247. Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
Speak thy word to us, Lord Jesus;
and purge us, that we may
bring forth much fruit. Amen.
John 15, 1-6. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
❦
All of us are branches of the tree of Adam; and all have been corrupted by his fall; the whole human family, root and branch, has the poison of sin coursing through its veins. We were thus doomed to eternal death. But there sprouts out of the tree one branch into which the poison does not penetrate. The only begotten Son of God becomes man, of the generation of Adam, but conceived by the Holy Ghost, and without sin. He was cut off by death, but then became a new tree, the second Adam, the true Noah, the founder of a new generation, which, like himself, is of the old, and yet is new. “He was cut off out of the land of the living;” yet when his soul is made “an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days.’’ (Isaiah 53, 8. 10). By a new miracle of the Holy Ghost we are grafted into Christ, and made partakers of his life. By nature we are the children of Adam, born in sin and deserving of death; but we are not by nature branches of Christ; this we can become only by his Spirit. He calls us through his gospel, and enlightens us by his gifts, and thereby creates faith in our souls, and causes our hearts to lay hold on Jesus. The vine of life is in the midst of us; and all we who are baptized are become its branches. But there are many who again sever their connection with the Lord; and these become dry branches, fit for nothing save to be cast into the fire.
Our life and salvation depend solely on the living communion of our hearts with Jesus in faith unto the end. No branch can bear fruit unto God of itself, except it abide in the vine. If we truly believe in him, the love which is in him flows into us, and reveals itself in our life as obedience toward God and charity toward our neighbor. Jesus says: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” All do not bear an equal amount; but every branch on Jesus bears much fruit. Without him, no fruit; in him, much. Neither can any have love’s joy in God, without having this life of Jesus, and nourishing it continually out of its fullness. The branches must receive their sap and strength from the vine unceasingly, if they are to live. If they are not nourished by him and purged by the husbandman, they must die. May we all carefully examine ourselves, and learn whether or not the love of Jesus reigns in our soul; may we with our whole heart strive to lay hold on this heavenly life!
Lord Jesus, grant that I may be a living branch in thee, and be purged daily to bring forth more and more fruit. Let me never wither, and become dry, and be cast out into the fire. From my soul I beseech thee: Lord Jesus, abide in me, and I in thee. Amen.*
From Jesus naught shall ever part me;
In faith I touch his pierced side
And hail him Lord, my God and Savior;
Nor life nor death shall us divide.
O God, when tolls my parting knell,
For Jesus’ sake may all be well! [TLH 598]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.