Fruit that Lasts

 I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. John 15:16

To frame our time this week thinking about fruitfulness, listen to these words that we heard yesterday in the service:

We have been called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness." ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen

Our culture is obsessed with being successful and productive and accomplished. Admit it, you love those three things! (And so do I - Bill, speaking here) . But those are different than fruitfulness. They are different from flourishing.

If you’ve never listened to Brene Brown’s famous TED talk, would you be willing to make some time for it this week? It lays out the direct connection between vulnerability and personal flourishing - it’s really hard to have one without the other. This is exactly the kind of fruit that Jesus is talking about here in John 15 - true and deep growth in ourselves and then participating with Christ in the true and deep growth of others. Stop and think for a moment - isn’t that what you long for, more than winning, accumulating, and appearing successful to others?

Ask God for the grace to go on the journey this week with Jesus towards bearing fruit - and not just any fruit, but the kind of fruit that lasts not just in this world but all the way into the next.