John 15:1-17
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of
coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in
the life?
How about love?”
These
are the opening lyrics from the song, “Season of Love” from the play Rent.
Ultimately, this song is asking how we use our time; our talents; our treasure.
How do we find purpose and meaning in our life?
In
some ways, these lyrics parallel Jesus’ words in today’s passage. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you
remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” Jesus is calling us to bear fruit. He is
calling us to invest our lives in those around us. And he is asking us how we
will measure our fruit.
But life can be long and difficult at times. It is
hard to invest in others all the time. People are so frustrating. Jesus gives
us a hint of how to be consistent in bearing fruit. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by
itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you
remain in me.”
To use another metaphor, bearing fruit is not an
individual sport. It’s a team sport. A player on a team needs to listen to the
coach, do what they say; not just to get playing time, but to be a better
player, to help the team win. To produce fruit we must remain in the vine.
To bear fruit doesn’t require you to be a pastor or
a missionary. As my pastor says each week, “We are all ministers”. We are
ministers not just when we do church activities, but at work, at home, driving
in the car, talking to the neighbor or even going through the drive through at
McDonalds.
“525,600 minutes!
525,000 journeys to plan.
525,600 minutes.
How can you measure the life of a woman or man?”
That’s a lot of minutes to do
something with. What will you do with your minutes this year, or today for that
matter? How do you measure a year in your life?
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