One of the things that has helped me understand the Christian faith more deeply is learning what the Bible tells us about ourselves. In a very real way, the Bible says that we are like fruit trees. And no matter how good we look on the outside–no matter how big our trunk, how long our branches, how colorful our leaves–deep within, there is a problem. At our core is a rottenness that taints everything. Therefore, when we start to bear fruit, the fruit carries that same taint. It is not good fruit, and the bad news is we cannot do anything to fundamentally change this ourselves. We cannot make ourselves into good, fruit-bearing trees. However, the good news is: the core teaching of Christianity, the Gospel, tells us that God has acted in human history through the person of Jesus–who was both God and man–to change us; to transform our core being into something that is good; something that can and does bear good fruit. Paul lists nine of those basic fruits, and those fruits should be prevalent in every Christian church and in every single Christian. As Jesus said, “A good tree bears good fruit,” and if we do not find ourselves bearing these fruits, we must examine ourselves and our relationship with God.
So, with that background being laid out, let’s take a look at these individual fruits, and we begin with the most important one: love. Almost everyone agrees “that what the world needs now, is love sweet love.” Some of you may remember that song. Others of you may be more inclined to ask, “What is love?” and I’m going to try really hard to resist the temptation to add, “Baby don’t hurt me; baby don’t hurt me no more.” For those of you scratching your heads, Google Haddaway or talk to anyone who was growing up in the early 90's. Love is indeed the subject of song, of poetry, of books and literature. Love is a deep need of each and every one of us, and I think we are extremely confused about just what it is. Hence the wonderful 80's ballad by Foreigner, “I Want to Know what Love Is.” Wouldn’t we all?
Now, by no means am I going to try and clear up all the confusion over love in our society and culture. But I am going to point out that our language for love doesn’t help us in the least. When we say “love” it can mean a ton of things. It can mean a deep feeling that you have for another person. It can mean a sense of friendship. It can mean an ideal sense of how we should treat each other. It can mean a sense of pleasure in an activity. It can mean sex. If you are watching tennis, it can mean zero. There are a whole lot of nuances and understandings of this word in English that make things quite confusing at times.
Fortunately, the Bible was not written in English. It was written in Greek, and Greek has four different words for love. Eros–which is a sexual love. Philia–which is a love that denotes friendship or brotherliness. Storge–which is used to denote affection towards another person; particularly parents toward children. And, agape. Now, I’m not going to give you a quick definition of this word right here because I am going to take the rest of this sermon to define agape. The reason for that is this is the kind of love that Paul speaks about in his list of spiritual gifts. It is a very specific, special type of love. It is so special and rare that it is hardly found in much of the Greek literature before Christianity came into being. But in the New Testament, it is the dominant word used for love. Why is it so dominant? Because it is what Jesus showed to the world, and it then becomes the governing word for the life of the Christian and the Church.
So, let’s take a look at this type of love as shown in Scripture. Jesus begins our putting together of this definition as he is talking to his disciples in John chapter 15. We read it earlier, please hear it again, “9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Let’s look at each point that Jesus makes without digging into them too terribly deeply. Point 1: This agape/love is something that we abide in. We rest in. We stay in. Point 2: When we keep the commandments, we abide in God’s love. We rest in God’s love. We stay in God’s love. Point 3: No one has greater agape/love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. These points help flesh out our definition of love quite a bit, but they don’t give us the fullness of that definition. So, we will turn to another portion of scripture. This portion of Scripture, we did not read earlier, but it should be rather familiar to you if you grew up in the church or if you have attended multiple weddings. It is the great love chapter from the book of 1 Corinthians. Chapter 13. You can turn to it now as I read it.
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
This is a beautiful chapter of love, laying out what agape/love entails. I challenge you to re-read this chapter and see if you measure up to this kind of love in your relationships. I challenge you to re-read this chapter and see how well you practice this love in your everyday live. I challenge you to read through this chapter and see how well any church practices this kind of love on a regular basis. This kind of love is not easy. It is terribly difficult.
