GALATIANS 5:22-26 | NO LAW AGAINST IT

NO LAW AGAINST IT

GALATIANS 5:22-26

JUNE 5, 2016

WITH A HANKERING FOR SOMETHING COOL AND SWEET ON MEMORIAL DAY EVENING, KAREN AND I DROVE OVER TO WENDY’S TO GET A FROSTY.

THE SUN WAS JUST SETTING SO WE SAT BEHIND THE PLATE GLASS WINDOW, IN THE COOL OF WENDY’S AC, WATCHING THE SUNSET, EATING OUR FROSTIES.

AS WE SAT THERE A LOCAL FIGURE, WELL KNOWN TO MANY OF YOU, (NOT THAT HE’S WELL KNOWN, JUST THAT HE’S FAIRLY VISIBLE AROUND TOWN) RAN BY ON THE SIDEWALK ON THE GULF SIDE OF NORTH ROOSEVELT.

“THAT’S THE GUY WHO VISITED CHURCH A COUPLE OF TIMES, ISN’T IT?” KAREN ASKED.  “UH HUH,” I ANSWERED BETWEEN SPOONS FULL OF ICE CREAM.

“HE’S THE ONE WHO CALLED BACK TO CRITICIZE YOUR SERMONS, RIGHT?”  “YEP,” I SAID.

“WHAT WAS HIS PROBLEM WITH YOUR SERMONS?”  KAREN ASKED.  “NOT ENOUGH SIN,” I SAID.  “HE SAID I DIDN’T TALK ENOUGH ABOUT SIN.”

IN THE 5^TH CHAPTER OF HIS LETTER TO THE GALATIANS THE APOSTLE PAUL TALKS ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, AND IN PARTICULAR, CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

PAUL DOES THIS BY COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE WITH LIFE LIVED UNDER THE LAW.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, PAUL BASICALLY SAYS, SHOULD BE LIVED OUT IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S SPIRIT AT WORK IN US, RATHER THAN BY THE KEEPING OF THE LAW.

IN A FEW VERSES AHEAD OF WHERE I STARTED READING FOR THIS MORNING PAUL SAYS THIS:

“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.”

AND THEN, IN WHAT IS A RATHER LONG LAUNDRY LIST OF THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE MADE THE GUY WHO CRITIQUED MY SERMONS VERY HAPPY, PAUL TELL US WHAT SIN IS:

“NOW THE WORKS OF THE FLESH ARE RATHER OBVIOUS: FORNICATION, IMPURITY, LICENTIOUSNESS, IDOLATRY, SORCERY, ENMITIES, STRIFE, JEALOUSY, ANGER, QUARRELS, DISSENSIONS, FACTIONS, ENVY, DRUNKENNESS, CAROUSING, AND THINGS LIKE THESE.”

THERE’S ALMOST SOMETHING ONOMATOPOEIC ABOUT THOSE WORDS – THEY SLITHER AND HISS OFF THE TONGUE WITH THE EXCITEMENT AND INTRIGUE OF SIN.

“BY CONTRAST,” PAUL’S EXACT WORDS IN VERSE 22 BY THE WAY, “BY CONTRAST, THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL.”

OF THESE, PAUL SAYS IN VERSE 23, “THERE IS NO LAW AGAINST SUCH THINGS.”

AND THEN PAUL COMMENDS US TO LIVE BY THE SPIRIT RATHER THAN ACCORDING TO THE LAW.

ONLY, HERE’S THE PROBLEM, WHICH I ALLUDED TO A MOMENT AGO, AND WHICH NEITHER THE APOSTLE PAUL, NOR JESUS HIMSELF, PROBABLY COULD HAVE FORESEEN IN THEIR FIRST CENTURY WORLDVIEW:

SIN SELLS.  SEX SELLS.  EVIL, HATRED, ANGER, BLUSTER SELL.

WE NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN TODAY’S POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS TO KNOW THAT’S TRUE.

PEOPLE ARE INFATUATED WITH THE LURID, SHOCKING, SENSATIONALIZED, JUICY, GAUDY, GARISH BEHAVIOR OF OTHERS.

WHY ELSE WOULD WE BE INTERESTED IN KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS?

OR CARE ABOUT THE LATEST EXPLOITS OF JOHNNY MANZIEL?

OR WATCH WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE BACHELOR, OR BACHELORETTE, OR HALF OF THE OTHER PROGRAMS ON TELEVISION THESE DAYS?

CHECK OUT AN ONLINE THESAURUS ON ANY OF THE WORDS I JUST USED, AND IN ADDITION TO FINDING SIMILAR WORDS WITH THE SAME MEANING, TODAY’S THESAURUSES ALSO ALWAYS GIVE AN ANTONYM FOR THE WORD YOU’RE LOOKING UP;

THAT IS, OF COURSE, A WORD THAT MEANS THE OPPOSITE OF THE WORD FOR WHICH YOU ARE SEARCHING.

THE ANTONYM TO LURID, SHOCKING, SENSATIONAL, JUICY, GAUDY, GARISH?

BLAND.  BLAND.  BLAND DOES NOT SELL.  THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS BLAND.

LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL ARE BLAND.

