A Homily given by Fr. Ben Jones; Curate,
St. George’s Anglican Church, Raleigh, NC;
on The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity; A.D. 2009.
“Fruit”
+ In the name of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of God the Holy Ghost, Amen.
St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians 5:22 - 23. “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
The gospel according to St. Luke 17:19. “and he said unto him, arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”
***EXAMPLE OF COOKING***
Now let’s apply this example of cooking to the “Fruit of the Spirit”. Fruit is defined as an end product, or the result of a harvest. In St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, he is teaching that the “fruit” is what he expects to observe in someone as a result of the Holy Spirit’s work, “against such there is no law”.1 When the “Fruit of the Spirit” is rightly applied, everything that we do will have meaning and purpose. Let’s examine what happens when the Holy Spirit lives within the heart of a regenerate person.
The nine-fold fruit of the Spirit springs forth from the Spiritual nature which indwells us. Make no mistake about it. It is the Spirit of God that produces the character traits described in the Epistle lesson. These character traits which comprise the “Fruit of the Spirit” cannot be obtained without our Lord’s help. We learn from the Gospel according to St. John; “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in Me, and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”2 Only those who are born of the Spirit receive grace through this “Fruit of the Spirit”. Obtaining this grace requires our obedience, because it is through the faithful believer who delights in the law of God and walks in His way, that “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in due season”.3 Our attitude towards God, our attitude towards other people, and our attitude towards ourselves becomes more and more defined through the “Fruit of the Spirit”.
The nine-fold Fruit of the Spirit is divided into three categories. The first category describes the Christian experience in relation to God, being the “Virtues in Relation to God”, which are Love, joy, and peace. The second category describes our Christian experience in relation to others, being the “Virtues in Relation to Others”, which are longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness. The third category describes how we should be more organized, controlled, and restrained, being the “Virtues in Relation to Oneself”, which are faith, meekness, and temperance. These individual traits are what we are given by the Spirit. Each has its own individual gift and by emulating this gift, we receive its grace. Let’s look at the individual traits.
“Love”, being translated from the Greek, (agape), is first of all a supreme devotion to God. Love is a God-given passion to us, in turn to honor our Creator. We are not simply talking about a warm feeling. We are talking about an “attitude” which reveals itself in action. We demonstrate this “agape” love by helping others even when it’s not convenient; by giving when it hurts, by devoting energy to the welfare of others rather than to our own welfare. True Christian love will never seek anything but the highest and the best that we can give or present to God for the object of that love. After all, isn’t this what Christ did for us on the Cross and remains to do for us today through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, regardless of how we treat or obey Him???
“Joy”, being translated from the Greek, (chara), is a deep, deep, inner radiance of the soul brought about by the Holy Spirit, which results from the knowledge that God works everything out for our good. This deep, deep, inner radiance is felt as an inner satisfaction, untouchable by anyone, which comes from our knowing Christ. Joy describes our personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Saviour. Joy is the result that comes from deep down in our inner most soul knowing that God abides in us, and we in Him. Do we share this joy of the knowledge of God to others and most especially in giving thanks to God??? ***A side note on joy.*** There is a TV-evangelist that always mentions in his message to his congregation to be careful with their joy. “Don’t let someone steal your joy.” He never mentions sharing this joy with anyone, much less to give thanks to God for His Spirit that dwells within us. If you take this a step further, the Gospel according to St. John teaches us, “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”4 We are being told that none of us are lost that belong to our Heavenly Father. It doesn’t sound like someone could steal our joy!!
“Peace”, being translated from the Greek, (eirene), is the rest and calmness that results from a harmonized relationship between the soul and its God. In the “Blessing” that concludes Mass, we are given that “Peace of God”, which passes all of our understanding and knowledge. This “Peace” is a trait of the “Fruit of the Spirit” which is that inner serenity that comes from God, which is based on the assurance that we have “Peace” with God through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. We commend our lives to God in prayer. It is by this “Faith and Belief” in our Heavenly Father’s love and care for us that we demonstrate this “Peace of God”. Do we demonstrate this “Peace of God” to God as well as to others, in that our being is under the complete control of God, or do we exhibit fear of the present and dread of the future???
