“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 that 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. 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. 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. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:1-8; all Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version).

The following is based on a sermon that I preached on May 6, 2026, at Church of the Intercessor, Malverne, NY, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a seminary course on Hermeneutics and Homiletics.

Perhaps you own or have seen plastic or wax fruit that is used as a home decoration. My earliest memory of wax fruit was when I was maybe 4 years old or younger. I cannot remember whose house it was, but I saw the fruit, and I was hungry, and I tried to bite into it. It did not feel right. It did not taste like fruit. I’m pretty sure I said, “Yuck!” and was told, “No, Michael, that’s not a real apple. That’s wax! Don’t eat it!” It might have looked like a red delicious, and it might have been red, but it was not delicious.

Artificial fruit is not like real fruit. Not only does it lack flavor. You cannot digest it. It provides no nutrients. It has no life in it. Real fruit contains life. God created fruit to contain, nurture, impart, and nourish life.

In John 15:1-8, Jesus and His disciples have just finished the Last Supper, during which He said the bread was His body and the wine was His blood. He started giving them some final instructions before His crucifixion.

Now, they are walking toward the Garden of Gethsemane, where Judas would soon betray Him. As they are walking, Jesus points out one of the numerous grapevines nearby and says, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser…. You are the branches.” They would probably have seen vinedressers in action before; maybe one or two of the disciples had done this work. Every year, a vinedresser would cut off every branch on the vine that had borne no grapes. That branch might be diseased, and they did not want the disease spreading to other branches.

If a branch had grown any grapes, they would prune its tip until it was only one or two inches long. Grapevine branches grow very quickly, but the vinedresser wants to keep the branches short. The sap in the vine would have to nourish less wood, thereby allowing more of the vine’s resources to be spent on growing grapes.

So, real fruit draws life from the tree or vine. It contains life within it, and its purpose is to impart life. Fruit contains seeds and, since it is edible and tasty, an animal will eat the fruit and deposit the seeds elsewhere, producing new fruit-bearing trees. We also eat the fruit and it imparts life to us, as nutrients and energy.

God is calling us to bear fruit and impart life. He does not want us to just come to church and decorate the pews with our good looks, like a wax apple in the house of God. Nor does He want church and the rest of the Christian life to be a nice little decoration in our lives. Our faith should be in the center of our lives. He calls us to abide with Christ, so that we will bear the fruit of the Spirit, producing spiritual life, which we can then impart to others.

Just as a vinedresser prunes branches, God prunes us. He cuts off the excess in our lives that keeps us from producing fruit. Sometimes, He will purge things that are not really bad, but they are distractions. For example, I am a huge soccer fan. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, every time the Cosmos or the New York Arrows were on TV, I was watching. However, in the summer of 1984, I came to the Lord and immediately stopped watching soccer games. It was not a sin, but other things became more important. I was beginning to read the Bible and was attending several church services and Bible studies every week. God was working in my life, so something had to go. There were sins to deal with, but I also had to surrender a few “innocent” distractions.

Pruning can be uncomfortable, but it leads to growth. When a branch is repeatedly pruned, it grows more fruit. Likewise, when God prunes us, our lives can be devoted to serving Him and we can grow in faith and fruitfulness.

As God prunes us, we need to stay close to the True Vine, Jesus. How can we do that?

First, as Jesus said in our passage, we should abide in His Word. Come to church, listen to the readings, and pay attention to the sermon. But more than that, read and meditate on God’s Word daily.

Abide with the Lord in prayer daily. If you are not already praying the Daily Office every day, I encourage you to do so. You will receive a daily dose of Scripture from both the Old and New Testaments. You will also spend time praying God’s Word back to Him, as many of the prayers are drawn from the Bible. This should provide the impulse for you to pray throughout the day.

Don’t walk away from Jesus the moment you say the final “Amen” of the Daily Office. Continue to abide in Christ’s presence. Listen to worship music; sing some of your favorite worship songs throughout the day. Thank Him for whatever little good things happen. If a problem comes up, react by saying, “Lord, have mercy!” or something like that. I know, it’s tempting to say something else at times, but we’re better off replacing our colorful exclamations of anger with a prayer for God’s help instead.

Also, abide with the other branches. Branches whither and die when they are cut off from the rest of the vine. Fellowship with other believers. Join a community group. Find opportunities to spend time with other Christians, encouraging one another.

Last of all, abide in Christ by regularly participating in the worship of the church and the sacraments.

In a few minutes, we will receive the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Throughout this mass, we have been receiving a fresh dose of the life of Christ, through praise, prayer, Scripture, and the sacrament. After communion, the deacon will dismiss us by saying something like “Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.” That means a lot more than, “Get out of here and go home!” It also does not mean, “Okay, we can stop worshiping God now.” It means, “Our worship is moving from this room to our neighborhoods. Christ lives in you. Now, abide in Him. Let us take the life of Christ within us, leave this building, and share that life with everyone we meet. Take the fruit that is growing inside you and impart the life of Christ to others, in Word and deed.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Copyright © 2026 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.