Bearing Fruit

What is success in your life?

What does it look like to be fruitful in your life?

I wonder what businesses you work at or even the communities you are in and are a part of,

what is fruitfulness?

Would fruitfulness look like more income for the company?

Would it look like happy customers, happy stakeholders?

Perhaps in your key performance indicators, it looks like insurance procedures are followed,

managing a growing team, having more and more sales.

And maybe even DJ Khaled's song captures what fruitfulness and success is like,

which I'm sure will bring some blank faces in the room, but just have a listen to the lyrics.

All I do is win, win, win, no matter what.

Got money on my mind, I can never get enough.

Enough.

You see, the human condition has always been chasing for the outcome to make something bigger

and better, to add more software updates, to bring a new iPhone.

We are all like that.

We are people who want to see success and outcomes in our life.

And even if we're not, even if we're not the ambitious kind of person, we still want success.

We still want outcome.

It might not be as grandiose, but it might just sound like,

if there was just one thing or one challenge in my life,

and if that one thing was sorted, then I'd be happy.

The common human experience is this outcome-shaped hole in our heart, and we keep trying to fill it.

John 15 gives us the grandest vision of fruitfulness and success in life that is all-consuming,

glorious, and majestic.

But unlike any KPI, unlike any success criteria, the one in this passage is satisfying.

Friends, I'm convinced that this passage that we have just read answers those age-old existential questions

that we are either consciously or unconsciously asking ourselves.

So let's pray.

Father God, we are thankful that we can just gather and praise you.

If there are stresses in our life that repeatedly trample over our minds,

may your peace and comfort intercede for us right now, so we can just hear from you.

For we know in 2 Timothy 3.16 that your word enables us to be teachable,

to be corrected and encouraged, and to point us to the life and salvation found in Jesus.

So help us listen to your word.

Amen.

So we're currently in a series called Abundant Life, looking at the Gospel of John.

And for the last and the next few weeks, we are in what Bible teachers call the farewell discourse,

which is the message Jesus gives to his disciples, preparing them for when he says, well, farewell.

Last week in John 14, Dan encouraged us in Jesus' promise of future hope

and his ongoing presence through his spirit.

And so this week, Jesus continues in particularly that ongoing presence aspect.

It's more of the, now what?

If Jesus goes away, what does that mean day to day?

What's our purpose?

Which is in fact our first point, our purpose.

If you're taking notes or have the St. Paul's app to follow along, I have three points.

Number one, the purpose.

Number two, the attributes.

And number three, the means.

So let's jump into verse one.

I am the true vine and my father is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.

While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

We are made clear here that Jesus makes an exclusive statement that he is the true vine that the fruit grows off.

Jesus is the true vine.

The previous place I was living in, it had this vine that was all-consuming.

It would cover the brickwork to the point that it would even start nestling in.

I don't know if you've got those windows that have like panes and so it had like little gaps.

And it was healthy because it was growing, growing inside the house, which is not what we wanted.

And there's something unique that we must hear when we look at this image, this all-consuming vine,

that Jesus is the vine and that we are his branches.

So let's keep looking at this extended metaphor.

Verse eight.

This is to my father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

And he says it again, verse 16.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.

Then again in verse two.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.

While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Fruitfulness is so important to God that he even prunes the branches that are already fruitful

because he wants them to flourish and abound in even more fruit.

And it is crystal clear that the purpose that we have been made for, the purpose that you have been made for,

is to bear fruit.

There are no two ways about this.

It cannot be that, oh, I'm connected to Jesus.

I'm connected to Jesus, the true vine, but because of the season of life I'm in,

I'm just going to take a break from Jesus and bearing fruit.

You cannot disconnect the follower of Jesus from the bearing of fruit.

It was what you were made to do.

If a vine bears fruit, through his branches, and if Jesus is the vine, his disciples are to bear fruit.

And so it makes sense that in verse six, Jesus says,

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers.

Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burnt.

A vine is meant to grow fruit as roses need petals.

You know that junk drawer that you have collecting all the odd bits and bobs like nails that fall out,

miscellaneous furniture, old batteries, items that don't have a home,

maybe some pen lids, all of that kind of thing.

