Abiding Is an Active Verb
As we read John 15:1–11, a word should have jumped out at you. John uses the word ABIDE in this passage 9 times in 11 verses. If we looked at the entire gospel of John, we would see that he uses this same word 40 times. And if we broaden out from there and look at the letters of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, it jumps up to around 60 times making “abide” one of John’s most frequently used words and signature themes in his writing. And the majority of the times he uses it, he is referring to our relationship with God.
Obviously, John thought this was a very important concept for us to understand as followers of Jesus. To better understand what he means by this word, let’s look at its definition. The Greek word, meno, that John used here for abide is defined as:
A primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): abide, continue, dwell, endure, last, live, permanent, remain, stay, survive, wait.
Specifically in John’s gospel, commentators define this Greek word as “of the relation in which one person or thing stands with another.” Thus to remain in or with someone, be united with someone, one with him in heart, mind and will.
This word is unique. It is both active and restful. In its root, it is a verb. An action word. But within the meaning of the word, comes a sort of assumed restfulness. Have you heard the quote, “strive less, abide more.”? It’s this idea that abiding is the opposite of striving. And in one sense, that may be true but in another, I think it can be misleading. According to this definition, abiding is active. Abiding is a verb. It requires action on our part. It’s not a ceasing, it is more of a redirecting. According to the Greek definition and John’s usage of the word.
Abiding is about aligning.
We have to actively position ourselves to remain in the vine. Our propensity as fallen humans is to disconnect. There is an active obedience that is necessary to remain connected.
Now, while we have an active role, we don’t do the producing. Clearly in this passage, God is the one who produces the fruit. Jesus says, “apart from me, you can do nothing.” Our very ability to abide or remain comes from the strength we receive from His Spirit. But to abide, we have to be actively aligning ourselves with Jesus - through his word, through prayer, through listening and gathering together. We have to line ourselves up with him, we have to be attached to receive the nourishment from the vine.
As we keep going in this passage, we see Jesus describe his Father as the “vinedresser” who prunes the branches so that they will produce more fruit. We’ve just had this big freeze. Many things in my yard and flower beds will need pruning. When we think about pruning, we need to consider what we are talking about. With pruning, there is a cleaning, a cutting away, a removal.
Pruning isn’t pleasant.
When I read about pruning in this passage, it is not very exciting. It is actually kind of scary to think about. The cutting hurts, it is not pleasant. It can be painful. But Jesus says it is necessary to bear fruit. And I want to bear fruit, I want to be alive, don’t you?
I mentioned that I have a newborn baby boy and we’ve been getting used to boy life after having a girl. It is different than a girl, for sure. It seems like every time I wash my hair and get clean, he pees on me. While we’ve been getting used to all the things, really he is a good baby. So far, knock on wood, our baby doesn’t cry very often. Not as much as his sister did. He may still be in the “sleepy newborn days” or he may just be a chill personality - time will tell. But for right now, he pretty much only cries when you are changing his diaper or suctioning out his snotty nose. The other night, I was changing his diaper followed by suctioning out his nose and he was screaming very loud. Josie Lou, my 4 year old, asked, “Mommy, why do you do that to him if it makes him cry?”
I replied to her, “Well baby, because I know what’s best for him and he doesn’t yet. See how he only cries a few minutes and then he stops?” I know it's not good for him to sit in a dirty diaper. I know he will feel better and more relaxed once the old one is off and the new one is on.
I know that he will cry **LOUD** and put up a fight to suction his nose, but I KNOW it will help him be able to eat and receive nourishment if he can breathe better. And I know that will ultimately help him to grow. I know the pain or uncomfortable feelings baby Theo is experiencing are very temporary and that the benefit, the good, outweighs it.
And so it is with our lives. We often only see, feel and think about what is going on right now, in the moment. What we are going through is so challenging or so difficult that we feel like it will never end, things will never change. And the Lord looks at us like I look at baby Theo, with the reassurance that the pain is temporary.
Now, I’m not saying that God causes our trials or challenges. Where nothing is outside of his control, he does give us the beautiful gift of free will. Sometimes, the things we walk through are a direct result of decisions we make. Other times they are simply because we live in a fallen, broken world. And other times, like in our passage today, God - the master gardener - is pruning us. Removing what is in us that is not fruitful, cutting away what is not like Him. And this can hurt. Our reality is that we live in the in-between: the now, but not yet. Jesus has conquered sin and grave through his death and resurrection, but he has not made his ultimate return. So we are in the in-between.
