Life on the Vine: Cultivating Love

First Sunday in Lent

February 29, 2004

 

INTRODUCTION TO “LIFE ON THE VINE”

Today we begin the Sundays of our journey into Lent > 40 days of reflection into our own lives

To carry us through these weeks > we will imagine that we are branches of a vine

In 15^th chapter of John > Jesus likens himself to a vine > the true vine

                        And he says his Father is the vinedresser > pruning away branches that bear no fruit

                        He finishes this image with these words:

“I am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them

bear much fruit, for apart from me you cannot live.” (John 15:5)

During Lent is a good time to check how we’re growing

We need to find areas in which we measure ourselves with God’s own image

Where we are not producing good fruit > we need to let ourselves be pruned by Master gardener

Philip Kenneson wrote Life on the Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community

His book will form basis of this series of sermons

            “Life on Our Vine” > and we will “cultivate” the fruit of the Spirit each week

 

JESUS TOLD ABOUT ‘FRUIT OF THE VINE”

Matthew’s version of Sermon on the Mount has section about growing good fruit

Read Matthew 7:16-20

 “You will know them by their fruit.”

Paul identified these fruit in his letter to the Galatians

            Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

            Wow!  What a list!

            Can you imagine trying to get all of that to grow?

                        It’s a bit like planting a garden and trying to keep the weeds out

                        If you are weeding and accidentally pull out a seedling > it never grows back by itself

                        But no matter how many weeds you pull > they always grow back

            That’s the challenge we face in our daily lives

            There are so many bad influences in the world

            Hard to get them out of our lives without getting rid of the good influences, too

How are we, Christians in a world that is not Christian, to be loving and joyful and peaceful?

            Seems like a formidable task > seems next to impossible

            Seems that way > but it’s not impossible

Jesus told a parable about making it possible > he used a fig tree to get his point across

            “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found

            none.  So he said to the gardener, ‘See here!  For three years I have come looking for fruit

            on this fig tree, and still I find none.  Cut it down!  Why should it be wasting the soil?  The

            gardener replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I prune it a bit and dig around it

            and put manure on it.  If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, then you can cut

            it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)

           

LIFE ON THE VINE

First fruit > love

Let’s check out the first of the fruit of the vine from Paul’s list—not figs or grapes, but love

There are 800 or more references to love in the Bible > most of which lift up God’s own love

            God’s love is not like our love, which is where the pruning comes in

            What are the characteristics of God’s love that make it different from what we call love?

Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount is called “The Sermon on the Plain” > gives us a clue

            Read Luke 6:32-36

            We find in these verses four characteristics of God’s love:

                        First > God’s love of us is completely unmerited, completely undeserved        

                                    God loved us before we breathed our first breath

                                    God continues to love us even though we rebel and cause trouble

                        Second > God’s love for us is steadfast

                                    Because we have done nothing to earn God’s love

                                                Nothing we do can keep God from not loving us

                        Third > God’s love for us is a suffering love

                                    God did not create us and then go somewhere far off

                                    God is very present in all of our life > especially when we’re crushed

                        Fourth > God’s love is boundless

                                    God’s love is beyond all the boundaries we manufacture

                                                Boundaries of time and space and conditions

                                    God reaches out in love even to those who oppose God > God’s own enemies

The golden thread that weaves its way through the Bible is the thread of God’s love

 

ROBBIE’S LOVE

There was little boy one named Robbie who received God’s gift of love

It characterized everything he did > love filled his heart

            Even though love filled his heart > was not healthy > he was in the hospital facing surgery    

"Tomorrow morning," Dr. George began, “I'll open up your heart..."

Robbie’s eyes got wide "You'll find Jesus there!"

The surgeon looked up, annoyed "I'll cut your heart open," he continued, to see how much

damage has been done.."
"But when you open up my heart, you'll find Jesus in there," said the boy.
Dr. George looked to the parents, who sat quietly.

"When I see how much damage has been done, I'll sew your heart and chest back up,

and I'll plan what to do next."
"I know you’ll find Jesus in my heart. I can feel him there.”
Dr. George kept trying to explain the seriousness of Robbie’s illness.  "I'll tell you what I'm

afraid I’ll find in your heart. I'll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened

vessels.  I don’t know if I can make you well."

            “Yes, and you’ll find Jesus, too!”  his bright face insisted.

After the surgery, Dr. George went back to his office to record his notes into dictaphone

"...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration.
Not a candidate for transplant; no hope for cure. Therapy: painkillers and bed rest.

Prognosis: . . . “Prognosis: "death within one year."

He stopped the recorder, stopped speaking for a minute, but there was more to be said.

 "Why?" he shouted to no God.  "Why did You do this? You put him here; You've put him in

this pain; and You've destined him to an early death. Why?"

From deep within him, he heard God answer, “With the damage to his heart, he could not

live long.  But when I bring him home, he will feel good again.  Some day his parents

will join him here, and they will know peace again.”

That didn’t help.   "You created that boy, and You created that heart.  He'll be dead in months.

Why?"

The Lord answered, "He has done his duty: He is like a little lamb.  I did not put him in your

flock to lose him, but to retrieve another lost lamb.”

It was true.  He knew it was true.  He could feel it in his own heart.  There was a softness, a

love, that he had never known.  And he knew he was that “lost lamb.”

He went to Robbie’s room to check on him.  With tears in his eyes, Dr. George put his large

hand over Robbie’s small one.
The boy awoke and whispered, "Did you cut open my heart?"

"Yes," said the surgeon.
"What did you find?".

Dr. George answered with a teary smile, "I found Jesus there."

 

OBSTACLES TO A LIFE OF LOVE

“Does God love us?”  is not the real question

            The real question is this one: Is it even possible for us to love the way God loves?

It would seem that the answer is no—it is not possible for us to love the way God loves

Why?  Because there are so many obstacles

            One is the economic system that surrounds us

                        Everything has a price

                                    Rather than trade something we have for something we want > we “price” it

Most everything has price tag > pay what stores says its worth > then go home

                                    So one obstacle to loving God’s love is our market-place economy

            Other obstacle is the self-interest which is part of the American dream

                        We tend to continue our relationships only as long as they meet our needs

                        Whether relationship is with person or church or club or school or some other group

Once a wrinkle develops > we throw the relationship away

                                    Rather than heat up the iron and iron it out

 

CULTIVATING A LIFE OF LOVE

It may seem as though there is no way to cultivate love in our market-place world

            But Scripture gives us hope

We can cultivate this fruit of God’s own Spirit > the fruit of love

We can let The Master Gardener prune our branches, dig around our soil; add a little manure

One way is to get us to pay attention to others

                                    Just as we come here every Sunday morning to pay attention to God

                                    So during the rest of the week we must spend time listening to people                                     Another way is to encourage us to give graciously and receive graciously

                                    God has given to us abundantly

                                    We respond in love by receiving God’s gift of love and passing it on

Who will God send you this week to cultivate this fruit of God’s Spirit in you?

And how will you respond?