THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT GUYS

A Sermon for The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
July 1, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Galatians 5:1, 13-25
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery….For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. 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. (NIV)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Remember those old 1970s commercials for Fruit of the Loom? A woman called “Granny” would be talking about how she always bought Fruit of the Loom underwear for her boys and then suddenly, the Fruit of the Loom guys from the little tag would magically appear in full size. A man in a huge apple costume, complete with an apple core hat, a man in a big green grape costume, another man in a big purple grape costume, and a little guy dressed as the leaves would all stand in a cluster behind Granny and discuss how incredible the super-band waistbands are. As a child, I always thought it would be neat to have the Fruit of the Loom guys show up at my house to have a conversation the virtues of underwear.

So when we read Paul’s letter to the Galatians from our second lesson this morning, and he gets to the part about the fruits of the Spirit, it makes me wish that there were Fruit of the Spirit guys who would suddenly appear to tell us all about these fabulous fruits. True, there are no super-band waistbands to laud but there are certainly some important things these nine fruits could tell us. So let’s suspend our disbelief for a moment and imagine they’ve come to visit us this morning. Just what would those fruits say to us?

LOVE
Hello everybody, we’re the Fruit of the Spirit guys and we’re here to tell you about the fabulous fruits of the Spirit. If you allow the Holy Spirit to increase in your heart, it will show in your life! The way you live will be different. You’ll manifest these fruits yourself. People will know you live in the Spirit because of these fruits. Now as for me, I am the fruit of love. Earlier in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he explains that the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He goes on to say that if, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. In human communities and even families, people can say hurtful things to one another, and it is as if they are biting and devouring one another. To love is to do just the opposite: to go out of our way to care for and help the other. I am agape, God’s self-giving love that just keeps on giving. Because of God’s enormous, forgiving love for us, loving others is the least we can do. Don’t tell the other guys I said this, but I’m the most important fruit so even if you can’t remember the names of all the Fruits of the Spirit, you be sure you remember me. Well, I gotta go. Remember, I love you guys!

JOY
Hello. Yippee! I’m the fruit of joy. Woo hoo, that’s right, the fruit of joy. Sometimes people think joy is just for fun, just something extra that is pleasant if you happen to feel it. But I’m here to tell you that if you live in God’s Spirit, you gotta have joy. I mean, come on. What’s the sense in being a follower of Jesus if he doesn’t bring you joy, and I mean a lot of it? Your faith should absolutely delight you. Knowing that God loves you unconditionally, knowing that you can go to God in prayer whenever and wherever, knowing that you’re promised eternal life through the covenant God made to you in your baptism should make you want to shout it from the mountain tops! Yippee! If you’re glum about your faith, how can you expect to get anyone to join you in following Jesus? You gotta laugh and be joyful. The great theologian C.S. Lewis once said that joy is a “glimpse of the perfect happiness of heaven that leads us to desire heaven.” Joy is an extremely important fruit so turn that frown upside down and be happy happy happy! Bye!

PEACE
Hello my dear friends, I am the fruit of peace. Yes, I am the tranquil one. But don’t think I am boring or irrelevant. I know that just about everybody in society is stressed out these days. You worry about your family and your job and your health and everything else. What you need is peace of mind. You need to know that everything is really in God’s hands and despite how bad things look, it is going to be okay. You need the contentment that comes from being rooted in your faith. Nothing can take you from the love of God poured out in Jesus Christ. Have you spent time in prayer? If you do, you’ll have more of me. You’ll have that amazing amazing peace that passes all understanding. That’s priceless. And it can be yours for free if you just live in the Spirit. You know you need me. Peace, baby, peace!

PATIENCE
Hi....I’m patience. Do you have enough of me? Or do you pray, “Lord, give me patience and I want it RIGHT NOW!!!” Life is complicated, things don’t happen according to our timetables. You simply have to have patience. Think about the people who have had immense patience with you. They’re wonderful. You remember them fondly, don’t you? That’s because patience is so very important. When you trust in God, you can let things go and allow them to happen as they will. You don’t have to get uptight and short with people. I am a fruit of the Spirit that is so vital to healthy relationships so hang loose and have more patience. See ya later.

KINDNESS
Hello dear ones, I am kindness! Like the other fruits, I do not manifest in your life without the Holy Spirit’s working. Left to your own devices, you’d be angry, hostile and hurtful. But with me, you can take those energies and transform them into your pursuit of good. Imitating Christ is no easy endeavor but that’s the goal of the Christian life. I help you to find expressions of kindness for every time and place. I even help you to be kind to yourself so that you’ll be content with your own inability to change yourself as you seek to be Christ-like. I’ll help you rely more upon God and less upon your own efforts. That’s the kind of work I do (yes, the pun was intended). Bye for now.

