Acts 17:11 - check out things for yourself, don't just take me at my word... I'm not attempting to teach the "Gospel according to Annette", but rather to share some thoughts & get you to think for yourself.
Opening Prayer: Lord lead my words, let them be words that build up & encourage others to seek to know you and love you more & more. Amen!
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever taken a Road Trip? I'm in the process of planning out a Road Trip with my Mom - with the key destination being to visit a very close family friend who recently became a widow. My Mom lives in Vista CA, a bit north of San Diego, and we're going to visit Mary who lives in Sumner WA, in the greater Seattle area. We could choose to fly, but we chose a Road Trip instead because we thought it would be more fun & time is not an issue for us. Taking a Road Trip has several advantages - time to visit along the way & enjoy each other's company, seeing the scenery along the road, stopping at some favorite places along the way (perhaps Solvang or Carmel), and visiting friends & family that are along our route. Think of all we would miss if we decided to fly!
We can think of our Spiritual Life as a "Road Trip" of sorts, a journey as we walk in faith. Sometimes I get impatient with my Spiritual Road Trip, I want all my problems solved, I want to be mature, I don't want to keep fighting the inner battles, I want to be free from the things that trip me up. It's at times like these I need to be reminded that this is a Journey, a process that we call Sanctification. The key destination for this Spiritual Road Trip won't be reached until I pass from this life into the presence of God, and I need to stop trying to take a "direct flight" and enjoy the journey. God has much for me to learn & experience along the way, He has work He has appointed for me, He has Fruit He wants me to bear for His Glory, and He is traveling with me along the way.
PRINCIPLE: God takes us on a Spiritual Journey for our benefit & for His Glory
Jesus said, in John 15:16: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last - and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."
The Spiritual Fruit that we're studying doesn't just benefit us, it benefits others as well - and it brings Glory to God. Jesus words from John 15:16 were directed at His disciples, these words still apply to us if we are His disciples - His followers: we are appointed to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.
I. Pruning
Please open your Bible to John chapter 15 - Read John 15:1-8
Pruning sounds painful doesn't it? When the Bible speaks of pruning it can & should cause concern. In the Biblical analogy there are branches that are cut off & cast-off & burned up - representing lives lost to eternity. However, for the believer, one sealed by the Holy Spirit, this is not the purpose of pruning - it is not about loosing one's eternal life, but rather about being transformed for God's purposes.
Let's take a closer look at the passage I'm referring to:
Verse 2 speaks of two different actions by the gardener - cutting off & pruning. Cutting off is for branches that bear no fruit, but pruning is for branches that do bear fruit. Ok, this is interesting.
This is an analogy I see at 3 different levels:
1) For the church in the world, perhaps the "branches" of the church (little "c") that are fruitless are cast off, while those "branches" of the church (little "c") that are fruitful get pruned in order to become more fruitful. In other words, there may be churches/denominations in which God no longer attempts to work because there is no fruit there - His Spirit is not in that place. But for the churches/denominations in which there is fruit He will continue to prune in order to produce more fruit.
2) For individual people, the cast-off branches would be those who are not sealed by God's Holy Spirit; while the pruned are those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit - those in & through whom God works to produce His fruit in the world.
3) Within the believer, the cast-off branches could be bad choices / habits / influences that God is removing from the life of that believer. While those branches which are pruned have had some fruit, but God is pruning in order to produce more fruit.
However you see the analogy we see that God is doing a work of transformation, removing that which is dead or harmful (cutting off), and tending to that which is fruitful (pruning).
Might God prune off something that has previously been fruitful? Yes! Again we can see this at all 3 levels mentioned before, God may remove one thing in order to cause something better to grow in its place.
In my life I have experienced pruning in areas that were fruitful, and it left me a bit puzzled - and at times it hurt. Why would God remove me from circumstances in which I was being fruitful for His kingdom? There's something bigger at work here, bigger than "me", and frequently God has to remind me about that. It's not about "me", and though it is about God's will in my life it's about so much more than that - it's about God's will for all times / places / people. I'll admit, I'm self-centered and if I'm not careful I miss that it's about God's bigger purposes.
PRINCIPLE: It's our job to love & obey God.
We must choose God's will, His bigger purpose, over our own. We must choose to believe in Jesus and place our lives in God's hands, we must choose to commit our lives to His purposes, we must choose to submit to His pruning. Romans 12:2 tells us that if we are transformed by God we will be able to test and approve what God's will is. In being pruned by God we are more able to know His will & be fruitful for Him.
II. Producing Fruit
Ok, so our job is to love & obey God - but what about growing Spiritual Fruit? Believe it or not, that's not our job! In fact, if we try to do the job ourselves we'll fail. This is hard for us, we live in a culture that promotes the value of independence and self-reliance - but its only dependence on God and reliance on Him alone which produces Spiritual Fruit.
I admit I can fall into the trap of perfectionism, trying to get everything "just right", and I wear myself out doing it. I had an instructor once (my jewelry instructor) that told me to focus on excellence rather than perfection. Applied to our spiritual lives this is good advice - we should strive for an excellent relationship with Christ, to have that strong vital connection to Him, that is when He can work beautiful things through us. If we strive, by our own strength, to achieve some idealistic state we're just wasting our time and energy because it's our own human striving rather than God at work in us.
The Godhead plays a variety of roles in this process, and I'll admit I don't clearly understand these, but those roles appear to be as follows:
Father - Gardener - cutting off of what is dead/useless as well as the pruning to produce more fruit.
Son - Vine - the one we must remain in and through whom we receive Spiritual nourishment.
Holy Spirit - the nourishment itself, the source that produces Spiritual Fruit.
PRINCIPLE: God's job to produce Spiritual Fruit.
It is by virtue of God doing His work producing Spiritual Fruit that we're able to do the good works He has planned for our lives. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 speaks to this, (read passage). If what we do is based on our own will rather than on God's then it does no good - its a waste.
III. The Harvest
So what is the point of growing all this Spiritual Fruit anyway?? What purposes does it serve??
I remember when I first met my husband Jeff's family, they had been seeing changes in him - good changes, and didn't understand what was changing him. When they met me I suddenly, in their minds, must have been the reason for all these wonderful changes they were seeing in Jeff. That was about 12 years ago, Jeff was a relatively new believer at the time, and what they were seeing wasn't evidence of me in Jeff's life but God in Jeff's life. We tried to tell them, but they believed what they wanted. Fast forward to a few months ago, and Jeff's step-mother brought up the subject again - and finally, after about 12 years, she is starting to see that it's Jeff's faith that has changed him. What is the purpose of Spiritual Fruit? One purpose is to draw people to God - the Spiritual Fruit evidenced in Jeff's life are causing his family to take notice.
Spiritual Fruit doesn't just work to draw unbelievers, it also works within the fellowship of believers - it demonstrates God's love and care to each of us as we struggle through this life in a broken world.
In both cases, as God's people demonstrate God's Spiritual Fruit they are bringing God Glory.
PRINCIPLE: Spiritual Fruit draws people to God and brings Him Glory.
CONCLUSION: While working on this lesson I wrote a poem that I'd like to share:
We live in a broken world:
a world filled with pain & illness
a world permeated with anger, hostility, terrorism, & war
a world that is hopeless & discouraging
But God...
God, through believers & by the power of the Holy Spirit brings light into this world
light to bring comfort to the hurting
light to bring peace in the midst of turmoil
light to bring joy to the downtrodden
Closing Prayer: Lord God help us please to submit our lives to you, submit our wills to yours, and be fruitful for your kingdom. Prune us, grow your Spiritual Fruit in us. Amen!
