2nd. May. 2021. Service.

Service For Children

Prelude:  Angel Voices Ever Singing – Ghanaian Choir

Hymn: Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Collect for today

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn All things bright and beautiful

Call to Prayer

God is love.
Those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
We love because God first loved us.
Those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them.

Adoration and Confession

Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord, you are the vine, and we are the branches.
Your love is our strength.
Your energy is our joy.
Your attentiveness is our hope.
Your power can transform even the most difficult situation.
You nourish our faith and inspire us and enable us to bear fruit in many ways.
You promise that we may live in you because you live in us.

It is our joy today to offer our worship to you,
Bringing glory to God the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fill us with the love that you share as God, ever Three and ever One,
that our love may honour you now and always.

God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
We confess there are so many ways we fail to love you as we should
Forgive us for our lack of reverence for this earth
and for using more than our share of its resources.

Forgive us for ignoring the cries of others
who are experiencing pain or discrimination which we dismiss thoughtlessly.

Forgive us for seeking praise from others
yet failing to encourage them in what they accomplish.

Forgive us, O God, for many ways in which we have failed to love or honour your commandments and ground our lives more deeply in your love.

Assurance of Pardon

St. John records that God is love, and that God’s perfect love casts out fear.

Friends, we are promised that those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them. Claim your hope in this good news:
God’s perfect love abides in you through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer for Understanding

Holy Spirit, move in us and among us as we listen to the scriptures be read and interpreted. Open our minds and hearts to receive the Living Word  that we may be transformed to live as your Easter people. Hear our prayer in and through Jesus Christ our Lord in whom we pray,

The Lord’s Prayer

(in the words most familiar to you)

Our Offering

While the season of Easter unfolds, the gifts of spring emerging around us also remind us of God’s generosity in Christ and in creation. As we present our gifts to God, may our generosity reflect God’s goodness to us and our hope for abundant life in Christ Jesus.

Prayer of Dedication

Generous God, we bless you for your gift of life renewed through Christ’s love, and through springtime growth in fields and gardens. Bless the gifts we offer you. May they bring hope and renewal to others as we serve in the name of your greatest gift, Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord. Amen.

Teach me, God, to wonder (Canadian Hymn)

The Readings

Exodus 19:1-6

1 On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt – on that very day – they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, ‘This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.’ Amen.

May the mind of Christ my Saviour

1 John 4:7-12

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. Amen

John 15:1-8

15 ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 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.

6 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 burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Amen

Holy wisdom, lamp of learning

Sermon

John 15 1-6

Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”

Recently I read the following in a devotional commentary in which Jesus is described speaking directly to us thus:

“I had to teach renewal of Spirit — force rest of body to My Disciples. Then, as your Example, I lay with My Head on a pillow, asleep in the boat. It was not, as they thought, indifference. They cried, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” and I had to teach them that ceaseless activity was no part of My Father’s plan.

When Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,” he did not mean that he was to do all things and then rely on Me to find strength. He meant that for all I told him to do he could rely on My supplying the strength.

My Work in the world has been hindered by work, work, work. Many a tireless nervous body has driven a spirit. The spirit should be the master always, and just simply and naturally use the body as need should arise. Rest in Me.

Do not seek to work for Me. Never make opportunities. Live with Me and for Me. I do the work and I make the opportunities.”

Jesus Himself said, “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” John 5:30

This ties in with the Gospel passage before us today, in particular verse 5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

There are times when we may feel that being a Christian and following the path of discipleship is hard work. For many Christians, service means being constantly taken up with and being busy doing things in the church or community. If we are not busy, preaching, teaching, evangelising, then somehow, we are failing God. And then if we do not know how to go about bringing others into the church or to faith, we may feel guilty. Surely the whole point of the gospel is that we may live life free from guilt or anxiety. How often we feel and express anxiety about the state of the church locally and nationally and this robs us of joy and peace as we try to work harder.

We also may feel that our Christian life is not as fruitful as it could be. Do we exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in our personal lives and radiate them to the world? As St Paul tells us the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.

When we stop and think about this, we will see that fruit is the product of growth, flowering and maturing, all organic processes which occur naturally when conditions are right. Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine to show that fruitful Christian living is an organic process which occurs as naturally as a grapevine growing, flowering and fruiting. The core of his message is that as he is the vine, it is his life-force which produces the fruit. The effort is not in the branches but flows from the vine itself.

Of course, the branches of a vine grow from the vine itself and they cannot separate themselves from the main plant. However, we are called to allow ourselves to be incorporated into Christ because we have freedom of will. We can separate ourselves from God, we can stop the flow of the Spirit of life, and we can prevent the growth of fruit. Our co-operation with God is essential if we are to be fruitful.

