Not a Coconut

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-25

Even though the heat can be a little rough at times, one of the benefits of summer is just how plentiful fresh produce can be.   While I am in awe of the logistical apparatus that allows fruit to be available year-round, fruit that comes a pop-up stand, the back of a pickup truck, or that you pick yourself tends to be leagues better.   While most people love good, fresh fruit.  The Japanese take this to the next level.  Japan is home to some of the rarest fruit in the world.  One example of this is the Egg of the Sun mango.  While this type of mango is not that rare globally, in Japan it is only grown in one area, using low-tech, organic techniques.  As a result these mangos typically cost around $50 each, but perfect mangos can sell for the thousands of dollars.  The same goes for Ruby Roman grapes, which are a stand of grapes that are only grown on a single island in Japan.  These are rare because the growers have exacting standards.  Only grapes that reach a certain size, weight, and sugar content will make it to market.  In 2020, only 25,000 bunches were available.  The average cost for a bunch of Ruby Roman grapes is between $50-90.  However, some bunches can be graded platinum quality.  Bunches of this quality are not available every year, and in 2020 one such bunch sold at auction for $12,000 which works out to about $400 per grape.   The rarest and most expensive fruit in the world also comes from Japan and that is the Yubari King melon, a hybrid variety grown in only a handful of greenhouses in Japan.   This melon is known for its sweetness, and each melon cost $200-300.  Top quality melons can sell for more, with the record being set in 2019 where two melons sold for around $45,000.  

 I like fruit, but I am not sure any melon is worth the price of a used car.  There are some cultural reasons why Japan produces such expensive fruit, but a lot of it comes down to rarity.  The techniques used to get exact fruit coloring, size, or sweetness are exacting, labor intensive, or time consuming.  Since these growers still produce their luxury fruit, people are willing to pay top dollar for rare fruit.   While it cannot be grown from a tree or in a greenhouse, this morning’s scripture is also about some rare fruit.  I think we can all agree that qualities like kindness, gentleness, and peace are a lot harder to find today that we would like.  The analogy of fruit to describe a quality is a good one that connects deeply.   However, these qualities do not require going to a single island in Japan to grow, they can take root and grow in the heart of any believer.   

Last week’s scripture was also from Galatians, so to recap some of the context of what is going behind this morning’s scripture.  Paul wrote the letter of Galatians with the intention of his letter circulating to several churches in the area.  This is because there was an issue where some Jewish Christians had come to the area and begun teaching the churches that in order to properly follow Jesus they had to also follow Jewish customs and rites as laid out in the Torah.  They had claimed that following the law was essential for salvation, but Paul strongly refuted that believing that we are saved by faith through Jesus Christ. 

 In addition to refuting this viewpoint, Paul was also trying to get these Galatian churches back on track.   Reading between the lines of this morning’s scripture, we get the idea that there was some conflict within these churches.  This would have happened as some people went along with following the Jewish law while others did not.   We get a sense that conflict was a problem because in verse 15 Paul wrote, “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”   Also, in the list of the acts of the flesh Paul includes several words related to conflict such as hatred, discord, dissensions, and factions.  In this morning’s scripture Paul lays out an idea that continues his instance that followers of Jesus do not need to follow the Jewish law as well as providing a way forward together without infighting and discord.  In this morning’s scripture Paul puts forth what righteousness looks like for Christians.  

 Righteousness is right living with God.   We are righteous when we live our lives in a way that pleases God.   Under the law of the Old Testament this was done by following the law.  The way the Israelites were righteous were by keeping the commandments laid out in the Torah.   Paul puts forth for Christians righteousness is achieved by following the Holy Spirit.   He states this in verse 15 where he wrote, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.    Paul defines the desires of the flesh with a list that includes many of the things that the Old Testament law warns against such as idolatry and occult practices.  Yet it also includes more personal behavior like jealousy and selfishness, as well as the behavior that leads to division among people.  The ideal here is that followers of Jesus do not avoid these practices because they are strict requirements, but they do not do them because they are seeking to follow the leading of the Spirit.  For Christians righteousness is not based in legalism, it is based in relationship with God.
 
Paul goes further though.  If we seek to follow Spirit’s leading then not only do we avoid the things we should not do, but we grow in the qualities we want to have.  Paul uses the analogy of fruit here to describe these desirable qualities.  Many of these qualities are the same attributes we see used to describe God throughout the bible:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  The fruit of the spirit should be present in the life of all who follow Christ, they should be clear and evident proof of a life touched by grace. 

