The Lutheran Hour
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"Proper Pruning"
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Text: John 15:1
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Those words are God’s assertion and assurance of His great love. That love, which showed itself in its purest form, by Jesus’ resurrection, continues to be manifest each day of our lives. The love of God certainly comes as He gives us all we need to support our bodies and lives. But God’s love is also evident as He prunes us for the purpose of glorifying and giving thanks to Him who has saved us through His Son’s precious blood.
Pruning may be good for roses and vines and fruit trees, but most people, personally, don’t like to be pruned. Not so very long ago, in fact it could have been this week, there was a man who had a lengthy list of illnesses. Doctors? He’d seen a million of them. Tests? He’d been through them all. Medicines? The bag carrying his cures wouldn’t fit into the overhead storage compartment of a major airline. He had resigned himself to living a life of ailments until one day he received wonderful news. He heard of a doctor who could cure just about anything. When other doctors were confused, this doctor could tell ya’ what ya’ got. With high hopes, he made his appointment. The examination was an exploration. He was prodded and poked, pinched and punched. Two days later at a return visit, the doctor assessed the man’s condition. She said, “My friend, you’re a sick man.” He knew he was, but it was nice to have someone confirm his complaints. The doctor continued, “You can get well again if you will follow my advice. This is what I want you to do. I want you to lose about 40, no make it 45 pounds, start a walking program, get eight hours of sleep each night and eat more dark green vegetables. And….. “you can dispose of your pills in the proper way. You don’t need them. That’s it.” After his initial shock, the man stammered and pleaded for some kind of potion, some kind of tonic that would make him well. But the doctor stood her ground. “You need a change in your life, not in your medicine.”
Pruning may be good for roses and vines and fruit trees, but most people I know don’t like to be pruned. Not so very long ago, in fact it could have been this week, there was a woman who was in legal trouble. Shehad run up some gambling debts and then borrowed from the place where she worked. That’s what she called it. The company caught her, and although they didn’t take her to court, they fired her and escorted her to her car. She found some refuge in the bottle. In fact, she found a lot of refuge in the bottle. Drinking and driving had compounded her difficulties as she had been twice arrested for “driving under the influence.” Most recently, she had been arrested for a hit-and-run during which a child had been seriously injured. She was worrying herself sick until she heard about a defense attorney who was a cross between Matlock and Perry Mason. From jail, she called him and he agreed to meet with her.
The visit with the lawyer went well—very well, in fact. He nodded during her story. He asked questions when they needed to be asked. Then he said, “You have the right to an attorney. But, in truth, the best attorney can only do so much. You will probably end up with some jail time. Then, during and after jail, the judge will say you will need to enroll in recovery programs like ‘Gambler’s Anonymous’ and ‘Alcoholics Anonymous.’ Finally, for your own good, you would do well to start working again so you can pay off the money you’ve stolen.” In outrage, the woman shot back, “I need a lawyer, not a lecture.” The woman is just one more example that I’m telling the truth when I say, ”People don’t like to be pruned. People don’t like to be directed, corrected, amended or adjusted. People want to be let alone to do what they want, how they want, when they want, the way they want. People don’t want anybody, God included, to tell them what’s wrong with them or how they can be made right. It’s that way today. It will be that way tomorrow. And it was that way at the beginning of time.”
Way back when, at the beginning of human history, God looked at everything He had created and made and pronounced it very good (Genesis 1:31). He had made everything with divine mathematical precision. Everything fit and worked with a perfection that could only have come from the hand of an all-wise, all-powerful Creator. Our first ancestors were given a unique and harmonious relationship with that Maker. There was no discord. There was only perfection. God had given them a perfect life, and thought of everything needed to sustain that perfection. You know how we say on an especially wonderful day, “It can’t get any better than this”? Well, for Adam and Eve, it was true. It couldn’t get any better. They were rooted in and attached to the love of God.
There was only one thing God asked of His children. He asked that they stay attached to Him. He told them they could do that by simply not eating some forbidden fruit. It was that simple. Don’t eat. Stay attached. No problem? Big problem! Why? People don’t like to be pruned. It didn’t take too long before Adam and Eve decided they didn’t like God giving them an order. God’s order seemed too confining, too arbitrary, too illogical, and when you got down to it, just downright wrong for them. They decided they knew what was best for them. They decided they wanted to be free of what they considered to be God’s most unreasonable request. They rejected God, and embraced evil. By doing the one thing they shouldn’t, they severed themselves from God’s fellowship.