“Longsuffering” is the quality of self-restraint which defines our patience. We often refer to the “patience of Job” and wish that we had more of this ability to absorb irritating and hurtful occurrences. Don’t just wish. Pray to God for help and guidance with patience and the anger of a short fuse. Think of the example of Christ in His suffering and the mocking that He endured during His trial and in the Romans preparation for and in the crucifixion itself. We are told many times in the Scripture that when Christ was reviled, He reviled not. How do we treat our inconveniences and distractions on a daily basis???
“Gentleness” is the translation of a word that speaks of thoughtful consideration. We are talking about the kind of thoughtful consideration that leads to courteous and kind actions one to another. We find ourselves being friendly, sympathetic, and polite. What we do not want to catch ourselves becoming involved in is being rude and thoughtless to others. We can relate gentleness to the “Golden Rule”. We treat others as we would like to be treated. This trait is reflected in the Summary of the Law. “Love your neighbours as yourself. How do we treat others when they are rude and inconsiderate?? Do we follow Christ’s example of kind actions or do we just turn it back on them???
“Goodness” is the generosity and the benevolence which causes us to do helpful things for others. St. Peter preached that we are to follow the example of Christ “who went about doing good”.5 St. Paul prayed that God’s people would “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God”.6 How do we choose to show our kindness and goodness???
“Faith” or “Faithfulness” is the quality of our reliability and trustworthiness which makes our word our bond. God’s faithfulness is our example. As Christians we should take seriously what we tell others that we will do for them. Think of the faithfulness of Christ on the Cross. He was all about His Father’s work. He carried it out even to the death on the Cross with our victory being in His Resurrection. Jesus told His Disciples and His followers what His Father’s work would involve. Jesus was faithful to His Father and to us. Are we careful to follow through with faithfulness in our promises to others as well as to God???
“Meekness” speaks of a submissive and teachable Spirit. The meek person is ready to listen and to learn. This is a character trait of a “tenderness of Spirit” that enables us to discipline others properly, to endure persecutions graciously, and to witness to others with sensitivity. St. James teaches that we are to “lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls”.7 Meekness is the quality that prevents us from being prideful, arrogant, or rebellious. We humble ourselves to be sensitive to the leading and the teaching of the Holy Spirit. How well do we exhibit our meekness to our fellow man as well as to God???
“Temperance” or self-control is that quality which leads to mastery over evil thoughts and deeds. Our self-control is shown in using moderation in all things and more especially in abstaining from temptations and evil deeds. We want to say “no” to anything that will take our focus off of God, or that will take away our desire to study the Word of God. We accomplish our self-control by praying to God for help with our discipline. Do we exhibit temperance by living each and every day anchored in God’s constant love and care by giving it all to Him, or do we choose what we will handle and what we will let God take care of for us???
Now that we have reviewed the nine-fold Fruit of the Spirit what can we carry away? We now have a well rounded sense of what it means to be “Christ like”. When these qualities are working in and through us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we grow in faith and belief and become recipients of “Habitual Grace” which leads to a change in the state of our soul in relation to God through Christ. The process of sanctification and growth in righteousness, leads to our ultimate “objective end”, “Eternal Salvation”. Each and every time we kneel at the Altar rail to receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ, before departing, look upon the Crucifix to receive that reassuring “HOPE” of the faithfulness our Lord as we heard in the close of our Gospel lesson this morning. “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”8
AMEN.
+
“AND NOW UNTO GOD THE FATHER,
GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY GHOST;
BE ASCRIBED ALL MIGHT,
MAJESTY, POWER, AND DOMINION,
MOST JUSTLY DUE THIS DAY,
BOTH NOW, AND FOREVER,
WORLD WITHOUT END,
AMEN.”
1The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians 5:23.
2 The Gospel according to St. John 15:4-5.
3 The Book of Psalms 1:5.
4 The Gospel according to St. John 17:10.
5 The Acts of the Apostles 10:38.
6 St. Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians 1:10.
7 The Epistle General of St. James 1:21.
82 The Gospel according to St. Luke 17:19.