Have you ever wondered what God really wants you to do in life?  Ever wondered what His plan for you is?

          There once was a farm boy who looked up and saw clouds shaped "PC".  Being a Christian boy he thought, "Preach Christ!  God wants me to be a pastor!"  So he sold all his goods and entered the seminary where he worked very hard but struggled.  He barely passed his classes, was ordained and finally given a parish.  There he worked very hard, but had little success.  Finally at a young age he died of a heart attack.  Seeing Jesus he asked, "Why, Lord, did I die young?  I did my best and saw your message in the clouds.  Why was ministry so hard for me?"  The Lord answered, "My Son, I should have been more clear.  When I wrote 'PC' in the clouds, it meant 'plant corn'."

          There are days when I thought I should have planted corn, but then I remember my father who wisely said, "Bob, don't ever become a farmer."  I didn't become a farmer, but I did go to work in a vineyard.

          Twenty-nine years ago this month I was ordained a pastor at Our Savior's Lutheran in Windom, Minnesota, and forty-one years ago I was confirmed there.  Every year I remember my confirmation as I help youth get ready for theirs.  I don't remember much about the day, except some big blunders in Public Examination.  And I got a lot of money from my relatives!  On Confirmation Day I heard my confirmation memory verse for the first time, John 15:5.  God gives us special gifts now and then, reminders of His loving presence.  This verse has been one of God's best little gifts!  Time and again it has reminded me of what's important in life, sticking close to the Vine, the Lord Jesus.

          Being a pastor is no guarantee of a strong faith.  My faith, like yours, is always subject to Satan's attacks.  There are days of doubt, yet in those days God always brings back this verse:  "I am the vine, you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, will bring forth much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."  God is simply saying, "Stick with me, kid!"

          You and I live in an age of paradox.  We have so much, yet value so little.  We know so much, yet understand so little.  We work so hard to get what we think is important, and cast aside eternal things.  Ours is an age of exalted humanism and raging individualism.  "I'm the center of the universe!" It's a time people visit the altars of conspicuous consumption and childish choices.  It's a time to worship the gods of this world.  They look so good and sound so good, yet provide so little and often endanger Christian faith.  That's why Jesus says to stick close to Him.

          There are two points in this verse, abiding in Christ and bearing fruit.  Both are under attack!  The world considers faith in Christ a childish thing, and if you get serious about it, you're labelled a religious fanatic.  The "wise" of our world blame God for everything, from war to global warming.  Upholding the Ten Commandments is a crime on some college campuses.  Abiding in Christ is discussed on Sunday but dismissed during the week.  John 15:5 may be a nice verse, but to the "intellectual elite" of our world, it's seen as fanatical, even subversive.

          Yet if you and I wish to live as Christ's people, this verse speaks to the heart and center of our faith.  "I am the Vine..." says Jesus, "and you are the branches.  If you abide in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."  For sure, He will abide in us.  The question is whether or not we will abide in Him.

          There is so much today that disconnects us from God.  Young people are surrounded by lurid movies, casual sex, available drugs and meaningless toys.  Adults are attracted by the easy money of Wall Street, the glitter of new gadgets, and the idolatry of self-fulfillment.  The devil, the world and our sinful nature continually tell us, "You don't need God;  are you even sure He exists?"  We're easy targets for glossy materialism and shallow goals.  "Get it, buy it - you don't know what you're missing."  Usually we're not missing much.  Satan deceives millions every day.  "Do it -- you're worth it -- you'll feel so much better."  So we do it, but we feel no better.

          It's hard to be a Christian today.  There's a war going on for our souls.  We don't have the famine of war, but we have the poverty of excess.  If we stand up for God, we aren't beaten up physically, but we're beaten down verbally.  We're not attacked during worship by armed police, but we disarm ourselves with uncontrolled consumerism.  It's not easy to cling to the Vine.

          My neighbor Mike has grape vines next to my garage.  They grow like crazy in the clay, sometimes clear out into the trees.  One branch got so far into the aspens I had to cut it off and it died.  Once a branch is cut, you can't make it grow again.

