Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Mark 3:1-6 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Message Today I will be speaking on the topic of Goodness. As you know, sometimes words or ideas in Japanese do not translate well to, say, English, French, German, or whatever. I have often found it difficult to define words like “Mottainai.” Simply translated, it is "a waste." But that is “Muda.” Mottainai is more the feeling or sense of being sorry that something happened. Today, we will be looking at the word “good” or “goodness,” “Tov” in Hebrew. Something that translations struggle to convey accurately when we read the word good or goodness in the scriptures. Because it means more than something is better than okay but as good as great. We do not sing the song “Okay is your Faithfulness” or even “Good is your Faithfulness” but it is Great. In the Hebrew language and also culturally, that is not an adequate translation of good especially in relation to God. Because if we just take the word “Tov” or the Greek word “Agathosune” and translate it as good or goodness, we wonder why Jesus flips out on the Rich Young Ruler in Matt 19 for calling Jesus “Good teacher.” It doesn’t seem to make sense. It seems like a nice way to address a sensei. If you want to call me a good preacher / pastor, I will take it as a compliment. But Jesus and all those around him know that the word means more than something between okay and great. It means HOLY or complete or something without flaw or defect. You might say that is a good way to address Jesus because Jesus is Holy. But unless you know Jesus as your Lord and Messiah it is inappropriate to call him “Tov Rabbi”. Just like if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you really shouldn’t call him Christ. Christ is not Jesus’ last name it is a recognition of who he is and how we see him. It is just words but as Jesus shows words matter. In Genesis 1, we witness the creation of everything. We have this awe-inspiring account with the trinity (Gen 1:26) “Let us make man in our likeness.” After all, had been created, God calls it “Good.” Or it is complete and perfect. A self-sustaining biological marvel and God evaluates his work and knows it is perfect. Interesting that the first Adam was placed in a perfect or complete environment and sinned and had to be cast out of the garden. Our Lord Jesus the Christ, the second Adam, was placed in a fallen world and redeemed the world. Psychologists (My dad is one) argue over nature verses nurture. Both matter. Environment matters but we are not only defined by our environment we can overcome that environment with the help of God and the commitment to follow him with the guidence of the Holy Spirit. God created the world in a way that it was suitable for life and for us to have it in abundance. I can have a poor sermon. I can have an okay day. I can do worse than okay in communicating with others, but GOD DOES NOT MAKE GARBAGE. God does not make Junk and after he made the world God called it Good and all he asked of us was that we care for his creation. Let’s be honest we have done a pretty crappy job of it caring for it. God created a living organism perfectly balanced moving around the sun, at just the perfect distance with the perfect tilt to have life. He made us in his image and pronounced us good. I have run across quite a few people in my life that have had body issue problems. They look in the mirror and instead of seeing a child of God (Which they are) they look in the mirror and see junk. I faced that issue 5 years ago too. I was way (way) too heavy for a healthy life. Because I was so heavy, I stopped doing athletic things. I was exhausted at the end of every day. But where it showed up most vividly was when I looked at pictures with me in them. I hated those pictures of myself. Especially pictures when I was having a good time, I would look at the pictures and instead of remembering the good experience with family or friends, I would see this fat guy and feel embarrassed. This is a picture of my friend Jess Engle who’s daughter comes to KUC once in a while. I had to remind myself that God loved me. I know that I am a sinner. I know that you are too. But God loves us so much so that he sent his one and only son. No matter if I was way way over 130 kg. God does not make junk. Sometimes we have to do some life-changing activities to get to where we (personally or as a community) want to be physically, emotionally, or spiritually but if we are willing to get out of that boat, our good Lord will meet us there. For God created a perfectly balanced world for us to live on and there is a lot of repentance that needs to happen because we have messed this GOOD world up. Psalm 103 shows God’s goodness. It states that God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. There are groups today that focus on punishment not restoration. If you have made mistakes if your ancestors have made mistakes they look to accuse, silence, or cancel you. It is punishment without redemption or chance of forgiveness. That is an awful thing. Thank God we worship a GOOD and HOLY God that is willing to correct us as Paul tells us in Heb 12, “God disciplines us for our GOOD, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness.” Do not miss it that God's discipline is for our GOOD! Because God disciplines us so that we can share in God’s holiness and that produces a harvest of goodness. Be really careful of people that discipline for discipline sake. The purpose of discipline is always for the good not for punishment. The question is not about God’s goodness (even