Jesus offers Himself to be pruned (John 15:2). In other words, Jesus takes our fruitfulness personally. That which is not bearing fruit is cut away, and that which does bear fruit is optimized by the words from Jesus' mouth (John 15:3).
What I love about this passage is how oddly warm it is. Despite talk of being thrown in the fire, I don't particularly feel scared by that prospect. Instead, I think of the idea of remaining and how transformative remaining could be.
When I was in college, my best friend was deployed to Iraq. And as soon as we got off the phone for the last time, I broke down. It couldn't handle it. This was the only friend of mine who was deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. And I was a wreck. This was my best friend, a guy I've known since elementary school. My roommate did something I thought would be humiliating. He called my friends, and we met in the common area of my dorm. And I just sat there, as a wreck, knowing my best friend was boarding a plane to one of the more dangerous places in Iraq for several months. And they remained. They heard my absurdities, sat in silence, and watched me walk through that painful moment. And it wasn't even embarassing, not even a little. Despite my shame, which could have overwhelmed me, I remained. Despite the discomfort of sitting with a 19-year old sobbing, they remained. And I went through. I was being pruned in that moment- allowing all of my fears to be experessed through tears and the occasional pounded pillow cushion.
Jesus remains with us in our pruning. In fact, if we read the passage correctly, when I feel like I am being hacked to ribbon by shame and fear and whatever else is there, it's Jesus who is going through the process. It seems like Jesus doesn't just sit with me, Jesus bears the brunt of it for me. I don't know how that words, maybe that's the peace that passes understanding. All I know is that it makes a difference for me knowing that when I feel the pain, Jesus is going through the pruning.
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