          So it is with us - being attached to the Vine is vitally important.  Jesus is the Vine and we're the branches.  We must abide in Him by regular worship and daily prayer.  We need regular fellowship with other vines.  It's a myth that you don't need to go to church to be a Christian.  But we do.  If we stay away from church, we risk our very faith.  We need regular worship!  Martin Luther was once asked why a man needed Sunday worship with others when he had the Bible.  He quietly took a burning log from the fire and placed it alone on the mantle where it soon went out.  The parishioner got the point.  You and I can be Christian alone for awhile, but unattachment leads to unbelief.  Christians must be connected with others.  Satan loves to go "one on one" with us.  We're easy targets.  He'll pick us off, one by one.

          "Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches.  If we abide in Jesus, and He in us, we will bear much fruit, for apart from Jesus you & I can do nothing."  This verse has become more important to me each year.  My parents taught me God's love by example.  Pastors and teachers taught me the basics of God's Word.  But it was the Lord who brought me into fellowship with Him and His people.  Being with other branches makes the Vine strong.  Branches strengthen each other.

          Over the years I've been tempted to stray from God numerous times, usually when I'm really angry with Him or, strangely, when things are going really well.  In the good times it's easy to neglect prayer, and in the bad times to dwell on the disappointments.  It's easy for a pastor to become detached from God when he thinks he has all the answers.  God and people become less important when I have everything all figured out.  Who needs God when you're so smart and talented?  And who needs people when you can fix everything by yourself?

          A man come home from work and saw his dog dragging a dead rabbit.  He realized it was his neighbor's pet rabbit and was shocked his dog had killed it!  Feeling guilty but not wanting to face his responsibility, he washed the dirty old dead rabbit and sneaked it back into its cage.  The next morning he saw his neighbor as both were leaving for work.  "It's the strangest thing," said his neighbor, "Yesterday my rabbit died so I buried it.  Today it's back in the cage all cleaned up!"

          That's us!  No matter how hard we try to hide our mistakes or wash them clean, we're still dead in our sin!  Only God can make us clean.  Only in Jesus are we forgiven and grafted into the vine.  Once connected He'll never abandon us.  We may leave Him, but He won't leave us.  Psalm 139 says, "Where can I go to hide from Your Spirit, or where shall I flee from Your presence?  If I run to the heights of heaven, You are there;  if I go to the depths of Sheol, You are there, too."  The Vine loves its branches and holds them tightly.  He holds us with His iron grip of love.  As the hymn says, "As the branch is to the Vine, I am His and He is mine."

          Being a perfect branch is unimportant -- cling to the Vine!  Whether or not you feel worthy of God's love is unimportant -- cling to the Vine!  Whether you've doubted or struggled with God is unimportant -- cling to the Vine!  Jesus the Vine reaches out to us in love -- that's the point, and He wants us to cling to Him.  Whether you feel saved is not the point.  We don't have to feel saved to be saved.  But the world can snap us off so easily - just cling to the vine!

          Have you ever tried grafting a tree branch?  A tiny slip of new growth from one tree is cut and placed next to the healthy bark of another branch.  Soon they grow together and the tiny branch is joined to the new tree.  You and I aren't born on the Vine.  By Baptism, we're grafted into it.  By faith in Jesus we grow strong, next to Christ Who connects us to God and gives us new growth.  It's like starting over again, like being born again.  Cling to the Vine and you'll have new life!

          But a branch also needs to bear fruit:  "If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit."  Grapes provide food and drink back, and grafted grapevines bear the best fruit.  When you and I are grafted into Christ the Vine, we grow strong and bear much fruit.

          In Galatians 5 St. Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit.  You know them -- "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control...." (Gal. 5:22-23)    Fruit grows on a branch because that's the nature of the tree.  When we're connected to Christ, good things appear in our life, kind things, gentle things, loving and thoughtful things, fruitful things.  These are God's gifts from the Holy Spirit.  If you don't have that fruit, then something's missing.

          Once I had a garden and one of the boys decided to dig up some carrots to see how long they were.  Then they covered them back up.  Of course they wilted and died because they were disconnected from their roots.  If your life is wilting, perhaps you're disconnected.  But God can fix that.  Ask Him to reconnect you.  The Vine can do that!  Trust Him.  Believe Him.  Stick with Him, and you'll go places you never dreamed.  Let's pray:  Dear Jesus, never leave us.  Keep us connected to You always.  Amen!

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.