when he disciplines us) but about our willingness to accept that goodness. When Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus he said, “‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Jesus sees people hurting his sheep as a personal affront to God. “Why are you persecuting ME?” Jesus knows that it is hurting you and your heart more than it is hurting God. We know that a goad is a stick that helps train an ox or donkey doing field work to follow the lead of the master. It is for the animal's protection as well as for the usefulness of the animal. When an animal kicks in disobedience it hits the goad and quickly because of the pain learns not to do that. You heard about the guy that went to a doctor. He reached over his shoulder with his arm pulling it back as far as it could. He said to the doctor, “When I do this I get the shooting pain all down my neck, what should I do?” The doctor thought for a moment and said, “Don’t do that.” You know what your stick is, don’t you? Stop kicking it. Animals are smart enough not to do that, but we are at times so stupid that we do foolish things over and over again thinking that it will work out differently. “Don’t do that.” When we reject God’s goodness we are doing our version of kicking the goad. We are not hurting God; we are just causing ourselves pain and frustration. God calls us to Taste and see that the Lord is good. Deut 30 says something similar, “Today I set before you life and death, blessing and curses” then Moses gives advice to the people. It seems like an easy decision like saying what do you want this Kobe steak or a McDonald's happy meal? He says, “choose life” Like saying choose God’s goodness. But death is easy. You don’t have to try at all, you just slide down this long slope of easiness until you hit bottom. But life is hard, Goodness requires effort. I guess what we the church the followers of Christ are saying is that the effort of Loving God with our heart soul mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves is worth the work. It is good. And as we strive for God’s goodness God fills us with his goodness. And that tastes good. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Let’s pray Heavenly Father, we thank You for the revelation of Your goodness in our lives. Help us to recognize that true goodness stems from You alone. Transform our hearts and empower us to reflect Your goodness to the world around us. May Your name be glorified through our words and actions. In Jesus's name, we pray. Amen.
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Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self- control. Against such things there is no law. John 2: 1-11 Message If you grew up in the 80s, you will remember this phrase: "Be kind. Rewind." It is now so dated that it would be hard for people in their 20s, maybe even 30s, to know, but every video rental store had this sign posted. You did not have to rewind the video that you watched. You did not get money back for doing it or charged extra for not doing it. The video shops tried to appeal to people's better nature with the phrase "Be Kind. Rewind." I saw a study on kindness a while back that studied stores that posted this simple sign where people could see it. In the study, when a sign was clearly posted, people were 20% more likely to rewind their tapes when they returned them compared to stores that did not post the sign thus saving the rental company time and money. There are always some jerks in the world, maybe more than just a few—people that sit in the handicapped seats on the train and then pretend that they are sleeping when an elderly person comes on. We can agree that they are jerks. But most people, I do not know if that is 70%, 80%, 90%, or even higher, want to be kind but need reminding. THIS IS YOUR REMINDER, CHURCH, BE KIND!!!! When Amazon ships something that has glass in it or other fragile items, they post clearly to handle with care. Sometimes we miss that message with each other. Play nicely with each other because we are fragile, too. Kindness is part of the Fruit of the Spirit because it is a characteristic of God. We think of God as MAJESTIC and POWERFUL, but we cannot miss God’s mercy and kindness, or we have a warped view of God as some angry rule enforcer that is out to get us. Psalm 23 describes God as…The Lord is my shepherd. I will always have everything I need. He gives me green pastures to lie in. God embodies the spirit of kindness just as he embodies love and goodness. Some see kindness as weakness. People, especially young men, fear being seen as weak and shun kindness, but there is no greater power in the universe than Yahweh, and yet Yahweh is kind. Kindness at its core is thinking of others. It is not the cake, but it is the icing on the cake that makes things look beautiful. Thinking of others does not get explicit mention in the Bible like words like love, joy, peace, patience, and goodness, but it is one of the bedrocks of any human community. Living with, interacting with, working with, going to church with people that are not kind gets really, really old really, really quick. I once worked at a school in Yokohama where the teachers just were not that kind to each other. They were smart and hardworking; I think they cared for their students, but they were not kind to each other. Maybe that was not in their job description, but it should be. It should be in all of our descriptions for life. That school paid well, but working there was a pain, so I finished out my year and left. There is a story of a man stranded on a desert island. It had been years when a passing