PASTOR’S CORNER, Rev. Jason Toombs, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Liberal
Summer has been in full swing for a while, and the fruits of summer have been enjoyed. No, I’m not talking about heat beyond compare – well, heat beyond compare this side of the afterlife for those who reject our Lord and Savior; I’m talking about the fruits of a garden if you planted some things to grow. We have been swimming in cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes, along with some bell peppers and eggplant. It seems those who want things tastier than the usual bland things mostly grown hydroponically for mass sales at stores tend and nourish the dirt of this earth. Gardeners and farmers tend and nourish the ground, adding supplements in due season, because they want their crops to be bumper crops, and they enjoy tastier things than what can be had from the closest big-box store.
This brings us to Saint Paul being a fruitful fellow as He talks about fruit, fruits, first-fruit, and first-fruits 20 times in his letters. He mentions “firstfruits” in verse 23 of Romans 8 as he discusses how we have the firstfruits of the Spirit in our lives. Yet, there is a better passage than Romans where Saint Paul discusses the fruits of the Spirit. Hear from Galatians, chapter 5: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Paul alludes to the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit, while Jesus talks plainly about the fruits in Matthew 7:15-20. The remainder of our devotion today will focus on the bad fruits, the fruits of the flesh that lead to death, and the fruits of the Spirit, particularly wisdom, that lead to life and life everlasting – first, the bad fruit.
The fleshly fruits are seen in the actions, in the thoughts and intentions, and the results. Jesus tells us, “The diseased tree bears bad fruit.” He knows that we are sinners, and He knows that sinners sin. It starts not with the actions, nor the thoughts and intentions, nor the results; it starts at the core, in the tree, so to speak.
The tree is what is bad. So, it is with humanity. We are the problem. We are sinners to the core. Sin has infected us all the way to the heart. It truly is a heart problem. There have been many wonderful theologians who have explained it far better than I can.
“For you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” – Saint Augustine of Hippo
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” – Jeremiah 17
Left to our own devices, we will follow this sinful heart. This is what we hear in the world, and it results in broken relationships, broken homes, and broken people. We hear influences of all types telling you to follow your heart. If the heart were fixed, then we could follow it and have everything we need.
Instead of following your heart, follow the One Who says, “follow Me.” Jesus knows that the heart needs to be set right, then you can follow it to the good end: “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit.” A heart that has been washed and made clean in the waters of Baptism is a heart that Jesus gives. We need to be cleansed and made new if we want to bear fruit that lasts.
This is the fruit of wisdom that comes from above. Knowledge is earthly, wisdom is the gift of God. The wise one is the one who looks to God for everything. The wise one receives everything that God desires to pour out for their good. Wisdom, life, and salvation are given by the Father, through the Spirit, in the name of the Son. Jesus is wisdom incarnate. Jesus is the wisdom of God come down in the flesh.
More than simply being wisdom, Jesus is also our salvation. This is another of the gifts that God gives. The fruit of salvation is dwelling with God. This is the fruit that Jesus comes to give. This is also the fruit that the Holy Spirit desires to impart.
He is the good tree that is never cut down. We have been engrafted to this tree and are made good trees. Our hearts have been cleansed, so we can bear good fruit. Through Christ Jesus, we can love the Lord our God and our neighbor. We bear good fruit because that is what healthy trees do. We seek to serve God and our neighbors because that is what we are called to do.
