August 2, 2009

What Are the Fruits of the Holy Spirit?

Galatians 5:16-26

Opening Words: For the first thirty-five years of his life John Wesley was a failure. Then everything changed. On May 24, 1738 he was touched by the Holy Spirit and was sanctified for Christian service. The rest is history. Physically, Wesley was no different. Intellectually, he was no different. Financially, he was no different. The only thing that changed about John Wesley was his spiritual presence. He did not change himself, it was the Holy Spirit who changed him.

Today, I continue my sermon series called, The Holy Spirit. Like Wesley, we have everything we need to be a great success for God, except one thing, the Holy Spirit. What happened to John Wesley 271 years ago can happen again today. The problem is so many in our time don’t understand the Holy Spirit. I want to be completely honest. You will find this sermon series is a little more advanced than the norm. However, I preach this sermon series because the Holy Spirit is the key to our future success. Let me say this lovingly. It is time for some of you to grow up spiritually.

This sermon series is based on six questions. To date, I have answered three questions: “Who is the Holy Spirit?,” “how do I receive the Holy Spirit?,” and “how does the Holy Spirit help me?” The question I will answer this weekend is, “what are the fruits of the Holy Spirit?“ My goal is not to just educate you personally. My goal is to edify us as a group. Our scripture reading for this weekend comes from the fifth chapter of Galatians, verses sixteen through twenty-six. May God give you ears to hear.

Galatians 5:16-26 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

I hope this story isn’t true. Tradition tells us Emperor Frederick, who ruled the Roman Empire in the thirteenth century, wanted to know man's original language. So he decided to run a little experiment. He isolated a few newborns from the sound of any human voice. He reasoned that they would eventually speak the original tongue of man. He believed it would be Latin or Greek. The children were cared for in complete silence. In time the experiment failed because within a few months each one of the infants died. Frederick’s experiment taught us nothing about the original language but it did teach us something about relationships. Can I state the obvious? The relationships we hold in our lives are extremely important.

Have you ever stopped to consider all the relationships you have in your live? No two relationships are the same. Each one is different. Our relationships have the potential to bring us both great joy and great pain. I have used this quote for years because it is my favorite quote. Albert Einstein once said, “Physics is easy, relationships are complex.” He was right! The relationship you have with your mother is different from your relationship with your father. The relationship you have with your brother is different from the one you have with your sister. The relationship we have with one sibling who lives around the corner is different from the relationship you have with your sibling who only comes at Christmas. The relationship you have with your cousin is different from the one you have with your neighbor. The relationship you have with your spouse is different from the relationship you have with me. Do I have to go on? All the relationships we hold in our lives are different. They are not better or worse, they are different. However, each relationship you have in your life is important!

Leonard Syme is a professor of epidemiology at the University of California at Berkeley. He studied the importance of our relationships. He pointed to Japan as being number one in the world with respect to health and then looked at Japan’s close social, cultural, and traditional ties. He believes that the more social ties, the better the health and the lower the death rate. Conversely, he indicates that the more isolated the person, the poorer the health and the higher the death rate. Relationships are good preventative medicine for physical problems and for mental-emotional-behavior problems. So as your pastor let me encourage you to develop as many relationships as possible. I would love to see you live a longer happier and healthier life. This is all nice but what do relationships have to do with the Holy Spirit? What is the link between the Holy Spirit and our relationships? The answer is everything. Let us look at the text together.

We find ourselves in the fifth chapter of Galatians. Paul wrote this letter about the year A.D. 50. The recipients were charter members of that Asian Minor church. Paul writes them because he founded that church during one of his missionary journeys. Don’t miss this point. The charter members were originally Jewish but some of the newer members were Gentiles. It is as true today as it was in the year A.D. 50, everyone says they want church growth but with church growth comes change. No one likes change but a wet baby! The Jewish charter members are resisting the change. They are trying to force the new members, the Gentiles, to do things the same old way. The old members want the new members to observe Jewish practices. In other words, the old members are not learning from the past, they are worshipping the past. Do you know of any churches where new members are being forced to do things the same old way? I can not say this too strongly. This issue of change is pulling that congregation apart.

There would be no compromise so they looked to Paul to settle the debate. The future of that congregation hands on Paul’s response. Paul says, “It is time for a change. Don’t be lead by Old Testament law. Instead, be lead by the Spirit.” Love can not be legislated in Washington DC but love can be manufactured in the hearts of men and women who believe. In the most important relationship in your life, what is more important law or spirit? Are you always telling that person what they are doing wrong? Or do you accept that person and pray for that person, so they will have a longer happier life? There is a world of difference. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to be people who live by the ways of the Holy Spirit. We will leave law enforcement for someone else. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

The question for this weekend is, what are the fruits of the Holy Spirit? Paul lists them for us in verses 22 and 23. (I am sure you have your Bible open.) Those verses say, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” The function of the Holy Spirit is to bare witness to the redemptive acts of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in your life because he wants to clarify your witness. Our world will tolerate just about anything but our world will not tolerate a hypocrite. In our world what we say is not as important as what we do. Are you genuine in your faith or are you a hypocrite? The answer to that question can be found in the way you handle the relationships in your life.