ship saw him and rescued him. When the boat came ashore, the man said, “Thank God you came.” He asked, “Do you have a coke? I have been dying for a coke for years.” After getting him a coke, they saw three structures on the beach and asked him about them. He explained, “This first place is my home.” They said, “That is nice.” Then he mentioned the second structure, “This is where I worship God.” They responded, “That is nice.” Finally, someone asked about the other structure. He replied, “I do not talk about that place. That is where I used to go to church. They were never kind to me.” It is a joke, but people leave churches all the time. Sometimes they go to another place of worship, but often they just stop going to church. People leave for a variety of reasons. They don’t like the preacher, don’t like the music, but most leave because they do not feel like they belong and are not cared for because people are not kind to them. That is not on the pastor; that is a congregational issue. I was watching an efficiency consultant on YouTube who works with major companies and organizations to make them more efficient or to get more done in less time. Simply put, if you can get more done, then you can make more money. (That is not our goal, but being efficient isn’t a bad thing.) He has many different ideas on how to make organizations more effective, mostly regarding communication, but the one that surprised me was when he talked about being kind and affirming to each other. He said, “You can yell at a person and get them moving,” or in my case, get a student to study, “for a short time, but eventually you have to yell louder and louder until you can’t yell anymore.” He went on to say, “In the long run, anger doesn’t work it is inefficient”. What makes organizations more efficient is kindness, both in talent retention and in practically getting things done and done well. Just so you do not think I am getting new age on you it was our Lord who said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 7:12) while giving a summary of the law in the OT. My Bible has over 680 pages in the OT, and Jesus here gives it to us in a nutshell. We call it the Golden Rule. It is golden because it is so good. Jesus simply and profoundly says, “Do to others as you would like them to do for you.” I will say it again. “Do to others as you would like them to do for you.” Strangely, I have seen more TED Talks reference the Golden Rule than sermons on it. Actually, I can’t remember a sermon on it. Of course, we know Confucius's teaching says, “Don’t do to others what you DON’T want them to do to you.” And it is not bad, but the major difference is Jesus is calling us to act to action not inaction, where Confucius is instructing us to limit our negative actions. Jesus is talking about being a positive force instead of limiting your negativity (limiting your negativity isn’t a bad thing either). If you don’t like someone gossiping about you, don’t do it to others (Confucius). But Jesus, instead of not gossiping, is calling us to affirm or bless others. Instead of not hitting them or not tripping them, Jesus calls us to put an arm around them and care for them. Interesting about being kind and complimenting people. I have noticed more so recently that people give me a compliment followed by a "BUT" Three weeks ago, someone said to me, “I liked your sermon today (boy I was so happy), but you didn’t do ...”. Another person said to me, “Thank you for getting the church out on time for EKK, but...” Let’s be honest. The compliment did not count. I am (no one is) going to say to themselves, "Wow, I had a great sermon today after that comment with a BUT." Or "Wow, I really organized that well." No!!! The compliment or the act of kindness is not really a compliment but actually a set up for a complaint or attack. Actually, it is worse because the person starts feeling good just to get the rug pulled out from under them. That is not kindness, but we do it all the time. If you have a concern with me, just tell me the concern; we do not have to dress it up. As you have seen me over the last few weeks, I like to end with a story. Last week there was a story of patience and how our friend prayed without ceasing for her husband; two weeks ago, I told a story of Elijah in the cave, and three weeks ago, I talked about Bonhoffer. Today I would like to tell you about our Lord. Like I said, kindness is not a big thing; it is actually the small thing but small things that make the world worth living. As Jesus was starting his ministry, he was invited to a wedding. Jewish weddings are festive occasions with music, food, dancing, laughing, and drinking. It is not a one-day occasion but often lasts for a few days. Families would save up for these events just like we do today. A festive wedding was not a guarantee of a happy marriage, but in Jesus’ day, just like today, a wedding celebration that did not go well was seen as an omen of an unhappy marriage. We know that Jesus’ mother (Mary) was heavily involved in the wedding being either a relative or a friend of the bride/groom's mother, and she gets wind of the fact that the wedding party is running out of wine. And it was wine, not grape juice (I heard a sermon years ago where the preacher went on foolishly for about 15 minutes explaining that it could not be wine because wine was not allowed in his church). I digress. Mary comes to Jesus and tells him of the problem. “They have no more wine.” Not a big thing in the scope of all the problems in the world but she goes to Jesus anyway. Do you know that you can go to Jesus with the big issues and also