John 15: 5 NIV
"I am the vine;
you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much
fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
What Do You Think Of Your Accomplishments?
At the end of the day I
was standing at the door of a high school class where I had been the substitute
teacher and as the students filed out, not one of them said goodbye to me or
wished me a Merry Christmas or even looked at me despite it being the last class
of the day before Christmas vacation. It
was as if I did not exist or that I was not a living being. I did the same thing though. A guy was sitting down in front of a business
and he had a sign about needing food and rather than look at him as I passed, I
turned my head and did not acknowledge he was there. What is the mechanism we trigger in us that de-humanizes
others? I have let it gain power over me
and perhaps you have too; given no thought to the humanity of others. News reporters are aware of this quality and
so are movie makers and authors. If we
hear or see that 15, 000 lost their lives on a battlefield or in a natural
disaster, we give little thought to it.
But if we come upon the picture of a little boy or girl or hear the
account of a particular parent who died in the same circumstance, we might even
shed a tear over it and if not, at least mull it over some and probably mourn
the tragedy.
It started in the Garden
of Eden after the first sin of Adam and has continued to this day. You and I can take the humanity out of our
fellow inhabitants of this planet. You
don’t do it intentionally. Only the most
perverse and broken of us set about to remove the humanness from those around
them. Yet it happens, where we stop
thinking of people as people just like we are people and either give no thought
to them or act as if they are machines.
The Bible insists that God never does that with us. Despite the fact that there are over six
billion people here on earth, he sees each of us and has His mind on each of
us…not as machines but as individuals that He cherishes. Speaking metaphorically, Jesus insisted that
His approach to us is much like a kind and thoughtful shepherd. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep
and my sheep know me— just as the Father
knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.
(John 10:14-15 NIV) It is impossible to
see in this a distant and distracted God who can’t even come up with your
name. He knows you as intimately and
affectionately as He does the Father and the Father Him. Even now you are on His mind; even now He is
thinking of ways to make your life good and joyous. Can we say the same of ourselves? Do we think of God as a real person who cares
what we do?
If we give it much
thought, there is a terrifying declaration Jesus makes that must be considered.
"I am the vine; you are the
branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NIV) We do love the promise found
here but have we taken seriously the caveat?
“…apart from me you can do nothing.” Did He really say
“nothing”? It seems like an incredible,
perhaps even implausible assertion. What
about all the atheists and pagans who make decisions, alter the environment,
impact people, change circumstances?
Don’t they do something without Christ? Aren’t they functioning without Him? The world is filled with people who assert
their will without giving a moment’s thought to Christ. Even a casual reading of the Bible has
examples of this. Lamech, who was from
the genealogical line of Cain, the first murderer, killed a man because the
fellow hurt him in some way. Lamech said
to his wives, "I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for
injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven
times, then Lamech seventy-seven times." (Genesis 4:23-24 NIV) He clearly gave no thought to God and what He
wanted and yet seemed to do well. The
Tower of Babel famously was constructed without a bit of consideration for God
and His wishes. In fact it was a sort of
monument to the capacity of people to get things done without Him. As men moved eastward, they found a plain
in Shinar and settled there. They said
to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."
They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves
a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name
for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis
11:2-4 NIV) Even Jonah the prophet tried
his best to get away from God by hopping on a boat that was traveling in the
opposite direction of where he knew the Lord wanted him to be.
Probably more people live
now as if God doesn’t exist than any time in the history of the world! Even more though have taken the Godness out
of God—if that were possible and mostly ignored Him. So what did Jesus mean that “apart from me
you can do nothing” when it seems like plenty of people are doing something
without Him? Remember the context of
Jesus’ assertion. He was talking about
producing fruit that would last. The
world is full of all sorts of interesting activities, challenges and
investments. Adventures are all around
us and there is always something to do.
