Fruits of the Spirit = Seeds of the Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." --Galatians 5:22-23

I always here this verse quoted, correctly of course when one considers the context, as demonstrating the effects of, or the signs of, or the results of, the Holy Spirit acting in our lives. So far so good. Then I sit in Sunday School and listen to someone demonstrate the order from the context (first the Spirit, then the fruits) by asking "what is fruit?" The answer is invariably that it is the product of the tree, the bush, the vine, whatever. Again, true enough.

The analogy of the fruit, though not continued in Galatians, can be taken farther. The fruit protects and nurtures the seed. It is the vehicle for the seed that in turn once again brings about the tree, the bush, the vine, whatever. When I ask in class where the tree comes from, the response is from God. Well, true, but is it not also true that God uses these fruits to create the situations that open the way for the Holy Spirit, and indeed do the not also nurture the spirit (small "s") of human beings? In short, the verse is just the beginning, as one understands when reading the entire letter. It is not enough to say "I have the Spirit so I have, or should have, the fruit." It is important also to cultivate the fruit so that it may be used by God to bring forth a new plant, and new fruit.

Random Thoughts.

The Tonsured One

News/Event: Prayers and Praying-Specific Case

[This is a specific story based in a specific time. Prayers for all concerned are welcome, but please note the date of these events were in the week of July 15-20th (or so,) 2009. Please do not start a chain letter that will continue the story as if in real time for years to come. God and his miracles do not have an expiration date, but prayers for specific events often do. Otherwise, they become urban legends and ignored. We certainly do not want that!]

This story comes to us through BobbyBobby, a member of my church and very close brother in Christ. A friend of his, whom he loves as a brother, has a 38 year old son, married with children (including one about 6 months old.) The friend, David, runs a coffee kiosk in an atrium where a hospital and doctors office building meet. He also hosts a weekly prayer group where folk gather together to pray for all manner of issues in the sight of all who care to watch. Apart from the value of the prayers themselves, the prayer group has had a great impact on folk as a witness, and many have drawn strength and comfort from seeing the people on their knees.

Wednesday or Thursday (July 15 or 16) David's son, also David (Dave?) suffered from a couple of seizures. Scans showed a brain tumor and the doctors did not think it looked good. On a scale of 1-4 (4 being the worst) they placed it at a 2.5-3, meaning they expected cancer and permanent damage at the very least. The prayer group went into action and sent out word to prayer warriors. I know that several Twitter groups and e-mail lists included the prayer requests and a few thousand people at least received the request to pray. We have no idea how many actually did, but many must have responded.

The operation on Friday was 6-8 hours long. The doctors got most of the tumor and it was benign. The doctors were very pleased, and although they said there are some tendrils left, the prognosis is excellent. They had said there might be some paralysis after the operation, but that night Dave was sitting up talking to his children and the next day walking. The doctors said on Saturday that they would keep Dave in rehab for a couple of weeks, but we were all glad that such a small price had to be paid when his life had been in the balance. Today (Monday) they have changed the plan, saying he would either be going home today or tomorrow (they know which day, I just have forgotten.) He will be doing his rehab at home, praise God! He still needs prayers, as recovery will likely be painfil and difficult, but what a Blessing!

I never cared whether a person believed miracles were the result of direct intervention on the part of God or brought abought by his miraculous forethought in giving us the science and the people who are gifted enough to use it, they are miracles just the same. I never cared whether a person believed that prayers bring about a change in the plans of God, send some sort of message of support and love to those in need, or just put us where we ourselves belong spiritually because we are doing what Jesus taught us to do. Prayers are powerful just the same.

Oh, and the side story. Or is it the main event? The night before surgery some of Dave's friends got together to support him and shave his head for surgery. There were folks all around praying. One of Dave's friends was a young man who had not accepted Christ. Afterward, he went home and talked to his mother, (I believe I was told he cried some; I think I would have,) and told her that he had accepted Jesus. Keep the blessings coming!

There is no circumstance so evil that God cannot or will not bring some good out of it. The trick is learning to see that good so we can have peace amid the storm. There is no power in heaven or on earth that can tear us from the love of God or his grace. To believe otherwise is to believe that there is a power greater than the love-sacrifice Jesus made for us.

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Praise be to God. Amen.

[Please note that I may have made an error of a day or 2 in the timeline, and I apologize if I have confused the versions of Dave and David's names. If the mistakes I make today are no greater, God is certainly guiding my steps.-The T.O.]

The Tonsured One and BobbyBobby

Thoughts on Christians and Politics #1

I have been reading a book on the role of the Christian in politics and discussing it with friends. One thing that fascinates me is how many people a) misunderstand (in my opinion) the role we have in government in this country and its relationship to our ability to live as Christians, b) seem to confuse the professed aims of government and politicians with our obligations as Christians, and c) fail to understand the historical role of individuals and non-governmental societies in helping those in need. I obviously cannot address all of these in any great depth in this post, but will start with these observations.