the small ones? Jesus here replies to his mother (Remember who this woman is—this is MARY, St. Mary to you and me). Jesus says to her, “Dear woman, why do you want me to get involved” (You know who I am, and Mary does know.) He goes on to say, “My time is not yet come.” Despite this, Mary, knowing the incredible kindness of her son, tells the workers, “You do what he tells you to do.” We know that Jesus instructs the servants to fill up the big jars used for ceremonial washing, and after they did, he instructed them to take the wine to the master of ceremony who would taste everything before giving it to the guests. But from the time water went in, wine came out—not just ordinary wine but the most delicious wine he had ever drank. The master of ceremony did not even know where this wine came from, and obviously, the servants were told to keep it secret from him, and they did. Jesus practicing his teaching, “Do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing” is not only about offering but about acts of kindness too. “So your father in heaven who sees will bless you.” Jesus did not have to turn the water into wine. It might have made their special day less special if he stuck to his word in waiting for the right time, but our Lord did the kind thing. Will We? It was a miracle but not like making a blind man see or a leper clean. Still, our Lord’s first miracle was simply an act of blessing others with kindness. How can we follow our Lord’s example? Let’s pray. Scriptures
Galatians 5:22-23 -But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Isaiah 40:31 - Those who wait on the lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Jeremiah 29:11 - I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Galatians 6:9 - Let’s not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up. Message: First off, anyone who is not a Christian may think that this message is crazy. Maybe it is. Let’s listen to a song. This is not a Christian song, but I want to show you how the world looks at our topic of patience today. (I want it all! I want it all! And I want it NOW! by Queen). Is there any wonder why the world is so frustrated with itself? Let me just say it for you. I WANT IT ALL! AND I WANT IT NOW!!!! Sounds like a 2-year-old having a tantrum, doesn’t it? But the truth of the matter is that I do not want to wait. I like fast service. If you are a child of the 90s, you will know that incredibly annoying sound as the computer tried to connect to the internet (play the sound from YouTube). No one likes waiting, and yet Paul states very clearly that patience is part of the Fruit of the Spirit. Just so we do not think it is a mistake when Paul talks about being a chosen people (And you are chosen by God), a people that is dearly loved, Paul calls us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness (Wait for it), patience. It makes the top four of the fruit of the Spirit right after peace. The opposite of patience is, of course, impatience. Impatience is actually a feeling of frustration that the world is not fitting into my understanding of how it should work. Often the person that I am most impatient with is myself. (Mark, get it together). Impatience is frustration with how the world is organized around you. Frustration with how the world is working. Joy that we talked about two weeks ago is like a bubbling fountain of pure clean water bringing goodness to all around. Impatience is like a sewer spewing out crap and pollutants to all around us. Oh, and when we are impatient with ourselves, we spew the garbage into our own heart. Like polluting the body which 2 Cor 19 calls the temple of the Holy Spirit. The times that I am the most impatient are when I mess up on my schedule. Times when I stay up too late and then sleep too long, and then I rush to work, and it seems like I hit EVERY SINGLE RED LIGHT! And I get more and more frustrated with the world when I know it is me that is in error. Impatience, especially consistent impatience, is actually a judgment against God. Like saying, “God, you are not doing a very good job of ordering this world around my wants, my needs, my desires, and my timing. Come on, God, get your act together.” Sounds stupid but that is what happens when we do not allow the fruit of Patience to grow in our lives. Patience, on the other hand, is grounded in a trusting and hope-filled relationship with God. and his timing, not mine. Moses was a person who had to learn patience. We know that as he fled Egypt after killing the guard and had to be a shepherd in the desert for 40 years. 40 years is a long time to learn to be patient. He had to be patient until he had a God encounter at the burning bush. God broke this man of “I want it all, and I want it now.” Why did God force him to wait so long? Was Moses not ready for the mantle of leadership? Were the people not ready to be led? We do not know, but we know that God led this man into a quiet retreat for years and years to have his ears and eyes open to what God wanted him to hear and see. As most of you know, I was not asked even to interview at KUC after Pastor Bruce left the church a few years ago. I felt hurt. I struggled with how it was handled. I remember going up to our cabin in Nagano and praying for clarity. Do you know what God told me? He said, “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It comes from Jeremiah 29:11. God had a plan for me and I knew that I had to learn to wait on the Lord. I never thought I would be on staff as a support pastor here, but I knew that God had a plan for me. And he has a plan for you and his plan for you is not to harm you (even though we all go through tough things) and his plan for you is to give you hope and a future. And we know from the apostle Paul that hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:5). People ask me what my plans are for after the summer? I say, “I do not know but I know what I am supposed to do today. Here is a radical thought for you. What if God has something really great for you? It might be a relationship; it might be a position or a job. It might be an opportunity to serve Him formally or informally, and the only payment that God requires from you is that you wait for the right time. Yes, it stinks to wait. And people fall into the mistake that waiting on the Lord is this purgatory-like waiting in a doctor’s office for your turn. Not only waiting in the doctor’s office but the power in your smartphone has run out, and you just have to sit there. That is not patience. If that is how you are waiting, then you will never be ready when your burning bush is burning. You need to change your mindset to not see patience as passive. Patience is not just wasting your time. It is the most productive time or should be the most productive time in forming you as an instrument of God’s love, hope, and joy. Waiting is a time of preparation. Paul did not start to preach right away after the Damascus Road encounter with Christ. Peter and the disciples spent three years in training in order to be ready to be the apostles. Even Jesus waited. From the time he was 12 years old in the temple, he knew who he was. He was fully the Son of God. Yet he waited on the father’s timing for 18 years. For three years of ministry. For 3 hours on the cross. Thank God. That is not “I want it all, and I want it now thinking”. I dare say if you want it all and you want it now that you will end up with nothing. Most people in the US that win the big lotteries lose it all in just a few years. They had no preparation for the wealth that consumes them. For some, we need to wait to gain the skills necessary for success. For others, they need to work on their emotional maturity. They need to grow in the Lord. Grow in grace, grow in mercy, grow in wisdom. I once was in a rush trying to bake a cake, not the smartest idea. The cake said bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Since I was in a rush, I turned the stove up to 400 degrees and cut the time to 10 minutes. It did not turn out well. Burnt on the outside and raw on the inside, things take time. The math works out, but the cake did not. For others, waiting has nothing to do with themselves; it has everything to do with the people or project the Lord is directing us to. As kids, we would play the game hide and seek. Before coming the chaser would say, “Ready or not here I come”. Well, you can be ready skill-wise, and emotionally for the leadership that God has for you, but the people also have to be ready too. HOW DO I KNOW if it is you that needs to get your house in order or it is someone else that needs to be ready? God, do I need to improve my skill before you give me the position? God, do I need to work on my behavior and personal conduct? God, do you need to prepare the place for me before I can come in, just like God prepared the promised land for the Israelites? I do not have your answer. But I know that the few times I have had to wait on the Lord, I only got direction by getting on my knees and waiting. Because Moses had done the work on himself, God had done the hard work on the people, mind you, he called these people stiff-necked and hard-headed people. These are not my words; they are God’s. Moses was able with the Lord’s mighty hand to lead them not just through the waters but to the next waters of the Jordan River where Moses was not able to go through, but he had done his job. I will say it again; patience is not laziness or passivity. You cannot say that I am an A-type person, so patience is not how God made me. No. Patience is not passive but an active trust in God. Like our Lord. Back in the 90s we lived in Yokohama, and I had a dear friend, Andrea who I met at the kids' Yochien. One of her first questions for me was 'are you a Christian?' We got together often with the kids to play and sometimes even with our families. We attended Yokohama Union Church then, where Pastor Claudia is serving now. Andrea and I attended the women's Bible study on Wednesdays, kind of like WOW here at KUC. In this group we often talked of how to share Jesus and his love in our families, especially to the non-Christian husbands. Andrea asked us all to pray for her husband Keishi. He was a super 'salary man' working for a high-powered company in Tokyo in the 90s. We prayed weekly that he and the other husbands would become followers of Jesus. In 1999, our family moved back to the US, to attend seminary in order for Mark and I to be trained as pastors, at that time, I remember that Andrea was very involved at YUC, but that Keishi was still only attending about once or maybe once per month. He would attend when there were special activities. The core group of us, which was about 20 leaders at the time would stay each Sunday and bring our lunches to have fellowship together. After we left for seminary, I heard from Andrea that Keishi attended about twice per month. After our second year at seminary, Andrea and Keishi returned to the US, bought a home in Atlanta and began attending a big American church there. Keishi was now attending each Sunday, and a group of men who served as ushers-to seat people when they came to church, asked him to join their group. He joined and would have coffee with the guys and then it turned