Tawa Baptist

Attachment

Scripture: Genesis 42:25-43:14

Video Link: https://youtu.be/qdL_nTpVw54

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Fear and attachment
  • Faith and attachment
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When children are young, they often form an attachment to a soft toy, a teddy, a blanket or something else they cannot part with. The attachment gives the child a feeling of security.

Eventually though, the child forms other attachments. They make friends or get a pet and the toy or the teddy is put away. Although the kinds of attachments we make change through the various stages of our life, the basic reason for forming attachments remains the same, security. 

Attachments are important. We need healthy attachments to survive and thrive, much like a plant needs an attachment to good soil. Sometimes though we become overly attached to the wrong things. Things which might make us feel good in the moment but provide no real or lasting security and are actually harmful to our wellbeing, causing us to wither and die.

This morning we continue our sermon series in the life of Joseph. Previously, Joseph’s brothers had travelled to Egypt to buy grain. They did not recognize Joseph but Joseph recognized them and decided to test them to see if they had changed for the better. 

Joseph needed to know the quality of their attachments. Were they still attached to the wrong things? Or had they formed more healthy, life-giving attachments? We pick up the story from Genesis 42, verse 25…

25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. 27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” 29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, 30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’ 33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’ ” 35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.” 38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

In these verses we see how fear affects attachment.

Fear and attachment:

Imagine yourself in a room full of gold. The gold is yours to keep if you want it. And you do want it. You’ve got bills to pay and having some money tucked away would give you peace of mind, or so you think.

The problem is this room you are sitting in with the gold is on a ship far out at sea.  And the ship is sinking fast. If you stay with the gold, you will go down with the ship and if you try to take some of the gold with you, in your pockets, the weight will drag you under the waves.

The choice is clear. If you want to live, you must abandon your attachment to the gold.    

Many of us have an attachment to money, although we may not like to admit it. We like having money because wealth gives us a feeling of security. It puts some of our fears to bed and makes us feel safe.

The problem is, having money also awakens other fears. Specifically, the fear of losing our money. Too much wealth can be as bad as too little. Riches, like poverty, tend to isolate us.

But when faced with a crisis, a choice between life and death, most of us would sacrifice the money to save ourselves. The fear of death is usually greater than the fear of poverty. You can always make more money, but you can’t make more time.

Joseph had suffered much at the hands of his brothers. They had sold him into slavery for 20 shekels of silver. By doing this the brothers had demonstrated a greater attachment to money than to Joseph.

When Joseph’s brothers leave Egypt to return to Canaan, Joseph orders his servant to put the silver they had paid back in their sacks. Why does Joseph do this? Is the silver a subtle reminder of his brothers’ crime? Or is Joseph being generous and repaying their wrongdoing with good?

Whatever Joseph’s motivation, when the brothers later discover the silver has been returned, their hearts sink and they feel terribly afraid.

They know this is not a good look. It makes them appear dishonest and gives the lord of the land more reason to distrust them.

In fear the brothers say to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?” Their guilty consciences see the returned silver as a punishment from God.

Although guilt doesn’t feel good, it is not always a bad thing. Guilt acts like bolt cutters for an unhealthy attachment. When we are attached to something that is harmful, like drinking too much for example, then (if our conscience is functioning properly) we will feel guilty about it and the guilt will motivate us to break our harmful attachment to alcohol.   

The brothers’ fear and guilt is a necessary step in the process of their redemption.

When the brothers get home to Canaan and explain to their father Jacob what happened, how the lord of the land wants them to return with Benjamin, Jacob is fearful also. He won’t have a bar of it saying…

38 “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

Clearly, Jacob’s attachment to Benjamin and to his own grief is greater than anything he feels for the rest of his family.

Benjamin is no longer a child. He is a young man in his 20’s. Jacob’s attachment to Benjamin is not healthy. It keeps Jacob in a prison of fear and threatens the survival of the whole family.

