The Fruit of the Spirit is Love

A couple of songs I would have liked to sing this past Sunday (but that wouldn't work well with in the guy with guitar format).

A beautiful song by one of my favorite songwriters, Andrew Peterson.

"Just As I Am"

hat's that on the ground?
It's what's left of my heart
Somebody named Jesus
Took up the pieces
And planted the shards

And they're coming up green
They're coming in bloom
I can hardly believe
This is all coming true

Just as I am and just as I was
Just as I will be He loves me, He does
He showed me the day that He shed His own blood
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He does

All of my life
I've held on to this fear
Its thistles and vines
Ensnare and entwine
What flowers appeared

It's the fear that I'll fall
One too many times
It's the fear that His love
Is no better than mine
(but He says that)
Just as I am and just as I was
Just as I will be He loves me, He does
He showed me the day that He shed His own blood
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He does
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He does

It's time now to harvest
What little that grew
This man they call Jesus
Who planted the seeds
Has come for the fruit

And the best that I've got
Isn't nearly enough
He's glad for the crop
But it's me that He loves

Just as I am and just as I was
Just as I will be He loves me, He does
The same as the day that He shed His own blood
He loves me, oh, He loves me, He does
***

An important point to remember about bearing fruit as a Christian - God wants us to bear fruit (John 15), but God it is us that God loves - just as we are. It doesn't matter how much fruit we bear - God's love is not based on that. But accepting God's love and knowing how much God loves us, we are free and ready to bear fruit. And we can bear fruit as a joyful pursuit, and not as the burdensome quest to earn favor in God's eyes.

Another excellent song, this one with an edge to it - "They'll Know Us by the T-Shirts that We Wear," by Derek Webb.

We sang "They'll know we are Christians by our love" today in church, but this song points to what people typically tend to notice about Christians and what we might notice if we were honest about what we see.

Get ready, this one is not for those who think the church is a club for the perfect:

They’ll know us by the T-shirts that we wear
They’ll know us by the way we point and stare
At anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
Who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare

They’ll know us by our picket lines and signs
They’ll know us by the pride we hide behind
Like anyone on earth is living right
And that isn’t why Jesus died
Not to make us think we’re right

[Chorus]
When love, love, love
Is what we should be known for
Love, love, love
It’s the how and it’s the why
We live and breathe and we die

They’ll know us by reasons we divide
And how we can’t seem to unify
Because we’ve gotta sing songs a certain style
Or we’ll walk right down that aisle
And just leave ‘em all behind

They’ll know us by the billboards that we make
Just turning God’s words to cheap cliches
Says “what part of murder don’t you understand?”
But we hate our fellow man
And point a finger at his grave

[Chorus]

They’ll know us by the T-shirts that we wear
They’ll know us by the way we point and stare
Telling ‘em their sins are worse than ours
Thinking we can hide our scars
Beneath these T-shirts that we wear

****

Love, Love, Love - it's what we should be known for - can't really argue with that.

1 John agrees, "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."

Another Look: "Mystery"

Here are the lyrics from the song that Ashley sang, "Beautiful Mystery," by Caedmon's Call.

I tried to know
Every mystery
Soon realized, no
It was too much for me

'Cause most things true
Are simple and complex
So it is with You
What else should I expect

You suffer the seeker
In You they abide

You are to me
A beautiful mystery
You are to me
A Servant and a King
You're a beautiful mystery

You're like the water
I can feel but not grasp
Still You say all I've gotta do
Is seek and knock and ask

You are to the river
What hems it in and sets it free

The truth is a river
Where the strong can swim down deep
The weak and the broken
Can walk across so easily

******

The part I put in bold is my favorite. That is the message I wanted to convey on Sunday regarding how we know, and what we know about, God. We feel God, know God in many ways, but we cannot grasp, we cannot hold all knowledge about God. That is because we arent designed to hold that kind of truth, because what usually happens with us (humans) is that once we think we have something completely figured out, then it is at our command, it is our possession. When I see people speaking so confidently about what "God wants" or "God's plan" in certain scenarios I wonder how they can be so sure. Often times this sort of talk occurs when we have placed ourselves in the judge's chair - a seat that only Christ can sit in.

The reference to myself in college during the sermon had to do with the fact that I found this one theologian who I thought had really figured it all out - and he thought so too. So I had this air-tight, argument proof system. And really, this for me was more important than following Jesus, than loving God or neighbor. I was more concerned with being right than with having faith - because as a speaker at the conference I was at said recently, "Defending the faith requires believing that you are right; leaning into faith requires believing in God." Another way to say it is that when we think we have the whole truth, then we become defensive of it - "I'm gonna make a stand for the truth in a world where no one believes in the truth anymore" and so forth. But of course the Bible tells us that Jesus is the Truth, and the Jesus is not one to be defended or stood up for or held in our hands, Jesus is one to be followed.

He leaves his disciples with this direction: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13