Pruned for Purpose

 Pruned for Purpose

Sermon for August 17, 2025 – Ebenezer UMC & Black Creek UMC
Year C, Proper 15, Ordinary 20
Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80, Hebrews 11:29-12:2, Luke 12:49-56

 

Reaping What We Sow

Perhaps you are familiar with the saying that the Bible “comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.” The phrase highlights the transformative power of the Gospel, suggesting that it brings hope and solace to those who are suffering while challenging those who may be too comfortable in their lives.[i]

We often find comfort in the scriptures when things are difficult. We take comfort in the image of our God as a Rock of our Salvation, a Good Shepherd, or of a Lord who carries our heavy burdens.[ii]

As I was praying over the texts for this week another saying came to mind: those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. It reminds us that we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7, 2 Corinthians 9:6, Proverbs 22:8).

The expression comes from the prophet Hosea.

Hosea 8:7-8 (NRSVue)

⁷ For they sow the wind,
    and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
    it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
    foreigners would devour it.
⁸ Israel is swallowed up;
    now they are among the nations
    as a useless vessel.

All sorts of people, with all sorts of opinions, use the expression to warn of the consequences of actions. Its like “what goes around will come around” except that the “comes around” part is now a hundred times worse.[iii]

The Vineyard as a Metaphor for God’s People

In two of today’s texts, we are given a powerful image of a vineyard. It is not an ordinary vineyard – it is God’s vineyard. God is the owner and the vinedresser. The people of God are the vines. The work of God’s people is the fruit of the vine. And the hedge and the wall that is torn down is God’s sustaining grace. Its removal allows for the trampling of the vines. It allows the brambles and thorns find their way in the garden to supplant the vines.

As God’s vineyard, the people of God have produced bitter fruit.

In our text from Isaiah, we see that God is depicted as a loving vineyard owner who does everything possible to cultivate a fertile vineyard (Israel). He clears the land, plants the choicest vines, builds a watchtower, and expects a crop of good grapes (justice and righteousness). However, the vineyard yields only wild grapes (bloodshed and cries of distress). As a result of this unfaithfulness, the owner decides to destroy the vineyard, which symbolizes God’s coming judgment on Israel through foreign invasion and exile.

Isaiah drives his message home by using wordplay in the Hebrew. God looked for justice and righteousness, the fruit of a flourishing relationship, but he found the opposite.

Listen again to verse 7.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are his cherished garden;
he expected justice
    but saw bloodshed;
righteousness
    but heard a cry!        (italics added)

The tragic nature of the clash of what God expected and what God saw becomes even more powerful when you hear how similar these word pairs sound in Hebrew.

God came looking for mishpat (מִשְׁפָּט) - “MISH-paht” (justice) but he found mispach (מִשְׂפָּח) - “mis-PAHKH” (bloodshed).

God came looking for tzedaqah (צְדָקָה) - “tse-dah-KAH” (righteousness) but he found tze’aqah (צְעָקָה) - “tse-ah-KAH” (a cry for help).

These word pairs are nearly identical in sound – they differ by just one consonant each. The effect creates a jarring contrast: God expected one thing but received something that sounds almost the same but is completely opposite in meaning. Israel appears to have what God desires (it sounds almost right), but in reality, has produced the opposite (corruption that masquerades as righteousness).

We Are God’s Vineyard

It is important to remember that this prophetic word from God not only applies to the original hearers in Judah, but it applies to all of us who identify as the people of God.

When God looks at his vineyard now, where does he look? He looks at those who gather in his name at all times and in all places. God is looking at us and what does God see? We cannot be content to listen to this text and think that this only applies to ancient Israel or ancient Judah. It applies to us – right here and right now.

We are the vineyard of God. God is looking at us. What does God see?

We have to remember that the fruit God looks for is that which expresses his expectations of being a holy people living out the Great Commandments of loving God and loving neighbor.

True worship cannot be separated from social action. Our love for God is measured by our care for the vulnerable. Individual piety must lead to community transformation: a transformation that is evident in our lives, our families, our church, and the community around us serving as our mission field.

Jesus Becomes the True Vine

The image of the vineyard is used in a number of places throughout the Bible. Jesus uses the image of the vine and the vineyard to teach about God’s inclusive grace, generosity, expectations for faithfulness, and the consequences of rejection. These images call for humility, gratitude, and responsiveness to God’s invitation and mission.

Today I want to draw your attention to just one of these uses. In John 15:1-8, Jesus says…

1 ”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. (NRSVue)

In this passage we see that Jesus, himself, is now the root stock of the vine. We are the branches. To thrive in the vineyard, we must be grafted onto the true vine. Yes, Jesus is now the good stock of the vine – he is the vine. By being grafted onto the True Vine, we abide in Christ and are able to bear good fruit by him. (see Romans 11:17-24)

That is a reasonable expectation!

The Father is the vinedresser. The Vinedresser comes to examine the vineyard. The Father is looking for that good fruit – not bitter grapes. If we don’t produce that good fruit, we are pruned away and cast into the fire.

What does the Vinedresser see looking at his vineyard here in this place?

The Fire of Pruning

In our Gospel text today we see the image of fire as a pruning that will take place.