into times of Bible study too. We went one summer to stay with them and went to church with them, it was amazing to see Keishi wanting to go to church and having faith in Jesus! He was finally baptized the same Sunday with their son Christopher Leo in 2001! This journey of faith, and having patience in God's timing took about 9 years! Praying faithfully, daily and asking others to companion in the praying journey is important. Andrea and Keishi began short term mission trips to Japan, bringing people to Japan to help quite frequently when the Nihon Higashi Dai Shin Sai happened, they also partnered with Be One like we did. Keishi interpreted and even led some Bible studies with Japanese there. Next, we heard Keishi had received a calling from God to attend seminary! He began attending in the midst of working, and leading these mission trips with Andrea. Fast forward to now, in December of 2023, he just finished his last paper and has graduated with a degree in missiology! They have just signed up for a 5year term with TEAM in Tokyo, to continue doing work as hospitality missionaries to those who come to stay in Japan. Isn't it AMAZING what God is doing in the lives of his people of faith? It is AMAZING! Praise God that he is moving, working, leading and sending people still today! So, this journey of faith we are on with Jesus, is one of patience as we wait and get ready for God's plans. As in Keishi and Andrea's lives, and in our own, God has plans, he wants us to recognize and follow his plans for us, he wants us to get on board with the amazing fragrance of the Holy Spirit that he has sent to us, and follow him. As we pray daily for his plans in our lives, in the lives of our friends, and in the life of our Christian family here at KUC, we develop more and more patience to follow his way and plan. This patience develops us into the person he wants us to be, and it is a fruit of the Spirit. Let's now ask the Lord to develop in us this fruit of the Spirit-patience. Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law." John 14:25-27 - “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Message: Today, I will be speaking on the fruit of peace, which is part of our fruity life series. My church tradition has placed a significant emphasis on peace. It is very rare to have a Mennonite police officer or a person that joins the military because of the gun issue. Mennonites rarely are violent but sometimes our violence is in our passive aggressive kind. One of the most dogged professors I had in seminary on the topic of peace was not very peaceful in his approach to peace. It's like the teacher or parent who says, "Do what I say, not what I do." I do not think we can ever have peace on the outside of ourselves until we embrace the peace that God has for us in her (heart). Like almost everything there is a flow and the flow of peace flows from inside out. So I hope I do not have to tell anyone. “Don’t hit your neighbor” “Don’t verbally attack your brothers”. These are not the ways of Christ. But I will focus more on the peace of Christ this morning. A peace that if you embrace it can change your life. A peace so strong that you can love God and also love your neighbor. Our Lord that not only taught about being a peacemaker but show us even unto death what a life of peace looks like. Like everything of consequence, transformation happens on the inside and moves outward. It is from the overflow of peace, love, and joy that we share the fruit of the Spirit with the world. But it happens in the heart first. Peace, or Shalom, is mentioned between 300-450 times in the Bible, depending on the translation you use. In Luke 24, with the disciples in turmoil after Jesus' crucifixion and in hiding, Jesus appears in their midst. He does not say, "What are you doing hiding? He does not scold them. Instead, he says, “Brothers, peace be with you.” So, what is peace? How do you define it? Many people define peace as not being at war or not fighting. By that definition, if I am not yelling at you or hitting you, does that mean I am at peace? I do not think so. The absence of violence is so far from the biblical definition of peace or Shalom, the word used in Hebrew. Even though Jesus spoke Aramaic, it is safe to assume that he used the Hebrew word Shalom when he spoke to the disciples. Shalom, and if you've ever received an email from Roy, you will see at the bottom just before his name. Shalom is not just the absence of conflict. No, Shalom goes much deeper to wanting your well-being and willing to move in order that the person has that well-being. If we offer the people of Noto Peninsula Shalom than we are compelled to do something about it. So, when you offer the peace of Christ to one another, you are saying more than just "I do not want to hit you" or "I am not going to gossip about you," but that you want the best for that person, you want them to be blessed by God. In the West, we have a simple ritual of shaking hands. Why? It is to show that I do not have a weapon in my hand, I do not have a knife or a gun. I am showing you that I come in Shalom and will not harm you. Interestingly, the Native American sign of friendship is the raising of the right hand, showing that you do not have a bow in your hands. I have no weapons of violence for you. God’s handshake or raised open hand is his Son. God has sent us his son, and one of his most frequent messages is shalom. God sent his son so we could participate in a loving relationship with him and with others. Jesus tells us that I have come that you may have life and have it in abundance. That is Shalom. We call this