Good Fruit: Healthy Living in the Spirit (Part 5)

The following appears in the Spring 2016 issue of Anglicans for Renewal magazine. 

ARM’s purpose is to help us all experience and enjoy more of the refreshing presence of God, the Holy Spirit, in our lives, our relationships and our church. With God’s presence come the gifts of the Spirit. When we walk by the Spirit and his gifts, we become the branches (John 15.1-8) upon which the fruit of the Spirit grows. As always, Jesus is our vine and model. Jesus perfectly reveals kindness, and all the other Fruits of the Spirit, in action. He is always perfectly loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled (Gal 5.22).

Fruit is important to ARM and to the Church because it is sweet and tasty, spiritually nutritious, refreshing, and it makes Jesus present to the people among whom we live and move and have our being. 

And so we come to our fifth and final consideration of the Galatians 5 Fruit of the Spirit and the final two fruits: gentleness and self control.

Gentleness

Jesus, as usual, is the model. Jesus did all that he did and said all that he said in the power of the Holy Spirit. That meant he always confronted people’s sin and told them the truth with Fruit of the Spirit gentleness (Mt 11.29; 2 Cor 10.2). He still does. 

If I, with God’s help, follow Jesus’ example and use Paul’s curriculum for life in the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 as my guide, Fruit of the Spirit gentleness is inevitable. 

Paul’s curriculum in a nutshell? Drink of the Spirit constantly (1 Cor 12.13)—open wide (Ps 81.10), pray it in, worship it in, read it in and serve it in, all the while earnestly desiring the greater gifts (1 Cor 12.31), following the excellent way (1 Cor 13), building up, encouraging and comforting (1 Cor 14.3) as we go. 

That is how gentleness is to be pursued (1 Tim 6.11). When you get right down to it, Fruit of the Spirit gentleness means no hitting; not with the fist, or the tongue, or the Bible. It doesn’t mean we can’t speak the truth. Jesus did it all the time. It’s just that, like Jesus, we have speak it with Fruit of the Spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. Even opponents can be corrected with gentleness (2 Tim 2.25) and the hope that is in us is best shared with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3.15).

Self Control

Fruit of the Spirit self control is, simply, to control oneself in the power of the Holy Spirit. “It involves moderation, constraint, and the ability to say “no” to our baser desires and fleshly lusts” (http://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-self-control.html). “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,” writes Paul in Galatians just before his list of Spirit Fruit, “for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Gal 5.17). Self control is to resist doing some things I might really want to do but which I know are not helpful or are downright sinful.

John 3.16 is a key verse for most Christians. Luke’s gospel has a key 3.16, too, especially for those interested in charismatic renewal. In it, John the Baptist says Jesus would be the one who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. I wonder if Paul had that idea in mind when he wrote to Timothy, “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:6–7). 

Following Jesus’ example and Paul’s curriculum for life in the Spirit fans the gift(s) of Holy Spirit into flame. Notice how self-control goes with power and love in 2 Timothy. One of the things we have to control in ourselves when being open to and operating in the power and love of the Holy Spirit, is fear. Fear can turn healthy Fruit of the Spirit self-control into fleshly self-ish control so the Spirit is quenched. The gift(s) of the Holy Spirit may be fiery and powerful, but never destructive, other than of sin. Exercising Fruit of the Spirit self-control sometimes means acting with courage when God is moving in power. It is worth noting that, often, when God and his messengers show up in the Bible, the first human reaction is fear and the first words from the messenger are, “Do not be afraid.” 

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, still comes to his people today in the power of the Holy Spirit. Do not be afraid. His gifts are good, powerful and loving. The Fruit of his Spirit are good and sweet. Enjoy them. 

Goodness and Fruitfulness—Good Fruit: Healthy Living in the Spirit (Part 4)

The following appears in the Winter 2015 issue of Anglicans for Renewal magazine. 

This is the fourth in our series on the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5.22). Fruit is important to ARM and to the Church because it is sweet and tasty, spiritually nutritious, refreshing, and it makes Jesus present to the people among whom we live and move and have our being.

