WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.879 Our first scripture reading today comes from 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:06.099 Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 5, verses 00:00:06.099 --> 00:00:10.619 22 to 23. Let us listen to and for the word of 00:00:10.619 --> 00:00:16.879 the Lord. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:23.140 peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:27.559 gentleness, and self -control. There is no law 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:31.809 against such things. And our second scripture 00:00:31.809 --> 00:00:38.429 comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 15. Jesus 00:00:38.429 --> 00:00:43.310 says, As the Father has loved me, so I have loved 00:00:43.310 --> 00:00:48.969 you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, 00:00:49.229 --> 00:00:52.229 you will abide in my love, just as I have kept 00:00:52.229 --> 00:00:55.030 my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:58.840 I've said these things to you so that my joy 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:01.640 may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:06.939 This is my commandment, that you love one another 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:11.620 as I have loved you. No one has greater love 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:15.400 than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:20.180 You are my friends. You do what I command you. 00:01:21.549 --> 00:01:24.489 I do not call you servants any longer, because 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:26.670 the servant does not know what the master is 00:01:26.670 --> 00:01:31.170 doing. But I have called you friends, because 00:01:31.170 --> 00:01:33.409 I have made known to you everything that I have 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:37.549 heard from my Father. You did not choose me, 00:01:37.629 --> 00:01:42.590 but I chose you, and I appointed you to go and 00:01:42.590 --> 00:01:46.569 bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the 00:01:46.569 --> 00:01:49.349 Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:53.659 I am giving you these commands so that you may 00:01:53.659 --> 00:01:57.340 love one another. Friends, this is the word of 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:00.739 God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:10.979 Let us pray. O come, Holy Spirit, come. Breathe 00:02:10.979 --> 00:02:14.659 upon us this day so that your word may bear fruit 00:02:14.659 --> 00:02:19.599 in our hearts and in our lives. In Christ's name 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:26.379 we pray. Amen. So as John Daniel mentioned to 00:02:26.379 --> 00:02:30.259 the children, this week we begin our summer series 00:02:30.259 --> 00:02:35.259 on the fruit of the Spirit. Spoiler alert, that 00:02:35.259 --> 00:02:38.199 first reading you just heard in Galatians 5, 00:02:38.259 --> 00:02:41.599 you'll get to hear that every Sunday for about 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:45.780 the next eight weeks. We figured if the children's 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:48.439 choir who did their spring programming on Fruit 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:50.879 of the Spirit, if they could memorize all of 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.560 them, then I am very confident the rest of us 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:58.379 can too by the end of the summer. So Paul writes 00:02:58.379 --> 00:03:02.979 those Fruits of the Spirit to the church in Galatia 00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:07.360 in the context of them being swayed by false 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.780 teaching and disagreeing with one another about 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:15.819 how they should live. Paul expresses his frustration 00:03:15.819 --> 00:03:19.159 because many of them are disconnecting from God's 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:23.500 way of life. And as a result, they're accepting 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:27.219 or rejecting one another based on human traditions 00:03:27.219 --> 00:03:31.900 and social status instead of sharing and experiencing 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:37.530 God's gracious love for each other. So I think 00:03:37.530 --> 00:03:40.590 about the fruit of the Spirit as their roadmap, 00:03:40.750 --> 00:03:44.849 almost, to get themselves back on track. That 00:03:44.849 --> 00:03:47.030 they will know that they are following the path 00:03:47.030 --> 00:03:50.189 of Christ when they see this fruit in their lives 00:03:50.189 --> 00:03:54.750 and in their community. And just like them, we 00:03:54.750 --> 00:03:57.770 know that as the Spirit changes our hearts, that 00:03:57.770 --> 00:04:02.009 our behavior also changes, leading us to bear 00:04:02.009 --> 00:04:06.819 fruit. So that is what we'll be exploring all 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:11.699 summer. And this morning, the first fruit that 00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:17.259 we will look at is love. Now it makes sense that 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:21.220 love is first, because it has to be present for 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:25.420 