⁴⁹ ”I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵² From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³ they will be divided:

father against son
    and son against father,
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Luke 12:49-53, NRSVue

The image of fire is used to represent different things in the Bible. Sometimes it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit who brings God’s presence, conviction, and empowerment after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Sometimes it refers to purification and transformation. It often represents refining, purifying hearts, and burning away sin, just as metal is purified in a furnace. But in today’s text it refers to judgment and division. It points to the coming judgment and the deep division the gospel brings between those who accept and those who reject it. Luke presents Jesus speaking about bringing “fire” to earth and causing division, which can seem contradictory to his message of love and unity.

The fire Jesus speaks of symbolizes God’s powerful presence and purifying judgment, serving as both a force that transforms and one that divides. Jesus acknowledges that his message, though rooted in love, will inevitably bring division – even within families – because some will embrace his teachings while others will reject them. This reality highlights the profound cost of discipleship: following Christ may require enduring conflict with those unwilling to accept the gospel.

Jesus isn’t promoting division for its own sake, but recognizing that his transformative message will naturally separate those who accept it from those who don’t. There will always be those who twist the words and teachings of the Bible into purposes that do not align with the Gospel message of Jesus.

Just like we saw in Isaiah, people will appear to have what God desires, but in reality, have produced the opposite (corruption that masquerades as righteousness).

They will shout out, “Lord, Lord!” But Jesus will respond by saying, “I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23) “Why do you call me Lord but do not do what I have commanded you to do?” (Luke 6:46)

Luke 13:25-27 reads…

²⁵ Once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ But he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ (NRSVue)

Matthew 24:5 warns of how there will be many who come in the name of Jesus only to lead people astray. These false prophets or preachers or evangelists proclaim a message that benefits the rich at the expense of the poor – a message that protects the powerful but ignores the plight of the suffering who cry out.

We should remember the false prophets of Israel who serve as a cautionary tale about the danger of aligning with the desires of the powerful. They highlight the dangers of deviating from God's truth and the need for genuine prophetic voices that align with God's will. The messages of the true prophets called for repentance and a return to faithfulness, contrasting sharply with the comforting but misleading words of the false prophets.

Today’s false prophets continue to tell us it is okay to ignore the plight of the poor. Jesus didn’t come and associate with the political or religious elite. He came for those who were excluded and cut off. He came for those in need of a physician.

What would Jesus think of us as a nation now?

Jesus is saying that God comes and expects to see justice but sees bloodshed and violence. He expects to see righteousness but hears the cries of the oppressed. Jesus says, “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (verse 56)

“If you have ears to hear, then hear!” (Mark 4:9)

We will reap what we sow. If we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind.

A Response of Faith

The letter to the Hebrews provides a list of so many people who have faithfully walked toward the promise of the Father. The list includes names that are well known and some that may be unfamiliar to you. They were people who faithfully struggled in this life holding to the promises of the life to come. They weren’t perfect in life but are made perfect in Christ. When we see this list we see the hope in our own perseverance.

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, NRSVue)

Pruned for a Purpose

Our Choice in the Vineyard

So here we are today, branches in Christ’s vineyard, surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. The question isn’t whether God will examine the fruit we’re producing – the question is what he will find when he does. Will he find the sweet grapes of justice and righteousness, or will we have allowed the bitter fruit of self-interest and complacency to grow in their place?

The pruning shears are already at work in our world, in our communities, and in our own hearts. God’s refining fire burns away what doesn’t belong, what doesn’t bear good fruit. This isn’t punishment – it’s preparation. We are being pruned for a purpose: to bear fruit that will last, fruit that feeds the hungry, comforts the afflicted, and brings justice to the oppressed.

A Call to Faithful Fruitfulness

Like those faithful witnesses in Hebrews, we’re called to run our race with perseverance, but not as individuals struggling alone. We run as branches connected to the True Vine, drawing our strength from Christ himself. When we abide in him, we cannot help but produce the fruit he desires – love that looks like justice, faith that acts with righteousness, hope that refuses to ignore the cries of those in need.

Let us commit today to examine our own vineyards. Where have we been content with wild grapes when God expects the sweet fruit of His kingdom? Where have we been satisfied with righteousness that merely sounds right while our neighbors cry out for true justice? The time for such half-measures is over.

Going Forth as Fruitful Branches

As we leave this place, may we go as branches pruned and ready to bear good fruit. May we sow seeds of justice and reap harvests of righteousness. May we be willing to endure the refining fire that transforms us into the disciples Christ calls us to be, even when that transformation brings division, even when it costs us comfort.

For we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. The same God who tends the vineyard, who sent his Son as the True Vine, will complete the good work He has begun in us. We are pruned for purpose – God’s purpose of bringing His kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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[i] The history of the phrase is interesting. You can learn more about it at: This Day in Quotes: Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. March 3, 2025 Robert Deis, retrieved 8/14/2025 – https://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2025/03/comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the-comfortable/

[ii] For a list of common metaphors for God, and their use, see: “Metaphors for God: Exploring Grammatical and Theological Dimensions.” 2025. Metaphors. English Thrive, June 14. https://englishthrive.com/metaphors-for-god/

[iii] See the Parable of the Sower, Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-15. Taken with a spin on Galatians 6:7-8, we will reap what we sow – like for like – but the quantity isn’t determined.