Abiding in Christ

“Abide in Me, and I in you.  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.  Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”  John 15:4-5

C.S. Lewis wrote: “God has designed the human machine to run on Himself.  He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on.  That is why it is no good asking God to make us happy without bothering about religion.  God cannot give happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing.”

“Apart from Me you can do nothing.”  This is so difficult for us to accept.  We think we are doing just fine – without worship, without fellowship, without daily Bible reading, without daily prayer.  The truth is, we need the constant care of the Gardener who works through His means – Word and Sacrament – to nurture us, prune us and produce the fruit of His will.

The message concerning the Vine and the branches gives us hope.  God doesn’t leave us on our own, but by grace, grafts us into the Vine where there is life.  Through the strength of the Vine and the care of the Gardener, we bear His fruit.  We hear Jesus tell us that a Christian is never a lone, single branch on the vine.  The Vine produces many branches and the branches intertwine and support one another in order to produce a harvest.  We need to remain or abide in the Vine but we also need the support of other Christians to produce fruit.

Bearing fruit has everything to do with abiding in Him.  The production of fruit that God has in mind for us will require more contact with His Word and Sacrament; more time spent together in prayer and fellowship lifting one another up and encouraging one another through the Vine. That’s how we remain in Christ and Christ in us.  May God bear His fruit through us.