This is because the fruits of the spirit are the outward manifestation of a changed heart.   We are filled with joy, we are more kind, we are gentler, and we possess greater self-control because the love of Christ has transformed our inner most self and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit has enabled that transformation to burst forth to the surface.   The ideal for which we should hope for is that the fruit of the spirit are defining characteristics in our lives.  That we are known by our fruit.   It should be that people know we are Christians, not because we told them, not because of the radio station we listen to, or the bumper sticker on our car.   They should know we are Christians by our love.  They should know we are Christians by our joy.   They should know we are Christians by our peace, by our patience, by our kindness and goodness.  They should know we are Christians by our faithfulness, gentleness, and by our self-control.  

And yet, we often fall short.  We, or perhaps more fairly I- because I cannot speak for you, there are times I struggle with being patient.  There are times I listen to the intrusive thoughts and choose fits of rage of gentleness.   There are times I am not my best self.   If that happens to be true for you as well, then instead of being the liberating call to Christian freedom and righteousness that this scripture was meant to be it can instead feel like a condemnation. Many of us tend to be our own worst critics, and when we read the list of this morning’s scripture instead of celebrating the small and big ways those attributes have been present in our lives, we instead only focus on the multitude of ways we have fallen short.   It is for this reason that I think that the analogy of fruit works to describe these characteristics works well and is reassuring.  

It does not matter what is being grown whether it be corn, strawberries, or rare Japanese melons.  The person that does the planting cannot make the fruit grow by their own power.  In the same way, we can not force the fruit of the Spirit to grow.  There is no guaranteed seven step process to be a more loving or joyful person.   The fruit of the Spirit is ultimately the workings of the Holy Spirit within the life of a believer.   While a planter cannot make fruit grow, then can certainly cultivate the best conditions for fruit.  They can ensure the soil is good, there is plentiful light, and all the water that is necessary.   The planter can care for and tend to the plant throughout the entire process to help create the best possible conditions to get the most perfect fruit.   It is the constant attention to creating the best conditions that creates the perfect fruit in Japan that sells for mind-boggling prices.  In the same way we can provide the best conditions in our lives for spiritual fruit to manifest.  We can take actions and make choices that give the Holy Spirit room to work so that the fruit of the Spirit can grow and be evident in our lives.  Cultivating our lives so that the Holy Spirit has room to work and our so that our relationship with God and our faith can deepen is how we as Christian live righteously. 

Looking back to the early Methodist movement they had a framework to help cultivate their lives to be fertile soil for the fruit of the Spirit to grow.  When the first Methodist societies gathered together they would seek to hold themselves to the three general rules.  These general rules are a set of best practices that can be a guide to making the kind of choices that help us consistently stay in step with the Spirit.    The first rule is do no harm.  Doing no harm is about what we choose not to do.  We do no harm when we make the choice not to take actions that cause pain or hardship for someone else, actions that can have a negative impact on ourselves, or actions that can reflect poorly on our witness of Christ.   Doing no harm is based in thoughtfully loving our neighbor as ourselves.  Doing no harm is the result of actively thinking about others and modifying our own behavior so that our actions do not cause hurt or hardship.  

 Doing no harm is loving others by refraining from certain actions, and the second general rule is how we love others through our actions.  The second general rule is do good.  Specifically, about this John Wesley wrote: “by doing good, by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and as far as possible, to all.”  When we seek to do all the good we can, by all the means we can, to all the people we can, for as long as we can then we giving the Holy Spirit lots of room to group Spiritual fruit in our lives. 

The final general rule is what Wesley calls “attending upon all the ordinances of God.”  Sometimes in modern summaries of the general rules, this one gets paraphrased as “stay in love with God.”   This third general rule are about the spiritual habits we have to keep us connected to our savior and heavenly Father.   Often these daily or weekly habits are some of the elements of discipleship we struggle with the most, but they are some of the most vital.   If plants are not given the water they need, then they are not going to grow much fruit.  In the same way, if we do not regularly seek God or seek to grow in our faith, then we do not give the Holy Spirit a lot to work with. 

 The churches in Galatia were in some turmoil, and in this morning’s scripture Paul sought to recenter them on the command to love your neighbor as yourself.  He pointed out that this was best done by seeking to follow the Spirit’s leading.  In doing so we do not engage in practices contrary to what is best for us, but the Holy Spirit manifest in our lives in qualities that reflect some of the very attributes of God.  So may we seek to live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit.   May we seek to cultivate our lives so that the Spirit has room to do the work of transforming our hearts to be more Christ like.   May we seek to do no harm, to do good, and to stay in love with God.  In doing so may we become known by our fruit.   May we be a church who is known as a church of joy.  A church of peace.  A church of kindness.  A church of gentleness, and a church of faithfulness.   The fruit of the Spirit is indeed in rare supply these days, so may be the source where all of those who desperately need it can readily find it.