Sermon 10.22.2023: Bearing Fruit

This month we've been talking about sowing seeds, and creating fertile conditions for community to thrive and grow. This week we'll consider what it looks like for us to bear fruit, as Jesus says his followers will do. 



Scripture

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,

  whose trust is the Lord.

They shall be like a tree planted by water,

  sending out its roots by the stream.

It shall not fear when heat comes,

  and its leaves shall stay green;

in the year of drought it is not anxious,

  and it does not cease to bear fruit.

John 15:5-17

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Sermon Text

We picked the theme Community Grows Here for our stewardship campaign for a couple of reasons. One is that it is descriptive of how things are already. This is a place where community grows. Another reason though is it is a phrase we want to be aspirational and intentional. It is a strategic goal of the session to have deeper community connections. We want us to be aware of what is involved in growing community, so that we can do it with intention and hope. 

And we chose to focus on Community because it isn’t just what the church needs. It’s what the world needs. 

Social isolation was already becoming a problem before covid, as political divides grew and broke down relationships, but the spikes in people feeling isolated and alone have stayed longer than social distancing did. And people who feel isolated have adverse mental, cognitive, and physical health effects. Chronic isolation and aloneness separate people from help and joy and laughter, but also separate them from being able to offer help, joy, and laughter to others. 

We are social beings, created to care for each other and to be cared for by others. 

One study I read said this: “In humans, the single best predictor of physical health and well-being, as well as future longevity, is the number and quality of close friendships, with the more conventional suspects (such as diet, obesity, alcohol consumption and air quality) ranking a distant second 1,2. Indeed, the frequency of social engagement predicts psychological health and well-being 3, self-rated feelings of happiness, satisfaction with life, and trust in one’s local community 4."^[1]

I confess I first read that article and thought, “maybe I don’t have to cut carbs if I just work on more close friendships.”

On brain scans, they can see the effects of isolation. But even without an MRI, I think we know the effects are there. 

We say Community Grows Here both because it can and does but also because we need community to grow here for our health, well being, and  to promote the general welfare in our society. 

And, to be sure, community grows in other places too. And we want to support that too. But we think church community is a special kind of community. 

At the opening of Bowdoin College in 1802, President Joseph McKeen declared that:

“…literary institutions are founded and endowed for the common good, and not for the private advantage of those who resort to them for education. It is not that they may be enabled to pass through life in an easy or reputable manner, but that their mental powers may be cultivated and improved for the benefit of society. If it be true, that no man should live to himself, we may safely assert, that every man who has been aided by a public institution to acquire an education, and to qualify himself for usefulness, is under peculiar obligations to exert his talents for the public good.”

I love this idea.

Listen to this quote again, but with church language substituted at the appropriate sections.

“…churches are founded and endowed for the common good, and not for the private advantage of those who resort to them for faith development. It is not that they may be enabled to pass through life in an easy or reputable manner, but that their spiritual gifts may be cultivated and improved for the benefit of society. If it be true, that no one should live to themselves, we may safely assert, that every one who has been aided by a church to acquire faith, and to qualify themselves for usefulness, is under peculiar obligations to exert his or her talents for the public good.”

That’s why it matters that we cultivate the soil of community. That’s why it matters that we water and nurture the tender stalks of relationships that grow here. That’s why it matters that we bear fruit for a hungry world, as Jesus calls us to do. 

I am not a master gardener, which may not be a surprise to people who know I live on the 9th floor of my apartment building. And I don’t mean to brag, but I have gotten orchids to re-bloom, which makes me feel a little like a magician, when really I’ve just been a witness to a miracle. 

But I know that cultivating plants requires care, and knowledge. The soil has to be right. How you water them matters. Some plants grow better with other plants near by. Tomatoes do better with marigolds planted at the base because marigolds repel pests and attract pollinators. When we planted corn, we learned that if we planted squash at the base of the corn, the squash leaves would provide shade to protect the moisture in the soil and reduce the proliferation of weeds. If we also planted beans there, the corn stalks served as a trellis for the beans and the beans improved the nitrogen levels in the soil. Community grows here is the motto for corn, beans, and squash too. They need each other to each be their best. 

We need each other too. I’ll let you self identify as to which plant you want to be. But the garden we’re trying to be as a Calvary community needs different kinds of crops in order for each of us to grow as best we can. Some of you are called to ministries of hospitality. Others to ministries of service. Some offer musical gifts. Others know how to make children or visitors feel like they are home. Some back cookies. Others usher or help visitors find the bathrooms. For Calvary to bear fruit as God calls us to, we’re all needed. 