One of my favorite passages of scriptures is John 16:33, just a chapter later from where we are studying, where Jesus tells his disciples, “In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Did you catch it? He doesn’t say it’s cloudy with a chance of trouble, or you might have trouble or you may have trouble. No, he says, “You WILL have trouble.” It is a promise or a guarantee. But what I love so much about this verse is that in the same breath, the same sentence he gives us another promise - “I have overcome the world.” And that is our assurance. Even in this in-between.
However, when we go through pruning, we may have onlookers like my daughter Josie Lou asking, “Mommy, why are you doing that if it hurts him?” Because she is only 4 years old, she doesn’t have the maturity to realize his pain is temporary. Bystanders may look on and ask, “Why is God doing this to you? Why does it hurt so bad?” Often, those may not have the spiritual maturity to see and recognize what God is doing in our lives. That is why it is so important to surround ourselves with women who are a step ahead of us, who have been on the road a bit longer than us, who may offer us a different perspective.
Pruning isn’t pleasant but pruning is essential.
According to Jesus, pruning is essential for growth. We often want the produce without the pruning, don’t we? We desire to bear good fruit in our lives but we don’t want it to take a while, and we certainly don’t want it to hurt. Like we want the fast results of a fad diet, not a nutrition plan or true lifestyle change. I want an organized closet but I don’t want to take the two days and process of sorting and purging that go with it. We want to be pain-free after the knee replacement without the long road of surgery and therapy that proceeds it. We want results without the process.
Pruning is also reassuring.
While it isn’t pleasant or may be painful, pruning gives us hope that we’re not dead!
It assures us that there is still work to be done in our lives and growth to come. Look back at John 15 verse 2, Jesus gives two options - he is either cutting off the branch or pruning it. Pruning in our life should be reassurance that we aren’t cut off. That we are still abiding in the vine. That fruit is coming! This should give us HOPE.
But often when we experience the first bit of cutting or pain, we run. We question, we doubt. We detach from the vine. Instead, we should be saying, “THANK YOU! You’re not done with me!! You are making me more like you! Keep pruning!”
So when pruning isn’t pleasant, and when pruning is painful, we need to change our perspective. The purpose of the pruning is to bear more fruit. And if we look at it this way, we see that the pruning is actually a gift.
If pruning is a gift, how do we receive it? How do we invite God to do this work in our life?
Let’s look back a little closer at our passage. What does Jesus say our job is here? Look back at verse 5. He instructs us to abide. We said at the beginning that abiding is active. We have a role to play. But he tells us that apart from him, we can do nothing. All of our strength, all of our fruit bearing comes from Him. It comes from the vine. Our job is to stick close to the vine.
How do we do that?
We recognize the Holy Spirit that is at work in us. (John 14 - The Spirit as our Helper)
We pray and connect to the Father daily.
We read and hear God’s word in the scriptures.
We show up in community that encourages us to stick close.
We invite in accountability from trusted ones to help us identify the pruning.
What’s the end goal? The result? To bear fruit of course. But what is the purpose of fruit? To be eaten! To be enjoyed. To invite others to the vine, to the source.
Look with me at 15:11 :
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Who’s joy? Jesus’ joy. Not our own. All joy comes from the vine, from abiding. The result is joy, if you keep reading down you see the result is love, the result is patience, it’s kindness, it’s gentleness, its self-control. The Father desires for us to bear fruit for our own joy and the joy of seeing others come to know him. There is nothing like witnessing someone who is in a great need come to know the only one who can meet it.
One of my favorite commentators, William Barclay puts it like this, “There is little use in telling people that Christ will bring them joy and peace and power, if our own lives are gloomy, worried and defeated.”
When we are abiding in Christ, our fruit is an overflow of all we are receiving from him. We aren’t serving others from a depleted, empty place, but from a place that is flourishing, a place that is thriving because of God’s grace.
So friend, where are you today? Are you in a season of pruning? Maybe your clinging on to the vine for dear life, hanging on with everything you’ve got. Maybe you feel like you’ve been cut off - that it is too late or you are too far gone. Paul describes in Romans chapter 11 that people will be “grafted in”. I love this image. We can be re-attached. It’s not too late. Don’t count yourself out. Today is the day to surrender to Him. Maybe you are in a season of harvest, watching the fruit show up. Rejoice!! Thank Him.
Wherever we find ourselves today, our task is the same - abide. Today. Rest. Seek him. He sees you - you showed up here on a Saturday morning. He is honored by that. He also wants your Tuesday at 5 pm when you’re getting off work and going home to try to make dinner and nighttime routines happen. Even then, abide.
