Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness
Galatians 5:22-23
James 1:17-22
Mark S. Bollwinkel
The Epiphany
season is a liturgical time of year between Christmas and Lent when we ponder
the “manifestation of God in the life of Jesus”. It is a time to celebrate and welcome the
light that is born into the world in the life of the carpenter of Galilee, in
his teachings and example. As we begin a
New Year, what a wonderful way to seek comfort and strength as we explore and
celebrate the fruits of the spirit that Jesus lived by and left us after his
death and resurrection.
The Bible has a
lot to say about the Holy Spirit. Jesus
promises that after he is gone from this world the Holy Spirit will be always
with us as a “comforter”, “advocate” and “friend” (John 14:25-27). Making sense of that may be a challenge,
especially when things aren’t going well in life. Illness, financial stress, relationship
struggles or work obstacles take their toll on anyone, even the most
spiritually grounded.
This Sunday begins
a six week sermon series for the Epiphany Season entitled “Fruits of the
Spirit”. It is based on the Apostle
Paul’s letter to the young church in Galatia where he lists the “fruits of the
spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23). Paul was
big on lists, one of the identifying factors of his authorship. Just before he lists “fruits of the spirit”
he lists “the works of the flesh”. As a
preacher and evangelist he is contrasting those behaviors that kill the spirit
vs. those that lift up and build the spiritual life.
The first one
we’ll consider today is “gentleness”.
Its importance is no more evident than in how we talk to and about each
other.
"The President is an apostate...an imposter...he is ruining the country...he is aiding our enemies...the President is a traitor." So said the newspapers of our first President George Washington.1
During the Civil
War the media said of President Abraham Lincoln, he was "an ape...a
baboon...a buffoon...a clown...a usurper...a traitor...a tyrant...a monster...a
charlatan...a bully.” His home town
newspaper the Illinois State Register wrote, "How the greatest butchers of
antiquity sink into insignificance when their crimes are contrasted with those
of Abraham Lincoln."2
There is a lot
of concern today about how we talk about and to each other in this
country. And there should be. There is not enough soul searching about our
choice of words and the demeanor of our public conversation about those with
whom we disagree.
It’s easy and
convenient to bash the media's passion for sensational conflict. The print, television, radio and internet
outlets are full of opportunities for pundits and prognosticators to yell at
each other, not just disagreeing but questioning the opposition's worth as
human beings. Considering what our heroes Washington and
Lincoln faced from the media of their day should we take comfort knowing that
such language is nothing new in America?
Or...as my father
would constantly remind me...as I railed against the programing on the radio
and television stations he would manage over a very successful 50+ year career
in broadcasting…."Mark you need to look in the mirror. You the viewer determine what we put on the
air. You the viewer have all the
power. It is there at the end of your fingertips. If you don't like what you're hearing or
seeing, turn it off or change the channel.
If people don't want to see or hear what we are programming we will know
right away. We make it our business to
broadcast what people want."
If that is the
case what does the popularity of conflict programming say about us and our
desire to listen to and watch people yell at each other and put each other down
as human beings?
More than a
political or civic issue, the Letter to James in the New Testament would suggest
that how we talk to and about each other is a spiritual matter...especially in
the church.
Tradition
suggests that the author of the letter is the brother of Jesus, mentioned a
variety of times as a leader of the early Christian church (Gal. 1:9, 2:9, Acts
12:17, I Cor. 15:7). The letter is
certainly organized as instructions to young Christians on how to live and act
in the world and with each other, especially in regards to conflicts over
personalities, worship and mission which were dividing his church.
In our scripture
lesson this morning the writer reminds the young Christians "...let
everyone be quick to listen and slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger
does not produce God's righteousness...welcome with meekness the implanted word
(of God) that has the power to save your souls...be doers of the word and not
merely hearers who deceive themselves..."
The members of
James' church had been fighting among themselves about who was spirituality
superior, who would sit where during their worship services, who would eat and
drink what in the potluck afterwards.
They strongly disagreed on what their mission should be as a church;
either to wait for the imminent end of the world or to go out into the community
and serve those in need. The conflict in
James' church seems to have been divided along class lines between the rich and
the poor, as well.
To these young
Christians the author of James sounds just like his Master Jesus insisting that
how we treat each other is how we treat God.
That is true in our families, that is true in our communities and that
is true in the church. How we speak to
and about each other has everything to do with our spirituality; about the unpopular
kids at school that don’t have friends; about the rumors and gossip we pass
between ourselves at work, at school, at church or at home; about other members
of our family.