Cultivating plants takes time. You can’t just plant an apple seed and then be eating an apple the next day. It can take 8 to 10 years for an apple tree to bear fruit. Cultivating community takes time too. If you’re aware you’re in need of connection, it can be hard to give yourself the time it takes for that to develop. I know for me, I want it now. I’m not patient. 

Cultivating plants takes work.  Weeding. Pruning. Watering. Protecting. Community requires similar work, hopefully with less manure. 

I know it is a busy world we are in, and if all you have time for is to be in worship on a Sunday and then leave again, that’s better than nothing. But just as young plants that haven’t had time to grow and develop
can’t yet bear fruit, so too with our faith and with our relationships. It takes time and work to grow into a life that bears fruit as God calls us too. Time spent in prayer. In study. In fellowship. In service. In worship. 

We are dedicating our pledges today for the coming year. And while this is connected to financial giving, I’d also ask you to consider how you spend your time. While there are lots of things that make demands of our time, can you move your faith cultivation a little higher on your list this next year? If you normally worship once a month, could you make it another Sunday a month too? Or maybe you could join the morning bible study one Sunday a month, or add one volunteer service to your schedule? What can you do to cultivate your faith this year?

Community grows here. But it takes some time and work. 

This week, because I take sermon prep very seriously, I went wine tasting in Sonoma. Actually, my friend Julie is visiting from Scotland, so that maybe why we went. But I had the scripture verses in my head as Pascal was telling us about what is involved to take a root stock, graft the right grape variety to it, cultivate and nurture it, so that in 5 years or so, they can harvest the grapes that then they can turn into wine. 

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

If a grape plant doesn’t graft to the root, it won’t grow. If it grafts to a bad root, it won’t grow. And if the plant isn’t cared for in the right conditions, or it gets diseased or damaged, sap won’t flow through it, and they have to pull up the whole plant and start again. Jesus is the root stock. We are the cabernet varietal grape graft. 

Jesus is using an illustration for community that would have made sense to his agrarian audiences. It made sense at the winery Friday. Jesus wants us to bear fruit. So are we grafted to the right root? Are we planting roots in good soil? Are we being nurtured over time so we can grow? 

The reading from Jeremiah gives us another image that may be helpful. 

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,

   whose trust is the Lord.

They shall be like a tree planted by water,

   sending out its roots by the stream.

It shall not fear when heat comes,

   and its leaves shall stay green;

in the year of drought it is not anxious,

   and it does not cease to bear fruit.

I’m not sure I would have thought about trees being anxious, but I’ve sure seen anxiety in our world, when droughts, literal and proverbial, leave us worried we won’t have enough. 

When a plant has anxiety, if it bears fruit at all, the fruit will likely be smaller and the yield will be reduced. Same too for us. It is hard to make good and faithful decisions for the future when we’re worried we don’t have enough to make it through the day. 

I love this image from Jeremiah, with the reminder that when our trust is in God, we can send down good roots that help us weather challenges and drought. When Jesus is our rootstock, we can be good vines that bear fruit. 

I’m grateful for the ways this faith community has been living out this Jeremiah passage in the past number of years. Through the challenges of pastoral transitions, and covid, and an ever changing world, this congregation has put its trust in God, and has sent deep roots that have allowed you to continue to bear fruit through challenging times. 

If you’ve been at Calvary for more than 10 years, would you raise your hands? Thank you. I know you have seen a lot of change over time. And here you are, still working for God’s harvest even if the crew chief has changed and the combines and tractors may not be just like the ones you grew up using. Your faithfulness, and the faithfulness of those who worked in the fields before us, has carried us to this day, where we can respond to God’s call from a place of stability and promise. 

If you’ve been at Calvary for ten years or less, please raise your hand. Thank you. It can be challenging to take root in an established garden, I mean church. There are too many metaphors in this sermon. 

I am so thankful for those of you who have found us in recent years. How many of you first came to Calvary since Covid? Your presence in this collection of grape vines, squash, and non-anxious trees matters greatly. We trust God has brought you here not just to do what we’ve always done but because God is still doing new things and we want to be where God is. We’ll have a better sense of discerning that together than any of us would alone. 

“You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

Jesus wants us to be a good harvest. And harvests aren’t only for the benefit of the farmer. The whole community benefits when the plants bear abundant fruit. 

Friends. Let us love one another and trust that God will turn that into a crop that is needed to feed God’s hungry world. Because of you, community grows here. 

^[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01453-0