THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

November 11, 2007

Joe Kutter

Douglas Steere was one of the preeminent teachers of Christian Spirituality in the last generation. He was a Quaker by choice who practiced and studied and taught the practice of prayer like few others in his life time. His little book, Dimensions of Prayer, is one of the few that I have read more than once. It is an absolute gem.

So how did this man of the Spirit begin his journey with the Spirit?  How did this fascination with prayer, his habit of prayerfulness have its beginning?

He had attended Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State University, where he studied agriculture.  He discovered that agriculture was not his calling. (That sometimes happens to college students, including the one who stands before you.) And he went to Harvard to study for a Masters degree in philosophy. 

Even though he graduated with membership in Phi Beta Kappa, when the time came to take the comprehensive examinations that would qualify him for admission to the doctoral program, he panicked. The fear nearly paralyzed him. As many others had done before him, he considered asking for a postponement.  This is the way he remembered the experience.

I had an occasion then when my drawing to a season of prayer was strong and after half an hour on my knees, I rose perfectly sure that it was right to go on with the examination, to take them in quietness, and to write what I could and let the consequences, whatever they might be, take care of themselves. *

What did he say?

• He was drawn to a season of prayer. He was prompted by the Spirit.
• He spent half an hour on his knees.
• He was led to take the examination.
• He was led to take the exam “in quietness” and let the results take care of themselves.

That very practical experience led him to a lifetime in the practice of prayer. He experienced “the fruit of the Spirit.” In the midst of his stress, he experienced a profound peace within which he moved forward to meet the challenge before him. And he gave his life to sharing that fruit with the world.

Last week, at the super-market, I bought some fruit, some apples, grapes, bananas, peaches and apricots. I just went to the grocery, picked them off the shelf and dropped them into the cart. I enjoyed the fruit without giving any attention to the conditions that produced the fruit. I did not even think about the trees or the vines, the roots or the soil, the weather or the nutrients that caused that fruit to grow. I just picked it from the shelf.

I suspect that our super-market environment causes us to assume that we can acquire the fruit of the spirit in the same way. Surely, we must suspect, there is a church market someplace, some preacher or Sunday School class or Bible study where we can go and just pick up love, and joy, and peace and every fruit of the Spirit with only the cost of putting the offering into the plate. It is not that we think in that way; it is just that without thinking, we assume that it must be so. 

Now that you have heard this assumption said out-loud, you must surely recognize the absurdity of the assumption.

• If you want the fruit, you must give attention to the root.
• If you want the fruit of the Spirit, you must give attention to the one who grows the fruit.
• If you want the fruit of the Spirit, you must give your attention to The Spirit.
• If you want to experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, then you must give your attention to the source, to the Spirit of God.

Like the young Douglas Steere, you must respond to the inner prompting to pray, to give your full attention to the Spirit of God working within you.

Let me very clear about this:  The fruit of the Spirit is available to you. The fruit or the fruits of the spirit are gifts that God wants to give to you. The Spirit of God is available to you. But it does require your attention. We receive the Spirit; we are blessed by the fruit of the spirit as we attend to the Spirit – as we pray.  The good news is that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are gifts that God wants to give to you.

There is an ancient rule of Bible Study that says this: If you want to understand the text, then you must understand the context, If you want to understand a verse, then you need to know what comes before and after that verse. The better you understand the context, the better that you will understand the text.

Paul says that there are two “Forces” or two kinds of “Power” that are wrestling within each of us. There is a kind of eternal tug-of-war in our hearts and minds. If one “Force” wins, it leads to our own destruction and ultimately the destruction of the world. If the other wins, we experience the salvation of God.

“Force Number One”, the bad one, he calls “The Desires of the Flesh.”  This is the attitude of pure self-centeredness.  These are the impulses, the drives and desires of oneself apart from the guidance, direction, and control of the Spirit. This is material ambition separated from a conscience. This is the law of the human jungle; the big fish eat the little fish and the big cats eat the gazelles, every person for himself in the ultimate game of “King of the Mountain.”

Paul believes that this is a “Force” that is at work within every one of us. And what happens when we give in to “The Desires of the Flesh”?

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. [Galatians 5:19-21 (NRSV)]

The other “Force” that is working within you, Paul calls “The Spirit”.  Once you have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, God, as Holy Spirit, takes up residence in you. The Holy Spirit works to shape your life, your conscience, your soul, your behavior. The Holy Spirit, working at the very center of your heart, seeks to shape and direct and control the very human impulses that belong to every one of us. Ultimately, The Holy Spirit has one goal, one desire, one yearning and that is to form each one of us into the image of Christ.

In making you “A Christian”, The Holy Spirit wants to transform you into “a little Christ.” The Holy Spirit is a Force that is alive and well and working within you.

Is there a conflict between “The Desires of the Flesh” and “The Holy Spirit”?  Of course. It is in the nature of a human impulse to resist control and direction. An impulse is an impulse because it wants to do what it wants to do when it wants to do it. That is why it is called an impulse.

So, why should we nurture the force of the Spirit?  If the Spirit prevails, what happens? 

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. [Galatians 5:22-23 (NRSV)]

If you are looking at life from the inside out, if you are looking at the way that you experience life, then the apostle has just described the best of all possible lives! He is offering to you the best that God has to offer in this world.

• Love – to know that you are loved by God and the ability to love and be loved in this world
• Joy – Delight and the enjoyment of life
• Peace – Harmony with God and a profound sense peace with life and the world
• Patience – the power to “wait it out” and to endure through anything
• Kindness – the desire to treat all of your neighbors with respect and gentleness
• Generosity – the ability to contribute to the work of God in this world
• Faithfulness – the power to be loyal to your commitments to God and all others
• Gentleness – The power to be tender
• Self-control --  The ability to shape your impulses rather than have your impulses control you

This is the fruit that is yours as your nurture the life of the Spirit within. When you allow the power of God’s Spirit to be the dominant power in you life, you experience life at its absolute best….Now and Forever more.

I pray that the Spirit will grow within you and that you will enjoy the fruits.  I pray that you will nurture the Spirit in your family and among your friends. I pray that the Spirit will grow among us and that we will taste the fruit in this church. I pray that the Spirit will the Spirit will be so powerful among all of God’s people that the world itself will know its fruit and be forever blessed. Amen

*Douglas V. Steere, Unpublished Autobiography, 91 quoted by E. Glenn Hinson, “Listening to the Wisdom of Douglas V. Steere” April 30, 2001 (Pendle Hill Resource Center)