“Friends of God” John 15:9-17 Easter 6B, May ‘21

 

1.                Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this 6^th Sunday of Easter is taken from John 15:9-17. It’s entitled, “Friends of God,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                Jesus will suffer, die, and rise again for you. By this love, you are forgiven. By this love, you are made His friends: Friends of God. This past Holy Week of 2021, a non-believer needed a favor. He wanted his Christian friend to go with him to Home Depot and load up materials to build a deck. His Christian friend was more than willing to help. They just needed to find a time that worked for the two of them. After all, it was Holy Week. As they were trying to find a good time, it came up that the Christian friend was going to church on Thursday and Friday. “Why are you doing that?” the non-believer asked. “I thought you went to church on Sunday?”  It seemed strange to him that his Christian friend would go to church more than once a week.

3.                This conversation was a familiar one. The Christian and the non-Christian have had it about one thing or another for years. It usually begins with the question “why?” “Why are you doing that?” “Why are you reading the Bible? Haven’t you read it all by now?” “Why are you going to church during the week? Don’t you get enough on Sunday?” “Why are you talking about religion? Don’t you know that people are free to believe what they want to believe?” For all the times the non-Christian has asked his Christian friend that question, and for all the answers his Christian friend had given, the Christian friend had never once responded to his question of “Why?” by saying, “Because Jesus is my friend.” Usually, the Christian launches into some explanation about what it means to be a Christian and try to teach his non-Christian friend what we as Christians believe. But, maybe the Christian has forgotten to talk about something even more important. He has not shared with his non-Christian friend that, “Jesus is his friend.”

4.                Why do we as Christians not think in those terms? Even writing it out seems strange. I’m comfortable and confident talking about Jesus as my Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord, my King, my Shepherd, my Resurrection, and my Life, but “My friend?” It just seems odd. But, in our reading today, Jesus calls us to meditate on that word.

5.                Jesus is with His disciples on the night when He was betrayed. He is conversing with them, preparing them for His death. They will watch as the events that are about to unfold turn ugly, their dreams of peace are shattered, and their Passover celebration is marked by death. But, in the midst of this, Jesus tells them what is really happening. He speaks to them of the greatest love, a love that saves.

6.                In this conversation, our Lord reminds His disciples that He has called them, chosen them, taught them, appointed them, commanded them, promised things to them, but most importantly, He has loved them. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). “Friends.” There, you have it. Jesus calls His disciples friends. Φίλοι. Beloved. Of all the things He said and did, this is the greatest mystery. Jesus will suffer, die, and rise again for them. By this love, they are forgiven. By this love, they are made His friends: Friends of God.

7.                Jesus then helps them meditate on what this means by contrasting the life of a friend with the life of a servant. “No longer do I call you servants,” Jesus says, “for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father, I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Jesus distinguishes between servants and friends. A servant does not know the mind of his master. He simply follows orders. If his master says, “Go,” he goes. If his master says, “Come,” he comes. If his master says, “Stay,” he stays. The servant is obedient and does what he is told. He does not question. He does not reason. He just does.

8.                But, a friend, is different. A friend knows more than a servant and, therefore, a friend does things differently. Although the outward action may be the same, the friend does it because he is beloved. He knows the heart of the one he is serving and his service flows from such love.

9.                So, that causes us to ask the question what was love to our Savior Jesus Christ? How would he define love? The love of a friend. Jesus wouldn’t define love with words, but with actions: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). “Having loved his own who were in the world, [Jesus] loved them to the end. . . . Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet” (Jn 13:1, 5). “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10). For Jesus, love meant nothing apart from deeds. Jesus didn’t just speak love, he did love. Love for Jesus was sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed his time, energy, personal comfort, and the sacrifice of his very life all for you to forgive you your sins and give you the promise of eternal life. To restore your broken relationship with God

10.             Jesus gave all of this love to us very unlovable, sinful human beings. Jesus didn’t choose us to love because we loved him first. No, the disciples weren’t too good at that. Oh, they talked a good game. The night of our text, Peter and all the disciples were sure they’d make any sacrifice for Jesus, even die with him. Well, you know how that turned out. The disciples were good with love that was words, but when it came time to put their lives on the line, even their words bailed out: “I don’t know the man.” Peter said as he denied Jesus as His Lord and Master. No, Jesus didn’t choose to love the disciples because they chose to love him. He’s quite emphatic: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).

11.             But Jesus did choose you—you who were no more lovable and reliable than Peter. You who bail when it’s time to tell your friends, right out loud, right there when he’s being mocked, “I love Jesus.” We weren’t lovable, but Jesus says, “I love you—your sins are forgiven.” Jesus says, “I love you—here is some fish and bread when He feeds the 5,000.” Jesus says, “I love you—I lay down my life for you, my friend.”