First, regardless of whether you believe that this country was founded on Christian principles or not, the founding document of the nation is the U. S. Constitution. The Declaration was a founding document, the unifying document of the Revolution that led to the new nation, but the Constitution is by definition what constitutes the form of government we have and is the foundation of that government. It is a living document in the sense that it continues to inspire and affect the people of this land, it is not a living document in the sense that it changes and adapts to every change in social values that may come along. Its very nature makes such a thought absurd. Besides the fact that a foundation is not much of a foundation if it is ever-changing, the document spells out specifically what rights the government may or may not exercise and restricts the majority from imposing its will on the minority at the expense of its rights. (Don't forget that the amendments are part of the Constitution.) It also acknowledges, not grants rights. "The right to... shall not be infringed," not "the right to... is granted." A document that protects the individual from a tyranny of the majority cannot change at the whim of culture through the dictates of that very majority!

As Christians, we support freedom to exercise our rights, acknowledging them as coming from God. We may strive to persuade others to join us in creating laws or a social atmosphere that will help protect those rights or influence behavior, but never at the expense of denying those rights. God gave us free will, which includes the ability to do stupid and even evil things. As members of society we choose to protect people from having their rights trampled by stupidity and evil, but we draw the line at trying to destroy free will and impose our own (or, at least we should.) If God didn't do it, how can we? God chose the path that protected our freedom, even allowing us to kill his son. God loves freedom. Trying to use politics to right wrongs by violating people's freedom in favor of desires of others is, in and of itself, evil. Or at best poor and un-Godly judgment.

b) The Methodist Church as an organization has on more than one occasion equated raising taxes with reducing poverty, opposing war on evil with promoting peace, allowing the violation of laws without consequences with mercy, and making large segments of society fit a statistical mold with justice. Besides the fact that history shows such methods flawed at best (we have been raising taxes for generations yet I keep hearing the poor are getting poorer, for instance) such concepts of justice are rooted in a totally secular vision. Only God determines what is “just” in the large scale of things, and he promises us grace and mercy, not justice. We don't get what we deserve, thank God.

Men can argue about what is just and right, but for the most part the methods used to try to reach our earthly standards of these concepts are not rooted in scripture. Like our rights, given to us by God, our responsibilities, also God given, cannot be taken away by or abdicated to a government or group. I have yet to find a scripture that says "For I was hungry and you selected a committee to take money from other people and give a portion to me, I was thirsty and you voted for someone who said he would give me drink (along with 30 unrelated amendments,) I was sick or in prison, and you held a concert to raise money to pay someone to visit me, and you deducted it on your taxes." We are to work as individuals to help others know God and overcome the obstacles of this world, with Christ's help. Of course we function as a body in Christ, but only so much as we voluntarily allow ourselves to be admitted to that body. We choose to do it. We choose to use the resources we have been given. The more resources we have at our disposal, the greater our opportunity and ability to do this.

But if the government doesn't do it no one will, right? That brings us to:

c) In spite of what my little brother tells me, there are ample records to show that we did not let people die in the streets before we declared war on poverty and started raising both taxes and the number of people enslaved by the welfare system, we did not let our parents and sick, mentally and physically handicapped family members die in gutters before we decided that Social Security and government supported institutions were better places for them and could do a better job of making decisions about their care than those of us with our thought processes clouded by love. There were not a greater percentage of people dying in botched, back-alley abortions than died in other surgeries versus today’s statistics. There were exceptions of course, but for the most part we took care of folks at least as well as we do today, given the changes in standard of living. There were benevolent societies that provided opportunities for individuals to pool their resources and take care of medical and burial expenses, societies that took care of widows and orphans, and organizations that fed, clothed and often housed the poor.

Many of these were secular in format, though often manned by believers. The churches, synagogues, and the few other religious institutions of those days also helped both their members and non-members. Life was harder then, to be sure, but that was true for the rich as well.

There is also a basic assumption among some that the government plans will be successful. When someone says that something must be done about health care, what makes them think that the current crop of politicians have any credentials that qualify them to make decisions that will meet that end?

I find it fascinating that many people feel that the absence of government intervention will bring about greater poverty, pain and suffering. For one thing, as noted earlier, as government has grown, the claim is that poverty has also grown. Perhaps shrinking the one would shrink the other. Besides, if only half the people who vote for tax increases, special social programs, or various means to bring about "justice" were able to take what they pay in taxes (half of those who actually pay taxes, that is) and spend it directly on the poor, they would make a larger financial impact than all the social programs we currently have just by bypassing the inefficiency of the government . Besides, they would be acting as individuals helping individuals, or part of the body helping the body, which might have a greater impact than all their money spent through proxies. Surely if they believe they are part of a great majority that believe in these programs they can expect that at least half their folk would put their money where their collective mouths are?

Bottom line: As Christians, we believe in helping others. I'll argue with folks about what really constitutes help in another time and place, but Jesus told us to do it, not to elect or appoint proxies to do it for us. God gave us free will and certain rights to be free, and as Christians we should not put ourselves in his place and try to restrict that will and those rights. Oh, one more thing, Jesus told us to spread the gospel to the world, making disciples, not to let the world give us its version of a gospel and make us its disciples. Culture does not dictate what our God-given rights and responsibilities are, nor can it take them away.

These opinions are my own. They may or may not be yours. I can live with that.

"The Tonsured One"