At that moment, our ancestors became dead wood. They were good for nothing, other than to be thrown into the fire. That is, of course, exactly what God said would happen (Genesis 2:17). That is the way it should have been, would have been, but God decided to try again. No, He didn’t start all over. He came up with another way in which people could be grafted back into His love. God promised to send a Savior. He promised to send His Son who would be the way humans, through faith in Him as their substitute, could be grafted back into a loving relationship with their Maker. To explain God’s plan in a way people could understand, Jesus talked about how He was the vine and His people, the ones who believed in Him as Savior, would be the branches. It was that simple: Jesus is the vine that provides life. Believers are the branches that live because they are connected to Him. Even with this unexpected second chance, people didn’t want God to tell them what to do. They didn’t want to be pruned. Old Testament Cain didn’t want to be pruned. He didn’t want anybody, especially his brother, telling him how to worship. So, Cain killed his brother. After the flood, people didn’t want to be pruned. They wanted to live their lives free, and apart from God. That ’s why they tried to build a tower that would carry them above God’s will. People don’t want to be pruned. When God called His people out of slavery, they didn’t like being pruned. They didn’t want God to tell them how they should go; where they should go, or when they should get there. They rebelled, complained and criticized, nitpicked and nagged every step of the wilderness way. God had their best interests at heart, but they didn’t want to be told that. God was keeping His promises to them, but they didn’t like that either.
When God’s people eventually, and no thanks to them, did get to the promised land, they still didn’t like to be pruned by God. He said ‘clear the land of the unbelievers’. They didn’t do it. He said, don’t intermarry. They did. He said, “Don’t worship false gods.” They almost tripped over each other trying to bow before idols. God continued to love His people. He wanted to teach them the way they should live; train them in the way they should go; touch their hearts and minds and souls, so they would be saved. And, almost every time God wanted to teach them, train them, or touch them, they rejected His offer, became dead wood, and ended up being thrown into the fire. Then, the whole process would start all over again.
Then, it came to pass in those days, the Savior, first promised to our earliest ancestors, was born. Angels announced the event as being “good news and great joy.” God had sent His Son to graft life into all the world’s dead wood. You might think that such a Savior would be welcomed by the sinners. If you thought that, you would be wrong. When the king of the region heard that Jesus was born, he didn’t want things to be changed. Herod, that was his name, liked things just the way they were. So, rather than repenting, he tried to kill Jesus. Herod didn’t want to be pruned. The town where Jesus grew up didn’t want to be pruned. When God’s Son tried to save them by grafting God’s grace into their sinful souls, they tried to throw Him off a hill (Luke 4:29). When He came to a town and set a demoniac free from his possessors, the whole city came out and said they would prefer He leave (Mark 8:30). When He tried to substitute God’s love for manmade laws, the religious pillars of the country, the Pharisees, said He was speaking ‘blasphemy.’ They didn’t want themselves or their laws to be pruned. Jesus’ priests, the very people who should have known that God was trying to graft souls into His salvation, resented Jesus’ words and works. They, too, tried to kill Him rather than being pruned (Luke 22:2). Eventually, having fulfilled all the prophecies and promises God had made, Jesus’ work was finished. Those who hadn’t wanted to be pruned had Jesus murdered. He died on a Roman cross outside the city walls of Jerusalem. He rose from a borrowed tomb. In this way, because Jesus’ followed His Father’s wishes and did His Father’s will, life has been restored to the deadwood of humanity. Through Christ’s suffering, by His death, God’s promise had been kept and eternal fire is no longer our inevitable and ultimate end. Because of Jesus, all who believe have forgiveness. Because of Jesus, all who believe have hope. Because of Jesus, that which was deadwood is, by the Holy Spirit’s power, grafted into Christ and made alive.
Now, I could end this sermon right here. Some of you probably wish I would. But I need to speak in a very personal way to those of you who feel yourselves being pruned by the loving hand of the Lord. Nobody likes to be pruned. Now, I don’t know what has happened in your life. I don’t know what form God’s pruning has taken, but I do know it’s probably an honor you would just as soon forego. You would just as soon have the Lord let you alone and give you total control of your life.