Jesus says some pointed things about fruit in John 15. Branches that do not bear it are thrown away and burned. Branches that do bear fruit are pruned so they’ll bear more. Branches cannot bear fruit on their own. Fruit bearing is only possible when a branch abides in Jesus because “Apart from me,” he says, “you can do nothing.” (John 15.5) “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and
so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8) Jesus is all about glorifying his Father, so fruit bearing must be very important.

Some people think Jesus is talking about new believers when he refers to fruit. Others think he had our Gal 5.22 Fruit of the Spirit in mind. For example, devotional writer, Andrew Murray, thought that “the essential idea of fruit is that it is the silent, natural, restful produce of our inner life.” That sounds like Fruit of the Spirit to me. Fruit of the Spirit fruit is the practical expression of the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives. This fruit will attract people to Jesus. Fruit is good which ever way you look at it.
Goodness and faithfulness, our focus this time, are no exception.

Goodness

Fruit of the Spirit goodness "may be thought of both as an uprightness of soul and as an action reaching out to others to do good even when it is not deserved." It is Fruit of the Spirit love in action. It is generous and kind. It means "working for the benefit of others, not oneself" (ESV Study Bible, p2255).

In God's Kingdom, however, goodness is much more than mere good deeds. Fruit of the Spirit goodness reminds me of that wonderful scene in Exodus, chapter 33, where Moses, overwhelmed by his calling and task, asks God to show him His glory. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. …I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’'" (Ex 33.17-19)

When we are this kind of good people get a Holy glimpse of the Father's goodness passing by as His Name is proclaimed in glory . What could be richer than that?

Faithfulness

Fruit of the Spirit faithfulness is "consistently doing what one says one will do” (ESV Study Bible, p2255). It is "that which makes a person one on whom others can rely. It is "the quality which renders a person trustworthy or reliable, like the faithful servant in Luke 16:10–12." (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Vol 2, p609)

That servant is in the parable about the dishonest manager; the one who is faithful and honest in very little, in much and especially with wealth. Alas. Could it be that a sign of genuine silent, (super)natural, restful produce of the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence as Fruit of the Spirit faithfulness is accurate tithing and generous offerings? After all, "If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?" (Lk16.11)

With what other things, little and much, are we called to be faithful? Our Baptismal vows and covenant are a good place to start. We constantly turn to Jesus as our Saviour, trusting in his grace and love, obeying him as Lord, continuing regularly and frequently in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers of our worshipping parish communities, resisting evil, repenting, returning, proclaiming, seeking and serving, loving, striving for justice, peace and dignity—and all as consistent, trustworthy, reliable followers of Jesus.

Being faithful to marriage vows by loving, comforting, honouring, and protecting one another is enhanced when the faithfulness is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit kind.
When we are this kind of faithful our relationships with God and the people around us are strengthened and enriched.

When goodness and faithfulness, along with all the other Fruit of the Spirit, are the silent, (super)natural, restful produce of the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence in us, the Father is well glorified and we prove ourselves to be disciples of Jesus.

Good Fruit: Healthy Living in the Spirit (Part 3)

The following appears in the Fall 2015 issue of Anglicans for Renewal magazine. 

ARM’s purpose is to help us all experience and enjoy more of the refreshing presence of God, the Holy Spirit, in our lives, our relationships and our church. With God’s presence come the gifts of the Spirit. When we walk by the Spirit and his gifts, we become the branches (John 15.1-8) upon which the fruit of the Spirit grows. As always, Jesus is our vine and model. Jesus perfectly reveals kindness, and all the other Fruits of the Spirit, in action. He is always perfectly loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled (Gal 5.22).

This is the third in a series of reflections on the Fruit of the Spirit.

Patience

While I know that, as someone said, God is the fastest checkers player in the world so it’s always my move, I always seem to find myself waiting and hoping patiently (or not) for something from him; for Jesus to come again (but not too soon—there are things I’d like to experience first), for someone to be healed, for provision, for dear (or irritating) brothers and sisters in the Lord to agree with me, for all manner of things I think it would be good for the Lord to do. The waiting becomes spiritually perilous when I lose patience and sinfully rebel by thinking God is too slow or missing what I think is the point, or by taking matters into my own hands, or just ceasing to believe and worship.

John, the gospel of and Revelation writer, knew something of that. A composer friend of mine who wrote an oratorio on Revelation reckoned John must have been on LSD or something like it to generate its apocalyptic energy, imagery and visions. But it wasn’t LSD, it was the Holy Spirit John was on. He was “in the Spirit” one Lord’s day when he wrote,

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev 1.9-10).

