Connections

John 15:1-8

May 14, 2006

FCC Nevada, IA

Downed Tree Limbs/Leaves

Brice Hughes, Pastor



It's springtime in Iowa; time for Tulip blooms and wooden shoes, long days of planting for farmers, and also, time for tornadoes and thunderstorms. The storms come through; they rage and blow. Lightning sizzles, and thunder booms. The wind slings rain against us like tiny arrows.



In the fresh-washed air of morning, we survey the storm's story from the night before. The lane is carpeted with green leaves blown loose by the storm. Throughout the neighborhood, large stately trees have lost limbs. They block the road, pierce innocent cars, crush a child's swing set. All is green.



In just a few hours, the green carpet of leaves on the road has turned brown. For now, the leaves on the tree limbs still look alive. But in just a few days, these leaves will begin to curl up and die, also. No matter how large the section of tree limb, the leaves will soon die, because they are not connected to their source.



When we are not connected to God, our spirits die of malnourishment. When we are not attached to the source, when we are not continuously being fed by God's grace, we are incapable of producing fruit.



We are in deeply immersed in launching mode around our house. Glenda's three sons, and my two daughters are all smack in the middle of that chaotic phase of life. Getting out on their own; learning the sometimes painful lessons of life as an independent adult; exploring various career paths, finding their way to the beginning post of those paths. It is a bit scary for them; it can be agonizing for their parents. (A truth they will not discover for many years, until their own children enter the launch window).



Knowing that the choices they make today will impact the trajectory of much of their lives; and knowing that they must make their own choices, parents can only advise and pray. Agonizing.



We want so much for our children. We want them to make the best possible choices; want them to grow into productive adults, making their world a better place; forging for themselves a good life, maybe even a better life than we made for ourselves. Our hearts ache with the desire; the prayer, that they will grow into mature Christians, ones whose lives will reflect the love of Christ, and will bear witness to the transforming nature of God's grace through Jesus. Most of all, we want our children to produce good fruit for God's kingdom.



God's desire for you, also is that you will produce good fruit for His kingdom. God's love for you, like a loving parent, like your love for your own children, only hundreds of times more. God's yearning for you is that your life will reflect the love of Jesus to everyone who sees you; that your life will bear witness to the transforming power of God's grace. God wants you to produce fruit.



Two things are necessary in order for that to happen.



First, you must be connected to Christ.

As a tree branch, no matter how large, dies when it is not connected to the trunk; as a grape vine dies when it is not connected to the branch, so also our spirits will die if they are not connected to God's Holy Spirit.



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. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy without bothering about religion. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."



Second, you need to realize that God must do some pruning on you from time to time, in order for you to produce the most abundant fruit.



Left to their own, grape vines spend much energy sending out runners, new vines, leaves, spreading out across the forest floor, seeking new places to grow. That kind of riotous, undisciplined growth leaves too little energy to produce the most abundant crop of fruit. For a wild grapevine, growing in the woods, covering ground with vines and leaves may be fine. For a vineyard, the goal is not producing leaves and vines. The goal is the production of grapes. In order to produce the most abundant crop of grapes, the plant's energy must be re-directed (disciplined) from the production of vines and leaves, and into the production of fruit. Our lives, also must be re-directed if we are to be most productive for God.



Left to our own, we will tend to put our energy into our own desires, ignoring the reality that our reason for being is to produce fruit for God's Kingdom.



It is natural for us to devote the most of our attention into those areas which bring us pleasure. It is so easy to invest our time and energy in that which will make us happy. So natural to think about what feels good, or about what we want.



It's easy to forget the goal of producing fruit for God's kingdom. Sleep in on Saturday morning, or attend a prayer group? Your body is so worn out and weary from the week's work. The bed feels so good. What would it matter, anyway? Can't I pray from here, with my head on the pillow just as well?



God invites us to allow Him to prune our lives:

That isn't usually pleasant; truth is, it might be very painful. And sometimes, when the pruning is happening, it's hard for us to see how this can possibly be for our own good. From the limited perspective of the moment of losing cherished limbs and leaves, it's hard for us to see where the new fruit will come from the pruned-back branches. It feels like loss, not preparation for more productivity.



It's hard, during those moments, to feel with any confidence that saying I've seen around here on the backs of T-Shirts: "Pain is merely weakness leaving the body."



Sometimes, what we initially experience as pain of loss is a matter of God pruning away the unnecessary from our lives, in order that we will be able to produce Fruit for His Kingdom. It is not for us to tell. We cannot judge what is or is not good pruning.



Tom went out to her farm to see if he could figure out what was wrong with her trees. He said he could see when he first got out of the car what the problem was.

The trees had not been pruned in many years. They were tall, and full; branches crossed each other, tangled and twisted into all kinds of knots. There were so many branches that the tree had no energy left for fruit production.

Tom told her, the trees need to be pruned if they are to produce fruit gain. In fact, if they aren't pruned soon, they will strangle themselves with their own growth.

Would he do it? She would pay him. In fact, if he wanted to take on

the job, she would let him rent the entire orchard from her.

And that is what he did. Rented the whole orchard. First year's rent: $1.00. Most of the Saturday's that winter, and most afternoons when the weather was decent enough to allow it, Tom was out there, pruning the orchard. He trimmed and trimmed; cutting off all the twisted, tangled limbs, opening up the interior of the tree so sunlight and air could circulate all through.

One very early spring day, when he was almost through pruning all the trees, the widow came out to the orchard to see him.

She was furious ! She scolded him for destroying these beautiful apple trees; every one of them that her late husband had planted; he had ruined ! How dare he destroy these trees which reminded her of her late husband?!?

All there was to say that first year was, 'be patient.' That first spring, the trees seemed to be so weak. Only a few blossoms on each of the few spindly branches he had left. She was still angry; seeing all the damage he had done to the trees. She fumed about how mercilessly he had cut away all those beautiful branches. And then, it got even worse! She came out one Monday morning to find that he had been there again. And this time, he had snipped off every last blossom. Only a handful of blossoms, and even these he had ruined. She was beside herself with anger. If she had a few years younger, she might have done violence to poor Tom. 'Be patient.' he said, again. He must have said 'be patient' a hundred times that year. Finally, she just got so angry with him that she wouldn't even speak to him. If she was outside and saw his car drive up toward the orchard, she would go into the house, and lock the door.

It was a long year for Tom.

When that second spring came, with the forsythia and daffodils blooming, the old woman could hardly bear the thought of looking at her husband's apple orchard again. More out of habit than hope, she walked up over the hill to the orchard. When she topped the ridge, the sight caught her breathless. The trees were covered in blooms. They were smaller than she remembered, but for the first time in years, there were no dead branches, no sections without blossoms. The trees looked healthy again.

That fall, they harvested; the largest crop of apples she could remember ever coming from that orchard. When she tried to apologize for all she had said, Tom was very gracious.



The apple trees Tom prunes aren't the only source of good fruit around. There are times in our lives when it feels as if God is taking away everything we treasure. Pruning feels more like losing when you are in the midst of it. When your strength, your career, your health, your material possessions, even the people you love the most are taken away from you, all you can feel is the loss. Sometimes those losses come about because God is pruning our lives that which is excess, that which is hindering our production of fruit for God's kingdom.



Sometimes, the most important word we need to hear from God is, 'be patient.'

Galatians 5:22:

"By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things."



(Comments to Brice at pastorbrice@midiowa.net )