“Abiding in the Vine”

Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17:5-8; John 15:1-17

Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, February 16, 2025

One of the things I enjoyed about living in Africa was the availability of fresh fruit: guavas, pineapple, mangoes, melons, but most of all, so many varieties of tasty bananas! Not just yellow, but red and orangish, big and small – so many varieties, and all wonderfully sweet, picked just as they ripened instead of being shipped green, like the ones we get here. I often ate them when traveling – at every stop, women with ripe bananas in a basket on their head approach the bus or car and for a dollar or two you can get a whole bunch. They are safe to eat, because their thick skin protects the soft flesh, yet is easy to peel.

On my travels, I saw many banana trees – from large plantations in Cameroon that stretched out for miles, to small patches in people’s back yards. In the right climate, they are not too difficult to grow, but one thing is absolutely necessary – water! Either it needs to rain a lot, or banana trees must be irrigated. Yet even in dryer areas they thrived – as long as they were planted near a stream of water.

A farmer explained to me, “We have to water them every day in the dry season, so we plant them by the stream. Then it’s easy to water them.”

That reminds me of our Psalm and our reading from Jeremiah this morning: “Blessed are those who trust in the LORD…They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”

We human beings have an advantage over trees. A tree can’t choose whether it’s planted by a stream or in the desert. If a seed happens to drop in dry ground, it will die. But we can choose where we live. Most towns are built near a source of water. If not, people have to figure out a way to bring the water to them, like the big aqueduct that channels water to L.A. and changed it from a dusty frontier town to a thriving metropolis. Similarly, we can choose to stay near the stream of God’s love and grace. We can choose to stay near to God. How? I think our anthem this morning gave us some good counsel:

O Holy Jesus… gentle, loving Savior,/ May we know you more clearly, love you more dearly,/ follow you more nearly, day by day by day.” This is a good prayer for us to pray.

How can we know Jesus more clearly? One way is studying the Bible, especially the gospel texts – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – which, taken together, give a pretty good picture of what Jesus is like. For example, in our text today, Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” Above all, Jesus is loving. Love seeks what is best for the other. Love forgives, love nurtures, love respects the rights of others. Love is patient and kind –  not only with our friends and family, but with everyone, even our enemies.

Then Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus expects those who follow him to love one another. I will talk more about love more next week, as we continue our journey through the gospel of Luke, and begin talking about the fruits of the Spirit, which is our Lenten theme this year. But one thing we can be sure of, God is love.

Jesus, the Son of God, is the greatest expression of that love. That is only one of the things we can learn about Jesus from reading the scriptures. There is much more to discover.

         So our prayer is to know Jesus better, to see him more clearly; and also to love him more dearly. How can we do that? Each time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we remember his sacrifice for us. As we meditate upon its meaning, our love for Christ will grow. But every day at home we can draw closer to Jesus through prayer. Many people tell me that they don’t know how to pray. I always answer – just talk to Jesus as if he were your friend, and he were sitting right there beside you – because he is! You don’t have to use fancy words or phrases. As we share our heart with him, we will sense his loving-kindness more and more each day. As we take time to thank God for all the blessings in our lives – food, shelter, clothing, warmth on a cold day; friends, family, our work, or having leisure time if we are retired! So many things to thank God for. Even if we are not in good health, we can thank God for living in a place where we can get good medical care.

If we are in good health, don’t take it for granted. I often thank God when I get up in the morning that I am healthy and can do the things I need to do that day. If you have ever gone through bouts of serious illness – whether physical or mental – you know exactly what I mean.

         Our anthem also reminds us to pray that we may follow Jesus more nearly. By imitating Christ, we are following him. What did he do? He healed the sick in mind and body, he fed the hungry, he encouraged those around him – as he was encouraging his disciples in our reading this morning. But he also challenged the authorities when he saw that what they were doing was not right. He turned over the tables in the Temple, he decried the unjust laws of the Pharisees when they criticized him for healing on the Sabbath; he spoke out against injustice, quoting the Prophet Isaiah’s words:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

As we show kindness and mercy to those around us, help those who are in need, and work for justice in our world, we are following in Christ’s footsteps, and we will find that we draw closer to him day by day.

Jesus said, “I am the true vine and my Father is the vinegrower… Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

Just as a tree needs water to survive, the branches of a vine will dry up and wither if they become separated from the vine. As the vine takes up nutrients through its roots, and they flow throughout the plant, Jesus nourishes us all with his love and grace. Just as fruit flourishes on a well-watered vine, our relationship with Christ nourishes us and helps us produce fruit – the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

And, if we are connected to Christ, we are also connected to one another. Grapes come in clusters. The vine is one plant, not many.

If we stay connected to Jesus, we will also stay connected to each other. We can encourage one another and care for one another, as long as we abide in the vine.

This week Joe and I watched a documentary about Robert Putnam, author of the book Bowling Alone. He was one of the first people to use the term “social capital.” What that means is that our personal connections, our “network” of friends, family, and even acquaintances has great value. It can actually be quantified. People with more friends live longer. They tend to be healthier. People who are isolated and alone may die a premature death. Putnam talks about how social capital has steadily declined in our country over the last half-century or so. He comments that about half of our nation’s social capital comes from people belonging to churches or other religious organizations. So going to church is good for you! Be a part of the vine! A single branch cannot live by itself, nor will it bear any fruit.

         Many of you have told me that these are difficult times for you; that you are saddened, angry, and worried about things that are happening in our country. But regardless of what is happening around us, if we center our lives on Jesus Christ, if we cling to the true vine we will be safe, no matter how the wind blows or storms arise. As the prophet Jeremiah said, so long ago, in a time when the world seemed to be falling apart around him and his people: Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. May this be also true of us. Amen.

We can try each day to know him more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly. As we move closer to Christ, we will naturally move closer to each other, and together we will bear much fruit. May it be so. Amen.

©Deborah Troester, 2025