Devotion of the Week
May 28, 2005
By: Rev. Wade Arp, Pastor
First United Methodist Church
London, Kentucky

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:1-2 NIV)

In our almost 4 years at London First UMC, my wife Teri and I have had some opportunities to do some gardening and landscaping around the parsonage and the church. We very much enjoy gardening and landscaping for the fun that it is; plus it is a great metaphor for what we do as pastors/leaders in the church. Anyway, we have found more than a few occasions to get our hands dirty working with the plants just around our house. And we have enjoyed every minute of it!

In particular, we have had a lot of experience with Day Lilies and Iris. Both Lilies and Iris are perennials and have striking foliage and beautiful blooms. These plants also have a way of spreading quickly to other areas of the garden because they multiply themselves quickly. And that allows them to cover a lot of ground. And this is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is good because if there is any empty space, these prolific perennials quickly fill it in and you have more foliage and blooms. It is bad because if there isn't any empty space these plants quickly become stifled and less productive.

Teri and I have discovered that when the Day Lilies and Iris get too crowded the only thing to do is to dig them up, thin them out, and replant them all. You might call this "pruning" the plants. When the plants get too crowded, we dig them up and literally jam out fingers into the roots / rhizomes and pull them apart. Sometimes the roots / rhizomes are so entwined and so hard to separate that gentle pulls quickly turn into violent rips. And then the plants, the dirt, and the sweat really starts to fly! It is quite a sight to see!

Finally, once all of the formerly entwined roots / rhizomes are completely separated, then the soil is prepared and the plants reintroduced to the earth. And the amazing thing is that the very next season, these roots / rhizomes that were pruned (in some cases violently pulled apart) produce beautiful foliage and flowers. It doesn't take them 2,3 or 5 years to recover from being pruned. They rebound the very next season. And then they begin to proliferate and spread into any empty spaces around them. The process starts all over again. It is amazing to watch. And it is a reminder that God's design for life, plants as well as ours, is to grow, thrive, and make an impact on all the emptiness of the world that surrounds us! Jesus calls us to go and make disciples; to take a dark and empty world and fill it up with the light and love of Jesus…and invite others to do the same. But go one more step with me…

Sometimes in life we get down and discouraged because some aspect of our lives seems to have been literally ripped away. For example:
--Maybe we are moving to a new location and we are not happy about it.
--Maybe something long-awaited that we worked really hard for doesn't materialize and we are crushed.
--Maybe we get some bad news from work that we did not expect.

There are lots of ways where we can feel ripped apart in life. But rather than get bitter or discouraged, why not allow for the possibility that God is pruning you so that you can grow even better than before.

It may be that some areas of your life are being pulled apart (pruned) so that you can thrive and grow in ways that you could not otherwise. Or maybe you yourself are being transplanted to a new area (geographically) or to a new phase of life. And maybe, the only way that you can thrive and multiply your influence is to be moved into a new place in life.

Even though these times of pruning or transplanting may be painful I am struck that Jesus says, God does this for a reason. The Father, as a master gardener, wants us to thrive and produce all that we can. So, if we produce some, God prunes us so that we produce even more. That is part of His plan. Further, this is how we honor Jesus: This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:8 NIV)

Go and bear much fruit. Grow and thrive like God wants you do. And in all things, honor Christ.