May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other (John 15:9-17)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: Today we have the 2nd week of our series of worships in which we hear our Savior call us to Work while it is day. Last week we heard about Jacob and his vision of the stairway to heaven. If you were not here last week, please do pick up a written copy of the sermon of last week. Audiotapes are also there on the back table. Pick one up and listen to last week's worship while you drive around on your errands.

To get back to the heart of what Jesus is reminding us about during these weeks we can ask ourselves these questions as we did last Sunday. Why did God put me here at this place...at this time? Why am I here? Why did he give me what he has given me? What am I doing with my life? Why do I have this time, these abilities and resources? How does God want me involved in his work? As we looked at the story of Jacob last week it became clear why we needed to be involved in the Lord's work. His grace to you and me compels us to be involved. Today Jesus refreshes again about why he wants us involved in his work but then speaks also about what he wants us doing to be involved. Our central thought today is JESUS' FRIENDS SHARE IN HIS MISSION.

You may have a title like Mr./Mrs., mom/dad, doctor, foreman, head of so-n-so, etc.. All these titles are important and say something of us. But the absolutely most wonderful title that anyone could have is to be called "friend of Jesus", and that is what each of us is! I have called you friends, we hear Jesus say today. And he is not talking to a select few, like the 12 Apostles. He is talking to us. In fact, there is no one that can say, Jesus does not want me as his friend.

How it happened that we are his friends Jesus tells us again in this wonderful picture of the Vine and the Branches. I am the Vine and you are the branches. You are connected to me; you are part of me as much as a branch is part of the vine to which it is connected. And because you are connected to me, you are clean - without sin (v.3). You are that way because I have loved you. (v.9) My love for you was not just fond feelings; it was action. My love for you prompted me to obey my Father's command (v.10) when he asked me to come be your Savior. I took your place before the Almighty's Judgment throne. I completed the obedience demanded of you and then I laid down my life as payment for your sins (v.13). I chose you to be mine and made you a part of God's family (v.16). In short - it's all grace.

"Truly you are my friends", Jesus says to us. "And with that ringing in your ears and hearts I go on to say that my friends share in my mission." I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. (v.15) We know that Jesus' mission is to seek and to save the lost. But what am I to do to get involved? Listen as Jesus guides you.

First, Jesus says remain in my love. If I am going to help my family, I have to stay healthy. Now, if I'm just worried about me, my health, how I look, then I'm just being selfish. But on the other hand, if in all I do I say, "I want to stay healthy so I can be of help to my family", then I pursue a wonderful Christian goal. If I want to bear fruit (serve God and neighbor) I must stay healthy (connected to Christ). Jesus says, No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. So that means the first step in being part of Jesus' mission is to be here at worship, in Bible class, Sunday school, and in the word at home so I stay healthy spiritually. This is what we need if we are going to be part of Jesus' mission and Jesus' friends share in his mission.

Then, obey me. What kind of world would this be if all the engineers, doctors, tradesmen learned their skills in school but got on the job and said, "I don't need all that stuff I learned in school"? What a sad world this would be! It ought to be obvious, but Jesus reminds us: Love each other as I have loved you (v.12). Only the Lord knows the impact that his Christians have in the circle of family, friends and acquaintances when we do this simple thing - put what we hear into practice. Letting your light shine (Matthew 5:16) is work that is not finsihed until the Lord calls you home to heaven. This is what we need to do if we are going to be part of Jesus' mission and Jesus' friends share in his mission.

Then, be praying about my mission and your part in it. Twice in these verses Jesus speaks about praying. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you (v.7); and ...the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (v.16). These aren't invitations to pray about all things, but encouragement to pray about one specific thing - being a fruitful branch, being an active part in Christ's mission. Prayer is evidence that we understand what Jesus says when he says, apart from me you can do nothing (v.5). Pastor Luther once said: Work hard as if everything depended on you; and pray because nothing really depends on you but on the Lord's blessing. This is what we need to do if we are going to be part of Jesus' mission and Jesus' friends share in his mission.

And bear fruit that will last. Remember the old saying: Give a man a fish and you feed him today; teach him how to fish and you feed him for life. In the reading today Jesus words cause us to add to that saying - teach a person to fish and you feed him for life; introduce another to Jesus and you give him eternal life. Jesus' mission is to bear fruit that lasts. Jesus doesn't want us ignoring temporary, earthly problems. He wants us to give relief to others as best we can. But temporary, earthly help is not his mission. That fruit does not last. What will last forever is when we get involved in sharing the Savior with someone because that brings fruit that will last - literally forever!

And to this point of fruit that will last. What better investment is there than investing our recourses of time, talents, and treasures in what will bear fruit that lasts? You know in your heart of hearts that everything in life is worthless save the GoodNews of Jesus' rescue. Let us put our treasure in what we know is truly valuable. Let's do that next week with a mission offering. Let's do it regularly as we apply our offerings to the on-going mission of Jesus right here at St. Paul's. This is what we need to do if we are going to be part of Jesus' mission and Jesus' friends share in his mission.

Dear friends, Jesus hasn't told us anything new today. We are his friends by grace. As his friends we share in his mission. We do that by staying in the Word, obey his commands, praying about our share in his work, and bearing fruit that will last. It's not new, so why did Jesus tell us it again? This is why - because we sin daily because by dropping the ball in this respect. We fool ourselves into thinking that we can be Jesus' friends but keep our distance from his mission. In this we fail to love him and fail to help our neighbor. He wants us to know that and to repent. Forgive us, dear Lord. He also wants us to come full circle and remember that we still are his friends. His grace makes that certain. His blood cleanses us and restores us to him as friends. And to us, his friends, he says, now go - renewed in forgiveness and directed in what to do. You are my friends, after all, and my friends share in my mission. Amen.