Opening Prayer
Speak Your Word to us, Lord Jesus, and cleanse us to bear much fruit. Amen.
Text: John 15:1–6
“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 bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
Devotion
We are all branches on Adam’s tree and all corrupt by Adam’s fall. The poison of sin has permeated the whole human race even to the smallest twigs. So we must all be condemned to eternal death. Yet one Branch grows on the tree without the poison entering it. God’s only-begotten Son becomes Man, of Adam’s race, but conceived by the Holy Spirit, and without sin. By death He is cut off, but then becomes a new tree, the second Adam, the true Noah, founder of a new race, which like Himself is of the old and yet is new. “He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. … When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days” (Isa 53:8, 10). By a new miracle of the Holy Spirit we are engrafted into Christ and made partakers of His life. We are by nature children of Adam, born in sin and guilty of death. But we are not by nature branches of Christ; this we become only by His Spirit. He calls us by His Gospel, enlightens us with His gifts, through them creates faith in our soul and causes our hearts to cling to Jesus. The life-giving Vine stands among us, and we who are baptized have all become His branches. But many declare themselves free of the Lord again, and these become dry branches, which are suitable only for the fire.
Life and salvation rest completely on enduring communion of our hearts with Jesus in faith. No one can bear fruit for God from himself, but only from the juice of the Vine. If from the heart we believe in Him, His love streams over us from Him, and shows itself in our life as obedience to God and mercy toward our neighbor. “He who abides in Me, and I in him,” Jesus says: “bears much fruit.” Not all bear an equal amount, but each branch in Jesus bears much fruit. Without Him, nothing; in Him, much. Nor does anyone have the joy of love in God without feeding on this life from Jesus and continually being nourished from His fullness. The branches must constantly get juice and power from the Vine, if they are to live. If they are not nourished by Him and cleansed by the Vinedresser, they must die. We must all examine ourselves carefully to see if Jesus’ love rules in our soul. May our whole heart reach out for this heavenly life!
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, let me be a living branch in You and be cleansed daily to bear more and more fruit. Let me never wither or dry up or be cast into the fire. My soul yearns for this: Lord Jesus, You in me and I in You! Amen.
Hymn
Jesus, I long for Thy blessed communion,
Yearning for Thee fills my heart and my mind;
Draw me from all that would hinder our union,
May I to Thee, my beginning, be joined;
Show me more clearly my hopeless condition;
Show me the depth of corruption in me,
So that my nature may die in contrition,
And that my spirit may live unto Thee.
Mightily strengthen my spirit within me,
That I may learn what Thy Spirit can do;
O take Thou captive each passion and win me,
Lead Thou and guide me my whole journey through!
All that I am and possess I surrender,
If Thou alone in my spirit mayst dwell,
Everything yield Thee, O Savior most tender,
Thou, only Thou, canst my sadness dispel.
German: Jesus, I long for Thy blessed communion L 210:1-2 LHy 461:1-2 tr. G. A. T. Rygh;
tune: Aand over Aander; alternate hymn: From eternity, O God ELH 220:6