And now, we get to the final piece which shows us the near impossibility of this agape/love. 1 John 4 spells it out in its ultimate expression. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
True agape/love is willing to die for someone when that someone does not love you in return. True agape/love is willing to give of itself even though it receives only anger and hatred in return. True agape/love is willing to sacrifice itself for those who do not deserve it. This is the true form of this fruit of the spirit.
And now, can you see why this is a fruit that can only come when you are transformed from the inside-out? Can you see why you cannot simply go around and say, “Oh, I will love everyone just like Jesus loved everyone.”? To say this means you have to look at someone who hates you; who is wishing that you would be dead and be willing to die for them to save them. Who is really, truly wanting to do that? Lord knows, I don’t. When I see what scripture says about this kind of love, I hang my head in shame because I know that this kind of love is very, very rare in my own life.
But Scripture does not leave us with our heads hanging in shame. No. Not by a long shot. Scripture, in fact, gives us the key to actually being able to practice this kind of transformational love. And it begins with an admission on our part. It begins with us standing before the Almighty God and confessing the fact that we do not love as we should. It begins with us standing before the Almighty God and confessing that we have not loved God and deserve His just punishment for our failure to love Him.
Oh, and I know how hard this is. I know how difficult it is to stand and admit that I am a failure. I know how hard it is to admit that I am nowhere near the Christian that I should be. I know how difficult it is to admit this in a society that tells you over and over and over that you are fine just the way you are and that you don’t need to change–everyone else may need to change, but you are fine. Admitting that you are broken is one of the most difficult things you can ever do.
But then, in the midst of your brokenness; in the midst of your sin; in the midst of your humility before God Almighty, you will see what Jesus did for you. You will find yourself looking up at the cross, and you will see Jesus dying for you. You will see Him taking your sin and brokenness upon Himself. You will see him paying the price for you. You will hear him say, “Father, forgive him. Father, forgive her.” You will then find yourself experiencing something amazing. You will find yourself clothed with the righteousness of Christ. You will find that Jesus pours Himself into you through the Holy Spirit. You will experience agape/love. And your heart will burst. Your heart will absolutely melt with a sense of awe and wonder. And you will find within yourself a deep desire to love others in the same manner that you have been loved. You will find yourself supernaturally changed so that every fiber of your being wants to give what you have received. You will find yourself bearing fruit: agape/love because God Almighty has given you the ability to produce it.
Oh, that doesn’t mean it will be easy. That doesn’t mean that people will necessarily accept it. It doesn’t mean that people will get it. They aren’t used to that kind of love. A husband and wife were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Having spent most of the day with relatives and friends at a big party given in their honor, they returned home. Before going to bed, they decided to have a little snack of tea, bread, and butter. The husband opened up a new loaf of bread and handed the end piece (the heel) to his wife. She became furious! She said, “For fifty years you have been dumping the heel of the bread on me. I won’t take it any longer!” On and on she vented her anger over the heel of the bread. Her husband was absolutely astounded. When she finished ranting and raving, he said to her quietly, “But dear, it’s my favorite piece.”
Trust me, that story is a much better one than that of the couple that was having a 50th anniversary party when the wife stood up and said, “My dear, for 50 years, I have found you tried and true.” The crowed applauded. But the husband who had become very hard of hearing responded, “Eh? Well, after 50 years, I’m tired of you too!”
The point is, agape/love is difficult love. Because of our continued imperfection, that love is not always received well. Because of our continued imperfection, our intentions and our outreach may be misunderstood. But, we do not cease in our efforts. We do not stop striving day after day after day. We do not give up or give in when our efforts are rebuffed, because we know what it is like to experience such love. We know what it is like to have our hearts filled with the agape/love of Jesus. We have become those who bear good fruit, and we will never, ever stop. Amen.
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