While it is natural for parents to feel a strong attachment to their children, there comes a point when we need to trust God and let our children go. Not all at once, but gradually and with the support they need. Our attachment to our kids needs to flex and adapt as they grow.

It is difficult for Jacob to do this though because he has lost his favourite son, Joseph, and he is still living with the pain of that loss.

In his book, God of Surprises, Gerard Hughes (a Catholic priest and spiritual director) says this; “The answer is in the pain. We fear whatever causes us pain and try to escape, but in escaping we are running away from the answer… Face the fears that haunt you.” (page 101)

Jacob needs to face his fear of losing Benjamin. But will he find the faith he needs to do this?

Faith and attachment:

We continue the story from verse 1 of Genesis 43…

1 Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’  6 “Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?” 8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. 9 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. 10 As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.” 11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. 14 And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

In these verses Jacob finds the faith to face his fears. Faith plays an important part in the formation of healthy attachments. 

In the movie, The Sound of Music, Captain von Trapp does not enjoy a close or warm attachment to his children. Then along comes Maria who, through love and music, restores the father to his family.

In the middle of the film, the Captain and Maria start to form a romantic attachment. And, as is often the case with romantic attachments, neither of them is really that aware of their feelings at first.

Maria is confused and, after a quiet word from Baroness Schraeder, decides to return to the convent where she stays in seclusion and prepares to take vows to become a nun.

When the mother superior learns that Maria is actually afraid and hiding in the convent, to avoid her feelings for the Captain, she wisely encourages Maria to return to the von Trapp villa to face her fear and look for her purpose in life.

As it turns out, the Captain’s feelings of love for Maria have not changed, except now he has found the courage to admit his feelings to himself and to Maria. Baroness Schraeder sees the reality of the situation and gracefully leaves. Maria and the Captain are then married.

Faith plays an important part in forming healthy attachments. Faith helps us to face our fears and our pain. At the same time, faith enables us to hold things loosely, so we can let go in trust.

By faith Maria was able to put her romantic attachment to Captain von Trapp in God’s hands. She was willing to let God be God.

In Genesis 43, Jacob finds that he must face his fears and let go in faith, or else lose everything. The famine is so severe that the brothers must return to Egypt to buy more grain, or else they will starve. But they can’t return without taking Benjamin with them.

Reuben, the eldest brother, had tried persuading his father by saying that Jacob could put both of his sons to death if he doesn’t bring Benjamin back with him. But Jacob refuses.

If Reuben is that careless with his own sons, why would Jacob trust him with Benjamin. What good would it do to destroy more innocent lives? Reuben’s proposal is not the letting go of faith. It is the reckless letting go of desperation. It shows that Reuben’s attachments are not healthy.

Later Judah tries persuading Jacob by offering himself as guarantor for Benjamin saying, “I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him…”

You may remember from Genesis 38 that two of Judah’s sons had died. Judah understands his father’s pain all too well.

Unlike Reuben, who was risking his sons’ lives, Judah is taking the risk on himself. Judah is saying that he will take the blame if he fails to bring Benjamin back safely. Judah’s proposal is more like the letting go of faith.

This reveals a real transformation in Judah’s character. Earlier, in Genesis 37, it was Judah who had led the others in selling Joseph into slavery. Now Judah takes the role of leader again, only this time he is not serving his own interests. This time Judah makes himself vulnerable and let’s go of his power in order to help others.   

We see a change in the other brothers too. Twenty years earlier they might have ignored Jacob’s wishes and kidnapped Benjamin in order to get him to Egypt to buy grain.

But now, having witnessed the suffering of their father, the brothers let go of their attachment to violence and power in order to honour their father and allow him to decide.

In the end Jacob realises his options are limited. If he does not let Benjamin go, they will all die. So, Jacob finally allows Benjamin to travel with his brothers to Egypt.

But notice Jacob’s advice to his sons. “Take the best products of the land as a gift… Take double the amount of silver with you… And may God Almighty grant you mercy… As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

In faith, Jacob faces his fear of being bereaved. He does what he can to prepare his sons (sending them off with gifts for the man) and then trusts his sons and the success of their mission to God’s mercy. This is the letting go of faith. Jacob is learning to let God be God.

