Have You Been Pruned?

“I am the true vine,” said Jesus, “and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful….”

Those are powerful words. There is an important message here. “….my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful….”

These words are directed to both churches and to individual church members. Christ is the true vine. We are the branches. And we have but one job. That is to bear fruit. That is why we are called together as a community. We are not here simply to enjoy one another’s company. We are to be nourished so that we may bear fruit in our homes, in our community and in the world for which Christ died.

So the question for the day is….where is your fruit? Is your church a better church because you are there? Is your home a better home because you are there? Is the world a better place because you are there? Where is your fruit?

Some of us have grown “too comfortable in Zion.” We could be doing so much more for the sake of the Kingdom, but we have forgotten that our main task is to make a difference in the world. Our main task is to make Christ known in this community. Our main task is to help people know that they are loved. Our main task, in other words, is to bear fruit. Jesus put it as pointedly as possible.

The barren tree—that is, the tree that does not bear fruit—will be thrown into the fire. That’s vivid imagery and a little bit scary. The tree that does not bear fruit will be thrown into a fire. But what good is a grape vine without grapes? What use is a fig tree without figs? Tear them down, strip their branches, throw them into the flames. Nothing could be clearer than this principle: we are to bear fruit.

But there is a word of warning in this passage. Actually there are two warnings.“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful….”

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit….” What does that mean? Deep in our heart we know what it means, don’t we? There are some people in every group who just aren’t interested in bearing fruit.

People who work around fruit trees or grapevines are familiar with the term “sucker shoots.” Sucker shoots are branches that have no fruit but literally suck up the nutrients other branches need. Sucker shoots never bear fruit, but they greatly reduce the quantity and quality of fruit the other branches can bear. Every group has them, including the church. People who only take up space. They are not really interested in bearing fruit. They are only interested in making themselves look good.

Even worse, there are a few people who are actually poisonous to the group. I understand that there is a tree that grows in countries around the Caribbean that can actually kill you. Eating its fruit brings painful suffering, sometimes death. The natives use the sap of the bark to make poison darts for hunting. It’s called the Manchineel [man-chuh-neel] Tree. It produces loads of small, green, apple-looking fruit, about the size of a large crabapple. But don’t eat them! They’re quite poisonous, and if ingesting the fruit doesn’t kill you, you’ll probably wish you were dead. And it’s not just the fruit that is toxic. It’s the entire tree – roots, trunk, bark, branches, and leaves!

Just standing under a Manchineel Tree can be a horrifying experience, especially if it’s raining. Many seek shelter under the shady eaves of this tree, only to be drenched in drops of acidic sap dripping from the leaves. When it rains, drops that have made contact with the tree fall on the unsuspecting shade-lover. The result is severe rashes and blistering of the skin.

There are poisonous personalities in every group, including the church. These people not only don’t bear fruit. They actually do enormous harm to the work of the kingdom. They love to sow dissension. They delight in passing along rumors and innuendos. They think they are harmless, but they are actually enemies of God. Use some discernment when you are around them. Make certain that you do not allow them to infect you. Be loving toward them, pray for them, treat them the way you would like to be treated. But understand that they are misguided in their mischief. God knows their heart. God knows the kind of fruit each of us is bearing or whether we are bearing any fruit at all.

But there is a second group Christ mentions besides those who do not bear fruit. He says that God cuts off every branch….that bears no fruit….then he adds that “every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful….”

I believe he’s talking about us and he seems to be saying is that even if we do bear fruit, life is not going to be a picnic. Pruning can be painful. When the owner of the vineyard prunes a vine, not only does he cut away all the dead wood. He also cuts away some of the live wood. “The vineyards in the early spring look like a collection of barren, bleeding stumps,” says one Bible scholar, “but in the fall they are filled with luxuriant purple grapes. As the farmer wields the pruning knife on his vines,” he continues, “so God cuts dead wood out from among His saints, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His method seems cruel. Nevertheless, from those who have suffered the most there often comes the greatest fruitfulness.”

This is a tough teaching. Here’s what Jesus may be saying to us. “Sometimes life hurts. My followers are not immune to tragedy. In fact, some of my most prized saints have experienced tragedy because they ARE my followers. Now when tragedy comes, as it does in every life, there is little profit in asking God, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ That is one question God never seems to answer. Here’s the question you should ask when tragedy strikes, ‘Lord, is there some way you can use this event to prune me and cause me to bear more fruit to your glory?’” I guarantee that is one question that will always receive a positive answer.

The person who is able to pray in the face of great tragedy, “Lord, is there some way you can use this event to prune me and cause me to bear more fruit to your glory?” will find a source of strength they never dreamed possible.

God can use all things to the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). It doesn’t mean that God causes bad things to happen to good people. He doesn’t have to send bad things into our lives. A fallen world will send enough trouble on its own. But it does say that God can use any difficult event that occurs in our lives to help us become the kind of people He has called us to be.

So there is another question besides, where is your fruit? That question is, have you been pruned? It is only after we have been pruned that we can bear the most splendid fruit of all. This is what the writer of the book of James means when he writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything….”

Can you do that? Can you take any adverse trial and pray, “Lord, is there some way you can use this event to prune me and cause me to bear more fruit to your glory?” If you can, you are among God’s elect and God will use you in a wondrous way.