I've started on perhaps the most descriptive and intriguing chapters of the New Testament: John 15.  As you may know, this is the one that describes us in relation to Christ as the branches to a grapevine; in Jesus's words, "I am the true grapevine, and my father is the vinedresser." In verse 2 Christ goes on to say "Every branch in me not producing fruit he removes, and every branch) bearing fruit he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit."  A lot of times that I have looked at this, I have seen the first half in which non-fruit bearing branches are cut off, removed, nixed.  My natural reaction, of course, is to check myself--am I producing fruit?  What does my life like?  It can be described as a mixture of worry, fear, guilt, etc. because my life rarely warrants the results I expect.  I'm sure most of you empathize with this reality.  However, I normally can find some sort of growth in my life to call "fruit," and I continue on life's journey hoping that at the next checkpoint there will be more to satisfy my fancy.

This reading/study, however, has caused me to look at the passage a little differently.  Why, exactly?  Don't really know.  Nevertheless, while studying this time around I noticed that the words in the Greek that I translate as "removes" and "prunes" have the same roots (airo--pronounced "I-ro" as in "I row my boat across the lake").  The only difference is that the "prunes" word is kathairo (kata[suffix] + airo = kathairo).  The second is, in fact, a derivative of the same word.  So what, right?  Well, concerning the Pruning aspect first of all, one has to ask the question: how does God prune believers, those attached to the "true vine" (15:1) and bearing fruit?  He does this pruning through events, circumstances, painful times of our life that force us to remember where the source of our strength really comes--Christ. It is in these difficulties that we really feel God's pruning shears, and it hurts.  I'm sure many of you have experienced this phenomenon: Man, life was going along just fine--I was focusing really well on God--and then _______________ happened?  Some of you may be experiencing a prolonged period of pruning and you don't remember when you last were able to really notice a lot of fruit.  Well, here's the deal.  When one prunes a fruit tree or a grape vine, there is not any fruit left on the vine to look at; one prunes a tree or vine so that MORE fruit may grow.  In fact, if God is anything like my grandfather when it comes to pruning (and my grandfather is a master-pruner of orange trees if there ever were one), he doesn't leave much sign of life left on the branches; in other words, he cuts it back so that the tree is left naked, barren, and desolate.  Fortunately, he has a purpose in this, and the result in the end is a thriving fruit tree--i.e., follower of Christ--bearing fruit on every branch.

Conversely, the first half of John 15:2 says this: "Every branch in me not producing fruit he removes . . ."  The Removing aspect is what has caused this passage to mean more to me.  Because at their root (no pun intended) the Greek words for "removes" and "prunes" are the same (airo), its logical to think that the concepts both exude are the same: there is a cutting back for each type of branch regardless of whether it is a fruit-bearing branch or a fruitless branch.  This similarity compels me to believe that if God prunes fruitful believers through painful situations, circumstances, etc. in their daily lives, then it can also be true that God removes fruitless believers through painful situations, circumstances, etc of their daily lives--the rain falls on the righteous and on the unrighteous alike.  The key difference, however, is that while, for one believer, difficulties cause him or her to produce more fruit due to his or her connection to the vine, for another believer difficulties in life cause him or her to lose heart and forget that the source of all life and strength and spiritual vitality rests in Christ and Christ alone.  The same situations--difficult though they may be--produce life in one person but death in another; for one person, a painful experience is a time of pruning, and for another it is a time of removal.

When I think of the passage in this way, it irritates me because the source of pain for anyone claiming to be a believer is God.  He is the cause of the hurt, heartache, despair, etc.  He has taken his divine pruning shears and cut me back to where it feels like I have nothing to show for my life and that all is a loss, a great waste of time.  But is this not what we see in the lives of the saints, particularly Job?  Everything that Job thought made him who he was ends up being taken from him; it was a time of pruning.  In the end, however, even Job has twice as much "fruit" as he did before the pruning takes place.

In light of John 15:2, the sole purpose and the only hope is what appears at the end of the verse: "that he (or she) might bear more fruit."  If you are a person experiencing a particularly painful time of your life, a good question to ask is this: what is this painful experience causing me to do: turn to God, or turn from God?  The reality of the matter is that pain reveals the life of Christ or the lack of life to us and those around us.  For it is at these naked and lonely times of life that Christ is revealed or the lack of Christ's presence in our lives is revealed.

If after having read this you feel that the lack of Christ's true presence in your life is revealed, don't despair.  Realize that this revelation to you is a good thing: God has shown you that you need Him.  Remember, God is a God of restoration, a God who welcomes prodigal children back with open arms, a kiss, a feast, new robes to clothe nakedness, and a ring to show they belong to him in spite of the past. To those who realize that pain has caused you to dig deeper in your relationship with Christ, take hope in the purpose revealed in John 15:2: "so that he or she might bear more fruit." 

To both groups of branches, fruitful lives--not just leafy green lives--are in the future as long as the connection to Christ is constant.

Grace to you all,
Mike