Letting go in faith requires thoughtfulness and courage. We do what is in our power to do and we trust God with the rest.

Conclusion:

Unhealthy attachments can reveal themselves in many ways. The accumulation of wealth, the compulsion to try and control everything, an obsession with what others think, an affair of the heart, overworking, a destructive habit, self-righteousness, becoming too dependent on one person for our security, and so on. These are all signs of an unhealthy attachment to something.   

If we find ourselves holding onto something so tightly that we cannot let go and leave it in God’s hands, then it has probably become an unhealthy attachment. A millstone around our neck. Something that weighs our soul down and will eventually kill us.

What fears do you need to face?

What attachments do you need to hold more loosely?

Or perhaps let go of altogether?

Jesus understood our need for attachment. He also knew the human tendency to form attachments to the wrong things. The Lord says…

‘For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?’  

In the end, the only thing that really matters is the quality of our attachment to Jesus.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Why do people form attachments?
  • How does fear affect our attachments? Why do we need to face our fears? What fears do you need to face?
  • What role does guilt play in breaking unhealthy attachments?
  • What role does faith play in the formation of healthy attachments? Can you think of ways that faith has helped you in forming attachments?
  • How might we know when an attachment has become unhealthy? What unhealthy attachments do you need to let go of? Ask God for his grace in doing this.
  • What can you do to strengthen your attachment to Christ? 
Tawa Baptist

Vine

Scripture: John 15:1-10

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The vine
  • The gardener
  • The branches
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

One of the first things a new born foal does is stand. A baby horse normally attempts to get to its feet within the first 10 minutes of its life and manages to successfully stand after about 30 minutes or so.

Only after it has got to its feet does it begin to suckle off its mother. Then it will start to walk or run for the first time within 90 minutes of its birth. By comparison most human babies start walking independently around 12 months of age, on average.

Why the difference? Well, one reason could be that horses need to be able to run to survive. A horse can’t afford to wait a whole year before walking.

But humans are different. Human beings don’t rely so much on their ability to run. Human beings survive by forming attachments or relationships with other people. And so one of the first things a human baby does is cry, partly to get some oxygen into its lungs but also to get its mother’s attention and form an attachment.

Previously the experts thought that successful attachment was created by food, but John Bowlby discovered there was more to it than that. Babies need caregivers who are responsive to them, who smile at them and talk to them and spend time interacting with them in a warm and positive way. 

The central idea of attachment theory is that primary caregivers who are available and responsive to a baby’s needs allow the child to develop a sense of security. When the baby knows that the parent is dependable, this creates a secure base for the child to explore the world.

Today we continue our sermon series on the I am sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. Jesus uses a number of I am statements to describe himself. These sayings tell us about Jesus’ being, his identity.

Please turn with me to John chapter 15. Last week we heard how Jesus is the gate for the sheep. This morning we hear how Jesus says to his disciples: I am the vine and you are the branches. The main idea here is that attachment to Jesus is essential to our spiritual survival. From John 15, verses 1-10 we read…

“I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. 3 You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. 4 Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. 6 Those who do not remain in me are thrown out like a branch and dry up; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, where they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it. 8 My Father’s glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become my disciples. 9 I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

There are three main characters in Jesus’ allegory here, each in mutual relationship with the others. The vine (which represents Jesus), the gardener (which represents God the Father) and the branches (which represent those who follow Jesus). First let us consider Jesus, the vine.

The Vine:

The maple leaf is one of the national symbols of Canada.

The thistle is the national flower of Scotland.

The Protea is the national flower of South Africa.

While the silver fern is New Zealand’s symbol.

What plant do you think was used as the symbol of ancient Israel? Anyone want to take a guess? [Wait]

You are on to it. The vine, or the vineyard, in the Hebrew Scriptures, was a symbol for the nation of Israel.