relationship a covenantal relationship, not a contractual relationship because our relationship is based on love not on rules. For God so loved the world that he sent his son, so whoever believed in him would be saved and enjoy the peace of the Lord. We know that almost every married couple argues with each other. It is normal. One thing Stephanie and I have learned (trial and error) to do is never argue with the lights off in our bed. Why? The bed should be a place of peace, comfort, and love. When the lights are off, you do not see the damage that your words inflict on the other person. Instead of seeing them as the love of your life, you see them as an adversary, and because of that, you want to win instead of wanting you as a couple to win. Keep the lights on. Shalom. One of the things affecting the world is the lack of inner Shalom. Jesus, when he promised the Holy Spirit, and we are talking about peace as a part of the fruit of the tree of the Holy Spirit, said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” In Jesus' wake (and we all leave a wake behind us), Jesus left a spirit of peace. What do we leave when we leave a room. Do you leave a spirit of peace, joy, love or something else? Have you ever been around a person, and you have a profound sense of peace with them? Jesus’ peace was not just while he was with his disciples, but he transferred his peace to them.. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”. Jesus does not give us his peace for only our personal benefit but that we might share that peace with the people we interact with. When we leave a room is what trails behind us a good odder or stench? The older I get, the more the children’s songs become more important to me. “Love is something if you give it away give it away give it away love is something if you give it away you end up having more”. The same principle holds with peace. Are you leaving peace in your wake? Pay attention to people that disturb the peace. As a young man, I did not understand it, but I pay attention to a spirit of peace now. I can work with them, I can care for them, but I am careful not to give them my heart my pearls. One of my favorite Old Testament prophets is Elijah. His name literally means “My God is Yahweh”. He was an amazing prophet of the Lord. At some point, I would like to do a few sermons just looking at Elijah, the man that confronted kings and queens. By himself, he faced off against not one but 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to show that Yahweh was more powerful. He was also a man that dealt with despair and felt alone even when he was not. At one point he asked God to take his life because he felt like he was the only one doing anything for the Lord and the Lord had to remind him that there were many others like him. At a really low point beside a brook that had dried up, an Angel of the Lord said to him, “The journey is too much for you”. Imagine that. When an angel tells you that the path that you are on is too much for you. And without God and the gift of the Holy Spirit, this life is too much for you at least to live in the abundance. Then the angel provides him a meal, and he set off to find Mt Horeb where he was to meet God. Hint: when the world seems like too much for you, just focus on practical things. Like taking a shower, having a meal, cleaning your room, saying the Lord’s Prayer. I have had times in my life when I could not pray. I felt like I did not have the words. So I prayed the Lord’s Prayer over and over and over again. Taking a shower will not solve all your problems. Having something to eat will not solve all your problems but it helps to keep a routine and you smell better when you meet other people. Anyway, Elijah gets to the mountain and finds his way to a cave. When God. Not an angel but God speaks to him and asks him, “What are you doing here? You are not at peace” To that, Elijah complains a bunch about how he has to do everything on his own. God commands him to stand at the mouth of the cave because he is going to pass by. At the mouth of the cave, a wind so powerful that it broke apart rocks hit the mountain. (Wow). But Bible says God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake shook the mountain. (We know the power of earthquakes in Japan) But the bible again says, God was not in the quake. After the quake, a fire came over the mountain. But again the bible says, God was not in the fire. We face a lot of powerful forces in the world, and at times we get so preoccupied with power. A wind that can crack rocks. An earthquake that can shake mountains, a fire that consumes the mountain anything living on it. But we need to know that God was not in those destructive things. But after the fire came something that could transform where only the other things could destroy. It was a gentle whisper. And the interesting thing was Elijah pulls his cloak over his head at this point because he knows that God was in this gentle wind. From this moment, Elijah found his purpose He found his peace. It was still a hard journey, and I know that my journey and your journeys are hard. There is no sugar-coating it. But too many Christians try to find God in the wind, in the quake, in the fires of life when what we need to do is listen for God’s gentle whisper. Listen to the Holy Spirit that gives us his peace. First internally and then as we experience that peace, we pass it to others. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as given by the world but by God.” |
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May 2024
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