And you're like, just one day, just one day, there'll be a need for it.

But ten years later, it's still collecting dust.

It's called a junk drawer for a reason.

It's junk.

It's no longer filling its purpose.

It's useless.

And if this is the purpose of all people,

if fruitfulness is the purpose for all people,

then we ought to ask,

are you living out the purpose of the creator?

Do you even know your creator?

Are you fruitful?

The thing is, we've already established that in all spheres of life,

our success measures can be different.

And unfortunately, we as Christians and even our churches are impacted by the culture around us

rather than responsive to our culture.

And sometimes we say, fruitfulness must look like a big building

or a large number of resources.

But even worse, we can have really dangerous thoughts creep in our community,

such as,

I know I'm a fruitful Christian because God is blessing me with lots of money,

happy kids, and a smooth sailing life.

And to this I want to say,

God does not promise any of those things.

Nor is that the reality of humanity.

For suffering at all levels is the common experience.

So to say that,

that would be a lie.

We will all have different opinions on what it looks like to be fruitful in your life.

And so what we really need to do is we need to pull apart what Jesus is saying here in John 15,

Jesus the truth vine.

What does he mean by fruitfulness?

What is fruit according to John 15?

What are the attributes of fruit?

Well, let's look at verse again slowly.

This is to my Father's glory,

that you bear much fruit,

showing yourselves to be my disciples.

By bearing much fruit,

glory is given to the Father.

The purpose of fruit is to give glory to God.

Fruitfulness is when God is being made big in your life.

It's when he is made supreme.

If Jesus is the vine,

the fruit that you bear is all-consuming,

majestic and glorious,

because it points to him.

It might be different to what our world might expect God's fruitfulness to look like.

In fact, I think this reality is actually comforting.

It's a comfort,

because you can glorify God

and be fruitful,

even when your child is screaming at you.

You can be fruitful

when the trials of life come,

because fruitfulness is not on the account of your measure,

but the glorification of God.

So you can rest easy.

It's to make him great,

not to make you look good.

Fruitfulness is not about your success

or your glory,

but about Jesus' glory.

And in the process of trials,

he is refining you

to make you more like Jesus.

It was great that our Boom Holiday Kids program

more than doubled our numbers last year,

but I did have to ask myself,

would I be all right

if we didn't grow?

Or even less?

Would we still be fruitful?

And the answer is yes,

because we got to present lives

that heard the gospel and responded.

The number and the success is up to God.

It's not up to me.

In fact, the Bible uses the term fruit

in a range of different ways,

and they all lead to the glory of God.

So there's three that I'd like to mention.

The first one is actually in God's very,

very first call of humanity

as he created the world.

In Genesis 1, 27 to 28,

it says on the screen,

so God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, he created them.

Male and female, he created them,

and God blessed them,

and God said to them,

be fruitful and multiply.

This is the fruit of resemblance.

You glorify God when you live out your purpose

of resembling God who created you in his image.

You are an image bearer.

You are his representative on earth.

But resembling God from just the knowledge of God

is like when you read a book.

Think Harry Potter.

It's been turned into a movie.

You watch and you see Hermione Granger

and one of the characters,

and you think,

okay, that's not quite what I had in mind

when I first read the book,

I was thinking more of this than this.

The director tried their best,

but not quite when I was reading the pages off the screen.

In the same way, we can't get it right.

We can't get resembling right on our own merit.

Our view of God

is like looking through a sheer curtain.

It's obscured.

It's obscured.

But there is a perfect image of God

who we are called to become more like.

In Colossians 1.15,

it describes Jesus as the image of the invisible God,

the I am of the true vine.

That I am is his declaration

that he is the same God who created you.

He's the same God who was,

who is, and will always be.

Fruit is when we start becoming more like Jesus.

His character, his obedience,

his way of being.

The second one is the fruit of the harvest.

In fact, it is what God commands

and created man for the beginning

after the fruitfulness,

which is to multiply.

And it's not just an,

all right, let's have five more kids.

Please, I would love more Christian kids.

There is a shift for multiplication

in Jesus' commissioning of his followers

in Matthew 28.

