August 5 | John 15:1-5

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DAILY READING

John 15:1-5

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REFLECTION

In Season and Out of Season

By Pam Mann

Imagine being one of Jesus’ dearest friends sharing the Passover meal. You’ve traveled with him for several years now. You’ve heard him enthrall crowds. You’ve seen him heal the blind and the lame. You’ve marveled at his insight and wept at his tenderness. Now he’s talking grapevines. You can’t even count how many vineyards you’ve passed traveling with Jesus. Everyone in your traveling company knows about grapevines. In fact, the ancient prophets compared your nation to a vineyard.

Now Jesus is pulling closer into the metaphor. God the Father is the gardener, Jesus explains, while he himself is the true vine. He’s not a wild vine with sprawling branches spreading everywhere. A wild grapevine is only good for birds to nest in and perhaps for shade under the masses of fruitless foliage. But Jesus is the true vine and the fruit that he plans to bear will be growing in your life. You get to be one of the branches from which the fruit grows.

Alas, after every growing season, the branches get cut back. A good gardener knows to prune severely if he wants a good harvest in the next growing season. You know this too because you’ve grown up surrounded by vineyards. No gardener wants beautiful leafy long branches if they have no fruit. In a vineyard, the goal is fruit, not foliage. During the dormant months, the vine branches need

pruning. You might squirm at the idea of regular pruning, since Jesus has clearly stated that you are a branch in the metaphor. But fear not. Jesus is with you both in the growing season with its joyous harvest and in the off season with its cutbacks.

In season and out of season, your job is to lean into the connection to the true vine. At the height of the season, the gardener will delight in the plump grape clusters developing on your branch. That will only happen because you are fully connected to the vine. Then, well into the off season, when your leaves are dry and withered, the gardener will prune you back. Ouch! Lean into Jesus. Know that he’s your life to sustain you through the dryness. Don’t fear the Father’s pruning shears. His plan for you is fruitfulness in its time. Severe pruning now is how the gardener ensures that the vine branches grow strong in the future to produce the best fruit.

On the night of Jesus’ arrest, his disciples were gathered with him in an olive garden. As they saw soldiers with swords and torches break into the quiet of the moonlit night, were they pondering being branches on the Jesus vine? When Jesus alone was hauled off by temple authorities, did they feel severed from the vine? When his bloodied body was placed in his grave, did they see all hope cut off? Then, when so many of the brothers had seen him alive and ascended into heaven, after ordering them to wait in Jerusalem, did they wonder what sort of fruit would come after such a major pruning?

PRAYER

Thank you, Jesus, that we get to be your latest round of branches. Keep us leaning into you. Keep us sharing your good news in and out of season. Let us never pull back from our Father’s pruning shears. Let us welcome his cutting out what’s dead in us to make room for growth and fruitfulness.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PAM MANN

I first joined UALC when my husband (then my fiancé) and I were college students involved in youth ministry. God has used UALC to nurture our family’s faith, even in our years outside the U.S. I’ve participated in UALC ministries with kids, art, prayer, exercise, ESL, and Bible teaching. I do all the fun church things.