GENEROSITY
Good morning, I am the fruit of generosity. Generosity, as you must know, comes from a place of faith. When you trust God for your needs, you can share your time and talent and financial treasures generously. You can be a joyful giver, trusting that you will not go without—that God will keep on providing for you and your family. This frees you to take the blessings you have and to share them with those in need. Look at the first community of believers, as described in the book of Acts. The Holy Spirit came upon them and they made no distinctions between people, as the gift of language allowed them all to communicate. Then, they lived together as a community and shared freely so that no one was hungry or in need. That’s the Spirit’s vision for human society. No one should be hungry, no one should be thirsty, or homeless or have outstanding need. And it is God’s intention that we all work together and generously share so that poverty becomes history. So long.

FAITHFULNESS
Hi, it is me: faithfulness. I am the amazing fruit that helps you fulfill your obligations of service to God and to others. I help you remain faithful to these tasks, even when the road is long. I spur you on to God without dwelling on what God or others are going to do for you in return. It is vital that you persevere in giving without thinking of any return. With the fruit of faithfulness in your life, your normal need for affirmation is coming from a new place: the growing conviction of being loved by God which greatly reduces the desire for human approval. This will keep you marching onward—doing God’s work throughout the years of your life. See you soon.

GENTLENESS
Greetings! I am the fruit of gentleness. Now you might think I’m a strange fruit. What does gentleness have anything to do with the Christian life? Isn’t gentleness just about the way you should hold a bunny. Remember when your mom said to you, “Now hold it gently!” But you see, my friends, I am the fruit that allows you to participate in God's way of doing things which is at once gentle and firm, sustaining all creation with its enormous diversity, yet without effort. We labor in the service of God more than ever, and yet have the sense of stepping back and watching God make things happen according to God’s will both in ourselves and in others. Gentleness is about the difference between working hard and working smart. You can toil away on your own all you want and that’s working hard, but it won’t get you nearly as far as working smart. Working in this way, you focus on the Spirit and allow it to make you fruitful. In this way, the elements of vanity, jealousy and contention that often accompany even our spiritual endeavors, are gradually evacuated leaving immense freedom just to be who we are and to serve the special needs of those around us. Bye!

SELF-CONTROL
Hello hello, I am the final fruit, the last but not the least: self-control. Now I know I’m not as popular as say, love or joy. Who really wants to sign-up for self-control? At first glance, I seem like the fruit that wants to squash your fun—and no, I’m not just needed when you’re on a diet. Self-control doesn’t mean dominating our will over our emotions. For example, I want to hit that guy for being mean to me but I will control my hand and force myself to unclench my fist so that I don’t actually do it. No, that’s a losing battle. What usually happens in our close relationships is that we simply store up our angry thoughts and they come out in a big explosion when we get upset. Self-control as a Fruit of the Spirit comes as a result of the infusion of God's steadfast love, and our awareness of God's abiding presence. The more I immerse myself in God’s love, the less I desire to act out in harmful and sinful ways. When Moses asked God who he was, the answer came, "I AM THAT I AM." In saying this, God was perhaps saying, "I am for you." When you know that God is for you, when you walk with this inward assurance of God's unwavering love, it enhances your freedom of choice and action. Out of that interior liberty, self-control arises spontaneously. We know in spite of our weakness that God will give us the strength to get through every trial and temptation. Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you." (John 15:13).

Yes, we’re the Fruit of the Spirit guys. We are here to remind you of just how amazing life can be when you allow the Holy Spirit to tranform you. You’ll bear the fruits of the Spirit and you’ll do amazing things. Whenever you feel temptation or trial, just call on us and we’ll be there to help you live God’s way. So long everybody!

Let us pray:
Pour out upon us, the Spirit of your love, Oh Lord. We long for you to transform us by your power, from our hurtful desires to a life that manifests the amazing Fruits of the Spirit. We pray for love to flow effortlessly from our hearts, and for joy, like a fountain to bubble up and bring joy to others. We pray for the gift of peace so that we may stay firmly planted in your love, no matter what storms may come. We pray for patience with ourselves and with others so that we can be content with your timing, not our own. We pray that kindness will be our first thought and generosity and faithfulness will grow in our lives. And make us so like you, that self-control is a natural and easy thing to exercise. For these and all other good gifts, we give you all our thanks and praise. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.