If you feel that way, let me tell you of an old German legend. It tells of a farming community that had been hit year after year by drought and disaster. Rather than undergo this pruning, for which they could see no possible good, the townspeople came together and had a talk with God. They said, “Lord, our crops have been scanty and skimpy and small. If You have no major objections, and we hope You don’t, we’d like to run the show.” Now, the story goes, God, who knows best and who is always caring, usually doesn’ t give in to those kind of requests. But this time, for reasons of His own, He said, “OK, I’ll let you take control — for a year.” And that’s what happened. If the villagers wanted rain, they got rain. If they wanted sun, they got sun. That year the crop grew bigger and thicker than it had ever grown before. But there was no harvest that year. None at all. Once again, the people complained. And God said, “You got what you asked for. But you didn’t ask for what you needed. My children, along with the sun and the rain, you also need the hard winds that come out of the north. Without those winds, the plants do not pollinate, and you get no crop.”
Now that old story is trying to tell you that nobody wants hard winds to blow through their lives. People want only sunny days and gentle rains and to be left in control. Thank God that doesn’t happen. Thank God, He doesn’t leave us alone. He doesn’t dare leave us alone. He knows, even if we forget, even if we never knew the difference between heaven and hell, between eternal fire and everlasting freedom, it depends on whether we believe in Jesus. God knows and He makes it a priority to make sure we know that to not have Jesus as Savior is to be deadwood, destined for disaster and damnation.
Some years ago, I was called to an emergency at the home of one of my church families. When I knocked, no one came to the door. There was just a shout, “Come in!” I did and was greeted by a horrible sight. A mother was holding her child while the father was slapping the little girl’s face. Not so hard as to leave any bruises, but hard enough. Hard enough that I winced. Hard enough that I was glad it wasn’t me getting slapped. Along with the slapping, they kept shouting at their little girl and every once in a while, they gave her a painful pinch. Child abuse? Even though I knew the family, I thought so. It wasn’t. The little girl had swallowed some pills—too many pills. “Until the ambulance arrives,” the parents had been told, “keep her awake. Do whatever is necessary to keep her awake.” The imagined picture of horror was immediately transformed to an exhibition of love. Not to hurt but to help was the motivation of father and mother. And it’s God’s motivation in your life, as well.
Today, those of you who don’t know Jesus and the life He wishes to give you, are feeling the slap, the pinch, the pruning, of your heavenly Father. Please know this and it is an absolutely certain thing: God doesn’t hate you. He loves you and is trying to wake you up. He is trying to get your attention. He knows it hurts. He knows His hand is probably unwelcome. But He wants you to see right now this day that you can’t get along by yourself.
You’re not smart enough, strong enough, fast enough, holy enough to get to heaven on your own. Even if you don’t know it, God is fully aware of how much you need Him. That’s why you’re being pruned. God wants you to throw up your helpless hands and reach out for His. He wants you to come to Him, because you’ve got nowhere else to go. He wants you to know you have been redeemed and can be restored. He wants you to have the joy, the peace, the hope, the happiness, the future that comes from a living connection with Jesus. So you can have all this, Jesus wants to live in you today, so He can live in you for eternity. Believe it. Trust it. If the pruning is hurting, now is the day—this is the hour of salvation. Call the number we will give at the end of this broadcast. Let us tell you of Jesus who is your future, your life, your hope.
And to those of you who already know Jesus, and are also feeling God’s pruning hand, what shall I say to you? By the Spirit’s power, you have already been grafted into Jesus, the vine that gives life. Why should you also experience hurt and harm, wounds and worries, pains and problems? The Lord Jesus supplies the answer for you as well: the heavenly Father is shaping you to His purpose, so that you might be all He wants you to be. Do you need more of an explanation?
Let me ask which of your children looked forward to getting a shot. Did your child cry? Did your child twist and turn? Did he shout and struggle? In spite of their hurt, you made sure they had their shots. How could you be so cruel? How could you be so heartless to abuse your child in that way?
Ah, it wasn’t abuse, was it. You know it wasn’t. So do I. You took them for their shots because you cared for them. You believed those shots were necessary if your children were to be protected, if they were to grow up strong and healthy. You knew that, but your child didn’t understand, did they? All they saw was the pain while you as a parent saw the purpose. You did it because you loved them, not because you wanted to hurt them. Now, if you, as a human parent act in this way—doing what is right rather than what is easy—do you think God, all-loving and all-caring, would do less? Impossible! He will do what is necessary for your good. That is at least one reason why today you hurt with a pain or a problem. God, who sees the future, who knows what is best, is pruning you. He is doing for you what needs to be done. And you, as His child, should believe the pruning taking place is done because your heavenly Father cares and loves you. God Grant you believe this. Amen.