In Isaiah 5:1-7 the prophet sings the song of the vineyard…

My friend had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug the soil and cleared it of stones; he planted the finest vines. He built a tower to guard them, dug a pit for treading the grapes. He waited for the grapes to ripen, but every grape was sour…  Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted. He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder. He expected them to do what was right, but their victims cried out for justice.

There are other references in the psalms and the prophets describing Israel as the Lord’s vineyard and most of them end in a note of judgement. The message seems to be that ancient Israel had failed to produce the fruit of righteousness that God intended.

It is against this background that Jesus says of himself, “I am the real vine.” That’s like saying, “I am the real Israel.” Or, “I am the true Israel. I am the root stock of the nation who produces the fruit that God desires.”

That is an incredible claim to make. Jesus’ claim to be the true vine holds together judgment and hope. On the one hand, Jesus is criticising the nation of Israel, basically saying they have failed to produce the fruit God wanted.

But at the same time Jesus also castes a positive vision for the future. Judgment does not get the last word. Jesus is saying, I am what God called Israel to be. Where Israel failed, I will succeed. And so there is hope. In and through Christ, God gets the vineyard and the fruit he wants.      

Okay, so Jesus is the vine and God the Father is the gardener.

The Gardener:

From verse 2 Jesus explains how God, the gardener, breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit.         

To better understand what God does let me take you through the annual cycle of tending to a grapevine.   

During winter, the vine dresser prunes (or cuts back) the previous year’s canes and chooses the best branches to grow new shoots. The gardener trains selected branches to grow along the wire. [1]

Then, during September or October, comes the bud break. This is when the first signs of life occur. The buds are extremely delicate during this time. You pray there are no hail storms.

The buds continue to grow and then flower. The gardener may choose to prune the downward facing shoots to reduce the crop size. Pruning in this way reduces the quantity of the crop with a view to improving the quality. With fewer grapes on the vine you get a concentration of flavour.

Then in November or December comes the fruit set. This is when bunches of green grapes appear and grow. You wouldn’t want to eat the fruit at this stage; it would be too sour.

Towards the end of summer, the green berries change colour and ripen. This process is called veraison. Depending on how many grapes are on the vine, some winegrowers will thin the crop so that more nutrients and goodness go into the remaining fruit.

Harvest usually happens in autumn, sometime between March and May, once the sugar levels in the grapes rise and they have reached their perfect ripeness. Harvest is a busy time. Once harvested the grapes do not continue to ripen.

When winter comes round again the leaves die off and the pruners trim the vines ready for spring and a new cycle of growth.

Leon Morris makes the observation that fruitfulness is the whole point of the vineyard. Left to itself a vine will produce a good deal of unproductive growth. Pruning is essential for maximum fruitfulness. The fruit of Christian service is never the result of allowing natural energies and inclinations to run riot. [2]

Or to put it another way; less is more. The temptation, particularly when we are young and have energy to burn, is to try and do everything. So rather than strategically focusing our time and resources on one or two things, we may be inclined to dissipate our energies in a flurry of busy-ness and activity.

There is no end of need and worthy causes in this world. There is always a long list of good things we could be doing. But the reality is, we can’t do it all. So the question becomes, what is it that God (the gardener) wants me to give myself to?  

Another way to frame that question is to ask yourself, what is it that I can do that others can’t do? If you have children, then no one else can really be a mum or a dad to your kids in the same way that you can. So giving love and time to your children, while they are still young, needs to be a priority.

I’m pleased that Bono chose to write songs instead of driving trucks. Just like I’m pleased Ashley Bloomfield chose a career in medicine rather than being a rock star. Just as I am pleased each of our deacons chose to serve the church instead of watching TV or playing golf. 

We can’t do everything. Less is more. Less quantity means better quality. What is it (or perhaps, who is it) that God wants you to give yourself to? And what is it that God is wanting to prune?  

