How do we BREAK FREE from the troubles in our lives, what’s going on around in the world around us, how to BREAK-OUT of negative cycles continuing to drag us down and make life difficult??
I wonder if you’ve ever thought about like this: what if the way to the freedom we’re called to live in, that we’re set free for as Paul puts it, IS the fruit of the Spirit? Not only a product of what happens when we get free, but the means to being free in the first place…
The fruit of the Spirit as the way to freedom, the means to get there, how it happens for us. Not something that happens later, but the path to getting there, being there in the first place…
This sort of thing goes on in a lot in TV shows and movies > how often do you see the main character having a really strong idea of what they want to do & why they want to do it, then they finally realise – usually right at the end – what was really going on, what they were really doing the whole time. How they got in their own way, how they couldn’t see the full picture, how they had the blinkers on, they couldn’t see the forest for the trees!
Characters having a stubborn determination towards achieving a goal they’ve set for themselves, for example protecting their family, making a name for themselves in their industry, keeping a secret hidden, maintaining a luxury lifestyle, making their parents proud, ‘righting a wrong’ that was done to them… The list goes on, many motivations for characters to achieve their goals.
We could summarise this as the character saying: ‘I’m going to do whatever it takes to get to the point I want to get to, it’s so important to me that I’ll do anything to get there,’ and that’s the starting point for so many TV shows and movies right there!
But looking to our passage today in Galatians (5:1, 13-25), we might be tempted to think ‘if only I can get free, then I’ll go and have the fruits of the Spirit and all those good things will happen.’ Or ‘if I work hard enough to achieve God’s approval, then I can have the good things he has to give me, and if other people aren’t willing to work that hard, then they’re not going to receive the fruit at all.’
Then we can extend that, in regards to other people we might be tempted to think: ‘if people are doing all those bad things (‘acts of the flesh’) then there’s no hope for them, they’re not going to get anywhere near the fruits of the Spirit.’
That might be a surface level reading of this passage, but if we stop there we’e forgetting 2x REALLY important things > 1. We are sinners who do these things, who do these acts of the flesh in our thoughts and in our actions, and 2. There’s a thing called FORGIVENESS, a means to be restored and set right with God despite our sin and the sin of others.
Have to remember those two things when we read this bit!
Scripture interprets scripture, meaning we’ve got to use the rest of the bible to help us understand what individual verses and passages really mean, then we can paint the full picture – not just a corner of the canvas.
So how do we breakdown this view of working hard, of doing all the right things, of looking down on others who don’t work as hard or do all the things we do?
As Aussies we have deep-set value of working hard, you earn what you have, what you get.
As Australian Christians (with plenty of German and other cultural backgrounds and influences in there), we combine the deep-set values of working hard with also doing the right thing.
Who here was brought up with those values? I was!
Nothing wrong with those values! Good solid values to have, but if holding tight to these values leads us into judgment of other people, thinking we’re better than other people, and even thinking we need to do those things to be right with God > then we’re getting into a bit of trouble!
Paul warns us against these things in our passage today, he warns us against judgment, self-righteousness. He reminds us we’re not slaves to sin anymore, we have been given freedom to live in from Jesus himself.
Paul refers to Jesus words when we he says, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ We might take that as very simple and easy to understand, but it actually goes really deep on us and how we live out our lives as followers of Jesus.
When we fall into the trap of judging others because they didn’t work as hard as us, or thinking we’re better than other people because they didn’t do all the right things that we did, that’s when we need to remember this line. Love others, don’t judge them. Treat them as you would treat yourself, not as if they are not as good as you. Without this love we’re on the same track as all these TV and movie characters, we do all the things they do: we get in our own way, we can’t see the full picture, we’ve got the blinkers on, we can’t see the forest for the trees!
And this love is not generated from within us, it doesn’t depend on our efforts or ability to love. It comes from God, he has the love we need. He loves us despite our sinful thoughts and actions, he restores us by the death of his Son on the cross, and the same goes for everyone else.
Not working hard enough or not doing all the right things enough does not exclude us from God’s forgiveness > His forgiveness is still there, it remains. To think that our actions are what earns or causes God’s love to happen or not happen is to think that we’re the ones in control, that we’re as good as if not better than God himself. That’s the whole wrong track isn’t it, that’s holding acts of the flesh as more important than the fruits of the Spirit.
In Jesus the flesh is put to death Paul says, Jesus’ own body is given for us in place of our sin. Jesus takes away the sin, and gives us himself in it’s place. Amazing.
So how do we understand what it means to walk by the Spirit, as Paul calls us to do? Walking in the Spirit that leads to freedom, but not earns it…
Firstly the Spirit is given to us, before we did anything > that’s what we’re on about in baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit going with us before we did anything to earn it.
Then the work of the Spirit in us, through us and around us leads us into the freedom that Jesus has set us free for! See how it’s God work there, we get to be part of it, we get to receive it, live in it and share it with others.
Just on that ‘sharing it with others’ > How can someone become a Christian, receive Jesus into their hearts, if no one has ever told them about it?? This is in Romans (10:14, 15) where Paul says:
‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
The feet of those who share the good news – that’s all of us who have heard it and received it ourselves – are called ‘beautiful’ not because they are on their own, but because they carry the beauty of God’s love, they ‘bring good news!’ The good news of Jesus that forgives us, restores us and goes with us.
Jesus shows the importance of depending on him in our gospel readlng today (Luke 9:51-62), depending on him and not our own ideas or efforts. It can sound a bit harsh, a bit full-on here – Jesus says follow me above all else, even your own family – but again that’s where we need to remember to let scripture interpret scripture > Jesus also says ‘seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you’ (Matt 6:33), meaning fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2) and he will give us what we need!
Only he has the full picture, the whole idea, only he can lead us into new life with him – no other way to access that, to access him but by him giving himself to us.
Living in freedom IS living by the Spirit.
The Spirit is at work whether we know it or not – it’s good if we know it, it’s good if we trust God’s work through the Spirit – but the work’s going to be happening whether we know it or not. We’re not in control of our God-given freedom or which fruits we receive and give to others. This is God’s work, he calls us to be part of it, he uses us for his good purposes > he works on our hearts, he works on other peoples’ hearts, he calls us to be part of that beautiful & vitally important work that he’s instigating, leading, empowering in, through and around us.
Our walk with God is not about getting to a certain point and then we’re good enough, or the good things will happen, or we will finally get what we want – like all those TV show and movie characters!
Our walk with God is about trusting in him, receiving – here and now and in any situation – what he has to give us, and sharing that goodness with others. There are no achievements, no boxes to tick and no status to gain there. All that is FREELY GIVEN by our good and gracious God who sent his son to die for us, and who remains with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father we thank you for sending your Spirit, that you are with us and you will help us. Lead us to seek your kingdom first, to remember your judgment is merciful and you are a God who forgives. Help us on our walk of faith, be with us in whatever we’re facing at the moment and remind of your life-giving presence with us. All this we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Tom Kitson 