What Is It Really Trying To Say?

8. That's how many times the word "abide" appears in today's passage. From what I've learned about literary composition as presented in the bible the more times something is repeated the more important that thing is. So when John writes in his 15th chapter in verses 1-8 the word "abide" 8 times I think he means it.

More than the use of that word, though, I appreciate the metaphor John uses to make his point. The image of a branch holding on to its vine as the vine gives it life and helps it to bear fruit has always been one of my favorite images. Not because it makes me feel dependent on the vine, but because I realize it takes both the vine and the branch to bear fruit. One cannot and will not produce what the vine-grower is hoping to accomplish without the other.

Yesterday, as I sat in my office at church thinking of all the things I have to do and wondering how I was going to get it all done, I began to think of all the people around me who help accomplish the tasks I do. There are other staff, volunteers, youth, young adults, parents, siblings, various church members, and so much more that actually go into accomplishing anything we do for our church. And nothing would ever get done without the help of all those people; nothing.

This past Sunday we had a fundraiser for the Youth of our church. We sold tickets for a steak dinner at $10 each and on Sunday we cooked over 163 pounds of steak. Each plate consisted of rice, salad with dressing, dessert, a drink, and steak. We put the items in a take-out container with flatware and put each finished plate in a carry-out bag.

Every item except the steak, drinks, and salad was donated. Each Youth and youth group leader sold as many tickets as they could. We had about a dozen volunteers besides the Youth and families to help cook and put the plates together. We stood side by side as we worked in harmony, each person there because they wanted to be. In other words we had many branches attached to our vine and the results were nothing short of amazing.

As the story in John 15:1-8 tells us God is the vine-grower and Jesus is the vine for Christians. We each need to work side by side with one another to ensure the people we touch in our lives will know what the love of God is truly like; one of complete acceptance, understanding, and patience. Let the fruit we bear be one worthy of our vine-grower.