Radical Grip

Roots That Last

⁴ Remain in me, and I will 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. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:4-6)

We've been talking for the last few weeks about being radical believers—and by that we mean believers who are rooted in Christ, believers who are completely different from the world (and even from typical church people). The word "radical" comes from the Latin radicalis, which meant "from the root." A radical believer has deep roots—a solid, deep connection with Jesus.

If you've missed any of these messages, you can hear them or read the notes at the church website. Three weeks ago we talked about radical renewal; then radical character; last week it was radical faith. Today I want to talk about the radical grip we need if we want to be a radical believer—roots in Christ that remain firm; roots that won't let go no matter what winds may blow, no matter what storms may rage; roots that give life even in the dry times.

My wife recently read a book called "The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl" by Timothy Egan. Much of the story was about Dalhart, TX, where we lived for several years. Egan tells how severe drought came in the 1930s after farmers broke up the sod. With no roots to hold the soil in place, the dirt blew away.
They had what they called "black blizzards"—towering walls of dirt and wind that suffocated people unfortunate enough to be caught outside when they hit. Even 50 years later after the worst was over and we lived there, we still saw how the brutal the wind could be blowing across the high plains of the flat TX Panhandle. I had never seen wind gusts of 100 mph until I moved there. I had never seen roads drifted over by dust and dirt—like we see snow drifts across the roads after a blizzard. I had never before seen rain falling through a dust storm and leaving splotches of red mud all over your car. Soil needs roots to keep from blowing away.

Drought with no roots spells trouble. Dry times and no roots are a bad combination. It's the same with us in our spiritual lives. We need deep roots—especially to survive the hard times of life.

We have a promise in this passage: If we remain in Jesus, he'll remain in us (v1). If we live our lives in him, he'll live his life through us. If we remain connected to Jesus, his spiritual life will flow through us. If we remain tapped into him, his resources will produce fruit through our lives.

Consider this: Jesus promised to give his followers a full and abundant life (John 10:10). So if our lives seem less than abundant, whose fault is that? Is it Jesus' fault because he doesn't deliver on his promises? Is it because there's a shortage of heavenly resources? Is it because his supply has run out? Is it because our problems are bigger than he can handle?

No! Jesus promised abundant life; he wants to give us abundant life; he has what it takes to give us abundant life. Jesus wants us to live large and be victorious, no matter what happens or what may come our way.

We can face any situation; we can deal with any problem; we can handle any setback. The Bible says he has given us "everything we need for life and godliness" (2 Pet 1:3); "everything we need to live and serve God (NCV).

So if we're not experiencing an abundant life in Christ, and we know it's not his fault, what is the problem? Well, to put it bluntly, we are. God gives us everything we need through Jesus, but it's up to us to keep rooted in him, drawing on his life and vitality.

In other words, we must remain in him! We must be connected Christians. We must deepen our roots in Christ. Otherwise the abundant life can get choked out. Instead of a healthy life in Christ—growing and producing abundant fruit—you'll have a withered spirit.

A weak connection to Jesus will lead to a withered spirit (v6)! Your spiritual vitality and spiritual fruitfulness depend on an unbroken link to Jesus.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers... (John 15:6)

Someone says, "Well, I'd like to stay connected to Jesus, but it's not easy! I'm dealing with too many problems. You don't know what it's like to go through what I'm going through. I'm barely hanging on by a thread—so there's not much abundant life getting through to me."

And you're right: I don't know what it's like for you. I couldn't possibly know.

But I do know something, and that is this: Jesus never intended for you to have a withered spirit; he intended for you to live an abundant life. Whatever it is that threatens to shake you from your commitment, whatever tries to disconnect you from your life in Christ, all those problems and troubles and trials are intended to increase your grip on Jesus, not weaken it.

A number of years ago, pilot Henry Dempsey was flying a small commuter jet from Portland, ME to Boston when he heard an unusual noise from the rear of the plane. He turned controls over to his co-pilot and went to investigate. As he did, the plane hit an air pocket and tossed Henry against the read door. That's when he discovered the source of the noise—the rear door had not been properly latched at the airport, and it flew open, sucking Dempsey out of the plane.
The co-pilot saw the "door ajar" warning lights and radioed the nearest airport for an emergency landing. He reported where Dempsey had fallen out and requested a helicopter search of that area of the ocean.
What the co-pilot didn't know was that as Dempsey was sucked out of the plane at 4,000 feet, he had grabbed hold of the plane's ladder. For 10 minutes traveling at 200 mph, Henry Dempsey held on. Then when the plane touched down, he managed to keep his head from hitting the runway, just 12 inches away. In fact, he had held on so tightly that even after the plane taxied to a stop, he couldn't let go. They said, "It's okay, Henry. You're safe now, you can let go of the ladder," but he couldn't let go. It took airport personnel several minutes to pry Dempsey's fingers loose from the ladder. [Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, Craig Brian Larson (Baker Book House: 1993), p 114.]