Being pruned is not a pleasant experience. It can be painful and bewildering to be cut back. We think we are on the right track, doing well. We seem to be growing and making progress in our discipleship and then wham. We suffer some kind of loss or set back and we don’t understand why.

The temptation at that point is to give up on God. To lose faith. To cease remaining in the vine. But we need to remember that God is the gardener. God is in control not us. And God is very skilled at his job. He knows what he is doing and why.

If you feel like you are being pruned at the moment, hold on to the fact that God has a purpose in what he is doing. It could be that he intends to use this experience to improve the quality of your fruit. The quality of Job’s relationship with God, after he had suffered catastrophic loss and been restored, was far better than it was before his loss.

Now, by drawing a parallel between loss and God’s pruning I don’t mean to imply that every bad thing that happens to us can be put down to God improving the quality of our fruit. Suffering is often a mystery that we won’t understand this side of the harvest. By faith we know that whatever we might suffer, nothing is beyond God’s reach. God can redeem anything.

Jesus is the vine. God the Father is the gardener and we, the followers of Jesus, are the branches.

The Branches:

We began today’s message with the idea of attachment. Being attached to another human being in a nurturing, responsive relationship is essential to our survival. As infants, it is through a healthy attachment with one primary caregiver that we learn trust and find psychological security.

In verse 4 of John 15 Jesus says: Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.

In other words, attachment to Jesus is essential to our spiritual survival.

We need Jesus like the branches of a tree need the roots and trunk. It is the roots and trunk that nourish and feed the branches. We need Jesus like a baby needs its mother or father. It is through Jesus that we learn trust and security.

Today is Pentecost Sunday when we remember afresh the gift of the Holy Spirit. Although Jesus does not explicitly mention the Holy Spirit, in the opening verses of John 15, he was just talking about God’s Spirit in chapter 14 and he will go on to say more about the Spirit in John 16.

We could think of the Holy Spirit as the sap flowing inside us from Jesus the vine. The Holy Spirit is life to the branches from within.   

More than once in today’s reading Jesus talks about the branches bearing fruit when they remain attached to him. So what exactly is the fruit? Well, verse 8 indicates the fruit is that which glorifies God. My Father’s glory is shown by your bearing much fruit;

When the vine produces quality grapes, the one who grew the grapes gets the credit. The gardener (God the Father) gets the glory. As branches grafted into Christ, our job (our main purpose in life) is to bear quality fruit for the glory of God. To glorify God means to reveal or reflect something of God’s goodness to others. To make God larger in the awareness of others, in a good way.

In Galatians 5 the apostle Paul lists some of the things that glorify God. Paul writes: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. This is not an exhaustive list of the fruit but it gives us the idea.

When a husband and wife love each other and remain faithful through all the ups and downs of life, this is fruit which glorifies God. Their faithfulness points to God’s faithfulness.

Or when someone at work is having a bad day and you respond by not taking it personally but instead showing forbearance, this is fruit that glorifies God.

Or when a child sees someone alone in the playground without any lunch and goes over to share their own lunch and friendship, this is the fruit of kindness.

Or when a landlord does not charge a huge rent, simply because the market dictates it, but instead keeps the rent at a reasonable level, this kind of fruit reflects the mercy and justice of God. 

In verse 7 we see a connection between prayer and fruit where Jesus says: If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it. 

This does not mean that we can use Jesus like a Genie in a bottle. Jesus is not promising to give us a never ending supply of wishes, like in the Tim Tam ad. Rather, when we are so closely attached to Jesus that his word is in us, we will be inclined to ask for things that are in line with his will and purpose anyway.

Another thing we notice is the number of times we come across the word remain in today’s passage. (The Good News Translation uses the word remain 11 times in ten verses.) The startling thing is that we bear the fruit of love by simply remaining attached to Jesus.

We are not required to go on some valiant quest to find the fruit like it was hidden treasure. Nor do we have to try and frantically manufacture or create the fruit ourselves. Branches don’t survive by running, like a horse. Branches grow and bear fruit by waiting, by remaining still. All we have to do is abide in Christ.