It is almost comical. I have read this text for years and have committed it to memory. I thought I knew everything about this scripture but I was wrong! I learned something new this week as I wrote this message. This is my discovery. The list of spiritual fruits are not just a random list. Paul’s lists of spiritual fruits are clustered in three groups of three. Each cluster effects a different relationship in your life. The first cluster, love, joy and peace, deal with your relationship with God. The second cluster, patience kindness and goodness, deal with your relationship with others. The third cluster, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, deal with your relationship with yourself. I am looking at those three clusters this weekend. The Holy Spirit is moving in your relationships because he wants you to be genuine. The world does not tolerate a hypocrite. So if you are ready to begin say, “Amen!”

Our Relationship with God

The first cluster deals with our relationship with God. Could you have a better relationship with Good? They tell me before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement on taxation in the border areas. Those who ate short-grain rice, built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians. On the other hand, those who ate long-grain rice, built their houses on the ground, and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese. The exact location of a person's home was not what determined his or her nationality. Instead, each person belonged to the kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited. That is the story of the church. Our location says we are citizens of this world! However, our behavior and attitudes determine if we are really citizens of the Kingdom of God. Church membership means nothing! Even a pagan can join a church. The question is are you walking in the Spirit? Do you have a relationship with God?

The first cluster of fruit, love, joy and peace, deal with our relationship with God. How would your relationship with God change if you were lead by the spirit and were more loving, joyful (or content) and peaceful? If you think you could use a little help in this area say, “Amen!”

Our Relationship with Others

The second cluster deals with our relationships with others. Could you have a better relationship with the people in your life? I came across this piece of information that may help you. It is simply called: Ten Commandments of Human Relations. I think they are common sense but maybe they will help someone in your life. Maybe you know some who could use them? Let me list them.

1. Speak to people.

2. Smile at people.

3. Call people by name.

4. Be friendly and helpful.

5. Be cordial.

6. Be genuinely interested in people.

7. Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism.

8. Be considerate with the feelings of others.

9. Be alert to serve.

10. Be able to laugh at yourself.

The second cluster of fruit, patience, kindness and goodness, deal with our relationship with others. How would your relationships with others change if you were more patient, kind and respectful? If you know of someone in your life that could use a little help dealing with others say, “Amen!”

Our Relationship with Ourselves

The third cluster deals with how we feel about ourselves. Could you have a better relationship with yourself? Do you know of anyone who doesn’t even like themselves? Elizabeth Elliot, in her book Let Me Be a Woman, records the story of Gladys Aylward. She was unable to accept the looks God had given her. Ms. Aylward told how when she was a child she had two great sorrows. One, that while all her friends had beautiful golden hair, hers was black. The other, that while her friends were still growing, she had stopped. She was about four feet ten inches tall. But when at last she reached the country to which God had called her to be a missionary, she stood on the wharf in Shanghai and looked around at the people to whom He had called her. "Every single one of them" she said, "had black hair. And every one of them had stopped growing short of five feet tall." She was able to look to God and exclaim, "Lord God, You know what You're doing!" He knows what he is doing in your situation. He has designed you just the way you are for a reason.

The third cluster of fruit, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, deal with our relationship with ourselves. How would your self image change if you were more faithful, gentle or controlled? If you could use some help in the area of self appreciation say, “Amen!”

Let me end by say this, Einstein was right! Relationships are complex! If you don’t believe me then consider these relationships. Recently in London, 76-year-old Bill Baker married Edna Harvey. She happened to be his granddaughter's husband's mother. That's where the confusion began, according to Baker's granddaughter, Lynn. "My mother-in-law is now my step-grandmother. My grandfather is now my stepfather-in-law. My mom is my sister-in-law and my brother is my nephew. But even crazier is that I'm now married to my uncle and my own children are my cousins."

Relationships are complex! And they will even be more complex if you try to live by the law, telling every one in your life they are wrong all the time. The relationships in your life can be simplified if you learn to live by the Holy Spirit. If you want to improve your relationship with God then be more loving, content and peaceful. If you want to improve your relationship with other people then be more patient, kind and respectful. If you want to feel better about yourself then be more faithful, gentle and controlled. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”