It's not just more children,

but actually to go and make disciples

of all nations.

Fruitfulness is when more disciples

are made for Christ.

It's the fruit of the harvest.

Think of that wonderful verse

that Jesus says in Matthew 9.

The harvest is plentiful,

but the workers are few.

Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest

to send out workers into his harvest.

Does your fruitfulness look like seeing new followers of Jesus?

Are you a prayer warrior for the harvest?

Are you one of the harvest workers?

At St. Paul's, we encourage you to do this

by praying one plus one plus one.

Pray for one person for one minute each day

that God might transform their life

to be able to hear God's good news

and follow Christ.

The final one is the fruit of the Spirit

in Galatians 5.

And what this is really

is it captures a renovation

and a transformation

of the inner heart by the Spirit.

It's the character of love,

joy, peace,

forbearance.

It's a heart that is becoming

more like the heart of Christ.

And that's what we want to actually see

in our community.

You can see those characteristics are not private.

They are not solely for the self,

but they are deeply relational.

If we are all growing in fruitfulness,

what a mutually loving community

as we forbear with one another,

as we are patient and caring

and kind with one another.

That's the picture back in John 15, 17.

These things I command you

so that you will love one another.

Growing in fruitfulness

leads to a wonderful,

other-centered community,

but it's also mutual.

Look in verse 11.

It says that this fruitfulness

should lead to our joy as well.

Because fruitfulness

has always been

about God's glory

and our joy.

Glorification of God

leads

to our joy.

If you're in the room

and you're uncertain about

whether Jesus and his fruit

is worth living for,

I really would love

genuinely to know

a success marker

that is as joyful,

glorifying,

and eternal.

Come chat to me after.

Because if you're looking

for efficiency

in terms of more bang

for your buck,

let's just say

you put 80 hours of work

each week.

All the results of that,

even the earthly

and financial security

that you gain from that,

ceases eventually.

it's fleeting.

You can't take it

with you beyond the grave.

But,

if we can take Jesus

at his word,

if he is trustworthy,

his fruitfulness

will be like no other,

just like in verse 16.

His fruit will last

forever.

But it is a fruitless

exercise

for you and I

to try to be fruitful

on our own merit.

As much as I have encouraged you

to pray for the harvest,

I want to see

a desire

for transformation

in my life,

we need to listen

very carefully

to Jesus' words

in verse 5.

I am the vine

and 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.

Jesus is the agent

of bearing much fruit.

Remember in verse 1,

the father

is the gardener.

He is the one

who prunes,

not us.

So we must be careful

to think

that fruitfulness,

success comes

from the voice within

because it doesn't.

So how does someone

bear fruit?

What is it,

the means

by which we bear fruit?

It's in verse 4.

Remain

in me

as I also

remain in you.

No branch

can bear fruit

by itself.

It must

remain

in the vine.

Neither can you

bear fruit

unless

you

remain

in me.

If you want

to bear fruit,

it starts

in remaining

in Christ.

It's this image

of being

deeply rooted

in the true vine,

unmoving,

steadfast

in the beauty

and ever-growing

nature

that comes

from being

a part

of a vine

that will

always produce

fruit.

And John's

usage of

remain here,

it's a relational

sense of remain,

the remaining

in him.

When you engage

with someone

relationally,

you really get

to know them,

whether it's

your spouse,

a friend,

even your barista.

Hopefully you get

to know their heart,

they love coffee,

their will,

they want to make

coffee,

and their mind,

they know how

to make good

coffee.

And you really

want to listen

to them.

That's what it

is to remain

in Jesus,

to know his

heart and love

for you,

to know his

will over your

life,

to know his

mind.

Remaining in

Jesus produces

much fruit.

That's our role.

That's our key

responsibility.

I wonder if you've

ever been in a

pattern where there

is a sin or an

idolatry that you

just want to stop

happening in your

life.

You don't want it

to define you.

And there is a

character trait that

just isn't growing.

And instead,

you might be growing

in jealousy or

envy.

And it's all well

and good to know

that we're called

to bear fruit.

But you feel like

constantly you are

conforming to the

image of the world

rather than the

image of Christ.

Christ.