I say, ‘all we have to do is abide’, as if that is an easy thing. But in the rough and tumble of life, remaining attached to Jesus, over the long haul, is not as easy as it seems. Unlike the branches of a vine, we get a choice. We can walk away at any point. But in doing that we would only harm ourselves.

Okay then, if remaining (or abiding) in Christ is the key to fruitfulness, then what does it mean to remain attached to Jesus? How do we do that?

Well, in verse 9 of John 15, Jesus points us in the right direction when he says:

I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

Our attachment to Jesus is defined by love. There is a possible connection here with the Song of Solomon. The Song of Solomon is a love poem from the Hebrew Bible. The poet uses the vineyard as the place where the woman and the man will share their love. From Song of Solomon chapter 7:11-12 we read,

Come my beloved… let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened… There I will give you my love.

I won’t read anymore because I don’t want you to get too excited. The point is, the vineyard is a place of tender love and intimacy. 

Love is loyal. Remaining attached to Jesus means being loyal to him. Christianity is an exclusive religion in the sense that we worship one God. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the way the truth and the life. We follow him and no one else.

Love is open. Remaining attached to Jesus means being open to him. Open to listening to what he wants to say to us in the Scriptures. Open to receiving what he wants to give. Open to his truth and grace. Open to the sap of his Spirit. But it is an openness that goes both ways. We need to be honest with Jesus and not hide from him.

There is a certain vulnerability that comes with being open to Christ. Openness requires faith and trust on our part.

Love is voluntary. Remaining attached to Jesus is something we do because we want to, not because we are forced to. Our attachment to Jesus is not based on fear of punishment, nor is it based on some legal obligation. We stay close to Jesus and spend time cultivating our relationship with him because we like him. We enjoy his presence.       

Love needs to be expressed. When love is not expressed it turns into a kind of unbearable pain. When we express love to someone we invest a part of ourselves in that person and we strengthen the attachment.  Remaining attached to Jesus inevitably involves us expressing our love to him.

There are many ways to express love for Jesus but the primary way is through obedience; doing what he asks. Notice how Jesus puts love and obedience together. He does not separate them. Jesus loves us first and we respond by obeying him voluntarily. The love goes both ways.

Love is loyal. Love is open. Love is voluntary and love needs to be expressed. L.O.V.E. Spells love.

Now in giving you this acrostic I don’t mean to imply that this is all there is to remaining in Christ. There is a certain mystery with our attachment to Jesus. We can’t fully define it, much less reduce it to a pithy acrostic. Jesus’ attachment to us is deeper and more profound than we are able to fathom.

Conclusion:

Jesus is the vine. God the Father is the gardener and we are the branches.

One of the things I like about Jesus’ allegory of the vine is that it implies there are seasons in our life; seasons of new growth, seasons of fruitfulness and harvest, as well as seasons of dormancy and loss, when it seems that not much is happening.

This means we don’t have to feel guilty if we are not being fruitful all the time. Producing fruit is a process. We are not responsible for the outcome. We just need to remain attached to Jesus. God will take care of the fruit.

Whatever season you happen to be in at the moment, may God the Gardener keep you close to Jesus.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Why is attachment so important for human beings? What is needed for successful attachment?
  • How would Jesus’ original Jewish audience have understood his statement: I am the real vine?  In what sense was this a criticism of ancient Israel? In what sense is Jesus’ statement pregnant with hope?
  • Why does God prune the branches? Have you ever felt like God has pruned you? How did God do this? How did you feel / respond? What was the outcome? What (or who) is it that God wants you to give yourself to at this time?
  • What does it mean to glorify God? Can you think of real examples of the sort of fruit Jesus had in mind?
  • How do we remain attached to Jesus, the true vine?
  • What season are you in at the moment? What might you expect in this season?    

[1] https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/lifecycle-of-a-wine-grapevine

[2] Leon Morris, NICNT John, page 594.