12.             The ways of Christianity are strange to our world. Living as a Christian can raise questions. How do we respond? So often, we respond to questions about Christianity as if we were servants and not friends. That is, we do things because we are told to do them or we simply say, “That’s just the way it is.” What would our conversations sound like if we were to say we do things because we are friends of Jesus?

13.             Praying before a meal, reading Scripture, attending church, speaking of faith... these are all activities which flow from being a friend of Jesus. Jesus chose to make us friends. He suffered and died and rose for you. We do not know all God is doing. His ways are beyond our understanding. But we do know one thing about Jesus, He died and rose to make us friends. Since Jesus has risen from the dead, His love never ends. He is always at work, extending His grace, so those who do not know Him, those who have questions about Him, those who are enemies of Him might be forgiven and become friends.

14.             As our world slowly changes, as the values and ways of life stray so far from our Christian calling, people will have questions. “Why do you do that?” One answer is that this is what the Church teaches. We are told to do these things and we obey. That is one way to answer, and, in some sense, it is right. But I wonder if it goes far enough.

15.             Another answer, an answer Jesus gives us, is that He is our friend. “Why do you do that?” the world asks, and our answer is, “Because I am a friend of Jesus.” Beginning there, we start at the heart: The heart of our relationship with Jesus and the heart of what Jesus desires for all people. To Love as Jesus Loved Means That We Serve as Jesus Served. We love by sacrifice. We love not by words but by deeds. We love by laying down our lives for others. Not necessarily literally, but as we give of our time, our comforts, and our treasures, we are laying down our lives in love for others. We want to practice a love that doesn’t desire but gives. We love not to get something but to do something. Maybe we shouldn’t say, “I love you.” Maybe we should say, “What can I do for you?” Love without sacrifice is nothing.

16.             It’s Mother’s Day weekend and we thank God for our Mothers. Here’s an illustration of the sacrificial love that Christ gives to us. There was a daughter of a princess who was deathly ill with diphtheria. The mother was forbidden to kiss the child because of the almost certain danger of contracting the disease. In one of the many moments of pain for the child, the mother was so distressed that she took her daughter in her arms and soothed her into quietness. The daughter looked into the eyes of her mother and said, “Mama, kiss me.” This was too much for the mother’s heart. She took her child, pressed her against her body and kissed her. It was a kiss of death. Love is sacrifice without counting the cost.

17.             Jesus says we are: Friends of God. So, whom do we love? Anyone for whom we sacrifice is someone we love, starting with our spouses, children, and friends. We can love people whom we don’t even know. How many people give money for the relief of those caught in natural disasters? That is sacrificial love. We love the unloving. We love those who do not love us. We love as we do deeds in the name of Jesus Christ. We do because Jesus loved us first. Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.

 

“Jesus our Life-Giving Vine” John 15:1-8 Easter 5B, May ‘21

 

1.                Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this 5^th Sunday of Easter is taken from John 15:1-8, it’s entitled, “Jesus our Life-Giving Vine,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                Jesus is our life-giving vine. You are His branches. And God the Father delights to bring the inside out. Watch any home remodeling show and you will soon discover how designers like to, “Bring the outside in.” It could be something simple. The color choices they make and the furnishings they choose which mirror the natural setting outside, or it could be something more elaborate. Glass doors off a living room that fold to the side, bringing the outside in so you have access to a fire pit or a pool. Designers like to, “Bring the outside in.”

3.                But, in the Church God does something different. He likes to, “Bring the inside out.” God chooses to dwell among us in Word and Sacrament, but He also chooses to dwell within us, by the power of His Holy Spirit. That is the promise Jesus offers today. He promises to dwell within us, so we experience God’s delight in, “Bringing the inside out.”

4.                At this moment in John’s gospel, Jesus is preparing His disciples for His death. He has spoken of His betrayal, predicted Peter’s denial, and now teaches His disciples one last time. Which raises the question: “Why do we spend time reading and meditating on these words after Easter?” Because when you look back on these words after Easter, you see Jesus was doing something more than preparing His disciples for His death. He was also preparing them for His life: His resurrected life. In these words, Jesus offers His disciples a promise that He will live and dwell in them.

5.                What happens to a marriage where husband and wife are not united? What happens to a body that’s separated from its head? What happens to the sheep without a shepherd? What happens to branches that do not remain in the vine? We have been united to Christ by faith, as branches to a vine. The vine, Jesus, is the source of our life and the fruit that we bear. But that life and fruit is not for us alone; it’s also for our neighbor.

