Love Train: Conjunction Junction

Pastor Jeff Jaynes

May 17, 2009
Southern Hills UMC, Tulsa, OK
Schoolhouse Rock
--how many remember that wonder of children's educational programming:
Schoolhouse Rock?
--if you grew up in the 70's or 80's, or had a child in those years, you probably
watched it
--even some into the 90's...and, I hear they are doing a new series on Earth this year
--Schoolhouse Rock began as a fun way to teach kids basics
--multiplication tables, grammar, etc.
--my generation--children of the Rock and Roll Baby Boomers--rocked out and
learned at same time
--we learned how a bill becomes law in "I'm Just a Bill"
--went to the solar system with "Interplanet Janet"
--and we learned grammar at "Conjunction Junction"

Love Train: Conjunction Junction

--so today our Love Train is going to stop at Conjunction Junction for a little review
--look at what a conjunction is, how it relates to us, how it relates to today's
Scripture
--yes, that's right, we're going to connect trains, vines, and us all in 30 minutes or
less
--that's what we do at conjunction junction, after all
--connect things together
--to do this, I'm going to need three volunteers at first...more later

Conjunction Junction
--in the 3 minute episode called "Conjunction Junction," Schoolhouse Rock taught
kids grammar
--specifically what a conjunction is...anybody know?
--examples...And...But...Or
volunteers hold up signs
--examples in congregation...spouses, families, comparisons
--conjunctions hold people together (and), give choices (or), or offer contrast (but)
--of course, all of these can be important in our life
--my uncle always tells me I need to use the conjunction "but" more when I play
golf
--that was a horrible shot...but at least I get to walk through these beautiful
trees, etc.
--choose healthy food or junk food
--and of course there's and...this is how we know couples, how we group people
and other things
--I don't know about you, but and is probably my most often used conjunction
--features most prominently in the schoolhouse rock video too..."words and phrases
and clauses"
--and and, not surprisingly, is probably most important for Christians too
but and or can sit down, leave signs

Vine and Branches

--after all, Jesus doesn't tell us he is the vine but we are the branches
 --not confused about vine or the branches
--he is the vine and we are the branches
--in fact, starts earlier than that, saying he is the vine and the Father is the
vinegrower
--whole vineyard is the Father's, and each branch is connected to Father through
the Son--vine
--Father and Son and Holy Spirit--all connected, all interwoven
--and, through the saving grace of the Son that we can be connected to this vine
--Christ tells us in John that if we abide in him--stay in him, remain with him--we
are his branches
--if we hold tight to him, he will hold tight to us
--connected to the Son of God, and through him to whole of Trinity
--Jesus and ________, Jesus and ________, Jesus and ________, Jesus and ________, etc.

Focus on Fruit
--often that's the focus of preaching on this passage
--how we are connected to Jesus
--especially in churches that emphasize personal relationship with Jesus
--nothing wrong with that...important--crucial--to have a personal relationship with
Jesus
--we need to stay connected with the one who gives us life, otherwise we will die
--like a branch disconnected from the vine--cut off and not able to get proper
nutrients
--it's important to talk about our personal relationships with Jesus
--that's, in a way, what we did last week, when we talked about obeying and
walking with Christ
--but this passage looks beyond the branches, doesn't it?
--it looks at what's at the end of the branches...the fruit
--it looks at the function of the branch...to bear fruit
--what is a grapevine without grapes? not good for grape juice, no wine, no grape
jelly

"What's Your Function?"

--the chorus for "Conjunction Junction" asks, "What's your function?"
--teaching element for the function of a conjunction (the function of "and" is to
connect)
--just as the function of a branch is to connect to the vine so that fruit might result
--not much point in a grapevine that doesn't produce grapes
--same goes for a train...what is the function of a train?
--the train goes from Oklahoma to the West Coast so that our wheat might go
abroad
--the train goes from Wyoming to Oklahoma so that we might have coal
--not much point if they never stop, is there?
--if there's no fruit from the journey?
--same is true for us and our faith

Fruit is Function of Faith

--the function of our faith, of our connection to Christ, is to bear fruit
--Christ tells us that clearly in this passage from John
--the branches that don't bear fruit are removed from the vine and thrown away
--they obviously have poor connections to the vine, because they bear no fruit
 --if we abide in Christ, if we have a strong connection to the vine as its branches, we
will bear fruit
--that makes God happy...if we have a strong connection, and if we bear fruit

What does that mean? (1 John)

--but what does that mean? that we should all plant vineyards? start gardens?
--what does it mean for us to bear fruit?
--for that we turn from John to 1 John
--1 John 4 in many ways explains this metaphor from John's Gospel
--as Jesus said he is the vine and the father the vinegrower
--1 John says that God is love, and that love is shown in the life of the Son
--we connect to the Son--and thus to the Father--through our love
--if we love, we live through the Son, and connect to God who is love
--just as branches connect to a vine which makes up the vineyard
--but look carefully at the end of the branch in 1 John
--he tells us "since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another"
--in fact, in one way or another, this short passage tells us several times to love one
another
--v. 7, v. 11, v. 12, v.21
--and it tells us if we don't love our brothers and sisters (v. 20) we cannot love God
--we cannot be connected to the vine if our branch doesn't bear fruit
--what this means is that our function is to love God and love our neighbor
--stay connected to the vine in love for God, but channel that love outward to our
neighbors
--in doing so, connect them to the vine as well
--connect them to Christ

Who connected you?

--take a few moments and think about your own life
--who connected you to the vine? who was the "and" in your life that tied you to
Christ?
--Jesus and _________ and ___________
--or who connected you to this church?
--Howard and Ruby connected Larry and Wendy...they were the conjunction for that
couple
--who was your conjunction? who was the branch that connected you?
--or, better yet, who is your fruit? who have you connected to the church, or to
Christ himself?
--how have you been a conjunction to your neighbors, to your brothers and sisters,
in love

That's Our Function

--after all, that's our function, here at Conjunction Junction
--to constantly be connecting to others, to our neighbors, to those in need of
connection to the vine
--like the operator at the railyard, we are to be constantly connecting the cars
around us
--like branches on the vine, we are to stay connected ourselves, but connect with a
purpose
--connect so that we bear fruit and make disciples

The Unconnected
 --friends, there are many in our world who are not connected to the vine
--they don't know the nourishment that comes from God's love in their life
--they are fellow passengers on the train of life
--they are those we hang out with, those who live next door, or in the next room
--they are our neighbors, and our brothers and sisters
--Christ is calling us to reach out to them, to connect to them, to love them
--this is how we bear fruit, this is our "function" that we connect others to the love of
God
--as a church, we are always trying to find new ways to bear fruit, to connect the
unconnected
--to become the connection they need to find Christ and his love
--how are you bearing fruit in your own life?
--how are you connecting to those who you hang out with?
--I pray that you might become a conjunction, a point of connection, of intersection,
for Christ

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.