+ Lenten Midweek 5 – April 1st, 2020 +
Galatians 5:13-25; Matthew 7:15-20
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus. Christ. Amen.
In the Scripture readings we’ve heard these past few Wednesdays, sometimes, Old Testament Israel is depicted as a tree. At other times, Jesus is the tree. In today’s reading from Galatians 5, the metaphor shifts again. In Galatians 5, you are the tree. St. Paul describes our life in Christ as trees that bear fruit produced by the work of the Holy Spirit.
What St. Paul is teaching us here in Galatians 5, is not a how-to lesson on becoming Christians, but how we live as Christians. What our identity and life look like in Christ; how we live as his holy people, redeemed by the blood of Jesus and baptized into his death and resurrection. Or to say it another way, the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 isn’t a rulebook we follow in order to earn God’s love, but how we live in response to God’s love delivered to us in Christ Jesus.
And as I thought about our Lord’s words in Galatians 5 and Matthew 7, I remembered the avocado tree we had in the parsonage when we lived in California. It was a beautiful, old avocado tree. At least 25 feet high, and just as wide. Here’s the thing about this tree. I didn’t plant it. I didn’t water it. Occasionally, I’d trim some dead branches, but that was about it. And yet every fall it produced hundreds of avocados, milk crates and boxes full of them. I didn’t do a single thing to deserve or produce all that fruit, all I ever did was pick them, eat them, enjoy them, and share them with church members and neighbors. The entire operation, at least from where I stood on my ladder, was one of grace.
And I think that’s a good way to think about our life in Christ, as St. Paul teaches us in Galatians 5. The fruit of the Spirit, is just that. It’s fruit. It’s all gift. It’s all God’s doing. Yes, it’s in and through us, but we’re only branches. Christ is our true Vine. All the fruit we produce in our Christian life is just like his mercy given to us. It’s all given by God’s grace for us to enjoy, and to share with our neighbors.
Consider how St. Paul contrasts our life apart from Christ and our life in Christ. He does it by using the language of flesh and Spirit. Flesh, here, meaning our sinful, fallen nature – the old Adam, our sinful flesh. And Spirit, meaning our baptized, redeemed life in Christ. Notice how Paul says we are led by the Spirit. That means our Lord is doing all the heavy lifting here.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
St. Paul paints a pretty ugly picture of our sinfulness here, doesn’t he. Apart from Christ and his life-giving Spirit, all we produce is self-serving, self-absorbed, rotten fruit. Our sinful fruit corrupts ourselves and one another, like one rotten apple spreads its mold to the next and so on.
But, Paul goes on to say, the fruit of the Spirit is far different. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
This fruit of the Spirit is revealed in you because it is first revealed in Jesus for you.
His gift of love in his sacrificial death on the cross for you.
His gift of joy, founded not on our feelings, but in his loving action for us in Jesus’ life and death and resurrection.
His gift of peace , true shalom, in the reconciling work of Jesus restoring our broken relationship with the Father.
His gift of patience as we hear in the Psalms, the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love towards us.
His gift of kindness, God’s active, merciful goodness in calling us to faith in Christ and fervent love for one another.
His gift of faithfulness, where our Lord reveals his faithfulness to us and for us, even when we are unfaithful.
His gift of gentleness, revealed in the humility of Jesus who loved his neighbor as himself, indeed better than himself for you.
His gift of self-control, that we would continue to live daily in his gifts of repentance and forgiveness.
All of this, like the fruit of the avocado tree, is accomplished by God’s grace and given to you freely, so that you, in turn, can be a fruitful neighbor to others around you. And if there’s one good thing that has become a bit more visible during this pandemic, it’s the fruit of the Spirit in our life together as a congregation. I’ve heard of members calling one another and checking in on each other. I’ve received phone calls and messages of prayer and encouragement. I’ve heard of countless gifts of love and kindness you have shown to one another, and to your neighbors.
As Paul says, against such things there is no law. Freed from sin and death, and freed to love others. We are free in Christ. Baptized, redeemed, and joined to him, our Vine, we his branches. And the fruit – it’s all gift by the Holy Spirit, from Christ to you, and through you to others.
The peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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