“YOU SHOULD PREACH ON SIN, IT’LL REALLY BRING ‘EM IN.”  SIN IS HOT, THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS NOT.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.  “THERE’S NO LAW AGAINST SUCH THINGS,” PAUL SAYS, AND THEREIN MAY LIE THE PROBLEM.

NO ONE SEEMS MUCH INTERESTED IN WHAT’S GOOD, LEGAL, HEALTHY, HAPPY, PROMISING, PRODUCTIVE, THESE DAYS…

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS BLAND.  BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE.

IN FACT, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, WHILE PAUL REFERS TO “THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT” IN THE SINGULAR, “FRUIT” HE THEN GOES ON TO OFFER 9 DIFFERENT MANIFESTATIONS OF THIS ONE FRUIT.

IT REMINDS ME OF THE MOVIE WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

THERE WAS A PIECE OF CANDY CALLED, “THE NEVER ENDING GOBSTOPPER.”

WHAT WAS AMAZING ABOUT IT IS THAT IT WAS A SINGLE PIECE OF CANDY WITH ENDLESS SORTS OF FLAVORS.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS ONE SPECIFIC THING WITH SEVERAL, CONTINUOUS QUALITIES; WITH A NEVER ENDING VARIETY OF FLAVORS.

AND ALL OF THESE “FLAVORS” REMIND US OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US.

THE SPIRIT’S WORK TIES US TO JESUS, AND LEADS US TO SEE WE HAVE TRUE SATISFACTION IN HIM ALONE.

WHEN WE PRACTICE THE 9 – LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL, NOT ONLY ARE OUR LIVES BETTER FOR IT, BUT SO ARE THE LIVES OF THOSE AROUND US.

TODAY, WHEN WE ARE CELEBRATING MOMS, DADS, TEACHERS, GRADS – WHEN WE ARE POINTING TO THE QUALITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF EACH OF THOSE, WITHIN THEIR OWN CATEGORY, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE WAYS IN WHICH THEY HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.

PARENTS WHO EXPRESS LOVE, JOY, AND PEACE;

TEACHERS WHO TEACH WITH PATIENCE AND KINDNESS;

CHILDREN WHO LEARN GENEROSITY, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL.

AND ALL OF US LIVING AND EXEMPLIFYING THESE SAME TRAITS AS FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT OF THE GOD IN WHOM WE BELIEVE.

MONOGAMY IS BLAND.  FAITHFULNESS IS BLAND.  HOMER AND SARAH, FIFTY-NINE YEARS OF BEING MARRIED TO THE SAME PERSON IS BLAND.

KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY, THINKING MORE OF SOMEONE ELSE THAN WE THINK OF OURSELVES, BLAND, BLAND, BLAND!

HOLDING OUR TONGUES AND OUR TEMPERS, BLAND.

BEING GENTLE AND PATIENT WITH OTHER PEOPLE, CONTROLLING OUR OWN EMOTIONS, ALL BLAND!

A WOMAN SEES A FATHER SHOPPING WITH A FUSSY TWO-YEAR-OLD SITTING IN HIS GROCERY CART.

“BE PATIENT, BILLY,” HE WHISPERS. “YOU CAN HANDLE THIS, BILLY.  IT’S OKAY, BILLY.”

THE WOMAN SAID TO HIM, “I DON’T MEAN TO INTERRUPT YOUR SHOPPING, BUT I JUST HAD TO TELL YOU HOW WONDERFULLY LOVING AND PATIENT YOU ARE WITH LITTLE BILLY.”

THE MAN REPLIED, “ACTUALLY, MY SON’S NAME IS PATRICK.  MY NAME IS BILLY.”

PATIENCE IS BLAND.

HEY CAILEIGH – STRAIGHT “A’s” ARE BLAND BUT THEY GOT YOU A FULL RIDE TO COLGATE UNIVERSITY!

MAYBE WHAT WE NEED IS A DIFFERENT DEFINITION OF BLAND; OR MAYBE, WHAT WE NEED IS A DIFFERENT DEFINITION OF EXCITING!

I CHOOSE TO PREACH ON THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT RATHER THAN SIN FOR A REASON.

SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, 365 DAYS A YEAR, LITERALLY, 24 HOURS A DAY, WE CAN FIND ALL THE SIN WE WANT, ANYWHERE WE LOOK, WHEREVER WE LISTEN, AT EVERY TURN AND ALL AROUND US.

I DOUBT, VERY SERIOUSLY, THAT WE NEED ME TO TAKE ANOTHER 20 MINUTES ON A SUNDAY MORNING AND TELL US WHAT SIN IS; AND TELL US NOT TO DO IT.

BUT IF I CAN TAKE 20 MINUTES AND TELL US ABOUT WHAT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS, AND HOW WE CAN LIVE BY IT;

THEN I THINK I JUST MAY HAVE DONE WHAT GOD WANTS ME TO DO IN THE LITTLE BIT OF TIME I HAVE WITH YOU EACH SUNDAY MORNING.

I’LL DEAL WITH THE LETTERS, EMAILS, AND PHONE CALLS WHEN I GET THEM;

BUT I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT GRACE, AND FAITH, AND PEACE, AND ABOUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, OVER SIN EVERY TIME.

AND I’LL TELL YOU WHAT ELSE – “THERE’S NO LAW AGAINST IT.”