ANNOUNCER: For questions from our listeners, I’m Mark Eischer here with Pastor Ken Klaus. Today’s topic is personal Bible study. The first question is a simple one. A listener says, “I try to learn more about God by reading the Bible but I find it all very difficult to understand.” How would you respond to that?
KLAUS: The first reason I can come up with is they may be working with a difficult Bible translation. When I grew up, everything I memorized was from the King James Version of the Bible. Even today, when I prepare a sermon, I use King James. That’s for a number of reasons: it’s familiar, its language is beautiful and most importantly, it’s very accurate.
ANNOUNCER: But I notice when you preach, you don’t quote from the King James Version.
KLAUS: No, I don’t. Not because I have no faith in the King James Version, but because to many people’s ears, it’s difficult to understand. So, if it seems language is the barrier, I would encourage our listener to find an accurate, easy-to-read Bible.
ANNOUNCER: Do you have another reason why somebody might find reading the Bible difficult?
KLAUS: A couple more. You know, most people sit down to read the Bible like they would a novel. They begin at the beginning and race through it. They expect a story line, character development and a conclusion. Now, all of those things are there in the Bible, but not the way they are in a novel. That’s why I say, rather than racing through Scripture, it’s far better to savor it.
ANNOUNCER: Savor it? How do you do that?
KLAUS: Well Martin Luther said it this way, “I study my Bible as I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest might fall. Then I shake each limb and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf.
ANNOUNCER: In other words, take your time and really examine it from all angles.
KLAUS: One of the best things I ever did in Bible study was slow down. I like to work fast in my Bible reading and just about everything else. If I had to put together one of my children’s toys, I looked at the box and thought, “This is simple,” and dove right in without looking at the directions. That led to disaster. The same thing was true for my Bible reading. But when I slowed down, I started to understand more of what the text was saying.
ANNOUNCER: Anything else?
KLAUS: Let me offer a quote from Thomas A’Kempis.
ANNOUNCER: Oh, good. I was hoping for an A’Kempis quote.
KLAUS: Seriously, that medieval scholar once said, “Were the works of God readily understandable by human reason, they would be neither wonderful nor unspeakable.” He was saying there are things God is and does that are simply too great for short-sighted human beings to understand. Mark, at home I have a relatively smart dog. That dog loves me. But as smart as that dog is, as hard as she tries, as much as she loves me, she cannot understand me. She can’t understand why I take her for a rabies shot. She can’t understand why I pay taxes or anything else. And, although she recognizes my voice on the radio, she doesn’t understand the sermon.
ANNOUNCER: You’re not saying we’re like dogs, are you?
KLAUS: No, that’s not the point. What I’m saying is, just as my ways are not understandable by my dog, God’s ways are not always understandable by us. God’s thoughts are greater than our thoughts. His plans are different than ours, as well. When it comes to brain power, and any other kind of power, we’re simply not in God’s ball park.
ANNOUNCER: Could you give an example?
KLAUS: Sure. Take the first verse of Scripture: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”
ANNOUNCER: No problem there.
KLAUS: Are you sure?
ANNOUNCER: Oh, you laid a trap for me, didn’t you?
KLAUS: Yes, I did. Let me ask, “When exactly was ‘the beginning?’”
ANNOUNCER: I don’t know exactly—several thousand years ago?
KLAUS: Would there have been anything around “before” the beginning?
ANNOUNCER: No. Only God.
KLAUS: What did God do before “the beginning?”
ANNOUNCER: I don’t know. You’ve just about run out of questions, right?
KLAUS: Nope, I’m just warming up. For example: How did God create? How did He make something out of nothing? Where is heaven? How far does it go? Can I reach it if I send out a space ship? How far out does the universe go? Is God at the end of the universe? We can keep going. The whole point is, I can hear the words, but to fully understand them—I can’t do it. I don’t know anyone who can. And that’s just one verse of Scripture!
ANNOUNCER: So what does a student of the Bible do?
KLAUS: Read the Bible with eyes of faith. Trust like a little child. To believe in the God of the Scriptures means you begin with the knowledge that everything you read comes from the mind and hand of a loving and gracious Father who has redeemed us through the merits of His Son.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. We’ll have more to say on this next week. The Lutheran Hour message for next week is titled, “What is Love?”