"A Dirty Job"
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 10, 2009
John 15.1-15
The first thing you need to do to a baby when they’re born is clean
them up. They’re a mess. And moms know that there are many more messes
to come. They spend a lot of time cleaning them and cleaning up after
them. It takes a lot of work to keep kids clean and to keep the area
they’re in clean. Moms have to get their hands dirty to take care of
their kids. Along the way they teach their children how to take care
of themselves, how to keep things clean, and how to keep themselves
clean.
I’m sure many is the time moms wish they could speak the word and the
messes would vanish and everything would be instantly clean. But one
of the many reasons we are grateful for our moms is that even without
such powers they are still able to miraculously get things
clean—including the kids.
Jesus does have miraculous power, yet, does it seem like a big deal to
us? He says in the Gospel reading: You are already clean because of
the word I have spoken to you. He doesn’t put time or effort into it.
He speaks and it’s done. It’s so far beyond our normal experience that
we don’t really know what to do with it. We’re amazed at what moms can
do, we’re not quite sure what to do with what Jesus does.
One of the amazing things about moms is how they keep at it. Once one
mess is taken care of another pops up. With Jesus you are declared
clean and you are clean. You are actually made clean by His speaking
of cleansing to you. Even the most loving and caring mother will get
frustrated and tired at the seemingly endless task of cleaning up kids
and cleaning up after them. But it is precisely her love and care that
drives her to do it. With Jesus there is never any frustration or
getting tired. His boundless love prompts Him to declare you clean.
How does a mother raise her child? She doesn’t just clean him up.
There are times when it seems that’s what it consists of, but there’s
a lot of hugs that go with the scrubbing and boundless compassion to
go along with the discipline. Moms keep at it. They keep loving and
taking care of their children. When their kids get cleaned up she
knows they’re going to get dirty again. But she will keep cleaning.
That’s the way Jesus is. He doesn’t make you clean and leave you be.
He knows you often turn back to the filth of sin. So God does the
messy work of pruning. Those who don’t bear fruit are stripped away.
Those who do are pruned. It’s the only way they can bear more fruit.
Even as a child will get dirty again, the thoughts, words, and deeds
that come from your heart will continue to soil your soul. So how do
you bear fruit? Jesus cleanses you of your sin, how do you remain
clean? Abide in Me, He says. In the same way, He abides in you. This
sounds simple enough. But is it so simple? He gives the reason why we
abide in Him:
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.
How do we do this? How do we abide in Him and He in us? This is His
answer: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever
you wish, and it will be done for you.” There is how it is done. At
the end He takes you back to the beginning. It begins with His Word
and it is continued with His Word. He is the Vine, you are the
branches. Apart from Him you can do nothing, just as a branch will
wither if it is cut off from the vine. Apart from His Word you have no
life. You will wither and die.
Whereas the cleaning of dirt is a temporary condition, when Christ
makes you clean, you are clean. He says, “You are already clean
because of the word that I have spoken to you.” Whereas water will
wash off dirt, the water of Baptism is connected with the Word of
Christ and cleanses your whole being. You are truly clean. Your
Heavenly Father sees you as He sees His only begotten Son, without sin
or stain; holy. You are as He has called you to be: His own child. You
bear fruit. You live the holy life He has called you to live. You
delight in serving Him by helping others in their need, by comforting
them with the Gospel, by serving in the vocation to which God has
called you: whether that be mother, father, neighbor, or whatever
occupation you have.
But how is this the case since you continue to sin? Are you holy or
not? Are you clean or not? It’s somewhat like being a child in a home.
Your mom loves you no matter what. She knows there will be times you
disobey, times you make a mess, and times you don’t honor her as God
has commanded you. But she loves you and cares for you. And this is
what God does also. He loves you and cares for you. That’s why He
gives you His Word.
Is it easy, this business of God making you clean, forgiving you of
your sins? No, it’s not easy, Jesus did the dirty work of suffering in
your place so that you may enjoy eternal glory with God. And it’s not
easy to daily be in the Word, to read it, to meditate on and ponder
what you have read, to pray about what you are studying in the Word of
God, to repent of your sins and receive your comfort in your Baptism
rather than some notion that you can do better. It’s tough to think
about the spiritual sustenance you need when your stomach is telling
you that what you need is food. Tough to set your mind on the higher
things of the Word of God that nourishes you and the Body and Blood of
Christ in His Holy Supper that strengthens you.
But these are the things God uses to prune you, to make you clean, to
sustain you in His grace and forgiveness. To give you the strength you
need to bear the fruit which He Himself produces in you. These things
are your lifeline in a life that is daily filled with all kinds of
temptations which seek to stain you and cut you off from the Vine. A
mom might wish now and then for a break. The promise of “ask whatever
you wish” is certainly a tempting one for us. For the mom it might be
that the messes aren’t that messy, and the talking back ceases. For
all of us it will be whatever we are tempted to absorb ourselves in.
But the lifeblood of Christ flows through us and the prayer He prayed
in the Garden of Gethsemane and the prayer He taught us to pray is the
prayer He is getting at here: Thy will be done.
We know what His will is: to do the dirty work of making us clean. To
love and care for us in all of our needs, especially saving us
eternally. Amen.
SDG
--
Pastor Paul L. Willweber
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS]
San Diego, California
princeofpeacesd.net
three-taverns.net
It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything
except where the marks of the Church are concerned.
[Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian]
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