all of the other fruits to grow. And any sign 00:04:25.420 --> 00:04:28.899 of those fruits without love, or what that famous 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:31.399 passage in 1 Corinthians that we've probably 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:35.319 all heard, would call a clanging gong or a crashing 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:40.000 cymbal. That no true fruit of the Spirit can 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.480 flourish without love at the core. However, I 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.399 must admit that preaching on love feels a little 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.420 intimidating because, I mean, if we had to sum 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:54.740 up, you know, the entire Bible, all of Christianity 00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:58.839 in one word, I would probably say love. So how 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:02.790 in the world do you fit it into one sermon? And 00:05:02.790 --> 00:05:05.610 I realize that I can't, and so for all of our 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:09.649 sakes, I'm focusing on just one of the many scripture 00:05:09.649 --> 00:05:14.810 passages about love. And of all of the ones that 00:05:14.810 --> 00:05:18.889 I could have chosen for today, I kept coming 00:05:18.889 --> 00:05:24.509 back to Jesus' words in the Gospel of John. If 00:05:24.509 --> 00:05:27.470 you were here a few weeks ago, this text may 00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:32.240 have sounded familiar. Alan preached not very 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:36.540 long ago on John 13, which is where Jesus first 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:40.480 introduces the command to his disciples to love 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:44.459 one another as I have loved you, that he repeats 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:50.920 again here in chapter 15. This time, Jesus brings 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.899 up this command to love following a metaphor 00:05:53.899 --> 00:05:57.899 about the vine and the branches. which seemed 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:00.980 appropriate as we begin our Fruit of the Spirit 00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:06.160 series. Earlier it says, I am the vine and you 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:10.459 are the branches. Those who abide in me and I 00:06:10.459 --> 00:06:16.759 in them will bear much fruit. That word abide 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:21.759 has always stood out to me. In fact, on my bulletin 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.680 board in my office, right above my computer, 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:28.699 the Greek word for abide is written there, along 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:33.120 with several of its meanings. Abide with me. 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:39.300 Stay with me. Dwell with me. Remain with me. 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:46.699 Endure with me. This word implies an intimate 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:52.500 relationship of time and energy invested. The 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:56.259 reality is that when you're around people for 00:06:56.259 --> 00:06:59.740 significant periods of time, especially when 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:03.920 you abide or dwell with them, for better or for 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:08.829 worse, you start to rub off on each other. I 00:07:08.829 --> 00:07:11.769 remember at some point, I was home from college, 00:07:11.790 --> 00:07:14.009 and I was at a coffee shop with a close friend 00:07:14.009 --> 00:07:17.529 who had known me for a long time. And as we were 00:07:17.529 --> 00:07:21.370 sipping our coffees and catching up, she turned 00:07:21.370 --> 00:07:24.910 to me and she said, you always shake your drink 00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:27.889 around before you drink it. She's like, do you 00:07:27.889 --> 00:07:31.129 know why you do that? And I was like, I have 00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:34.089 no idea. I didn't even realize that I was doing 00:07:34.089 --> 00:07:38.610 it. And then within a week of that conversation, 00:07:38.990 --> 00:07:42.410 I was sitting with my family around the table 00:07:42.410 --> 00:07:45.569 for dinner. And right as we were about to eat, 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:49.670 I noticed that my mom, my dad, and my brother 00:07:49.670 --> 00:07:54.089 all picked up their drink glasses and shook them 00:07:54.089 --> 00:07:57.930 around before drinking them. And I couldn't help 00:07:57.930 --> 00:08:02.009 but laugh, apparently being around my family. 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:05.680 had managed to deeply affect my everyday behaviors 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.399 without me even noticing that it was happening. 