Another way of looking at this is that we allow ourselves to be grafted into Christ. (St Paul uses this metaphor in Romans 11 using an olive tree instead of a vine). To succeed, a graft has to be secured until the life of the plant heals the wound and establishes the flow of the life-giving sap. This requires the discipline of commitment and discipleship, the establishment of an unmoveable connection, but there always comes a point at which the join is forgotten, and the life simply flows. Gardeners think of your roses or fruit trees.

At this point we turn to the vinedresser and the metaphor changes. The vine with its grafts is tended by the vinedresser whom Jesus identifies as God the Father. His job is to tend the plants so that they are fruitful.

Viticulture is a complex mix of science and art. Think of the multiplicity of grape varieties that are cultured round the world. They are the product of different terroirs – the composition of the soil, the aspect of the land, the climate of the region where the grapes are grown. These all affect the fruit’s flavour, colour, acidity and so on as well as the end-product wine, from flinty dry to syrupy sweet, or the flavour of your favourite dessert grape. This too could be a metaphor of the kingdom. No two saints in the kingdom will be identical, but their fruit will be as rich and pleasing.

To illustrate the work of the vinedresser here is a description of an amateur grape grower’s experience:

We, my wife Marie and I, have two grapevines. After some years in our garden, they have not earned their keep. Only a few tiny grapes have been produced.  They are not fulfilling their prime purpose. Some would label them a waste of space. Why do we tolerate their existence? Because we chose them, gratefully observed a good friend help plant them (I was incapacitated at that time) and we watch over them and love them. They are our vines.

 2 Because they spread their limbs over a small pergola and provide welcome shade on a hot, summer day. So, they are not completely useless. 

Why don’t they produce good fruit?  There are a few reasons that come to mind.

1. We did not choose the best soil. After our house extensions were completed with the builder’s rubble everywhere, and bricklayer’s sand and lime scattered around, a “bobcat” was used to smooth over the site, pushing the detritus underground and out of sight. Not being physically well that year, I left it like that and allowed the vines to be planted in it. I don’t think our vines like the ground in which they were so injudiciously planted. We have fertilised them, and trained them, pruned them and fussed over them. But nothing can make up for the fact they are in poor ground. It’s hard to bear fruit if your ground is inferior.
2. They do not get enough sunlight. Adjacent to our garden is a municipal reserve. Along our fence are growing eucalypts which increasingly permit only a small amount of sunlight to nurture our garden. Our grapevines are seriously deprived of light. They manage to produce some foliage, and bestow on us shade, but they cannot cope with much more than that. To be fruitful, vines need plenty of light and warmth. Nothing can make up for the fact that our vines, which we cherish, and wish could fulfil their destiny, are starved of the sunlight.
3. I am not a skilled vinedresser.I lack understanding and skill. I have no training in the art of pruning and the basic needs of vines. I read the books; then prune them, but no doubt I get it somewhat wrong. In the hands of a qualified grower who knows grapevines like his own soul, these vines, in spite of the poor soil and limited sunlight, would do far better than they do in my hands. They need a good vinedresser; someone who really knows vines. Nothing can make up for the fact that I am not that good vinedresser.
4. They have serious competition. Near them and beneath them grows other foliage competing for the nutrients, water and light. Through late autumn, winter and early spring, the ground would look bare without some ground cover. We have provided tough, perennial ground cover. It’s not as if I let many weeds grow. I deal with them—most of the time. It’s other plants that we have cultivated, and sometimes permit to run a bit wild, that compete with the vine. Maybe if I were really serious about getting fruit, I would have to make the decision to put my vine ahead of everything else. Put the vines first. If nothing mattered more than the vines, then fruits might come and grace the branches. Nothing can make up for the fact that the vines are not put absolutely first.
5. They might not receive adequate water. The region, where we live receives a low annual rainfall. Although I have installed a drip system around the garden, and the vines receive some water along with other plants, for the same period of time each week, I don’t think they receive adequate refreshment. A good vine might need as much as I give the rest of the garden put together. A vine is thirsty for water; it thrives on growth. Maybe, listening to those government voices that keep telling us to conserve water, we have starved our vines of the water of life. Nothing can make up for the fact that our vines are deprived of abundant water.

How different the divine vinedresser is. Jesus states confidently that he prunes the most fruitful branches and cuts off the withered, diseased or damaged twigs.

The challenge of this parable is primarily that we remain engrafted in Christ. A fruitless Christian is a contradiction in terms, because the “Christ” part can only ever be fruitful.  But we may narrow this down to ourselves in the fact that branches need to be pruned so that they will bear more fruit. The pruning strengthens the branch producing healthier shoots. In the Christian life that is the purpose of discipline and suffering. If we accept these things and allow the flow of the life-giving Spirit, we will thereby become fruitful. If not, we risk becoming dry, brittle and bitter.

There are therefore two lessons for today in this passage.