That patient endurance in the face of tribulation sounds like Spirit Fruit to me. It’s patience which isn’t easy or superficial. It comes from the real life depths of hearts and minds filled with the Holy Spirit.

James knew something of it, too. “Be patient, therefore, until the coming of the Lord,” he wrote.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (James 5:7–8). 

I don’t know how it grows, I just plant my heart in the Lord and wait. Patiently. And just as the seed in the good soil in the Parable of the Sower, “are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8.15), so will I, Lord willing.

Patience shares roots with other Spirit Fruit, primarily love (1 Cor 13.4; Eph 4.2; Col 3.14) and joy (Col 1.11). Patience, along with faith, will see me counted among those who will inherit the Lord’s promises (Heb 6.12). It is patience with which I must bear with others in love (Eph 4.2; Col 3.12-13), seek for glory and honour and immortality in well-doing (Ro 2.7), face tribulation (Ro 12.12), admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted and help the weak (1 Thes 5.14). Spirit Fruit patience will do the same for you if you wait long enough.

Kindness

As regards kindness, scripture is clear. We are required to love kindness and show it to one another (Mic 6.8; Zech 7.9). We are to put it on, bearing with and forgiving one another in love and in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col 3.12-17). Whoever pursues it “will find life, righteousness, and honour” (Pr 21.21). So, just as Paul exhorts you and me to “earnestly desire” the Gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 13.31; 14.1), Spirit Fruit kindness must also be worthy of earnest desire.

That kind of kindness is more than the milk of just human kindness and being nice. It’s like John 3.16 and 1 Cor 13 love which has less to do with feelings, especially warm fuzzy ones, than with self-denying acts of the will.

It’s easy to be kind to some people. To those of whom I’m fond, who suffer quietly and with no demands I can be kind in my own strength. It’s easy to be kind to small animals such as bunnies and puppies. Where I need the Spirit Fruit to kick in is with people I dislike, who are demanding or have hurt me, who, to my plank-blinkered eyes are wallowing in self-pity. That’s when, more often than I like to admit, I need the Fruit of the Spirit operating in my life as grace.

Speaker and author James Ryle defines grace as the empowering Presence of God enabling me to be who he created me to be, and to do what he has called me to do. Dallas Willard wrote that grace is what enables me to do what I can’t do on my own. God’s grace empowers me to BE kind and to DO kindly. It enables me to be kind to people towards whom I don’t feel particularly kindly. God’s grace works in me and you, through spiritual gifts we do not lack (1 Cor 1.7), which are given to each of us for the common good (1 Cor 12.7) and “to each one individually as he wills” (1 Cor 12.11). As we cooperate by earnestly desiring the higher gifts (1 Cor 12.31; 14.1) and doing our best to follow the more excellent way of love (1 Cor 13), he sets the Fruit of the Spirit on us branches to grow and ripen so Jesus is glorified and the church may be built up (1 Cor 14.5 & 12).

That’s what patience and kindness and all the others are for. Thanks be to God.

Good Fruit: Healthy Living in The Spirit (Part 2)

The following was published in the Summer 2015 issue of the Anglican Renewal Ministries magazine, Anglicans for Renewal. Subscriptions available here. 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Part 2 

In part one we did some general fruit inspection and looked at the “still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12.31) and mother of all the Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit, love. There are more (Gal 5.22).

Joy: from Mud Pies to the Beach

When I think of true joy I am often reminded of an experience when I was in my early teens. One of the pillars of my small town church community had died. Some members of the congregation were critical of his deeply devout wife’s “unseemly” behaviour when she refused to be the usual reclusive grieving widow at his funeral. Instead, she stood at the door of the church warmly welcoming her family and friends with a smile and ushering them to their seats. I know she loved her husband deeply and was grieving profoundly and yet something enabled her to act in a way that surprised and disturbed some of her family and friends. The something was Fruit of the Spirit joy—a joy which is more than simple happiness and freedom from suffering. It is a deeper, richer thing. We can be joyful in pain and disappointment.

