“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

Here we are. Farewelling one of us… Clarrie Falkenberg. Have you ever asked the question – why do we have the address here? In memorial service? Why those Bible readings and why that little sermon? Do you know the answer? It is for you…

The God Triune, who is behind everything that exists, He wants to speak to you, He wants you to hear Him, He never stops calling you, He never stops inviting you, and He uses every opportunity wherever He can reach you. All this is for you.

For Bible reading Clarrie’s family has chosen those verses from the Gospel according to John and from Paul’s letter to Philippians. In John 15 Jesus speaks about… we could say that He speaks about gardening. And you have verse 2 from that reading on the front page of your Service Orders.

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” This verse fittingly describes Clarrie’s life, as his family remembers him. Passionate and patient gardener, with the gift to bring to life what already may seem dead. And perhaps not only in the garden, but sometimes in relationships as well.

However, that reading isn’t about our brother in Christ Clarrie. It is about the original Gardener. John has recorded the words of Jesus: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. I am the vine; you are the branches.”

We all are branches. And there are different branches, that’s for sure. What kind of branch are you? What do you think? There are branches that refuse to abide in the true vine, Jesus Christ, they insist that they can grow and flourish on their own.

“We don’t need that vine, we are good”. Anyone who knows anything about gardening, will see how strange, not to say foolish, such a statement is. Then there are branches that are grafted in the vine. Our baptism is when that happens.

Your baptism is when God grafts you in Jesus Christ, in the body of Christ, in His Church. But also, among those grafted branches there are different ones, there are dry branches, and there are green and lush branches, but without any fruit.

But what fruit does God expect from us? It is very simple, very simple. Who remembers two greatest commandments as Jesus summarized them for us? Yes, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31) That’s it…

Truth to be told, there are no perfect branches, we all fall short. More than we realize… As Paul the apostle wrote: “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Rom 3:12)

None of us produce the fruit that we are planted to produce, and yet… whatever our attitude towards the Triune God, He as a patient Vinedresser keeps caring for all of us, whoever we are. You may not care about Him, yet, He still cares for you. He is that stubborn, even if you give up on Him, He never gives up on you.

And He does prune us, and that is not pleasant. No… That cuts deep, it is often painful. He uses our entire lives to prune us, to purify us. He uses challenges in our lives, He uses losses and failures, pain and suffering, all the things that we try to avoid that are so unpleasant to us, He uses them for good.

You know, it is surprising what people these days believe. So many believe that this life is supposed to be always perfect, good and enjoyable, and all the challenges are just interruptions and nuisance.

Where was that place and time where that was true? Our lives are full of distress and unexpected, of loss and failure, it has always been that way. And if, by God’s grace, there are good times, they are an exception, not a rule.

But… What a difference it makes, if we realize that whatever happens, we are in hands of God the Great Vinedresser. That whenever we face difficulties, we know that He is in control, and we know that He wants good for us.

If we embrace this way of seeing this world, as the Word of God reveals it to us, then we can in every situation ask our Lord – how do you want to prune and purify me, how do you want to make me more fruitful, how do you want to bless me?

If we are, by God’s grace, able to embrace this trusting mindset, then it gives us peace and strength and comfort, and fills our lives with meaning even in the midst of our most challenging times. In the midst of loss… For we know that God the Great Vinedresser is in control, pruning us so that we can bear more good fruit.

God the Father as a Vinedresser. See, it makes sense and helps us to understand quite a few things. It then makes sense that He prunes us, it makes sense that He wants us to be fruitful. This is why we are planted.

And it makes sense that a good vinedresser cuts off dry branches and cleanses His garden, so that it produces more fruit. And it makes sense that He gathers useless branches and burns them up. For they are useless. We can understand that.

But there is something that doesn’t make sense. That is difficult to understand. God’s grace, His attitude towards us… That this Vinedresser counts us as more significant than Himself. That He counts you as more significant than Himself!

That He empties Himself by being born in our likeness, as one of us. And being found in human form, He humbles Himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Why? Because He loves His vineyard.

He doesn’t want any branch to be cut off and burned. He wants all of us to be with Him, in this age, and in the age to come. For Him no price is too high to get you there, not even His life. We cannot understand such love, we can’t understand such commitment and such self-sacrifice. We may be afraid to believe this is true.

But… it is true. Clarrie knew it was true… And today this God and Father of Jesus Christ keeps speaking to you. He keeps calling us, every one of you. Clarrie responded to this call. What about you?

Amen.

And the peace of God that surpasses all our understanding keeps your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ, for without Him we can do nothing.

Amen.