Daily Devotion For: Sunday, Oct 5 2014: Galatians 5.22-26 One Pentecost Sunday I put nine large, red, tear-drop-shaped candles on the altar in front of a mirror – each representing one of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul speaks of in this letter to the Galatians. Along with the altar candles, all were lit at the beginning of the service and burned throughout, the flames bouncing and reflecting gloriously off the mirrored backdrop. At the conclusion of the service, when all were extinguished, I noticed that eight of the nine candles had burned fairly evenly, with little or no melted wax running onto the protective cloth under them. The ninth, however, had gone crazy!!!, burning so intensely that only a small portion of the candle remained. Ironic, isn’t it, that this last candle represented self-control?! Paul says that there is no law against such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As a matter of fact, he actually uses them as a contrast to what he earlier called ‘the ways of the flesh,’ such things as fornication, idolatry, envy, strife, anger, jealousy. . .You get the picture. But I think the way in which that one candle got so out of control is indicative of how difficult it is for us as human beings to truly live as God would have us live. It’s easy to say that we will be loving, joyful, patient, in control of our thoughts, words, and deeds, but to actually live this way day in and day out is just about as impossible for us as it was for all nine of those candles to burn evenly. Because as human beings we are a lot like those flames. While our intentions are good – to live as God would have us live - our ability to control ourselves and not be fanned by the winds of the world is too often not so good. So relationships suffer. Life in community suffers. Like a large blob of melted wax, they lay in a mess all around us and we find it difficult to know what to do or where to go from here. Paul does offer hope. He speaks of ‘those who belong to Christ Jesus. . .’ meaning that we do already. And he says, ‘If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.’ The “if” is a condition of reality – meaning a condition dependent not on human action but on God’s action. In other words, as baptized children of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit, we do live by (and in) the Spirit, whether we recognize this power in our lives or not. But the presence of the Spirit doesn’t take away our human propensity to sin. (You remember from confirmation class: it’s that whole free will business .) But this assurance does give us the courage to admit our faults and the strength to get up and try again. So today be as loving, joyful, peace-filled and peace-giving --- be as patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle and self-controlled as you can possibly be. In other words, burn passionately in your intentions to be like Jesus. But when you find that you’ve messed up, don’t give up. Get up and get going, seeking Saturday, Oct 4 2014: Galatians 5.22-26 One Pentecost Sunday I put nine large, red, tear-drop-shaped candles on the altar in front of a mirror – each representing one of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul speaks of in this letter to the Galatians. Along with the altar candles, all were lit at the beginning of the service and burned throughout, the flames bouncing and reflecting gloriously off the mirrored backdrop. At the conclusion of the service, when all were extinguished, I noticed that eight of the nine candles had burned fairly evenly, with little or no melted wax running onto the protective cloth under them. The ninth, however, had gone crazy!!!, burning so intensely that only a small portion of the candle remained. Ironic, isn’t it, that this last candle represented self-control?! Paul says that there is no law against such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As a matter of fact, he actually uses them as a contrast to what he earlier called ‘the ways of the flesh,’ such things as fornication, idolatry, envy, strife, anger, jealousy. . .You get the picture. But I think the way in which that one candle got so out of control is indicative of how difficult it is for us as human beings to truly live as God would have us live. It’s easy to say that we will be loving, joyful, patient, in control of our thoughts, words, and deeds, but to actually live this way day in and day out is just about as impossible for us as it was for all nine of those candles to burn evenly. Because as human beings we are a lot like those flames. While our intentions are good – to live as God would have us live - our ability to control ourselves and not be fanned by the winds of the world is too often not so good. So relationships suffer. Life in community suffers. Like a large blob of melted wax, they lay in a mess all around us and we find it difficult to know what to do or where to go from here. Paul does offer hope. He speaks of ‘those who belong to Christ Jesus. . .’ meaning that we do already. And he says, ‘If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.’ The “if” is a condition of reality – meaning a condition dependent not on human action but on God’s action. In other words, as baptized children of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit, we do live by (and in) the Spirit, whether we recognize this power in our lives or not. But the presence of the Spirit doesn’t take away our human propensity to sin. (You remember from confirmation class: it’s that whole free will business .) But this assurance does give us the courage to admit our faults and the strength to get up and try again. So today be as loving, joyful, peace-filled and peace-giving --- be as patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle and self-controlled as you can possibly be. In other words, burn passionately in your intentions to be like Jesus. But when you find that you’ve messed up, don’t give up. Get up and get going, seeking and offering forgiveness, and always trusting that God’s Spirit continues to have everything under control. and offering forgiveness, and always trusting that God’s Spirit continues to have everything under control.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 10:30:00 +0000
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