Jesus was filled with Fruit of the Spirit joy—a unique and delightful expression of the loving relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted this joy transmitted to his followers and made complete in them so their joy, and ours, could be full (John 15.11, 17.13). It is one of the reasons he sent the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with us (John 15.7), so that Jesus will continued to be glorified as the Gifts of the Spirit are manifested (1 Cor 12.7) and the Fruit of the Spirit are enjoyed. Fruit of the Spirit joy is something of which there is ample fullness in the presence of The LORD (Ps 16.11). It’s joy that comes and stays in times of awakening and revival. We shout and sing with it.

This is the joy which surprised CS Lewis so and that with which, in its purest form, he described heaven as being full. Lewis was concerned that Christians of his time were too timid, too easily discouraged from expecting it or hoping for it. "If we consider the unblushing promises of rewards promised in the Gospels,” he wrote, “it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy has been offered to us. We are far too easily pleased, like an ignorant child who goes on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea." (CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory) More good fruit than we can ask or imagine is what the Holy Spirit offers. Joy is one of them.

How do we get from slum mud pies to holidays at the seaside? We repent so that times of Holy Spirit refreshing can come with the presence of Jesus (Acts 3.19). We listen to Jesus and follow his example. We pray for more of Jesus and his life giving Spirit in our lives. “Ask, and you will receive,” he said, “that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). We earnestly desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the higher ones (1 Cor 12.31, 14.1). We love like there’s an endless tomorrow—find the best ways to start here: 1 Cor 13.4-7. And prayer by prayer, step of faith by step of faith, act of patience and kindness by act of patience and kindess, resentful irritation put aside by resentful irritation put aside, the Joy fruit comes. The Holy Spirit of truth (John 14.17, 15.26, 16.13; 1 John 5.6), will carry us along like wind-born seeds (John 3.8; 2 Peter 1.21), alighting where the Father wills and always bearing witness to the truth and the new life the presence of Jesus always brings (John 15.26).

Peace: Understanding Surpassed

“Our good Lord the Holy Spirit, who is endless life dwelling in our soul,” writes Julianna of Norwich in her Revelations of Divine Love, “keeps us most securely, works a peace in our soul, brings it to ease by grace, brings it into agreement with God, and makes it obedient (Ch48, p158). The peace which the Holy Spirit works in us is Fruit of the Spirit peace, the third Fruit of the Spirit in the Galations 5.22 list. The grace, agreement and obedience it brings is more than just the mere absence of conflict. As poet, William Alexander Percy, wrote:

They cast their nets in Galilee
Just off the hills of brown;
Such happy, simple fisherfolk,
Before the Lord came down.

Contented peaceful fishermen,
Before they ever knew
The peace of God that filled
Their hearts brimful, and broke them too.

Young John who trimmed the flapping sail,
Homeless in Patmos died.
Peter, who hauled the teaming net,
Head down was crucified.

The peace of God, it is no peace,
But strife closed in the sod,
Yet, let us pray for but one thing—
The marvellous peace of God.

Fruit of the Spirit peace of God fills and breaks. Life is real and can be hard. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives releases peace even when circumstances want to dictate otherwise. It’s peace that will prevail even after the sword Jesus said he brought has been deployed (Mt 10.34). Fruit of the Spirit Peace is unnatural. The natural state of those who experience and display it should be defeat and in despair. It’s a supernatural peace that surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always and in all circumstances (Phil 4.7), no matter what, just as it did John, Peter and the others. Fruit of the Spirit peace is the kind the risen Jesus wished to be with his frightened, confused disciples just before he breathed the Holy Spirit on them (John 20.19-22).

Fruit of the Spirit joy and peace cannot be extinguished by the enemy or suffering or strife or hardship or injustice. We can be down, but never out, because we know that even when we feel forsaken, just as Jesus did on the cross, we are not alone or abandoned. Therein is the marvellous Fruit of the Spirit joy and peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

The Fruit of the Spirit: Part One—An Introduction and Love

The following was published in the Spring 2015 issue of the Anglican Renewal Ministries magazine, Anglicans for Renewal. 

Since Anglican Renewal Ministries exists to help us all experience and enjoy more of the refreshing presence of God, the Holy Spirit, in our lives, our relationships and our church, from time to time it is encouraging to look into the benefits of living in that presence. When we do our best to live and move and have our being (Acts 17.28) in the Gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12.8-10 & 28), good things grow. This is the first of a series of articles exploring those good things—the challenges, delights and blessings of Fruit of the Spirit ( Gal 5.22—see also Mt 7.15-20). 

