“Don’t Just Do Something; Stand There”

John 15:1-11

John 15:5: 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.

[and]

Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message): But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

[Prayer]

“I am the vine,” said Jesus. “Those who abide in me will bear much fruit – the fruit of the Spirit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” Andrew Purves, professor at Pittsburgh Seminary, advises us to ask ourselves the following question on a regular basis, “How are you and Jesus getting along lately?”

In other words, how’s your life in the Spirit? Do you pray much; and quietly and prayerfully study Scripture? Do you meditate on God’s Word much as a cow chews her cud, getting out of it every ounce of spiritual sustenance that you can? Do you attend worship, partake of the Lord’s Supper, and intentionally fellowship with other Christians? Have you ever fasted or practiced the discipline of silence?

How are you doing with your financial stewardship, your witnessing to others about Jesus, and that humility and servanthood thing Jesus demands? In terms of Galatians 5, how fruitful is your life in Christ? Are you loving and lovable? How happy are you, really? Can you honestly say that you are experiencing that peace that passes all understanding? Are you patient with others and yourself? Are you kind and compassionate in your daily relationships?

Do you see the same potential for goodness in other people that God sees; or do you only see their sins and faults? Are you a faithful parent, spouse, and friend? Do you go through life like a bull in a china shop; or do you live your life with a calm gentleness? How much self-control do you exhibit in the various aspects of your life? In the words of Billy Graham, if you were arrested for the crime of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? How are you and Jesus really getting along lately?

“I am the vine,” said Jesus. “You are the branches.” Branches cannot live apart from the vine. We cannot be healthy, fruitful disciples of Jesus without an intimate relationship with him. If we’re not getting along very well with Jesus, whose fault is it? If our lives do not manifest the fruit of the Spirit, whom do we blame? Jesus? I think not.

The fruitfulness of our discipleship is dependent on us having an intimate relationship with Jesus. Intimate relationships are two-sided. Just as Jesus spent time with his heavenly Father during his earthly ministry, so must we spend time with Jesus – quality time, intentional time, disciplined time, quiet time, prayerful time.

Directly and indirectly this need for time with Jesus came up at our recent leadership retreat. I, and I think others, are sensing a deep need in Grace Church to connect more faithfully and fruitfully with Christ. There is a need in our individual lives and in the life of this church to learn and practice the spiritual disciplines. We need to be more accountable to one another about our lives in the Spirit. We need to be more intentional about becoming disciples so that we can be more intentional about making disciples.

There is in this church, I believe, an urgent need to do a better job of equipping its members for ministry, but before we go running off in all directions to plan this or that program or develop this or that new ministry let’s pay attention to the sermon title. What we most urgently ought to be doing right now is nothing, or at least nothing productive as it’s defined by the world.

We need to slow down, relax, and get reacquainted with Jesus. We need to get off the ecclesiastical treadmill and onto our knees. Living in a world that can burn us out in a multitude of ways, it’s time for the church to stop participating in the process. So, let’s not just do something; let’s stand there – or here or wherever. Let’s be still and know that God is God. Let’s be quiet and listen for that still small voice. Let’s pray.

In his book Invitation to Prayer, Ben Campbell Johnson wrote: “I believe that in our time God is summoning us to prayer. Since prayer offers us the most intimate of relationships with God, the invitation to pray is also the invitation to know God. Intimacy with God is at once God’s supreme will and our deepest need… the people of God do not need better organization as much as they need better prayer; they do not need more programs as much as they need more constant prayer; they do not need new skills, techniques, or strategies as much as they need a new resolve to pray. Prayer is simply the greatest resource of the church… no other pathway so directly approaches the heart of God as prayer. Nothing helps us personally and collectively find our direction like prayer. Nothing keeps us on the way and guides us in our vocation like prayer. Let us therefore join together in prayer as the family of God.”

“I am the vine, you are the branches,” said Jesus. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” This is true for the individual disciple. This is true for the congregation. Wrote Stan Ott in his book Vision for a Vital Church, “To receive a Spirit-driven church, prayer must be at the center of every ministry. Prayer is a non-negotiable requirement for vitality. To co-labor effectively with Christ, we must commit to pray for the well-being and Christian discipleship of people.”

Back to Ben Johnson: “A church… that recovers its corporate and personal life of prayer positions itself to hear God speak a saving and redemptive word: a church that has been called can speak with confidence; a church that has been sent can go in assurance, and a church that has spent time in the divine presence can illuminate and influence history.”

The problem for most American Christians is that we live in a culture that doesn’t much value prayer. Prayer wastes time that we could be spending doing things – important things, productive things. Prayer involves being still. Our culture values going here, there, and everywhere, usually as quickly as possible. Prayer requires a single-mindedness of us, being totally focused on our relationship with Jesus. Our culture values multi-tasking. Prayer requires us to shut out the world around us. Our culture values the constant stimulation of our senses, the never-ending compiling of data and information. Prayer produces the fruit of the Spirit. Our culture only values that which produces something tangible or earns a profit. Ours is a culture that rewards those who work the longest hours, finish the most tasks while resting as little as possible. There is little or no room for prayer in that equation.

Saturated in and corrupted by our culture the church often measures itself by worldly standards: more and better programs, more committees, longer agendas, more and more of what I like to call ecclesiastical busywork. “The pastor’s in his study reading his Bible and praying; shouldn’t he be out there doing something? Why do we have to do all this praying at Session meetings; shouldn’t we be taking care of business? What do you mean, let’s pray about the budget? Can’t we just crunch the numbers one more time? I know that it’s good to pray for church growth, but wouldn’t we be better off implementing a whiz-bang evangelism program like the one the Methodists down the street are using? And so it goes.

In the kind of atmosphere that produces such thinking, how high of a priority can prayer be? How can we develop an intimate relationship with Jesus? How do we move from recruiting members to making disciples? How can the church serve as salt and light to the world, or act in it as a lump of holy leaven? How, apart from Christ, do we become more Christ-like?

How can we fully claim the abundant life promised in Christ; and if we don’t claim it, how can we share it? How can we be about what the Lord requires of us: doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God? How can we love the Lord our God with the very best of who we are, and our neighbors as ourselves? How do we keep the commandments of Christ? Apart from Jesus we can’t.

I’m your pastor, the spiritual leader of this church. I cannot lead you unless I am led by Christ. I cannot be led by Christ if I do not enter daily into his presence. Standing before you today I confess that all too often I pay more attention to ecclesiastical busywork than I do my relationship with Jesus. Therefore I offer you an opportunity to covenant with God and one another to spend more time in prayer; and to regularly ask one another, “How are you and Jesus getting along lately?”

“I am the vine, you are the branches; apart from me you can do nothing.” So says Jesus - and he means it. Amen.