus has many important things to share with the disciples before He leaves them on His Passion journey.
4. A vineyard was a familiar growing place to Jesus’ listeners. Jesus had shared several illustrations about vineyards. Jesus told a parable (Matt. 21:33–43) about a vineyard where the managers selfishly keep the fruit and reject the owner’s messengers who visit the vineyard on his behalf. Ultimately, the owner sends his son to the vineyard, and the managers kill the son.
5. God’s chosen people, Israel, were His “vineyard” (Isaiah 5:1–7). The people did not listen to God’s prophets who warned them about their unfaithfulness. They had not produced the fruits of faith. When the Owner sent His Son, they killed Him. As Jesus met with His disciples, He was fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament and completing His parable illustration. Jesus, the Son of God, gave His life on the cross for His disciples and for us. Jesus, who was crucified, died and buried, rose again on the third day. Because Jesus rose from the dead, the fruits of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are ours.
6. Only when we are connected by faith to Jesus do we receive the life He gives and then bear fruit for Him. Jesus teaches, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” When we were disconnected from Jesus, we were the lifeless and fruitless branches that had no use and were ready to be burned. Jesus chose to connect us to Himself. When we were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we became connected to the Vine. God continues to keep us connected as we hear and believe His Word.
7. The church is a place of special connections. When we come to church, we connect with friends and family and fellow worshipers. Most importantly, we, the branches, connect with Jesus, the Vine. As we hear God’s Word read and preached, as we gather at the Sacrament of the Altar, we celebrate the connection with Jesus and grow to produce fruit. As ministries of our church, our Lutheran School, Early Childhood Center, and our association with Martin Luther High School connects children and families to Jesus, the Vine. In addition to the connections in the Divine Service and chapel gatherings, we hear of Jesus in our classroom devotions, Bible studies, hymns and other Vine-connecting times in the daily routine of our school day.
8. Jesus promised His disciples that as they continued to be connected to the Vine, they would be fruitful: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (John 15:5). The disciples, who were also doubters and deniers, who slept while Jesus prayed in the garden, who went into hiding as Jesus hung on the cross, would be reconnected to their risen Lord and would be fruitful for Him.
9. The fruits come through the power of the Holy Spirit. In this last conversation with His disciples, Jesus promised that He would send the Spirit to them: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth … . The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:16–17, 26). The Holy Spirit would bring connections to the Vine and keep the disciples connected.
10. The promised Holy Spirit descended on the disciples on Pentecost (Acts 2). Filled with the Spirit, the disciples boldly gave witness to the resurrected Jesus whom they had seen and believed. The Book of Acts shares the fruitful witness of the apostles in the vineyard of the Early Church. That same Spirit comes to us in our Baptism, connecting us to Jesus’ death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3–4). The Spirit gives us the power to be witnesses for Jesus. Our witness of Jesus may be through the words of witness given through the Spirit. More often, our witness is through the lives that we live as the Spirit directs us.
11. In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul warned the church in Galatia of the consequences of sin and listed the signs that show when lives are not connected to the Vine. He described “works of the flesh”: idolatry, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, envy (Gal. 5:19–21). We confess our times of separation from Jesus and the sins of our thoughts, words and deeds. We certainly see and hear of the disconnection of the world as many choose to live life separate from Jesus and His Word.
12. Jesus promised, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (John 15:5). Praise God for the connection to Jesus, the Vine, and the fruits that we grow as we are connected by the Spirit to Jesus. The apostle Paul describes the fruits of those connected to the Vine: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23).
13. Connected to the Vine and filled with the Holy Spirit, our Lutheran church, school, Early Childhood Center and Martin Luther High School are fruitful places. The fruit of joy is shared in our worship together. Love is demonstrated by forgiving the wrong done by another. Peace is evident when differences are addressed in Jesus’ name. We are thankful for patient and kind volunteers. Faithful teachers engage with students every day. Gentle words are spoken when feelings and bodies hurt. Self-control is evident when things seem unfair on the athletic court or playground. We enjoy the fruits in this Vine-connected and Spirit-directed growing place.
14. The fruit that is grown in the church, school, Early Childhood Center and Martin Luther High School are then evident in other settings. We are commissioned to bring others to the Vine so that more fruit can grow. A student brings the fruit home in obedience to parents. Teachers and pastors bring the fruit to families in crisis. Children and teachers share the fruit of the Spirit through kind acts in our community. Within this last year our Lutheran school students have had a diaper drive for babies and mothers in need. Our students also recently made care kits to send to our homebound members here at Grace during Christmas. Our students and their families have also raised over $2000 to support local and national missions to spread the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15. Jesus told His disciples of the privilege of bearing fruit for Him: “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” (John 15:16). We, likewise, are humbled to be chosen by Jesus and connected to Him to bear His fruit. May we continue to be and see His fruits to His glory in this growing place. As the hymn writer has written, “Fruitful trees, the Spirit’s sowing, May we ripen and increase, Fruit to life eternal growing, Rich in love and joy and peace. Fruitful trees, the Spirit’s tending, May we grow till harvests cease; Till we taste, in life unending, Heaven’s love and joy and peace.” (LSB 691:1, 4) Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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