00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:14.800 Jesus gives instructions to his disciples for 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.639 how they come to understand the kind of self 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:21.540 -giving love that he has for them, which is abide 00:08:21.540 --> 00:08:26.800 in my love. It's like he's saying, be present 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:32.919 with me. Spend time with me. Allow my ways to 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:37.759 influence you. And that doesn't happen without 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:43.299 long -term relationship. Jesus challenges us 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:47.820 to abide in his love, meaning that we have to 00:08:47.820 --> 00:08:51.279 sit with that love long enough to let that love 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:56.120 wash over us, to let it sink in and to change 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:01.730 our being. The company that we keep shapes who 00:09:01.730 --> 00:09:08.990 we are. Drawing closer to God changes us. The 00:09:08.990 --> 00:09:12.610 more time that we abide with God, the more hopefully 00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:16.409 we take on God's characteristics as our own, 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:20.990 cultivating that spirit of love that God has 00:09:20.990 --> 00:09:24.830 for us, and then acting in the same way towards 00:09:24.830 --> 00:09:31.419 others. And that doesn't happen overnight. To 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:35.139 love people is to spend time with them, to share 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:39.360 life with them. And the more we invest in others, 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:42.519 the more we allow ourselves to be affected by 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:49.059 them. And what better example of this than friendship? 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:54.159 I've probably quoted Frederick Buechner almost 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:55.799 every time that I've preached, but I'm doing 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:58.690 it again. I'm going to do it again. That in his 00:09:58.690 --> 00:10:01.570 book, Whistling in the Dark, Frederick Buechner 00:10:01.570 --> 00:10:05.389 says, friends are people you make part of your 00:10:05.389 --> 00:10:09.230 life just because you feel like it. But there 00:10:09.230 --> 00:10:11.629 are lots of other ways people get to be part 00:10:11.629 --> 00:10:14.190 of each other's lives, like being related to 00:10:14.190 --> 00:10:17.809 each other, living near each other, sharing some 00:10:17.809 --> 00:10:21.950 special passion with each other. But though all 00:10:21.950 --> 00:10:24.629 or any of those may be involved in a friendship, 00:10:24.750 --> 00:10:29.370 they are secondary to it. Basically, your friends 00:10:29.370 --> 00:10:32.029 are not your friends for any particular reason. 00:10:33.090 --> 00:10:36.289 The job you do, the family you have, the way 00:10:36.289 --> 00:10:39.789 you vote, the major achievements and blunders 00:10:39.789 --> 00:10:43.330 in your life, your religious convictions or lack 00:10:43.330 --> 00:10:47.970 of them, are all somehow set off to one side 00:10:47.970 --> 00:10:52.759 when you get together. You meet with a clean 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:56.639 slate every time, and you meet on equal terms. 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:02.519 Anything may come of it, or nothing may, but 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:06.500 that doesn't matter either. Only the meeting 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:13.320 matters. When we talk about love, I don't think 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.259 we talk about the powerful love of friendship 00:11:16.259 --> 00:11:18.980 enough. Although Rod Ray did this morning in 00:11:18.980 --> 00:11:22.779 Sunday school, that was a nice... tie in. I think 00:11:22.779 --> 00:11:25.659 that is another reason why I like this passage 00:11:25.659 --> 00:11:32.460 in John so much. To hear Jesus change his relationship 00:11:32.460 --> 00:11:36.639 with his disciples, from servant and master, 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:42.919 even from teacher and student, to friends, is 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:47.769 an extraordinary thing. That this kind of love 00:11:47.769 --> 00:11:53.789 that Jesus exemplifies changes everything. A 00:11:53.789 --> 00:11:57.070 servant would be obligated to support a master 00:11:57.070 --> 00:12:01.029 through difficult times. But a friend would do 00:12:01.029 --> 00:12:05.110 it freely, out of mutual commitment and affection. 00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:10.590 A friend is someone we choose to let into our 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:15.070 lives. Someone we choose to abide and spend time 00:12:15.070 --> 00:12:19.320 with. Someone who will potentially rub off on 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:25.220 us. And then to think about how we treat our 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:29.320 friends. That we look out for their best interests. 00:12:30.019 --> 00:12:33.899 We give them the benefit of the doubt. We can 00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:37.559 overlook their faults. And we wish what's best 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:43.460 for them. Jesus does the same for his followers. 