“Growing Pains” (John 15:1-11)

Union with Christ 

Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China, who led hundreds of missionaries into China’s interior for the first time in the mid-19th century. In 1869, when he was 37 years old, he was given a deeper, and more constant, more satisfying experience of abiding in Christ based on John 15:1-11. His son Fredrick Howard Taylor wrote in 1932:

Here was a man almost sixty years of age, bearing tremendous burdens, yet absolutely calm and untroubled. Oh, the pile of letters! any one of which might contain news of death, of lack of funds, of riots or serious trouble. Yet all were opened, read and answered with the same tranquility — Christ his reason for peace, his power for calm. Dwelling in Christ, he drew upon His very being and resources. . . . And this he did by an attitude of faith as simple as it was continuous. Yet he was delightfully free and natural. I can find no words to describe it save the Scriptural expression “in God.” He was in God all the time and God in him. It was that true “abiding” of John fifteen.[1]

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” (v. 5). So what is the fruit Jesus speaks of here? In this context it’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). In a word, it’s the Christ-like character. We clearly see abundant fruit in the life of Hudson Taylor. And we all have desire to bear much fruit. But, as I was meditating on today’s passage, I found the following inconvenient truth. In verse 2 Jesus said, “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Pruning

I am an absolute beginner in gardening. In the first year I grew some tomatoes. I was so excited as I saw them grow rapidly with many branches and leaves. But as you can easily assume, I didn’t get that many tomatoes that year, because I didn’t know about pruning tomato suckers. I diligently watered them, fertilized them. But it was no use. I had lots of leaves. But the main aim of the tomato plants is fruit-bearing, not for ornamental purposes. In the same way, the aim of the grapevine is fruit-bearing. To accomplish that purpose, pruning is necessary.

What is involved in pruning? Pain. Pruning always hurts! So we would rather do it ourselves, but we cannot. We would not prune or remove what really has to go. Pruning has to be done by the Vinedresser, who knows us and loves us the most. His pruning may pain us, but it will never harm us. James, the brother of Jesus, said:

Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete. (James 1:2-4, The Living Bible)

In the same way, Hebrews 12:10 says, “For they (our earthly fathers) disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he (God) disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness” (NRSV). “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

I love the story of Corrie ten Boom how she learned to be grateful and joyful even when there was too much seemingly pointless suffering. Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to a Nazi concentration camp for hiding Jews in their place. Nazi prison conditions were unbearable. In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie writes:

"Barracks 8 was in the quarantine compound. Next to us--perhaps as a deliberate warning to newcomers--were located the punishment barracks. From there, all day long and often into the night, came the sounds of hell itself. They were not the sounds of anger, or of any human emotion, but of a cruelty altogether detached: blows landing in regular rhythm, screams keeping pace. We would stand in our ten-deep ranks with our hands trembling at our sides, longing to jam them against our ears, to make the sounds stop…

"It grew harder and harder. Even within these four walls there was too much misery, too much seemingly pointless suffering. Every day something else failed to make sense, something else grew too heavy."

To make things worse, they had to fight with fleas every day. Corrie couldn’t stand it anymore. But Betsie tried to calm her down and remind her of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.” And they began to count their blessings. They thanked God for the fact they were together. They thanked God they had a Bible. They even thanked God for the horrible crowds of prisoners, that more people would be able to hear God's Word. And then, Betsie thanked God for the fleas. Corrie couldn’t agree and said, “The fleas! This was too much. Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea!” But then later, it turned out that the fleas were a nuisance, but a blessing after all. They finally discovered that it was the fleas that kept supervisors out. And because of that, they were able to have Bible studies in the barracks with a great deal of freedom, never bothered by those supervisors coming in and harassing them. Corrie’s life was trimmed and pruned by the hand of God. And she became mature and strong in character, and encouraged so many others.

When troubles come in our way, oftentimes we feel like those hardships and trials are like aimless or pointless. Why this suffering now? Why this coronavirus situation now? Why this trial now? But the truth is they are the work of vinedresser. And they have a purpose, namely, more fruit. “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” We may not see the purpose of all this trial now, but further along, we will understand why. One time Corrie showed her tapestry to the children – hundreds of strings tied in knots and pulled through the cloth. It was a mess. It all looked so random. The strings didn’t seem to make sense. Then, Corrie slowly turned the tangled mess around to reveal a beautiful tapestry: a golden crown with multicolored jewels. With our limited perspective, it doesn’t make sense. But God is pruning. God is doing something in our lives for our good. Corrie beautifully portrays this truth in her poem, “Life Is But a Weaving,” in this way:

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.

Abiding

Our God is able. Our God is faithful. Our God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. From our part, all we have to do is abiding. Not running away, but remaining in him. Not hardening, but softening our hearts. Not rejecting, but embracing his grace. He is not far away; the Lord is near to us always. Let us keep ourselves attached to the vine. Let us keep on trusting Jesus. Let us stay faithful, stay connected, stay in love with Jesus. And we will grow and bear much fruit – the fruit of the Spirit. “By this our heavenly Father is glorified, that we bear much fruit and so prove to be Jesus’ disciples” (John 15:8, ESV). So friends, let us abide in Christ. Amen.

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[1] Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Kindle Edition, location 2,087.