From Matt Pethybridge

Christmas Tree Christianity

ABIDE IN THE VINE

Not far from where I live, there is a real, proper Christmas tree farm. Every year, people go out, choose between hundreds of identical trees, smell the pine, pick their favourite to chop down and tie it to the roof of their car; it's a whole experience.

Me, on the other hand? I have always firmly been a plastic Christmas tree kind of guy. It's cleaner, it's easier to store in the box, and it looks perfect every single time.

But both real trees and plastic trees have something in common. Once decorated, they might look full of life, all bright and colourful. But biologically? They're both dead. The lights, the baubles, the star and all the ornaments are tied on from the outside. They don't grow organically from the inside of the tree.

I think a lot of us live "Christmas Tree Christianity."" We try to tie on ornaments to make us look like we're full of healthy Christian life. We try to tie patience to our temper. We try to tie joy to our despair. We try to decorate our lives with Christian behaviours so that we look like we are growing.

But in John 15:5 (NIV), Jesus gives us a very different image. He says:

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing….""

Notice, Jesus doesn't say "decorate yourself." He says, " remain connected to the vine.""

Any farmer who grows grapevines knows that there's a fascinating concept called root pressure. They know that if they prune a grapevine late in the winter, the branch will actually start to profusely bleed sap - sometimes litres of it - out of the cut.

Why does this happen? Because even before leaves appear, the life in the roots is so abundant, powerful and pressurised that it pushes upward with incredible force, looking for any place it can burst out.

We often imagine that the branches have to suck or pull the life out of the vine in order to make grapes, but actually, the opposite is true: The vine is doing the work, pushing the life up and into every branch to produce grapes.

Here's the lesson: The vine is actually bursting to produce fruit; it is just looking for a branch to flow through.

The same is true for us.

Real spiritual fruits, like love, joy, and peace, aren't merely ornaments that we tie onto our lives through effort. They are the inevitable result of the Holy Spirit pushing his life through us.

Reflection

• How is God speaking to you through this Scripture today?
• Are you exhausted from decorating dead branches, or are you resting in the living vine?

Prayer

Jesus, thank you that your life is stronger than our effort. Today, we choose to stop struggling and simply stay connected to you. Let your life flow through us, and may we see much fruit bursting out in our lives. Amen.