[Jesus said,] “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”
(John 15:1-2 NLT)
When we get the first autumn frost, I think of persimmons. We had a small tree in Indiana. Woe to any kid who ate one too early. They were hard and dry and produced major cotton mouth. Blech!
Persimmons might hang there for months, but they didn’t ripen until the first hard frost. Then the fruit would soften up, and it was super-sweet. Yum!
Farmers know that, like persimmons and like the grape vine in Jesus’ parable, many plants produce their best fruit with a little stress or a little pruning. Otherwise, the plant puts too much effort into producing wood and stem, and not enough into bearing fruit.
As Jesus points out, the church can get a little wooden from time to time, too. We get caught up in doing lots of stuff, including some very good stuff, but we are no longer bearing much fruit. We waste our energy and time doing things that don’t grow the church.
We are in a season of pruning at Mosinee UMC, trimming here and there so we can be more fruitful. This is the first of our smaller newsletters. We are switching to a smaller, leaner Leadership Committee to guide the church. And we will be looking at the programs and ministries we do in year ahead – comparing them to our mission, asking “does this bear fruit?,” and trimming some to focus on others.
A little stress accompanies this trimming, but growth and fruit are guaranteed to follow. As Jesus promises, “Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit” (John 15:5)! Bear with us, and get ready to grow!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Park