This past weekend, I had the privilege of participating and sharing at my son’s ordination service. Although the sermon was directed for him and his family, the message is for all Christians. I have modified it and generalized it to make it applicable for us all.

Jesus tells us in John 15:16: ^“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”

On the day after Jesus spoke these words to the eleven and each of us, He laid Himself down on the Cross and bought us with His blood. As His child and servant, we are now His fruit and His fruit-bearers. The only fruit that will ever endure for eternity is the fruit that grows out of the Cross. Jesus said in John 12:23-24, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

We are Christ’s fruit because He died for us. In essence, we are now His fruit-bearers if we are willing to take up our cross and die with Him. It is no accident that when Jesus had commanded us to go and bear fruit, He went and died. Our call and service must always stand in the shadow of the Cross of Christ. The only fruit that will last is the fruit that grows on that Cross, a life given for the Gospel.

Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” This is a call to salvation, but it is also a call upon those whom He sets apart to ministry. But why did He say, “You did not choose me”? He did not drag them into His service kicking and screaming. He does not hold them with bit and bridle. They are not looking for ways to escape from His ministry. So what does it mean?

In choosing us, God takes the responsibility to provide all we need to fulfil the task to which we have been called. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” If He chose us for the work, then we can be sure He will provide His power to make us fruitful. So for all of us, this is God’s charge. Just as He chose each of us to be His child, we must trust Him to work in and through us in reaching the world.

Jesus says, “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit.” Three questions need to be addressed. First, what is this fruit? Second, how should we accomplish this task? And, third, to what end should it be pursued?

So let me address the first question: “What does it mean to bear fruit” What is the fruit you are called to bear, or more accurately, what fruit must you bear? I think fruit is a broad term and embraces two things: love for people and the salvation of sinners. If you bear fruit, you love people and win people to Christ.

For Jesus, it is all about love. The picture in John 15:1-2 is that Christ is like a vine, and you are like a branch shooting off this vine. And God the Father is like the vinedresser who prunes back the branches so they bear the most fruit. Since the fruit is simply the out-forming of what has passed through the branch from the vine, we should ask, “What is it that we receive from the vine?”

Jesus’ answer is love. Remaining connected to Jesus means abiding in His love. As Jesus goes on in verse 9, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” It is important to note that Jesus’ words change in His call to the disciples. In verse 4, He says, “Remain in me” whereas in verse 9 it says, “Remain in my love.” This shows what we receive when we are united in the vine. We receive love. It then stands to reason that what we receive through the vine, flows through the branch and results in the fruit of love for the nourishment and refreshment of other people.

Now, there is another way to see the same thing. We can also conclude that if you are not bearing fruit, you are not remaining in the vine. And in verse 6, the result is, the branch is cut off and thrown in the fire. So, the sign of being in the vine of Christ’s love is we must bear fruit. It is not an option.

There is an exact parallel to that thought in verse 10: “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love…” Obedience produces fruit. If we ask what this commandment is about, the answer again is simply love. Verse 12 says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” and reinforced in verse 17, “This is my command: Love each other.”

We can then conclude that love is fulfilling the commands of Jesus. Fulfilling the commands of Jesus is at least part of what it means to bear fruit. Bearing fruit means loving other people. It means letting the love which we constantly receive from Christ as we remain in Him flow through us and out to others for their benefit.

But I think the term “fruit” in this gospel is very broad and also includes the making of new disciples. In John 4:35-36, Jesus says, “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.”

In the mind of Christ, I believe these two meanings of fruit-bearing are merged into one. If the fruit is the out-cropping of the love of Christ in our lives for the nourishment and refreshment of others, then the benefits and results received from that fruit would be the conversion of sinners. Remember Jesus’ words in John 13:34-35 when said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The most powerful witness we can give is the reality of love. So the fruitfulness of obedient love and the fruitfulness of winning people to Christ are not two different things. They are one. And that is the aim of our lives.

The second question that Jesus answers here about fruit-bearing is how it can be accomplished. We are “how” people. Most of us are task-focused and look at ways to accomplish them. The answer Jesus gives, which is repeated ten times, is “Remain”. It is about being connected to Jesus, the true vine.

Nothing we do will have eternal value unless you do it through a conscious, dependence on Christ working in and through you. We all need to make it our aim for the rest of our lives to discover an ever-deeper experience of what it means to remain in Christ. It is the secret of all fruitfulness.

There are several pointers in the text that help us discover what this means in practice. One is in verse 7: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Remaining in Christ involves letting His words remain in us. This is the Word remaining in you and meditating on it in prayer. This is the first and decisive line of battle in our lives.

The study of God’s Word and prayerful meditation to allow that Word to sink in, are important for all Christians. This must be the main thing in order for the Word to sink in and remain in you. For the Word to be believed, cherished and transformational in our lives so it results in spilling out in our actions, immersion in the Word is a necessity.

All of us, especially pastors, often complain about busyness. But I think if we care about people and wish to see fruit, it is important that God’s Word and prayer are the foundation and priority of our service.

Almost no one will be a spiritually fruitful person if they are not spending time in prayer and the Word. Holy, powerful, life-changing spiritual men and women of God are not made on the run rather they are a work in progress. Any expectation of fruitfulness in our lives is only a result of your devotion and focus on the Lord. Christ has appointed you to go and bear fruit. So be bold in your pursuit of God.

Christ’s love for me is His commitment to give me, right now and forever, everything that is good for me. Therefore, remaining in His love means receiving from His loving hand all things that are necessary and good for me. It means never doubting that He is working out His good in me and to rest in His love.

For many, the ministry is seen as burdensome and there is truth in that statement. But there is also great freedom and confidence in the ministry. That freedom and confidence come from God so that wherever we are or whatever we do, we know that the Lord of all, loves us.

He is faithful and will provide all you need to fulfil the task to which you have been called. Believing that and acting on it is what it means to remain in the love of Christ. And if you do these things, you will bear much fruit.