That's how it should be with us. We need a tight grip when troubles come—especially when troubles come. There will inevitably be days when you hit turbulence in life—really bad days when the warning lights flash, when you're about to fall, when something really hard comes at you at 200 mph. Problems and troubles should increase your grip on Jesus, not weaken it!

I can tell you this about the Christian life—about the abundant life: following Christ does not mean you will never have hard times. It doesn't mean that everything will always go the way you want. It doesn't mean that you will live a carefree, problem-free existence. Far from it!

In fact, that's why we need to stay connected to Jesus—to remain in the vine...to maintain deep roots. So we can weather the storms and make it through the droughts.

Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33).

You will face storms in life—troubles, hardships, problems. There also be dry times—periods of spiritual drought and frustration, times that stretch your soul, times that sap your energy and your strength, times that drain your will-power and your determination.

Sooner or later troubles come into every person's life. The question is not, "Why me?" The question is, "Why not me?" It happens to everyone.

Take a poll around this room. Even those who seem to have a charmed life have faced disappointment of one sort or another. All have felt (or will someday feel) sorrow, grief, pain, loss, discouragement. Your trouble will not be the same as others, but you'll feel it just the same. Some have health problems. Others have hopes and dreams dashed. Still others suffer through divorce...or tragedy...or financial loss...or because of their children's problems.

After we accept the reality that troubles are part of the curse of this world, the question is not "Why me?" but "How will I survive when storms come? When dry times blow into my life? How will I handle a drought of the soul?"

( To prepare for life's inevitable difficulties, put roots down deep into Christ. You will not wither when you have deep connections to Christ. You can survive even the most difficult of times when you tap into God's deep resources. You can experience more and more of the abundant life. How?

1. Soak in God's Word. Live in God's promises, in his truths. Jesus is called the "Word of life" (1 John 1:1); he gives abundant life.

David wrote that a man who delights in God's law "is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalms 1:3).

We have a choice: we can wither or we can have abundant life.

2. Trust in God. Put your faith and confidence in the Lord.

Jeremiah used similar words as David when he wrote that a man who trusts in the Lord "will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream" (Jer 17:8). Learning to place our confidence in God gives us roots to survive in dry times—even to thrive in them. Jeremiah said that a tree planted by the water "does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit" (Jer 17:8)

I like that: no fears, no worries, never failing—even when the heat and the drought come—because our trust is in God, not in the weatherman. (I have nothing against George Koessler, but...) We don't have to worry storms or drought because God has the power and resources to sustain us through them all.

3. Remove the rocks. We all have those rocky areas within our souls—characteristics of a hard heart: sin, rebellion, selfishness, independence, doubt, resistance to God.

⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root... ²⁰ The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away (Matt 13:5-6,20-21).

If you want to survive when trouble or persecution comes, then you cannot hold on to hard rocks in your soul. You need to remove the rocks by confessing your spiritual problem and asking for forgiveness.

4. Keep growing. Continue to nourish and develop your life in Christ, to expand your thinking, to give space for your roots.

Some people are like potted plants—they get stuck in a small place where their roots cannot go deep. Root-bound Christians become spiritually cramped; their "small place" restricts their potential to mature and produce a harvest.

We can be spiritually cramped in several ways:

Small thinking. This is where we limit what God wants to do because our minds cannot conceive what is possible. Paul tells us that God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Eph 3:20).

He also tells us that we must not live like unbelievers who live "in the futility of their thinking... darkened in their understanding" (Eph 4:17-18). Instead he says we should "be made new in the attitude of your minds" (Eph 4:23).

We need to keep growing in the way we think so we will not be root-bound—spiritually cramped.

Small faith. Over 50 years ago (1952), J.B. Phillips wrote a book: "Your God Is Too Small," which argued that we often have distorted views of God, misconceptions of how he really desires to work within us. So we question God; we wonder about his mysterious ways; we wrestle with skepticism—and that leaves us spiritually cramped and root-bound.

We're like the man who said to Jesus, "If you can do anything..." and Jesus replied "If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes" (Mark 9:22-23). We should pray what that man prayed: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

Small commitment. Or we could say: small response or small ministry. We cramp what God wants to do in us when we do not follow whole-heartedly, when we do not obey what we know to do.

"...But those who do what is right bear good fruit because of their deep roots" (Prov 12:12, NIrV). In other words, expanding your ministry commitment requires expanding your roots.

RESPONSE...

Are you prepared for the dry times? Some survive, but are you able to thrive in times of drought? Are you still growing in Jesus? Are your troubles increasing your grip in him? Do you have a radical grip?