First Presbyterian Church                                                                   Rev. Dr. Michael J. Imperiale

Salt Lake City, Utah                                                                                     October 1, 2006

“The Fruit of the Spirit: God Grows It in Us”

Galatians 5: 16-25

Introduction

Who in the world doesn’t need a little more love, joy or peace? Who among us couldn’t demonstrate a little more patience, kindness or goodness? What would life be like without faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control? Affection for one another, an exuberance about life, a sense of serenity: these are things that God wants each of us to experience in life and faith. A willingness to stick with each other no matter what with a sense of compassion for one another: that’s what God wants to see in the church.

And God provides all of these virtues, these characteristics, these qualities through the gift of the Holy Spirit. A much neglected or misunderstood subject throughout the history of Christianity, in the church and in the personal lives of God’s people, the Holy Spirit is an essential part of the good news, the gospel of Christ. Together with the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is Almighty God active in the Creation, Redemption and Sustaining of life.

I. Who is the Holy Spirit?

In the Old Testament, the Spirit of Yahweh, the Spirit of the Lord is God’s very person and power in action. The Holy Spirit shaped creation and gave life to both animals and mankind. In the beginning, “the Lord God formed us from the dust of the ground and breathed into us the breath of life, and we became a living being” (that’s Genesis 2:7). The Holy Spirit revealed God’s messages to the prophets and taught the ways of being faithful and fruitful. Psalm 142 asks of the Lord, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

It is in the New Testament that we meet the Holy Spirit as a person one with yet distinct from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is given to the church as “another counselor,” a helper, an advocate, one who strengthens, supports, and advises. Jesus taught his disciples as he looked forward to returning to heaven in John 14: “Do not let your hearts be troubled Trust in God; trust also in me… I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth” (14:1,16).

The Holy Spirit acts as only a person can do. He hears and speaks, he convinces and testifies. He leads and guides, teaches and commands. The Holy Spirit can be insulted, lied to, resisted, and blasphemed.

Most importantly, the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus’ reality and the truth about him to people. He unites believers in Christ in regenerative, life-giving faith. The Spirit assures us that we are children of God and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. He gives gifts of witnessing and serving for expressing Christ in the church and world. In our scripture this morning, it is the Holy Spirit who grows fruit in us as believers and as a church.

Once in a while the copy machine here a church doesn’t work quite right. When we call for the repair guy, we don’t even know how to describe what’s wrong. One time the technician was working on the copier and called the shop describing what was needed. He used words for parts and processes that I didn’t understand. But the person at the shop did, and soon the copier was fixed.

Our need was met because someone came and communicated to headquarters in words we could not express. This is what the Holy Spirit does for us. When we don’t know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us. When we don’t know what to do, the Spirit acts on our behalf.

II. The Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is one way the Holy Spirit does his work in our lives as individual believers and as a church. After describing the freedom and forgiveness that we have in Christ, the apostle Paul writes, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Instead of hatred, discord, jealousy, anger, arrogance, envy and the like, the Holy Spirit will grow in us “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Christians are no longer under the law of the Old Covenant. Right standing with God is not achieved by how good a person we are, how well we follow the Ten Commandments, or by obeying the principles, rights and rituals of a religious order. Our relationship with God, the righteousness we need for life today and life forever are both provided fully and freely by our Lord Jesus Christ. Simply by accepting and receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord with the desire to follow him: this salvation by grace through faith alone is what God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has provided for us in his love.

But Christians are under the law of the New Covenant, the law of Christ, the law of love. “Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind and strength; Love your neighbor as yourself” is the way Jesus summarized and framed it for us. So I want to ask of you and me this morning, “How is your love life with God, with neighbor, with self?”

When it comes to your relationship with God, how are you doing with “love, joy, and peace?” In your prayers, are you asking the Holy Spirit to grow your love for the Lord in worship and praise? Are you asking for a certain joy that you can direct to God for the gift of life he’s given you? Are you more and more at peace with God as you deal with the pressures and problems of living in today’s world?

Then there’s “patience, kindness and goodness.” The Lord Jesus wants you and me to be patient with the unfolding of his plan for our lives. God’s timing is perfect. So, we are called many times in scripture to “wait upon the Lord.” Reflecting God’s kindness back to him and returning his goodness are marks of Christian worship and church life.

“Gentleness, faithfulness and self-control” can also be God-directed attitudes and actions for the followers of Christ. Allowing the fruit of the Spirit to grow in your life is a major part in loving God with your whole self – the first and greatest command.

Someone said that Christian personality is hidden deep inside us. It’s often unseen. It’s like the soup carried in a tureen high over a waiter’s head. No one knows what’s inside – unless the waiter is bumped or trips and spills it out. Just so, people don’t know what’s inside us until we’ve been bumped or tripped. But if Christ is living inside, what spills out is the fruit of the Spirit.

So when it comes to neighbor, what’s spilling out of you? Are you willing to share your love, joy and peace in Christ with one another here in the church, in your own family at home and in the world among your neighbors? What a gift it is to love others unconditionally, to share the buoyant, positive joy of life and bring a sense of peace, comfort, stability and calm.

The family of the teenage girl killed by another crazy gunman in Colorado has asked anyone and everyone to remember their precious daughter by doing “random acts of kindness” in their community. “Patience, kindness and goodness” are special spiritual fruit that brings the reality of God’s love to others. How are you doing with your “faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” toward the people you come in contact with each day? Do something to remind yourself each day to ask the Holy Spirit to develop these in your life.

And lastly, maybe part of the law of love we forget or underestimate, how is you “love, joy and peace” directed toward yourself? “Love God, love your neighbor as yourself,” it says. Is your self-talk filled with doubts, accusations, hurtful sentiments? Or does your self-talk include appreciation for the person God has created and redeemed you to be? Are you patient with yourself as the Holy Spirit shapes your life? Are you kind to yourself especially when things aren’t going the way you wish? Do you allow yourself the goodness that God provides each day?

In the word of God today, we can see clearly how the Lord wants you and me to be faithful, gentle, and self-controlled when it comes to the self. For our self-image in truly found in the love of God that we have in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and first to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him and released it when he reached his destination at the top of the world.

Imagine the delight of his wife back in Norway when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she told herself and others, “My husband is alive and doing well.”

When Jesus was gone after his death, resurrection and ascension, his disciples held to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy there was when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. Like the disciples, we have with us the continual reminder that Jesus is alive and victorious at the right hand of the Father. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God as sign and seal of our life in Christ today and forever.

So, I encourage you. Write down each of the fruit of the Spirit on separate post-it notes or index cards. One at a time, put them on your mirror or the dashboard of your car, in your wallet or purse. Ask the Holy Spirit to grow that fruit in your life today or this week. God is faithful to his promise to deliver us from the sinful nature to life in the Spirit, from death to life, from struggling with a rotten world to the delights of the fruit of the Spirit.                                                                 

Let us pray together.