The Fruit of the Spirit (On Character)
Scripture: Galatians 5:16-6:2
Rev. Richard H. Thompson, May 2, 2010
Gallatians 5:16-6:2
"Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
[TAKE A BIG BITE OUT OF A JUICY APPLE]
There's just nothing like a juicy apple,.is there? I like to take these with me when I go backpacking because most of the time we're eating these things, "power bars" [HOLD UP A POWER BAR]. They're o.k. They're carefully engineered with a lot of what you need when you're out on the trail. Just read the ingredients: (list of chemicals, some of which are hard to pronounce). After a while they all start to taste alike. It's the same with all that freeze dried food. You just add water. Trouble is you get a life time's dose of salt eating that stuff. There's nothing like a simple apple to break up the monotony.
(If there were a list of ingredients on an apple it would say, "Apple'".)
No human hand made this apple. It's beyond us how to know how to even come close. This power bar came out of a factory filled with big vats, ovens, conveyor belts and wrapping machines. This apple came from a tree. All sorts of ingredients were mixed together to make this power bar. This apple grew on the end of a branch, taking nourishment from sap flowing from the trunk, and from leaves soaking in sunlight, and rainfall, and from roots sunk deeply into good soil.
[ANOTHER BITE OF THE APPLE]
It's really not fair for me to eat this cool, juicy apple in front of you. Because some of you, maybe all of you are starting to want one of these yourselves. Some of you may even be salivating a little just now.
I wonder if perhaps this wasn't the apostle's intention. Maybe when he wrote those Galatians about the "fruit" of the Holy Spirit it was like eating an apple in front of them-to get them craving this same fruit for themselves. "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." It sounds... delicious.
I think the apostle carefully chose that word, "fruit". As opposed to "rules". Maybe the Galatians were like we are; sorely tempted by rules, and lists. Give them a set of boxes to check and they'd go at it tooth and tong to get them done. Because they believed in themselves. I have to confess I've been tempted to take each of these aspects of the fruit and turn them into a list of things we need to do in order to "have them". As if the fruit of the Holy Spirit is a list of "to-do's". I've struggled with the apostle's point because I want to be practical. I want to be concrete and helpful. I want to be effective. You could rightly ask me, "Why is that Dick?" And if I'm bluntly honest I'd say, "Well, because then I know I'm doing a good job. Then I know I'm worthwhile." Then you could say, "Really. Wow. So you think your worth is wrapped up in checking boxes? How do you grade? On the curve? Remember what Jesus said? 'You must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect'? Good luck with that."
This is the fruit of the Holy' Spirit. This is not the "merit badges of the Holy Spirit". This is not a shopping list. The fruit of the Spirit is not for sale. Actually, it's free of charge. Or at least, you and I don't pay the price...
The apostle chose the word "fruit" because he had been gripped by the overwhelming presence of the Risen Jesus Christ who had come into his life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
"I have been crucified with Christ;" he said, "and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me..." (2:19)
Paul called it "fruit" because then maybe those Galatians and the rest of us would begin salivating-"Oh, I'd love to have that fruit in my life too."
But how? Not by our own engineering or cleverness. But by our confession. [Of our emptiness, our fruitlessness, and our helplessness, and the messes we've made.] Before the apostle talked about the fruit of the Spirit he talked about the "works of the flesh". By this he means our basic human drives and appetites. What do they get us? What he describes is like trying to describe a mid air collision-things blowing apart all over the place with no rhyme or reason. Sexual chaos, greed, turning things into gods, out of control anger, argumentativeness, getting high (which is really getting low), using people for our personal pleasure. Call it going with your impulses. Some might call this "freedom". But ask our friends in the AA meeting, or the GA meetings that take place every week here. They wouldn't call it "freedom". They'd call it something else.
I was talking with a friend recently who works as a sponsor in AA. He said people begin the path to recovery from addiction when they see others who have achieved sobriety. He said, "They want it so bad they can taste it, so they get started on the Twelve Steps."
I suspect Paul describes the "fruit" of the Spirit to get to get us to ask ourselves, "What's growing in my life?" Because fruit, by definition, is what is obvious. It's what others can see in us, and on us. It's what we "produce". The fruit we produce tells us the truth about our spiritual condition.
A couple of years ago Suzanne and I re-planted the hill in our back yard. At first everything took off. There was a wonderful initial bloom. But then we began to notice that the leaves were yellowing. Plants were struggling. The weeds were taking over. Finally some months ago we brought in a landscape expert. He took a soil sample and ran a test. The report came back. There is practically no nitrogen in our soil. "It's amazing," he said, "that anything is growing up on that hill"
We can't make the leaves turn dark green. We can't make the curled leaves straighten on our lemon tree. What we can do is work on soil conditions. It's like a children's sermon we did with the kids here some years ago. We brought in a big root we dug up from our yard along with a bag of really tasty, juicy summer fruit. The point was simple-"If you want good fruit, take care of the root."
Jesus put it another way. He said, "Those who abide in me, and I in them bear much fruit." (John 15:5) What he meant, and what the apostle means, is that we do not by our own strength and resolve grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. We can't do it The Spirit of Christ in us does that. Our part is stay close to Christ. We "abide", which means "rest", "remain" in him. It's called tending to the conditions of our relationship with the Lord. What we "do" is depend on, we "lean" on Him in a spirit of desperation. The more we know ourselves the more urgently we are driven to honest prayer. We grow hungrier to understand what Jesus said, how he is present with us here and now-some call this "meditation" and "contemplation". We practice spiritual disciplines not to check a box, but to practice depending, leaning, and openness of soul. Stewardship of our financial resources fits here. We bring our possessions into submission to Christ's Lordship so that no part of our lives is left out.
It's called taking care of the root. It's tending to the conditions of our soil.
This apple is natural.
The fruit of the Spirit is supernatural. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness. gentleness, self-control, are really a miracle of His grace. Isn't it interesting that they are not called "fruits" (plural), but "fruit"? Why? Because this fruit describes Someone. Slowly, imperceptibly, over time, you and I are being shaped, our very identities being remade, to be like Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can do this.
One more thing. [CHOMP] This fruit is not just for show. It's supposed to be picked, and used to nourish each other, even people you and I don't even know. So in the next few verses the apostle talks about forgiving one another, of bearing each other's burdens, of each one bearing his or her own load. Call it sharing the harvest. You know what they say, "An apple a day..."
[CHOMP] Notice that in the core of this apple are some seeds. This is where the next trees come from, and after some time, and some grace, even more fruit to share.
[AT THE TABLE]
It begins here. Jesus took bread, and a cup and said, "This is my body, this is my blood". He wanted us to understand in as graphic way he could that our only hope is to take Him into our lives... like seed falling in soil.
Christ in you and me, so you and I bear much fruit.
[CHOMP]
By now some of you can barely stand to watch me eat this apple. You can almost taste it every time I take another bite. No worries. The Holy Spirit has been very busy in this church. There's a lot of fruit here. You can see it everywhere. Enough for everyone!
You'll see.
Thanks be to God!
Amen
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