Sermon, Quinquagesima Sunday (Sunday preceding LENT) 19 Feb 2023 A.D.
the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
Note to our Readers: Allegory & Metaphor
Allegory is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal. Allegory teaches a lesson through symbolism. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation. Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric, but an allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in realistic painting, sculpture or some other form of mimetic, or representative art. Simply put, an allegory is a device that can be presented in literary form, such as a poem or novel, or in visual form, such as in painting or sculpture. As a literary device, an allegory in its most general sense is an extended metaphor.
(see allegorical art on backside of today’s bulletin [below]).
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matthew 7:15-16)
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every 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. 3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide 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. 5I 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. 6If 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. 7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17These things I command you, that ye love one another. (John 15:1-17; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
The metaphors and allegory in these passages are similar in type to those of John 10…I am the Door… I am the Good Shepherd….
Vs 7b…Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
Vs 11b.. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep
The sermon text today is a beautiful metaphorical narrative of who we are in Christ.
We have given us in this passage the Vine, the Husbandman (Vineyard Keeper), the branches of the Vine, and the Fruit.
Each of these are metaphorical representations of something more sublime than the physical element it describes. It has a higher and more spiritual meaning to us.
Christ uses parables, metaphors, symbols, and types to describe to us something that our unenlightened minds cannot easily conceive. He finds it efficacious to speak to us from the known to the unknown – a cardinal principle in teaching.
Let’s examine together the nature of the elements of this narrative by Christ and see how those elements relate to us:
- The VINE: I am the true vine
What is it that gives life to the Vine’s branches and produces fruit?
It is the life-giving sap produced by the Vine and delivered through the
Vine to the branches.
We may have been a plant of a totally different nature until our Husbandman cut us from the old brier plant, or poisoned vine and tenderly grafted us into the Vine itself that produces fruit and Wine.
In the science of gardening, there is a cardinal principle regarding grafting: The deeper the graft, the better the branch adapts to the source of life. If it is a shallow graft, the branch will be deficient in the vine-sap provided by the Vine. As Christians, we must plant our hearts deep in the source of Living Waters which is the Word of God.
Christ is the Life-Producing Vine. We are not the natural branches, but the grafted in branches. We are not natural sons and daughters of God, but His sons and daughters through adoption.
It is amazing to realize that natural sons and daughters must be accepted by the parent without distinction, however, those who are adopted into the family of the Father are chosen in particular. You have been especially chosen to become the sons and daughters of God.
When we were yet a wilting branches, the Gardener took us up and cut our stems and grafted us into His Son.
- The HUSBANDMAN: …….my Father is the husbandman.
It is God the Father who selects, separates, judges and nourishes through His only Begotten Son, Jesus.
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.
If the bark covering our branch becomes damaged, sap may escape. But the sap from the open wound will dry into a covering for the wound and we are healed. The injured scar becomes our strongest point.
The Gardener uses trials and tribulations of life to make us stronger.
Our natures become One with the Vine itself – not because of our own merit, but because of His Life-Giving Grace.
3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
III. The BRANCHES
Romans 4:
9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
It is by the indwelling of Christ that we are sanctified and made righteous – His righteousness!
No one can observe the life being created in the branch – it all happens in secret and through the internal workings of the sap delivering Vine.
4Abide 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
It is not the branch that produces Fruit – it is the Vine which supplies the nourishment required to produce the fruit. If the branch is a strong conveyance of the life it receives, the furit will be healthy and beautiful.
9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Being fed by that same Life which Christ conveys, we must become like Him in every possible respect. If we fail in this, it must not be because we did not try very hard to be like unto Him. We must bear the same fruit He has borne in us.
11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
His JOY! His Life, His Holy Spirit, His Fruit-producing LOVE!
The Christian cannot abide outside Christ no more than the branch can abide outside the Vine. If we are separated from our source of Life, we begin to wilt and die immediately.
13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
There we see the Good Teacher reiterating important truths as in John 10 – I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Did Christ lay down His Life for YOU?
14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
How many deceived TV ministers have you heard proclaim: “I am a Slave of God!”?
God has no slaves, or even servants. Slaves and servants cannot chose to follow their Master. They follow by force.
Christ has made us better than servants and slaves – He has made us His Friends. A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Prov 18:24
16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
So you have believed that you have chosen Christ. I hope you have done so, but please understand that He has chosen you first and foremost. He has chosen you for a purpose, and He has ordained (empowered & authorized) you to produce fruit through His own Life-Giving Springs of Life.
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you
Do not misinterpret this last part of the verse 16: He doesn’t assure that whatsoever things we ask for, we shall have. He assures us that whatsoever things we ask in His Name (by His authority) we shall receive.
How many misconstrue this principle of the Gospel? God’s Will will always be done in the life of a Christian, so when we pray for the things that Christ would authorize, it shall come to pass. “Thy will be done”
And here is the Crown Royal of the Gospel from the lips of Christ:
17These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Note again the exact meaning of this new Commandment-
These things I command you
What things? The things Jesus has described in the above passages. If we abide in Him, and He in us, we SHALL love one another!
The easy Gospel lightly passes over shadows of deeper meaning. But God intents the Fullness of the Gospel to be our rule of life.
Is it for YOU?