Friend, your

call is to

remain in

Christ.

The fruitfulness

comes with

wholeheart commitment

to remaining.

What we must

reconcile here is

actually in verse

10.

It says,

if you keep my

commands, you

will remain in my

love, just as I

have kept my

father's commands

and remain in

his love.

The way to

understand this

verse is that in

the extended

metaphor of Jesus

being the true

vine, we need

to understand that

his vine is not a

vine of a former

glory that failed

to grow and bear

fruit.

He is the vine that

grows unstoppably on

that brick wall.

Because remaining

is not behaviour or

sin management.

I'm going to say

that again.

Remaining is not

behaviour or sin

management.

It's a total

transformation of

your being.

Because if you

remain in the true

vine, your

obedience, your

fruitfulness is

purely the natural

result of a heart

that loves and

remains in Jesus.

And you see, Jesus

doesn't call us to

something to which

he has not modelled

himself.

He's calling us to

keep his commands in

the same way he has

kept his fathers.

And he calls us to

remain in his love.

And he describes that

love in verse 13.

Greater love has no

one than this, to lay

down one's life for

one's friends.

You are my friends if

you do what I command

you.

Jesus is saying that

out of all the

experiences of love,

all the greatest love

stories and songs ever

written, better than

anything Taylor Swift or

Shakespeare can write,

is a love story of

someone who remains and

obeys his father's

will.

When Jesus obeys his

father in laying down

his life, he literally

does it for God's

glory and our joy.

It's because you are

the friend he died

for.

You're the friend.

Jesus' pure, unwavering

commitment to you and

God the father led to

the restoration of what

would have been a

broken branch from the

vine.

Remaining in his love

looks like the

constant retelling of

this story to

yourself again and

again.

It's like having this

childlike wonder who

wants to read the same

story over and over

again because it brings

them so much joy.

It's in every moment,

sorrow or praise that

you remember the gospel

story to remind

yourself that you

remain in Jesus because

he has already

remained.

Church,

keep remaining in his

love, keep remaining in

his story.

So what does remaining

look like day to day?

It doesn't look like

going to find that vine on

your wall and attaching

yourself and tying a knot.

Self-help books,

ministry strategies,

knowing your star sign or

your personality type, a

diary, productivity tools,

although some being more

helpful than others,

none of those are the

start to fruitfulness.

Striving and working hard

is not the solution to your

outcome-shaped hole.

Fruitfulness starts in

remaining in his story and

his love and sometimes you do

actually a disfavor to

yourself when you think you

need to move past the story of

the gospel because you've

heard it a million times.

And then you start some

self-improvement in just

becoming a better person in

your life.

But the passage is clear.

We don't move on.

We just abide in the gospel

even deeper.

So if you've come away from

this talk thinking you need

to be more successful or you

need to try hard at being

fruitful, I have really done

you a disservice.

And I apologise profusely.

If there is anything as a

church that we need to

focus on, it is the

heartbeat of remaining and

abiding in Christ.

For example, have you thought

that the reason why you

might not see in your own

heart a mission urgency for

the gospel is because you

aren't in Christ's love and in

his story?

It's because you're not in it

regularly, day in and day

out.

If you think of the month

calendar and each month

having 30 days approximately,

each day having 24 hours,

there would be 360 waking

hours.

For the more extreme, maybe

like 480.

I'm going to be honest.

I don't know if nearly two

hours each Sunday is helping

us remain.

Out of those waking hours,

that's just 2% of a month.

If we even came for every

single week, just 2%.

And if that's the amount that

we are remaining, we must

wonder if that gives us an

unwavering and steadfast

devotion to Jesus.

How about the 98%?

How about all the other days,

minutes, and hours?

What is consuming our brains,

our hearts, and our thoughts?

What are you actually remaining

in?

As if Sunday is the only time we

carve out space for Jesus.

But all time is the Lord's.

We sing, O great God of highest

heaven, occupy my lowly heart.

But don't occupy my time.

Every action, every rhythm of

life, every practice builds a

heart and will that remains in

something.

Whether consciously or unknowingly,

you are building a heart that

remains in something.

It's just whether you remain in

Jesus' vine or a fake vine.