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:50.059 Love one another as I have loved you, he says. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:55.379 I don't think it's a coincidence that Jesus calls 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:59.519 them friends at the end of his life, after they 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:04.360 have spent a lot of time with one another. This 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:08.320 abiding love that lasts takes time and investment 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:12.460 in repeated showing up and being present for 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:17.700 one another. It's the kind of love that will 00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:20.899 put your own needs aside for the sake of someone 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:25.419 else. The kind of love that feels the pain of 00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:30.700 another as if it's your own. And Christ loves 00:13:30.700 --> 00:13:35.840 us enough to do that for us. And then challenges 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:42.000 us to do the same for others. Now that feels 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:47.450 like a high bar. It's one thing to love the people 00:13:47.450 --> 00:13:51.289 that we have chosen to be our friends, to love 00:13:51.289 --> 00:13:55.570 them like that. But it's quite another to hear 00:13:55.570 --> 00:13:58.950 Jesus' challenge for us to love everyone in that 00:13:58.950 --> 00:14:04.690 way. And if it were only up to us to choose Jesus, 00:14:04.750 --> 00:14:08.970 to abide in him and obey his commandments, to 00:14:08.970 --> 00:14:13.179 always love as he loves. And we are setting ourselves 00:14:13.179 --> 00:14:19.200 up for failure. And so thanks be to God that 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:24.340 Christ reminds us that he has chosen us first. 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:31.159 That he has already made the first move. That 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.059 love does not come from our own will. It comes 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:40.740 because Jesus chooses us. and enables the Spirit 00:14:40.740 --> 00:14:46.860 to move us and to continue what he started. When 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:49.860 Jesus commands us to be friends with one another, 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:54.580 it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to always 00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:59.440 like each other all the time. But he says whether 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:05.980 we feel like it or not, Jesus commands us And 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.820 shows us how to look out for each other's good. 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:13.600 To see each other as beloved children of God. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:17.879 With all of our imperfections and annoying habits. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:27.399 Just as Jesus did for us. And it starts here. 00:15:28.580 --> 00:15:33.700 It starts here with our church family. This is 00:15:33.700 --> 00:15:36.879 the perfect Sunday, actually, for a little bit 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.720 of practice because we are worshiping together 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:45.559 all as one for this one service. And soon each 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:48.940 person will walk up front to receive communion. 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:55.000 So I invite you, as you look around the church, 00:15:55.299 --> 00:15:59.559 you will probably see people that you know and 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:03.269 that you like. Maybe you'll see people you know 00:16:03.269 --> 00:16:07.629 and maybe don't like all that much. And then 00:16:07.629 --> 00:16:10.269 you'll see people that you probably don't know 00:16:10.269 --> 00:16:15.309 at all. It is a big church. And we've said before 00:16:15.309 --> 00:16:18.330 that a church should be like a family, and I 00:16:18.330 --> 00:16:23.190 think that's true. But today I want you to shift 00:16:23.190 --> 00:16:27.809 your focus just a little and imagine that each 00:16:27.809 --> 00:16:34.669 person you see is your friend. Maybe commit to 00:16:34.669 --> 00:16:37.669 spending more time with somebody that you don't 00:16:37.669 --> 00:16:40.490 already know and like, because in order to be 00:16:40.490 --> 00:16:42.769 friends with someone, you have to be around them 00:16:42.769 --> 00:16:48.549 first. And imagine enacting Jesus' command to 00:16:48.549 --> 00:16:52.289 look out for their well -being, to wish what's 00:16:52.289 --> 00:16:56.629 best for them, and to share the ups and downs 00:16:56.629 --> 00:17:02.570 of life with them. It's those little, repeated, 00:17:02.669 --> 00:17:07.349 conscious actions over and over that make that 00:17:07.349 --> 00:17:12.970 abiding love bloom. The more we put this into 00:17:12.970 --> 00:17:16.089 practice, the more we strive to love one another 00:17:16.089 --> 00:17:21.089 as Jesus loved us, the more we bear that fruit 00:17:21.089 --> 00:17:28.730 of love that will last. May it be so. Amen.