So we talked this past Sunday about our lives as windows to Christ, especially with regard to how we choose to use our bodies and the things we choose to consume (watch, listen to, drink, inhale, etc). I grabbed hold of the title while partaking of some Mongolian Grill with the Chuns (they set me on the trail of a good deal: a mongolian grill place that allows you to take home leftovers!): it seemed to wrap up nicely the whole set of life choices we have to make as regards these matters.
I did my best on Sunday to avoid simply moralizing...instead choosing to focus on the questions "why" and "how might this look in our daily lives". Much more could have been said, but it was hard enough as it was to fit the existing sermon into 20 to 30 minutes (I may have even gone past that...).
But you won't find more on sex, drugs, or rock n' roll here, at least for the time being. I'm just including the title because I want to get more mileage of it while I still can!
Instead, I'd like to focus our attention today on something different, yet related: the choices we make regarding fruit. Here are two verses to get us started:
"But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance." Luke 8:15
"We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching" Romans 12:6-7
The first thing that jumped out to me as I was looking at these verses today was the definition of the word "ministering." The Greek New Testament word that we translate as ministering literally means "waiting on tables." This is not to say that pastors = spiritual waiters. Rather, what Paul is saying here in Romans is that submitting to and serving others is a key part of following Christ.
Although I've never been a waiter, I've worked a few jobs that involved waiting on people and, as a result, I can say one thing: those types of jobs are not for those with chips on their shoulders. There's no way around it, serving people well takes the ability to set aside pride. This is not to say that there's anything shameful about waiting on others. It's just that serving others well involves setting down your own agenda so that you can take up someone else's. If you're not sure what I mean, just remember a time you were served by a waiter who really didn't put your table high up on his or her priority list. You probably felt like walking out, right? Well, it's not that that server hated you, they just weren't willing to set aside their own agenda to take up yours, and poor service was the result.
This is easier for some to do than others. That's why Paul lists it as part of an array of gifts that come more naturally to some members of Christ's body than the rest. Yet this doesn't make it an optional part of following Christ. No matter our temperament, our ability to set aside our own agendas for the sake of others is something that should constantly be strengthening as Christ transforms us.
So how does this strengthening happen? I think we can see the answer in Jesus' parable of the Sower and the seed.
In this familiar parable, seed is sown on four different types of soil, with varying results and levels of fruitfulness. When his disciples ask what the parable is really about, Jesus explains that what he means by the seed is the word of God. He concludes by describing what he means by the word landing "in the good soil", describing the soil as those people who hear and hold fast to the word in their hearts, and then bear fruit with patience.
The thing I'd like us to see today is the necessity of bearing fruit. We can get caught up in a chicken or the egg thing here, but I think what Jesus is saying is that once we hear from him, we've got to act, we've got to bear some fruit. Otherwise, like on the rocky and thorny grounds, his word will not take deep root and thrive in our hearts. Seeking to bear fruit with the word that Jesus gives us is the best defense against those two threats.
So, going back to ministering as waiting upon others, I think the way that we strengthen that capacity within ourselves is to practice it. When God convicts you of something, you should act on it, put it into action. All of us have chances to serve others, even if it's in small ways. By bearing even those small varieties of fruit, we both allow his word to take deeper root in our lives, as well as grow more able to bear even larger types of fruit.
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