Sermon from Sunday, June 25, 2006

“Life on the VINE” John 15:5 June 25, 2006
Pastor Peter C. Kolb, Holy Cross Lutheran, Vandalia, IL

Grace mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our LORD and Savior Jesus CHRIST.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to check out the “new guy.” Some of you may have made a special trip to be here today or maybe you are listening in on the radio. What is “this guy” going to be like? You’ve had a lot of different pastors preach during your vacancy, different styles, different mannerisms, different approaches. However, today you get to hear the “new guy.” I am glad you are here, I hope you keep coming.

You may be asking yourself what kind of style can we expect? My prayer is that as you are checking me out, you would see past the man and hear the message of the Savior, it would do you no good if I preach anything else other than CHRIST and Him crucified.

As this was to be my first official sermon here at Holy Cross and as some of you know there was a funeral this week for Marjorie Nichols. Last Sunday I was installed and on the same day our dear sister in Christ-Marjorie was called to her heavenly home. None of us know when we will close our eyes for the last time in death. With this in mind I want each of my sermons to have the clear message of our Savior Jesus, and what He has done for us and what He is still doing for us. If I fail to proclaim CHRIST, than I fail you and I fail my LORD.

Back in March you issued me a Divine call to come and be your pastor, two weeks later Kristie and I came up for a visit. As we prepared to come visit we ran into folks who would ask, “are you going to preach while you are there?” They always seemed very surprized when I said “no.” I would explain that in the Lutheran church we do not “try out” for calls, when it comes to preaching every pastor has a dazzling sermon or a “Ta Dah” sermon in his file.

Today was a very difficult sermon to write, not because it was my first Sunday sermon but because the readings were so wonderful, “umm pastor, all the readings in the Bible are wonderful.” Yes, indeed. But today’s readings all deal with the Word of God. What a great place to begin. Three wonderful readings, each of which would make three great sermon texts (Isaiah 55:6-11, Romans 10:5-17, John 14:1-11), and today is the presentation of the Augsburg Confession (1530 AD) another possible sermon topic, being a new pastor in a new place can be a sermon in itself. I do not believe your would like to sit through five sermons today. So I will make you a deal, I will preach only one sermon today if all of you all come to Bible class afterwards. I’m sorry, that sounds like blackmail and I do not want you to come because of blackmail I want you to come because we are going to learn about Jesus in HIS wonderful WORD.

HIS WORD is indeed a wonderful thing, and from Isaiah’s text today we learn that God’s Word does not return to Him empty, so we gather to read mark learn and inwardly digest it, God’s Word working in us and it will be a blessing to us. “Pastor did you say read mark learn and inwardly digest it?” Yes, we indeed want to read His Word and read it often.

By the way I do not make anyone read in Bible Class it is all voluntary, it never fails when someone who does not like to read publicly finally feels they will give it a try, and they get the verse that lists all the Moabites, Amalekites, Jebusites, and all the other “ites” found in the Bible. Or perhaps they get all the cities like Laodicea, Capernaum, Per-ga-mum and so forth, my point is I will not make you read out loud, however, I will give you some pointers on reading some of those difficult names and places found in the Bible. And yes we will mark in our Bibles, and in our Catechisms, we do this not to deface God’s Word, but to help us learn His Word and (hold up bulletin cover) without a doubt it will accomplish what God desires.

Now when It comes to inwardly digesting His Word we are going to read, mark, learn it so that we can take it to heart, inwardly digest it, it is going to be a part of us. The reading from Romans today tells us that the WORD is near you it is in your mouth and in your heart, that’s the faith God has placed into you and with that faith you will confess “Jesus is LORD” the one who suffered died and was raised for you and through His actions, you will be saved.

Jesus has come to save you from your sins, all of them, the ones you remember the ones you have forgotten and even the ones you hope no one ever finds out about. Jesus came to wash you clean and to give you a new life. And I have the privilege to announce CHRIST’S forgiveness to you publicly every Sunday morning. I am also available to announce CHRIST’S forgiveness to you privately. Turn with me to page 310 in the front of the Hymnal (Lutheran Worship), here is a sample of private confession. You heard me last Sunday in review of my ordination vow that I would never reveal the sins confessed to me. The pastor’s ears are a tomb never to be opened. It is my privilege to announce what CHRIST has won for you, publicly or privately, the good news is He forgives you. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news-says our Epistle reading today. I desire to bring you the good news of Jesus and His forgiveness. This talk of beautiful feet makes me think of an earthly someone who was instrumental in bringing me here-to announce this Good News. Your President Larry Rebbe, Larry how are your feet today? …What beautiful feet you have.

This good news continues as we talk about “LIFE on the VINE”

Jesus says in John chapter 15…"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"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. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Jesus bids us to remain connected, to remain in Him. If we are not connected this is what will happen to us (Bring out the dry and dead branch) Here before us is a branch of a grape vine that is no longer connected to the vine. There is no life left, this branch will not be good for anything, and it surely will not be growing any grapes. It will be discarded and thrown away.

Now here is what a branch should look like, green and full of life, ready to produce grapes. A branch like this gets all it nutrition from the vine and in time the gardener will come along and prune back any un-needed parts of the branch. The gardener knows pruning is needed you do not want the branch to be all big beautiful leaves. He wants some big beautiful grapes.

Let us look in Galatians 5:22-23 at the fruit of the Spirit. …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control…

This is quite a list, to have love, for everyone?
and be joy filled? All the time?
Peace in a world of strife?
Patience in a world of impatience?
Kindness in a dog eat dog word?
Goodness in a world filled with what is bad,
faithfulness with so much unfaithfulness around us?
Gentleness is lost in the rough ?
And self control…with self indulgence held up as the model?

Wow what a list, that’s what it means to have fruit?

Indeed this is quit a list and as we look closer and closer we see that we are not living out the fruit of the spirit. We fail the Vine and the Gardener, we fall short. O Lord help us because we are not there, we fail at being branches, destined to be cut off the vine and thrown into the fire.

God knows this; this is why he sent His only Son into our world. Jesus came to live the life that we can not, He came to live it in our stead. He came to be the perfect branch that we can not be. In fact Jesus came to be cut off from His Father so that you and I would never have to. Jesus was cut off from His Father as He hung on the cross in our place, there He cried out, “My God My God why have you forsaken me?” Jesus was cut off. He was forsaken by His Father, so that you and I would never be cut off.

He has come to cleanse us and make us clean and make us His own. He gives us a place to live right there connected to Him on the Vine, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. He connects us to Him in the waters of Baptism He continues to feed and nourish us. His Word the Holy Scripture speaks to us, direct us and shows us the love of a Savior who came be cut off from His Father so that we would never have to.

And this is “life on the Vine,” a place to be cleansed with the Words of Christ spoken into our ears, to kneel at His altar and receive into our mouths Christ’s very body and blood, in with and under the bread and the wine, forgiven, nourished, and supplied with what is needed in this life. And through this connection He will help us in our fruit production. May He through His Spirit help us to produce the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE TO, but because this is who we are and this is what we produce, and this is all part of “life on the Vine.”

As Holy Cross turns a page it her history, a new Pastor comes to town to work together in this part of the LORD’S vineyard, may the LORD guide us all as we travel from this world to the world to come. He promises to be with us and to nourish us all the way home.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.