And I'm going to say that I have

admitted to many people that I do

my best work in strategic planning

in the setting of late nights

and Maccas.

Or so many times, like, I do my

best work.

But I wonder if I've trained

myself to do that over years

and years of practice.

Now, I'm not saying that's bad.

I'm just saying that regular

practices that you do shape you.

They can shift your being where

your heart chooses to remain.

And the best way to grow in this

sense of remaining and abiding is

setting up our life in a way that

helps us remain in the true vine.

Just even small little steps to get

there.

So where in your life do you need to

start remaining so that you can be

fruitful?

Where can you redeem moments of your

day for the Lord Jesus?

Submit those wills and times to

Jesus so that you can remain steadfast

to hearing his words and his story.

I wanted to capture that in a really

memorable way.

And all I could think about is maths.

Three simple operations.

Subtract, add, and multiply.

It's very Ed Sheeran.

And I really did try to put divide,

but that's not going to work.

Subtract, add, or multiply will help

you remain in Jesus.

Firstly, subtract.

Maybe there is something that you do

that is not helping you remain in

Jesus.

Something that is taking your time and

attention from remaining.

Subtract it.

Cut it out.

Remove it.

If that's the case, come chat with me.

Get some wise counsel with someone who

can mentor you and help you grow in

godliness.

Chat with someone with a lanyard.

Number two, add.

Outside of subtracting, there are

actually other things that maybe you've

never considered in your life that

perhaps aren't necessarily bad, but it

just takes the mic off Jesus.

Have you thought about curating your

media intake?

What is it that you read?

What are the podcasts that you listen

to?

Music, TV, YouTube, social media.

And I'm not saying subtract all these

things completely from your life, but

instead let's add value.

Why don't you add and follow social

media sites that help you see Jesus'

love and his story?

I've got a ton if you want.

Have you thought about listening to

podcasts that make you chase Christ

rather than chase what the world

offers?

Instead of just listening to music

like, all I do is win, when you're

going for a run, play some pump-up

worship tunes.

We've got a St. Paul's playlist.

How can you add moments that help you

embrace the gospel in your existing

structures?

Because I wonder if half the battle

here isn't this striving to do more and

more, but rather just redeeming what we

are already doing and adding eternal

value.

And lastly, multiply.

Maybe we need to multiply rhythms that

God has graciously given us that we know

are tools to experience his presence and

work in our life.

Looks like abiding in his word, in prayer,

and community.

We keep talking about personal devotional

life because we're convinced that is part

of you embracing the love of his story and

of Christ in your life.

It's a part of remaining in him.

So multiply the amount that you're in the

Bible.

Maybe instead of once a month, it becomes

once a week.

Then it becomes daily.

Then it becomes day and night.

Read the Bible with your spouse, your

housemate, your best bud.

Increase your church attendance.

Not so you can tick a box, not so that other

people will be happy, but to genuinely hang

out with people who are encouraging you to

abide in Jesus.

Maybe there's someone you love chatting to at

morning tea or in your community group.

At morning tea, grab their number.

Give them a call or a text during the week and

see how they're growing and going and how

you can be praying for them.

Church, imagine just if we all chose one

thing, not all just one thing, taking one

little step.

I'm imagining a church that is genuinely

shaping their life to remain in the goodness

of Christ's words and his commands.

And what overflows is a community that deeply

loves, cares, and is sacrificial like the image

of Christ who remains with his church.

I can see that God would use this to stand out

this community in Chatswood for his glory and the

joy of all people.

And I really want to pray that this is the trajectory

of the journey for you as individuals, but for us as a

whole community.

So why don't you join me as we talk to the Lord?

Father God, unite us as brothers and sisters in Christ

who delight in hearing, obeying, and embracing your word.

We thank you that your words contain the sweetest voice of Christ

who remains on the cross for your glory and our joy.

So we too pray that we might remain in Christ.

May you convict us of the reality that we must remain in his love

and his story to be unwaveringly devoted to our Lord and Savior.

God bless you, Savior.

Grant us the will and desire to take one little step that helps

us choose to remain rooted in your love and your saving story for us.

Amen.