A Vineyard I Didn't Plant

Last month I attended a weekend intensive of Vineyard Leadership Institute (VLI). Dr. Don Williams, the instructor, began commenting on a passage in Deuteronomy where Moses is speaking to Israel about a promise the Lord had made to them. One of these promises was that the Lord would give the Israelites vineyards that they had not planted themselves.

Deuteronomy 6:10-13
The LORD promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you this land. Now he will take you there and give you large towns, with good buildings that you didn't build, and houses full of good things that you didn't put there. The LORD will give you wells that you didn't have to dig, and vineyards and olive orchards that you didn't have to plant. But when you have eaten so much that you can't eat any more, don't forget it was the LORD who set you free from slavery and brought you out of Egypt. Worship and obey the LORD your God with fear and trembling, and promise that you will be loyal to him.

When I heard Dr. Williams read this passage it suddenly occurred to me that the Lord had given me a Vineyard I didn't plant. Let me explain. With a little play-on-words I pictured the vineyard as being our church, Vineyard Boise, and the planting being the church plant in Boise several years ago. At first I laughed at my personal interpretation, but I must confess that I tuned out the lecture for a while and pondered about the significance of this concept. It is, in fact, very relevant for most of us in the church. The Lord has truly blessed us with a fruitful Vineyard that we did not plant ourselves.

For me and my family, the Vineyard is an incredible blessing from the Lord. For many years our family searched for a healthy church. We defined "healthy" as “believing the right things (sound doctrine) and then practicing them (authentic discipleship)”. Unfortunately, we were either very poor at discerning the health of a church or things changed in the churches we visited shortly after we arrived. (No, I don't think there is a correlation; at least I hope not.) As I was saying, Vineyard Boise has been a blessing to us. Here we have found authentic discipleship and we have grown and matured in our faith more in the past six years than any other period in our lives.  We have made many wonderful friends and feel that we are truly part of a family here.

The Sunday morning after the lecture I thought again about this revelation as I looked around the congregation. I do a lot of people gazing when I am in a crowded place. For some reason I am just intensely curious about other people so I observe and ponder. As I was looking around I realized how many of us had received God's blessing of a vineyard we had not planted. Except for the few families who followed Tri and Nancy from California fifteen years ago and perhaps those who put their shoulders to the plow in the early years, we have all been recipients of this blessing.

Church planting is hard work. I helped with a new church plant once and discovered first hand how difficult it can be. There is so much to do and so few hands available to do everything that needs to be done.

Planting a vineyard is hard work too. Intrigued at this thought I did a little research. If you want to plant a vineyard you first have to find land that is appropriate. You need fertile soil to grow good grapes. Then you need a few skilled workers to help build the infrastructure. The land will need to be irrigated and the vines will need posts and wires on which to grow. You need finances and workers too. Once the infrastructure is in place you need some vines or cuttings to transplant to your vineyard. Finally comes the growth period. It takes 3-6 years to establish the vineyard and begin producing mature fruit.

Can you see the parallels with our church? If you have been to the Vineyard 101 class you have heard the wonderful, miraculous story about how Vineyard Boise’s land was obtained. The fertile soil is the vision that lives in the hearts and minds of the men and women who acted to fulfill it. The infrastructure is represented by the ministries, facilities and various programs that make a church body functional. Workers contribute their time and finances to make the infrastructure work. The transplants are those people who come to the church later, who grow and mature as disciples and begin to produce healthy fruit. Over time, the vineyard grows and expands and the fruit of the harvest is reinvested.

No wonder Jesus used so many metaphors in His teachings having to do with vineyards, wine, grapes (fruit), and vines. These illustrations are rich with imagery. There is a great passage in the Gospel of John where Jesus refers to himself as the vine and the Father as the gardener.

John 15:1-12, 16
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful… No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “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. 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. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples… I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last.

I edited a few sections of the passage for brevity but I encourage you to go back and read the whole passage in context during your personal study time. This is a beautiful picture that captures the heart of God for His church. If I were to condense this passage down to its essential components, I might summarize it like this: Jesus said, "Remain in me and be fruitful." Jesus is calling us to abide in him. Abiding means walking with Jesus and interacting with Jesus. By so doing, we will be fruitful.

So where am I going with all of this? Simply this: A vineyard -- our Vineyard-- needs to be tended. Perhaps I could capitalize on Pastor Tri's recent encouragement of “Let’s tend the Garden” to "Let's tend the Vineyard".

Our church needs people like you and I who understand the significance of being recipients of a vineyard we didn't plant and who are willing to take part in what God is doing here. Our church is growing and as a result there are many needs and many opportunities for people to get involved and work toward the next harvest. One cannot grow in Christ and become a mature disciple by simply partaking of the fruit. Instead, we must be grafted into the vine so that the life of the vine flows through us and we produce fruit. This is what the Lord desires for His church body.

If you have been searching for love, joy, peace, and significance, getting involved in active discipleship is where you will find it. Sure, it is difficult and perhaps even uncomfortable at times, but in the growing process you will be firmly grafted into the vine that is Christ and His life will be flowing through you. This is what true Christian life is all about!