This time of year, the fruit we enjoy is the sweetest and most abundant. In God’s eyes, we are meant to be the same. But here’s the thing…
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers this striking distinction: a tree isn’t good because it bears good fruit—it bears good fruit because it is good. What does that mean?
It means that our lives grow sweeter when we draw nearer to our Creator—when God’s Spirit begins to shape our spirit, when His Way becomes our way. We are transformed.
How do we climb aboard that train? God promises that we will find our way if we keep our eyes and hearts open.
The reward is sweet. The Apostle Paul reminds us in his Gospel Letters that we are “chosen,” “holy,” “loved,” “justified,” “accepted,” “adopted,” and “forgiven” in the process.
Jesus Himself tells us, “It’s a peace the world cannot give.” (John 14)
That sounds pretty good to me.
In these troubling times, if you are put off by divisiveness from some quarters of the faith community, I find solace in messages like this one from Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA)—the denomination’s “chief ecclesiastical administrator and a key interpreter of the church’s constitution.”
Rev. Oh writes in part:
“Jesus says, ‘The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.’” (Matthew 23)
She continues:
“This is the heart of leadership—especially for any who would claim to be ‘Christian’: to serve others instead of insisting on one’s own greatness, to lift up others instead of pushing them down, to show honor to the least instead of denigrating their humanity, to use one’s power and authority to work toward the wholeness of God’s beloved world instead of harming those who are most vulnerable in society.”
And further:
“Instead of working for a world in which strangers and foreigners become neighbors, the weak and sick are protected, and the young and lonely are embraced, they build up dividing walls of hostility, threaten the vulnerable, and ridicule the marginalized. This is not Christian. This is not Christian leadership.”
As Rev. Oh reminds us, we are Christ’s disciples today— called to be the sweetest fruit we can be.
Rev. Oh’s reflections are a welcome reminder of the Gospel’s true message—at least as I understand it: inclusion, service, humility, and love.
It’s the kind of faith that fills the world with fruit that’s more sweet than bitter.
The song pairing is a new demo about a familiar problem—fear of the other:
“Weeping Time.” Until next time, stay safe, be brave and keep walking in the light.
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