Fruit Inspection

Before we give the Fruit of the Spirit tree a shake, let’s take a moment to think about fruit in nature and what it’s for. Fruit is for reproduction. It bears the seeds and is the medium by which those seeds are distributed and sown. To that end, fruit is designed to be sweet and juicy, attractive and tasty. 

Being tasty and enhancing life’s flavours seems to be a part of The LORD’s recipe for fruitful Jesus following. Saltiness is another powerful Biblical image (Mt 5.13) for how we Christians are are called to attract and add zest to the lives of those around us. The Holy Spirit working through you and me makes lives flavourful and tasty with a divinely inspired balance of sweetness and saltiness.

But lest we over-spiritualize the idea of being the folk who yield the fruit that attracts people to Jesus, remember fruit’s reproductive purpose and process requires eating, digestion, defecation, rotting and fermentation—earthy stuff—having to do with the real life and death that has to come before there can be resurrection (cf 1 Cor 15.35-49). This means the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives must be more than just sweetly sentimental well-wishing. The sweetest, most fruitful, fruit comes from the rich soil of you and me getting down alongside people where they live; especially with those whose lives have gone sour and who are mired in life’s pain and injustice. This is the earthiness that produces the fruit that leads to resurrection and new life. 

The more open and available I am to the Holy Spirit’s filling and empowering, the sweeter and tastier will my fruit be. So will yours. 

By Our Fruits…

Healthy trees, says Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, bear good fruit (Mt 7.17). So do healthy people, relationships and churches. Moreover, it is by our fruits we will be recognized as Christians, or not (Mt 7.20), so let’s take a closer look at fruit. There are nine fruits of the Spirit according to the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galations: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5.22).

Knowing What Love Is

It is no accident that love is the first fruit on the list. Just as love is the centre and foundation of Paul’s description of the Gifts of the Spirit, how they work and how they are to be used, in 1 Corinthians 12-14 (more on that in a moment); love is the first on his companion list of the Spirit’s Fruit. Love is always the greatest and more excellent way (1 Cor 13.13; 12.31). Without it, the rest of the Fruit cannot ripen. Love is number one, the other eight fruits are delightful and particular expressions of it. 

The Greek word is agapé. That’s the John 3.16 kind of love with which God so loves the world. The words for romantic, warm fuzzy, brotherly, sisterly or between friends love are all different. I don’t fall in agapé, I rise in it. Fruit of the Spirit love comes not primarily from warm feelings for a person, it comes from being prayerfully intelligent, purposeful and always focussed on the need of the other (Marva Dawn, The Unnecessary Pastor (Eerdman’s, 2000), p212) while needing no love in return. Fruit of the Spirit love is the fierce love of one who really cares about you or me. Fruit of the Spirit love is love to do, by choice of will, whether I feel like it, or not. 

John gives us a vivid image of love’s trajectory in John 3.16. God so loved, he wrote. Who? The world and everyone in it. That? He gave his only—not what he had to spare or didn’t need any more—his only Son, Jesus. And, following the same trajectory, Jesus so loved his Father and the world that he gave his life so that you and I get to enjoy eternal life. Surely Spirit-filled Jesus followers are called so to love—not just those with whom we agree or smell right or treat us well—everyone—so that we, too, will give what the people around us need in order taste and see how good the Lord is. 

Paul fills John’s image of love out even more in 1 Corinthians 13. Without this love, he states, I’m nothing. I can gong, clang and clatter away noisily in tongues, declare “Thus saith the Lord…” all I want, super-spiritually give away all I have, but if I do it without love I—and, more importantly, those around me—will gain absolutely nothing. So, if we really want to understand the Fruit of the Spirit, you and I really need to know what love is. Paul tells us. Love is—patient, kind, does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own way; is not irritable or resentful; does not rejoice at wrong-doing, rejoices with the truth, bears, believes, hopes and endures all things (1 Cor 13.4-7). Paul's what-love-is gives me the so with which I can do my loving. I need to keep the what-love-is fresh, then I can so love well and without fail. So do you.