Read John 15:1-8

Do you know what a vine’s number one concern is? It’s giving. A vine lives to give the branch everything it needs to produce fruit. We have a giving savior. God has given you the assurance of your forgiveness. He has given you his one and only Son to take up residence in your heart and produce fruit in you. He has given you the peace of mind that comes from knowing your home is in heaven and it will be forever. He has given you the gift of baptism to bind your heart to his, wash away all your sins, and make you his child forever. He gives you his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. He still lives to give you everything you need to produce fruit.

God is a good gardener. I don’t think we would ever question that if we had a chance to stand in the Garden of Eden and look around at the work of his hands. Or if you have a chance to inhale fresh oxygen in a stand of old growth forest, you start to get a sense that God knows what he’s doing with plants. God is a gardener who knows what he’s doing. And according to this passage, God is an ambitious gardener. He wants more fruit from his garden. You are fruitful, and he wants even more fruit from you.

That’s what the Bible means when it says you produce fruits of faith. Fruits are things your faith does. You don’t have to work hard at them; it’s just what faith does. Taking care of people when they look like they need someone to take care of them. Seeking out opportunities for worship. This is what faith does. Putting your mind and your strength into your work and study to be a blessing to the people around you. Productivity can seem to come naturally in some circumstances. Fruit grows from faith as naturally as it is for you to breathe in and breathe out. God made you that way, and he loves it.

Jesus loves to see your fruits of faith and he wants more. He said, “I am the true vine.” Maybe there are other vines out there that tell you they can make you into a better person if you buy their online program or their self-help book. Jesus says,

“I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2)

If you’re here, eager to learn and grow in your faith, then be assured: You aren’t cut off from God. You are not the kind of branches that don’t produce fruit. You are the other kind, the kind that God is pruning because he wants even more fruit.

So what do we, together, do with this fruit that the true vine is producing in us? We live; we work; we struggle; we remain; we cry; we laugh; we walk together. In this world, we are not isolated branches connected to a vine. We are interconnected unique branches connected to the true vine.

So your job is not to work extra hard at being a good person. Your job is to remain in him and to let his words remain in you. Jesus’ sincerest promise to you is that you will bear much fruit. He said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7) The true vine will give you everything you need, and the gardener will prune you.

Why? Not because he needs it. God doesn’t need fruit from you. He does it for your sake.  Maybe people around you need that fruit— but God doesn’t. His eyes light up when he sees your fruits of faith. He says, “Ah! I always knew you were capable of that and I love it!” He’s going to prune you so that you produce more delightful fruit. Jesus says, “This is to my father’s glory.” (John 15:8)