Growing the Fruits

Luke:
Merry Christmas. The passage we are about to read from Luke is found in the midst of the only scripture that talks about Jesus’ early life. We see that as an infant Jesus’ parents take him to the temple to honor all the rites and rituals of their faith. The short passage we are about to read falls in between Jesus dedication at the Temple, and probably the best known story of his growing years, where Jesus is found in the Temple at the age of 12 teaching the religious leaders of his day.

Read Luke 2:21-24; 39-40

We may not ever think about the fact that Jesus learned and grew in his understanding of life and faith. But as we have seen in this Christmas story, that Jesus has experienced life in all the ways we have. Again we are reminded that Jesus can be Savior, because Jesus understands our lives fully, for he has walked our journey.

Our second reading is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, chapter 1 verses 9-10. (Read.)

This passage reminds us what the rest of our Christian year is about. That together we come to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will for us, so we may bear the fruits we have talked about throughout this Advent Season, so that our lives may be pleasing to God.

Sermon:

When Nancy and I do an infant baptism, we often reflect upon the importance of getting a good start in our lives. We have learned that our character is shaped by the age of 5, and that many of our core values and world-views are also formed in our adolescence. And it is these character traits and values that shape the rest of our lives. I remember serving a small church back in Western New York. In fact it was my very first fulltime appointment out of seminary. Our organist had decided to move to Florida and we were at a loss. It was a small community and she probably was the only one in town who even played the organ. So what were we to do for music for our worships? Finally an older lady in our congregation stepped forward and said, “I do not play the organ, but I do play the piano, so if that would be helpful until you find an organist I would be willing to fill in.” We were relieved that we would at least have someone to help us sing our praises to God. What we discovered was she was an excellent pianist. In fact she was so good that after a few weeks we stopped looking for an organist and were thankful for the quality of music she provided us.

After several months of her playing, we were at a function, and I wanted her to know how appreciative we, as the church, were that she had stepped forward and gave us such a great music. I had her alone for a moment and said, “Madge, I just wanted you to know how great it is you have stepped forward, for you have blessed us.” Knowing she was rather shy and that it took a lot of courage for her to do this I said, “I hope you feel good about what you have done.” Immediately this look of horror came over her face and she said, “Oh no I could never feel good about that, because that would be pride and my mother told me that it is a sin to be prideful.” I must admit I was stunned. This woman was probably around 80 years old, and she had lived her whole life believing she should not feel good about herself and what she did.

Sadly, pride is listed as one of the seven deadly sins, but pride has nothing to do with feeling good about yourself. Pride, biblically, means trusting in yourself and not God. Yet, Madge’s understanding of pride is a belief that is taught, and obviously held by many. This woman had learned it early enough that it became a part of her worldview and it influenced her from her earliest memories. Sadly, another word that has been used in the church has brought similar meaning to many. Micah 6:8 asks the question, “But what does the Lord require of you but to seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.” The word humble, the understanding of humility has been one that says we are to diminish ourselves. We keep from being prideful by claiming we are not very good at anything. Someone compliments you and we say, “Oh its nothing. Or I was lucky,” or some other reason that takes away from what you have done. Scott Peck says that too many people have understood humility in this way and consequently it stops them from utilizing their gifts and talents. Peck goes on to say that humility simply means being honest with our self about our self. It means recognizing those places you may not have the talent to pursue a goal, even if it is hard. For example, no matter how much I loved baseball growing up, I was never going to be a major leaguer. But, Peck says, to diminish yourself when you have a real talent is not being honest. For example it would be silly for Josh Grogan to say I sing a little bit, or I like to sing in the shower. The young man has an amazing voice and he brings great delight to many people by sharing it. In fact, if he diminished his talent and did not use it, we would all be the poorer for it. A part of growing is discovering those places we have been gifted and capable and when we do rejoicing in those talents and knowing this is where we can make a difference, knowing this is where we can be a blessing to our world.

The passage we read today from Luke is about Jesus starting out right. It is about his parents dedicating his life to God, and promising to raise him as a holy one of God. I take great heart in this passage that reminds us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. That means Jesus, himself, was a learner about life. So many people jump to the next couple of verses where Jesus is in the temple at the age of 12 teaching the religious leaders of his day. They take that passage and use it to show Jesus, as God, came full of wisdom, already to do God’s work. I find great heart in reading that Jesus faced the tough task of learning and growing in his life, just like you and me. I know, by these two verses, that Jesus understands how hard it can be at times to try and make sense of our lives, and see what values and pathways are the ones laid out for us by God. That we make choices based upon the best understanding and information we have, maybe information that was taught us in our growing by those we love and trusted. But the choice itself may be a learning experience that calls into question something we accepted as a truth and helps us to know there is a better way or a different understanding.

Growing is a time of discovery. Learning those places we have been gifted. Learning about our talents and our abilities and embracing them and knowing that God has use and need for them in the living of our lives. As Peck said, “If we diminish what God has blessed us with, or we truly believe it is not anything special, we may never step forth to use these gifts for the work of God. We may never know that God has a need for us and our lives.

The Latin word translated education is the word educare. When we think of education we often think about pouring information into our heads. But the word actually means to draw forth, to bring out what we already posses. I believe this is especially true when it comes to our journey and our growth as Christians. Advent has been preparing us to walk with Jesus yet again this year to question, to grow, to discover and become more Christlike. Nancy and I talked about the fruits of Christmas and the fruits of the Spirit this Advent season. I believe these fruits are part of our human makeup already, but they can get covered over by other thoughts and teachings. Sadly I can imagine what it must have been like for this beautifully talented woman to live with the belief that she should not feel good about herself. But I imagine many of you can as well. As Psychologist Carl Rogers said, “That which is most personal is that which is most general. If you have felt it or thought it, so probably has 90% of everyone else you know.”

These fruits of Christmas, these fruits of the Spirit are what we seek to grow and realize in our life’s journey, because they are what make us fully alive and fully human. I love Christmas for several reasons, but one is it is the time I most fully experience what it must be like when the reign of God is lived on earth as it is in heaven. I see people living out of a deeper part of their humanity where there is kindness, love, generosity, and peace in it fullest sense of shalom. What I do not understand is when people have experienced this, why they then walk away from it for another year. The passage from Colossians tells us that we grow spiritually so we can do good works, so we can add to the beauty and quality of life and our world.

It is why we gather as the church and study the scriptures and seek to grow with Christ yet again this year. We know it is a journey of discovery, and affirmation of life, ours and each others. The thought in Luke that is essential is Jesus grew surrounded by God’s grace. We can only take the risk to search our souls, to question our fundamental beliefs, to know we are gifted and dare to search for and discover those gifts if we are surrounded by grace. We need to know that in our seeking and growing that if we make a mistake or take a detour that the journey itself will not separate us from those we cherish and whose relationships are important to us. It is what we are about as the church. We are this place of grace. We are committed to learning and growing, to understand those places we may be separated from God, not so we can beat ourselves up, but so we can discover the path to realizing God’s hopes and dreams for our lives. As we prepare to walk together yet again this year, let us commit ourselves to be this community of grace that allows us to understand God’s calling, to grow the fruits, and to discover the beautifully gifted people God has created us to be.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on December 28, 2008.