Let God cultivate your life. He knows the terroir in which you grow, the conditions of your life, and he knows the fruit that you are capable of bearing, and it will be unique. He will supply the soil that you need, clearing away major hindrances to your growth. He will add the nutrients for your soul, as well as the sunlight and the rain, and he will prune your life wisely so that his life flows into and through you to ripen the fruits of your character. At times, the process will bring joy, but also pain and sorrow, challenges and disappointments, but the presence and consolation of Jesus will always be there.

The branch of the vine does not need to be busy; it simply is, it grows and rejoices in its connection to the source of its life. Its growth happens under the cultivation of a skilled vinedresser who tends it with limitless love and care. Learn to be in Christ and he will lead and use you in his service according to his purpose.

The fruit of the vine is what the viticulturist wants for his pleasure and glory, not lots of unfruitful branches and shoots. The fruit of the Christian life, not its busyness, is what God uses to draw others. It is the bloom of love, joy and peace, the aroma of forbearance, kindness and goodness, the flavour of faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that will witness to the presence of Christ and the truth of the Gospel. Amen.

 

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

 

Lord Jesus Christ, your love changes lives and it is with confidence in your love that we approach you in prayer this day, trusting that your love will change the lives of people for whom we pray and that the power and your resurrection will bring hope into this sad and broken world. Give us the grace that we need to abide in you, to allow the life of the Holy Spirit to flow into us and make us fruitful in your service. Take away our fear and give us courage and faith when we experience the challenges, the griefs and losses of this life, that we may trust their redemptive power in our souls, knowing that you have promised that we shall never experience a trial that is beyond our power to bear and that you will provide a way of escape that we may endure it,

We have known your presence with us as we have faced challenges and difficulties in our live and we are grateful for every time we have rejoiced in your saving

Today we thank you for: every sign of hope in the time of pandemic for vaccine distribution and recovery plans and lessening of its spread, for the generosity and creativity of many offered in so many surprising corners by people devoted to the service of others.

But we are aware that many are still without comfort, hope or resources in places like India and Brazil and poorer countries around the world. Undertake to help and be near to those we name and bring to them what they need.

We lay before you, Lord, those who are in the news headlines this week and situations in the world where justice and renewal are desperately needed: (add your own prayers in this section,)

We lay before you, Lord, those who are in hospital or care and all those who struggle with illness, pain or health burdens of any sort:

We lay before you, Lord, families under stress, relationships that are strained, and friends and neighbours in need of reconciliation:

We lay before you, Lord, people seeking food, homes or jobs in these hard times, and those worried about economic recovery from the pandemic:

We lay before you, Lord, those who face discrimination daily, and who lack respect and opportunity because of their identity, or fear violence in their daily lives:

Lord Jesus, we believe that you hear our prayers and will be faithful to our requests and concerns.

Help us seize the moments you give us to reach out to our neighbours and show them the love you have to share. We ask this in your Holy Name. Amen.

 

Sending out and Benediction

Let us go from this place trusting that God is with us and for us in every place.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God and the companionship of the Holy Spirit be with you and abide with you this day and forevermore. Amen

Postlude: You are the Vine, we are the branches

Hymns

Here are some hymn suggestions to check on YouTube if you wish to sing along. Some may not be as familiar as their titles suggest:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

All things bright and beautiful

May the mind of Christ my Saviour

Holy wisdom, lamp of learning

Christ Triumphant, ever reigning

Teach me, God, to wonder

Postlude You are the Vine, we are the branches

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For Children

This little light of mine

I’m sure you all know the song, “This Little Light of Mine.” Sing along with this video. While we do, hold up a small light and shine it all around.  Make sure your light is connected to the power or has a full battery so that the lamp shines brightly. It’s pretty hard for a light to shine when it isn’t connected to the power source. Actually, it’s not simply hard; it’s impossible! Did you notice anything odd about the light in the video?

It reminds me of something Jesus said in the Bible. He told His disciples a story to help them understand why it’s important to stay connected to Him. But He didn’t use a lamp. In His example there was a grapevine. A vine is a plant with a lot of branches growing out from it. The branches have fruit on them. So, grapevines have grapes on them.

Think about a branch that’s been broken off of a tree or a vine. What happens to it? It withers up and dies. It can’t ever have fruit on it again; it’s not good for anything except firewood.

Jesus said, “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you remain in me, you will have much fruit, but apart from me, you can do nothing.” Jesus wants us to produce fruit. Good fruit, like kindness, generosity, and faithfulness. Most of all, He wants us to love others as He has loved us.

But we can’t do it on our own. Just as the lamp must be plugged in before its light can shine, and just as the branches must be connected to the vine before they can produce fruit, you and I must stay connected to Jesus to produce the good fruit that God expects of us.

Dear God, help us remember that we need to stay plugged into Jesus if we’re going to produce the kind of fruit You expect. In Jesus’ name, amen.