John 15:1-11

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 bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.

I am puzzled quite honestly by a branch that is in-Christ that does not bear fruit. And…I am troubled that some branches are taken away. Taken away where? My puzzlement and troublement graduate to deep concern when I discover the answer to my question in verse 6;

he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them into the fire, and they are burned.

This verse reminds me that in-Him there is both kindness and severity. And as I reflect on my earthly father (who loved me too), I distinctly recall both of these traits in him as well. Unfortunately, I recall more severity than kindness. I think Dad wanted to be kind but my behavior made it nearly impossible, necessitating the more severe expression of his love for me.

Behold then the kindness and the severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you will also be cut off. (Rom 11:22)

I am having an epiphany of sorts as I write today. The revelation is that my Dad‘s love was more like God’s than I have credited him for. About God’s love we know;

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.

My disregard of my earthly father’s directions, instructions and desires estranged me from his love. It was not that his love did not exist for me; it was just that my penchant for trouble demanded his severe response. I deeply regret that, in my memory of my Dad, I do not recall much beyond arguments, reproofs and silence. How sad. I take responsibility for this. I do not want to repeat this mistake with my heavenly Father. This passage makes it clear that we can avoid that outcome by abiding in Him. What does it look like then to abide?

Our passage might suggest that abiding is as straightforward as the doing of obedience. I have tried this and it is my experience that the connection between abiding and obeying is not as direct as it might first appear . The Christian life at the outset, equipped with fresh zeal, looked, to me, very doable. (Oh my! What a naive boy I was.) Yes, I had my marching orders (or commandments to obey if you will). They were basically;

Read my bible. Pray. Witness. Fellowship (if you could find the time) This was excellent for a while but there was always the haunting sense that there must be more. I saw others with what appeared to be more of God than I had. I reasoned; more of God was attainable by doing more of what I was doing. So my new regimen of commandment-doer-obeyer became;

Read my bible and study it, Pray and fast, Witness and do it preferably in a foreign country, fellowship and don’t you forget it!

Ok. Maybe the Christian life was not quite as doable as I had first thought but, I reasoned: I will recommit myself; I will simply redouble my efforts, maybe then I will discover the more of God that is out there around the corner and then become a disciple worthy of His sacrifice for me. I wish I could report that I saw my life as the hamster-wheel of activity that it was and my heart as the bastion of religion it was but I didn’t. And by the time I did discover what was fueling my efforts to reach to the high places in God, I was near collapse under the supposedly light load that Jesus had promised. Somehow, in my wounded heart, I had turned the obedience of discipleship into a religious treadmill that would never, could never stop. Just yesterday, I was reminded of my friend, and mentor, Gene Griffin’s excellent definition of religion;

Religion is any system of thought or practice whereby the doing of it causes me to think that I have gained the favor of God.

In a previous life I would have taken the track from here of hammering home some warning of becoming dry, gathered and ultimately burned, attempting to generate sufficient fear to move you to obedience but another thought comes to mind instead; “Beloved, I am persuaded of better things concerning you.” (Heb 6:9) Our destiny, as His children, is to be motivated by more than fear.

The Old Testament world to me seems to have been primarily one of static laws and commands where the doer was motivated by fear of punishment. The NT, on the other hand, seems like a world (rather a kingdom) of dynamic living Truth and invitation where a new identity in Christ is inherited and people are motivated by love. In other words, being must precede doing or one will inevitably be enslaved by religion and its inferior motivations of fear, guilt and shame.

A possible discussion question might be; What would happen to church (as we know it) if suddenly, it was stripped of all religious motivation? (Hint: review GG’s definition of religion before answering.) I made the earlier statement that we can avoid the more severe expressions of God’s love simply by abiding. I needed to highlight what religion was in order to make it clear what abiding is not. Abiding is not just obedience to bible commands. It is responding to the Person of the Holy Spirit. Abiding, in it’s essence, is anti-religion. It rejects outright that any doing (or obeying) can in any way enhance the relationship we have in Christ. Abiding is simply resting in one’s new nature and identity in Christ. Abiding is not a doctrinal position that one can have strong convictions about. Abiding is a spirit to Spirit experience. Abiding cannot be attained through study. It can only be discovered through the personal experience of revelation and encounter.

Father, may we each come to the place where we are utterly exhausted with our good works – acknowledging the impossible nature of the Christian life and transferring our dependency to Christ in us, the only hope of glory. May we discover that kind of abiding in You that is accompanied by the asking and receiving of whatever we wish. Thank You that You have loved us just as the Father has loved You. Thank You for inviting us to abide in Your love. Thank You that You spoke these words to us that our joy may be full. May we continue on in Your kindness. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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