“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the Word I have spoken to you. 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.” The call of Jesus, the true and life-giving vine of the Father, is clear. You are to abide in Him. Perhaps, we could say you are to bear fruit, for that seems to be the goal, but fruit-bearing only happens when you abide in Him. Jesus, then, is the source, the fount from which everything discipleship is and ought to be flows. Apart from Jesus, there is no discipleship. Apart from the true Vine, there is no fruit.

This image causes me to think about the gift of Baptism. In the waters of Holy Baptism, you are baptized, as Paul says, “into Christ.” Your baptism connects you to the death and resurrection of our Lord. So much so that Paul will even say about the fruit he bears, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Baptism is not your doing, your work, your cleverly managed way to win the approval of God. Baptism is to die to yourself and live in Christ. It is to be firmly connected to the true Vine, to receive all He has done and is doing. In that simple washing of water and Word, you are clothed in the garments of Christ’s righteousness. So, your discipleship, the fruit which comes from following your Lord, comes not by your great choosing or your cleverness, but through the new life given to you in Christ. He is the Vine, and you are the branches.

The challenge is to abide in Him. This text from John 15 exhorts and calls you to remain in the True Vine. It is not just that you were baptized but that you are the baptized. The struggle is for you to remain in these gifts. Therefore, like the assertion that our Lord is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, here again there is a call for caution and diligence. Just as the wolves were seeking to devour and scatter the sheep, here there is the concern that the branches will cease abiding in the True Vine. If that happens, they will cease to produce fruit, and if they cease to produce fruit they will be removed. He says, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” The case is made quite clear: Being in Christ and being connected to Him is everything. It is life, salvation, and faithfulness. To not abide in Him, to be disconnected from Jesus is to lose everything; to be cut off, gathered up, and burned in the fire.

So, if you were not paying much attention at the beginning, you probably are now. To abide in Christ, to abide in the gifts of your baptism is to remain in His Word. The same Word which bound you to your Lord in the waters of baptism is a Word that continues to speak to you, continues to call you, continues to rebuke and forgive you, promise and correct you throughout all your days. It is the Word of Christ in your life which continues to bring forth the good fruit of discipleship. For the Spirit of God is at work in the Word, producing fruit in your life. Saint Paul writes, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” This is not some special dispensation given to you to act differently than others. No, this is what flows from being connected to the Word of Christ. This springs from repenting and believing, from confession and absolution.

Of course, the reason this is difficult, the reason we need this exhortation, is because remaining in the True Vine, remaining in the Word of Christ is not always enjoyable. It can be downright painful at times. The ongoing connection with the True Vine, the ongoing engagement with the Word of Christ is to be faced with the ongoing work of God’s pruning. The reality God’s people are faced with is there is no end to the pruning work of our Lord, not on this side of the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. Though you are saved in the water of Baptism and born again to a new life in Christ the True Vine, you soon find out how the completed work of Christ for you is the beginning of a war within your heart and soul. You soon discover you do not do the good things you want to do, not all the time, not all the way. And the evil things, the things you know full-well you should not do, the thoughts and desires, the words and actions that are shameful to your God, those are the things you keep on doing.

These sins entangle you. They choke and stifle the good fruit you are producing. So, God’s Word comes along to prune, to cut out the things that are limiting the fruit, the desires that choke out joy, habits that steal your peace, the pride that limits your love. Sometimes, this hurts. In fact, it often hurts. No one likes to be faced with the realities of their own sin. No one wants to look at the shameful gods of their own making, the sad little idols they worship in secret. This is why many will run from the pruning, hide from it, do whatever they can to keep their sins and to have it their way. This is a dangerous path. This is to separate from the Word, to separate from the True Vine. Refusing the pruning is risking being cut off altogether.

Consequently, we need the exhortation to abide in Him. We need to be turned back to His Word over and again, even if it accuses, even if it is painful. This is not the way of destruction, but the way of life, true life, eternal life. It is a life that flows with great fruit. It knows how to love, how to spread joy and peace, a life marked by patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, a life of gentleness and self-control. As the Word cuts at your most precious closest held sins, as it brings forth your repentance, it then gives to you the full promise of salvation and forgiveness rooted not in your fruit, not in your ability, but in the work of the True Vine. So, the pain of pruning leads to the assurance of salvation. The pain is not the pain of our hard labor. It is the pain of finding we have much to confess and much to repent of. The pain is the beginning of our humility, the turning away from ourselves to the work of the True Vine.

Our Lord goes on to say, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Whatever you wish, whatever flows from abiding on the True Vine, ask it and it will be done for you. So, what do you wish? What is your sincere desire? When I was younger, I would say, “Well, I wish for a new car or to win the lottery,” or something like that. But this is not genie-in-a-bottle type of magic. This is a call from Jesus to ask for what you desire as you abide in Him. So, what do you want? Do you want to love and be loved? Do you want to know forgiveness, real and lasting forgiveness? Do you desire peace and joy? Do you want to know contentment, to find assurance in the quiet times? Ask. In all seriousness, ask for it all.

You are the children of God. You are baptized into His name. You are clothed in His righteous garments. You are forgiven all your sins. You are the fruit-bearing branches of the True Vine. Abide in Him. Abide in His gifts, His Word, His love.