6.                At the beginning of his gospel, John reveals God has chosen to dwell among us. He writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... full of grace and truth” (1:14). This is a wonder that the holy almighty God would choose to dwell among His people. Throughout the gospel, we see this wonder unfold. Jesus enters into places and engages in conversations with people. He sits at the side of a well in Samaria and speaks to the Samaritan woman in John 4. He walks along the Sea of Galilee. He shares the joy of a wedding at Cana in John 2 and the grief of a funeral in John 11 before He raised Lazarus from the dead. That Jesus dwells among us is a wonder. Though we are lost in sin, He comes to find us in grace. Wherever you are, whoever you are, Jesus brings forgiveness to you through His Word and Sacraments. He has come to dwell among us, so He calls you to be His disciple, speak to you in grace, and guide you as you follow Him in the world.

7.                But, Jesus reveals something more. He has not just come to dwell among us. No, He has also chosen to dwell within us. St. Paul writes in Ephesians 3:17, “¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love.” “I am the vine; you are the branches, if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.” I know a little something of this verse from John 15:5, it was my confirmation verse, Pastor John Zahrte gave to me on my Confirmation day in April of 1995 at Our Savior Lutheran Church Excelsior, MN.

8.                Here in John 15, Jesus says branches have no life of their own. Their life flows from the vine. So, too, we have no life of our own. Apart from the vine, branches can do nothing (John 15:4, 5c–6). Just as a branch that is removed from the vine soon withers and dies, so we have no life apart from Jesus, the true Vine. We can claim to be Christians and tout our church membership or show our confirmation certificate, but apart from the life-giving nourishment of God’s grace in Christ Jesus (the vine), we can’t live or bear any fruit. Those who live apart from Jesus the life-giving Vine, who do not hear his Word and receive his Sacraments, are like withered branches that are picked up and thrown into the fire.

9.                Our life comes from Jesus. His resurrection from the dead has revealed that He is the source of all life. Though we die, we shall live. He has defeated death for us, and nothing can now separate us from His love (Romans 8). But the life He gives is not just life after death. No, it is life now in the world, in the unfolding of His Kingdom. As Jesus says to His disciples in John 15:11, “These things have I spoken to you that My joy might be in you and that your joy may be full.” Forgiveness, peace, fullness, joy... all these flow to us from Him. This life flows to us and this life flows through us to fill the world with His gifts.

10.             “My Father is the vinedresser,” Jesus says. “Every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it might bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2) Because Jesus has chosen to dwell within us, God the Father delights to, “Bring the inside out.”  Forgiveness, peace, fullness, joy... all these flow to us from Him. This life flows to us and this life flows through us to fill the world with His gifts.

11.             Earlier this year, before the spring growth, I passed my neighbor in my subdivision standing in the middle of what looked like a disaster on his lawn. You would have thought a tornado had gone through. He was pruning his bushes. The hedges were bare. They looked completely dead. The lawn was covered with clippings and he was getting ready to rake up the waste. Pruning can look and feel like a disaster. But, God works through the disaster to bring us closer to Jesus so people might see how Jesus bears fruit in our lives.

12.             Peter knew something about this pruning. Jesus had predicted his denial. But, Jesus had also promised him that, “When you have turned again, strengthen your disciples” (Luke 22:32). Jesus was praying for Peter. Peter’s faith would not fail. Though this pruning taught him the limits of his strength, it also revealed the expanse of God’s love.

13.             St. Paul also knew something about this pruning. He battled a thorn in his flesh. The more he struggled with that thorn, however, the closer he came to Jesus. Christ worked within him, leading him to confess, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” (2 Cor. 12:9) This thorn was God’s pruning, bringing Paul into an experience of Christ’s strength.

14.             As branches, we have been grafted back into the true Vine. The life that flows from the side of the crucified and resurrected One now nourishes us with his life and forgiveness, so that by faith we might live in union with him. The branches bear fruit for our neighbor. By the nourishment the Vine provides, the branches bear fruit (John 15:5a–5b, 8).

15.             St. Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22–23). These are, above all, characteristics of our Savior in his relationship with us. Jesus is perfectly loving of us; he rejoices over us; he is patient, kind, and good to us; and so on. By being so loving, patient, and kind to us, Jesus the life-giving vine creates in us the same fruit of the Spirit. We become—in fact, whether we always notice it or not, we have become—loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled. Hard to believe, isn’t it? But true.

16.             I know a man who went through a divorce. It was ugly. Now, he gets his children on the weekends. When he does, he brings them to church. Before the divorce, on Sundays, he took his children to sports. Now, after the divorce, church has more importance for him. In the divorce, he watched everything he had built up in his marriage crumble. As he puts it, “At the end of the day, all I had left was Jesus. When I hit rock bottom, Jesus was there. So, now, I’m building my life on Jesus.” Amid this disaster, the Father was working, pruning, drawing him closer to Jesus so that now, Jesus bears more fruit in his life. Jesus is the life-giving vine. You are His branches. And God the Father delights to bring the inside out. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.