|
July 8, 2007: LIVING PEACE Eileen Parfrey -- Springwater Presbyterian Church
There is nothing like spending a week teaching at Vacation Church School. The words "intense" and "exhausting" come to mind. But "educational" and "stimulating" do was well. Two weeks ago, I had the privilege (along with 3 teens and 6 other adults) of teaching 25 or so young people about "Sowing Seeds for Peace," the PCUSA curriculum. I always get more out of VCS than I put into it, and most years I end up incorporating what I learn into my year's preaching. This year, the lesson that most struck me as impossible to teach was the one based on our Galatians 5 text-the fruit of the Spirit. Maybe you have the same experience. Bible stories are fun to teach. I get them. But give me something from the apostle Paul and my mind goes blank. What is he saying? Most of the time it either sounds like a harangue or some logic trip. I'm not good at either, and for VCS, the curriculum writers' stated theme did not help me get a handle on it: "God's love is a liberating love that frees us for abundant life." Well duh. But what does this have to do with Fruit of the Spirit? Not "fruits," not plural, as if the Spirit gives one person joy, another peace, another self-control, and it only gets put together in that abstract ideal we call "Christian maturity," which is only seen when put together as "the Church." No, this is "fruit" singular-as if Christian maturity is present in one person (each Christian) possessing all these characteristics. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control-all part of some unified whole, used in service to the community. Children are concrete thinkers, so we did the only sensible thing. We defined the characteristics of the fruit and had the children give us concrete examples. I learned so much. Then we had the kids keep an eagle eye on each other to point out when they saw each other exhibiting those characteristics. "I saw you being generous . . . you were so kind when you said . . . it takes patience to stand in line . . . good self control there." That helped, but the Fruit remains abstract for me. As part of my preparation for this week's sermon, I read from Father Keating's book, Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit. Which helped. But so does the gospel lesson. Were you wondering why this story about being sent out empty-handed on a preaching and healing mission was paired with the Fruit of the Spirit? It's not just the luck of the lectionary draw. The key is peace-making. The problem with using a religious peace-making curriculum is that it isn't about conflict management. It's never about "how to stop fighting and negotiate your differences." What I learned this year at Vacation Church School is that, unless peace-making comes from within, we're just results-oriented activists and we're just hell-bent on accomplishing things (and it all depends on us). Which is not God's way. When peace-making is seen as Fruit of the Spirit, it is part of our relationship with God, part of an integrated whole. When our peace-making is as empty-handed as Jesus' 70 disciples, then what we do can be rooted in God. Then peace-making can comes from within-from our relationship with God, from the maturing of our faith and spirit, from compassion and not indignation (even if it is righteous). When peace-making comes from within, results are not the point. As Mother Teresa was wont to say, "We're not called to be successful; we are called to be faithful." And faithful means we can go out empty-handed, come back without results to brag on, and still believe "success" belongs to God. That's what it means when our names are written in heaven. In the spirit of Vacation Church School, I've taken the liberty of putting together an exercise for making the Fruit of the Spirit less abstract. On these papers, I paraphrased some of Father Keating's wisdom on the characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit, given you one concrete example, and now you get to come up with concrete examples of Fruit for yourselves. Break into small groups. Each group will have only one characteristic. Try not to make up your examples, but take them from your own life or-even better-name what you have observed in other members of your small group. We'll put it together at the end, and I'll collect all the papers and publish your concrete examples in the newsletter.
Love:
This "charity" is not "almsgiving,"
but how we participate in God's unconditional love. Self-giving-as
opposed to self-seeking-this love grows as we surrender
to God, and develops into compassion toward others. A
concrete example: You love a juicy steak, but your partner
is on a low-cholesterol diet, and so you cook a salad
instead. Joy:
A sense of "well-being" that comes of consciously
experiencing a relationship with God. Acceptance of the
present without a need to change it. You "get to"
rather than you "got to." A concrete example:
Make a game out of doing chores (even something like doing
chores is fun!).____________________________________________ Peace:
Contentment at the deepest level. This contentment can
endure ups and downs because it is rooted in God. "All
is well and all shall be well"-despite all appearances
to the contrary. A concrete example: The sick person who
is positive they will get well. ____________________________________________________________________ Patience:
God is faithful so we don't get so disturbed by the ups
and downs of human events and our emotional reactions
to them. Our waiting is content because we are confident
that God will deliver in every situation. A concrete example:
Our prayer, "What should I do about school in the
fall?" is accompanied by an attentive "wait
and see." Kindness:
Freed from hostility, hatred, anger, we are able to
persevere in doing good, even when it is difficult. Open
to an awareness of God's presence, we can accept people
and their limitations, even when we do not necessarily
approve of what they do. A concrete example: Available
to help a friend move, even when you don't approve of
where they are moving. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Goodness
(or generosity) This is sometimes translated "generosity"
and sometimes "goodness." It affirms creation
as good, experiences a sense of oneness with all creation.
All events, even the tragic ones, show God's love. The
"attitude of gratitude" toward God pervades
one's life. A concrete example: The "attitude of
gratitude" even when you have a fender bender and
are late for work. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Faithfulness:
The daily offering of ourselves and what we do to
God, not out of "what's in it for me," but out
of compassion for others. Gives without thinking of any
return; doesn't need human approval (because of a conviction
of God's love). A concrete example: You continue teaching,
even when some students don't come, because of the ones
who do come. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Gentleness:
The ability to do God's work, but to let God make things
happen. Both gentle and firm, it seems as if we labor
and are at rest at the same time. We have "freedom
just to be who we are and to serve the special needs of
those around us." A concrete example: You will never
be a millionaire, but your babysitting service gives parents
peace of mind about their children. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Self-Control:
This is not about the exercise of our will power over
emotions, it is an awareness of God's presence, which
frees us from our all-too-human needs for security, affection,
power, esteem, status symbols. We are free to choose how
we act. A concrete example: You take the class and work
hard in it, even though you do not like the teacher. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Well,
you can see how each of the characteristics of the Fruit
of the Spirit relies on the others. And I hope you can
see how the Fruit of the Spirit is the basis of Christian
peace-making, because Christians are called to be peace-makers.
If the example of the gospel story is any indicator, however,
God isn't holding the divine breath waiting on our results.
God is neither disappointed nor impressed by our efforts.
Nevertheless, God does count on our living into the promise
inherent in the Fruit of the Spirit: that peace-making
comes from within. And, I am happy to remind you, we are
never too old or too young to do that kind of peace-making.
Thanks be to God! |
| Return to Sermons |