Jesus told the parable of the talents because He wanted you to remember
that there is more to life than this world and all its attainments. There is a world to come that lasts forever
and we must never lose sight of it. The
parable has been repeated so many times that it is like elevator music. Yet it is perhaps more important to you and
your welfare than any bit of advice you will ever hear.
It has two juxtaposed
approaches to life. One is that you can
live with God in mind on everything and that what matters is how He wants
things done. The other is that you live
as if God doesn’t exist and you do whatever you think best. Whatever you do that pleases God will be
rewarded extravagantly, far beyond its seeming worth. The life that takes no notice of God and does
not concern itself with Him will be wrecked and an object of great
despair…despair past imagining. Can this
be proved, that God rewards spectacularly those who live for Him in the life to
come? All mysteries have their shelf
life. At one time it could not be proved
that the earth was round or how diseases attacked the human body or the
existence of ancient Babylon. Just
because you do not have all the facts in regarding life as it will be beyond
this world does not mean you cannot be certain that it is just the way the
Bible describes it. You live in the age
of faith and by faith you believe that God rewards those who live for Him and
do what He commands. As the Bible makes
clear, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who
comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)
The Bible often uses
Abraham as an example of how faith in God looks. It would have seemed lunacy to his friends
and neighbors and perhaps even to his dad when Abraham decided to leave his
home and travel 400 miles south to a land he had never visited and did not know
what to expect from it. He made this
arduous journey by foot when he was 75 years old, leading along sheep and goats
because he was certain God told him to move there. We don’t know how God spoke to Abraham…was it
an audible voice, an angel, some sort of vision or just like how He speaks to
us now. The irony of this move is that
once Abraham and his wife and servants got to Canaan where the Lord sent him,
he discovered there was a severe famine there so he just kept walking south
until he got to Egypt.
For Abraham, it was not a
matter of what He was to do; it was a question of who was directing him. He lived within a particular country whose
boundaries were fixed. It was the place
where God is in charge no matter what.
Wherever Abraham went, and it was the same for his wife Sarah, God led
the way. Abraham did not have to worry
about what he would do today or tomorrow.
He just lived his life with the Lord in charge. Whether it was digging a well or pulling a
goat back into the flock or setting up a tent, he did so acutely aware that the
Lord could redirect him and change his plans and he was willing to do whatever
God said to do. That is how you bear
fruit that lasts. God rewards those who
follow Him and obey His commands. The
Bible makes it clear what sort of life we are to live: morality, honesty, kindness,
forgiveness, love, generosity.
It is not very funny to
think of someone living an entire lifetime and never doing anything that God
wants to be remembered. Like building a
sand castle on the beach only to have the rushing surf send it crashing down,
many do nothing for God’s sake. But some
take time each day to think about what they could do to please God. They read their Bible so that they can keep
thoughts of Him fresh in their minds and then they go about the day doing any
sort of good thing God gives them to do.
A great friend of mine tells the story of the member of one of his
former churches who was featured in Guidepost Magazine. The woman was looking through the newspaper
and came upon a picture of cute dogs being petted by senior adults at a nursing
home. The title of the article read,
“Visit from Locals and Their Dogs Brings Joy to Nursing Home Residents”. “Good for them”, she thought as she
shuddered and quickly turned the page. She
says in the story that she then heard a voice say, “You have cute little
dogs. You can do that too.” She wondered if she was hallucinating. “Dee you do that”, the voice insisted. She spoke back. “God, if that’s you, you’re going to have to
give me something else to do. I can’t do
nursing homes, remember?” Again came the
voice. “Yes you can!” This time she was certain it was a
command. “Fine, I’ll do it”, Dee cried. The article then goes on to tell how Dee lost
her distaste for nursing homes and genuinely developed a love for the
residents, becoming a blessing to them and ambassador for Christ…her and her
cute dogs. What about you? Is God looking at you right now, ready to
make your life a blessing? What can you
do today that will please Christ and be remembered by Him as good and worth His
praise?
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