I would guess
that the old Arabic saying must have come from our scripture lesson this
morning; "We were born with two ears and one tongue. We should listen twice as much as we
speak!"
A commitment to
listen and learn before we pronounce isn't just about politeness or civility as
important as that is. If we believe
that God is the God of all creation and that each person as a child of God is "endowed
with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness..." (Preamble, Declaration of Independence) then as
those seeking to honor that God in our own lives we must extend dignity and
respect to all of God's creation and creatures even with those whom we disagree.
This doesn't
mean we can't be passionate about our points of view. It doesn't mean that we should never be
angry. There are plenty of things in
this broken world that deserve our righteous outrage. Jesus got angry when he confronted the
corruption and injustice of his day (Luke 11:42-54, John 2:12-22). But James warns us to be "slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love" as is the nature of the God to whom we
seek to grow closer (Psalm 103:8). James
suggests that we do that in some very practical and simple ways, being quick to
listen to each other before we speak out in anger to or about one another.
Such an ethic
might never make in in the media climate today but imagine what it would do for
our families...our church...for our country.
This is the
essence of Paul's words in Galatians about the fruits of the spirit. If we want to know the nature of the Holy
Spirit we see it in "...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..." (5:22-23) In the original language we hear the word
"gentleness" translated in English as "meek" in the
Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the meek/gentle for
they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, note Psalm 37:11)
About himself
Jesus says:
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls. For my yoke is
easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
For all of the
software applications now available for our smart phones, laptop computers and
tablet devices there isn't one for "gentleness", "humility"
or "meekness".
The Apple Corporation has sold billions of downloads from its App
Store, including Facebook, Pandora, Google Mobile, Shazam and Movies by
Flixster, Doodle Jump, Tap Tap Revenge 3, Angry Birds and Tap Tap Revenge
2.6. Apps are a multi-billion dollar
business. (SJ Mercury News 01.22.11, C pp1,3)
But the fruits
of the spirit cannot be downloaded from 'the cloud'. They can only be learned and practiced from
the heart.
Ellen Ferrell
was one of the most significant teachers in my life. Well in her seventies she was one of the
leaders of St. Paul's UMC in Reno, Nevada when Bonnie and I were assigned there
in 1982. We had just spent three years
as missionaries in Northern Borneo. St.
Paul's was in danger of closing, down to less than fifty members. They offered us a compensation package of $
16,500 a year and a beautiful parsonage for us and our two sons with indoor
water and electricity; we felt like we won the lottery! But the greatest blessing was falling in love
with people like Ellen.
A lifelong
Methodist, the daughter of a Tennessee country doctor, Ellen would visit my
office every Monday morning with a gift; sometimes fresh baked bread, maybe
greens from her garden. We would have a
cup of tea together and chat. Then she
would graciously go over my sermon from Sunday and tell me everything that was
wrong.
And she was so
gentle about it. "Pastor Mark,
calling the evangelist Pat Robertson a charlatan from the pulpit because he
predicted the end of the world for the 12th time on TV last week is an unseemly
thing to do for another preacher..."
"Pastor Mark, could you use another illustration for love and
devotion other than the San Francisco Giants, not everyone likes baseball as
much as you..." When Joyce got mad
about the chartreuse green alter curtain behind the cross and stormed out one
Sunday morning threatening never to come back to church, it was Ellen who
suggested the next day that I not run too fast after her. “If Joyce were to find another church it
might be the best thing for her and for St. Paul's.” And she was right!
Ellen was a
gracious, loving and humble lady that lived her Christian walk each and every
day. As she died from lung
cancer...having never smoked a day in her life...I visited with her each
week. We prayed together. I would read her Psalm 139, her
favorite. And she taught her pastor what
it was to be a "doer of the word and not just a hearer".
It means to
listen and learn from each other before we speak out with anger and
resentment. It means to assume the worth
and dignity of each and every person and treat them like the child of God that
they are. It means to feed and water
that seed of gentleness in our lives that it might become the fruit of the
spirit.
Amen.
1 George
Washington's Legacy of Leadership, A
Ward Burian, Morgan James, 2007, p. 252
George
Washington, William Roscoe Thayer, Nabu Press, 2010, p. 219
George
Washington and the Origin of the American Presidency, Rozell, Pederson
& Williams, Praeger,
2000,
pp. 189-190
2 Presidential
Anecdotes, Paul F. Boller, ed., Penguin, 1981, pp. 122-146
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