Living in the Spirit with Love

Galatians 5:16-26
June 4, 2023
Rev. Bill Carter

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

According to Rodgers and Hammerstein, “June is busting out all over.” Some of you may remember that old song from the Broadway musical, “Carousel.” A small fishing village on the cost of Maine prepares for the first clambake of the season. Winter’s over, spring is done, summer is at hand. The ladies in town break into song, “You can see it in the trees, you can smell it in the breeze.” Nettie Fowler continues, “Buds are bustin’ out a-bushes, and the romping river pushes…”   

It's that time of year. We can start sleeping with the windows open. The farmers’ markets will open soon. And we are not surprised to hear the apostle Paul raise the issue, “What’s blossoming in your life?” It’s a good question.

Last week was Pentecost. We remember the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of John told us that before Jesus returned to the Father, he breathed on us and said, “Receive this Holy Breath of God.” It has been his continuing presence, igniting faith and guiding life.”

The Gospel of Luke said the faithful gathered for a festival in Jerusalem. Suddenly a Wind from heaven blasted through the windows and the church had something to say. Not only did they encounter his presence, but that Spirit pushed the church beyond its measured and cautious boundaries. God empowered the church to speak to all nations.

And today, we hear from Paul. He’s writing to a troubled church in the land we now call Turkey. They are fighting among themselves. Their unity has been ripped apart. Paul says, “Knock it off!” Then he reminds them that they, too, received the Holy Spirit. It came through the preaching (3:3). It took root in their believing (3:5). The Spirit confirmed they were included as adopted children of God (4:6). The Spirit filled them with hope (5:5). Not only that, the Spirit cut them loose from the ways they used to live (5:16).

But what seems to be busting out all over are a lot of old habits. They are fueled by good old-fashioned selfishness. They are expressed in behavior both abusive and self-destructive. He gives a list of fifteen vices (impurity, idolatry, bickering, fighting, partying), capping it off with the words, “and things like these.” Apparently, the church folks of ancient Turkey were as nasty to one another as anything we see today.

Does anybody doubt there’s a whole lot of bad behavior out there? I think we’ve seen it – and keep seeing it.

How many times after supper do we click on the remote and some fierce voice appears on the evening news? I remember seeing one man, an attorney, self-described as a political operative. The lady with the microphone asked a question, he started shouting at her. She tried gently to ask the question again, he cut her off and began to attack her. (Have you seen this sort of thing?)

Whatever she tried to say, he talked over her. Domineering, contentious, with anger in his cold, dark eyes – and it was her show, and he was the guest. I watched the scene, and wondered, “What’s this about?” He wasn’t merely having a bad day. His demeanor was monstrous. So I hit the remote and switched over to a rerun of “The Big Bang Theory.”

But you know how it is. When peace and calm is fractured by a lot of shouting, it’s hard to settle down. I couldn’t get the scene out of my soul. What has happened to one of God’s children that they seek to destroy a host who invited them to ask some serious questions? What’s pulling their strings? What’s eating at their soul? It was so sad. Pitiful, in a way.

And I remember the concern of the apostle Paul: “What’s blossoming in your life? Hatred or love? Impurity or peace? Quarreling or kindness? Drunkenness or self-control?” In a church in first century Galatia, just like the all-too-common mood in our own land, there is a continuing battle. Paul calls it the battle between “flesh” and “spirit.” And it’s a battle that’s frequently misunderstood.

In a Bible study, someone once asked, “Is that the battle between body and soul?” Fair question, you know: they thought that sounded like flesh and spirit. But the answer is no. Paul’s not sinking into some old Greek dualism, as if to say, the body is ugly, the soul is good. No, there are a lot of beautiful bodies and some really ugly souls.

When Paul says the word “flesh,” he’s not referring to skin and bones. It’s more like he’s talking about all our animal instincts. You and I are animals, after all. We are part of the animal kingdom. There are some things we do out of our natural inclination.

Like the two dogs who live in my house. If we leave donuts on the countertop and go to the store, Pippa will say to Oakley, “Did you see the donuts that they left on the countertop?” When we return and the empty package is on the floor, I start to yell – and my kind-hearted wife says, “Honey, stop. They can’t help it.” Yes, they could – “No, they couldn’t.” What she’s talking about is the natural inclination, what Paul calls “the desire of the flesh.”

It’s that natural appetite. It’s why I, for one, can’t keep Utz barbecue potato chips in my cupboard – because if I start, I can’t stop. Ah yes, the appetites of the flesh. Paul says we are a bundle of these natural inclinations. In some Bible translation, they are even described as “lusts.” Imagine that: a lust for jealousy. A hunger for carousing. An appetite for anger…and all the rest.

Without the intervention of the Gospel, without the interruption of the Holy Spirit, all of us are prone to those fifteen-plus vices. I don’t care how nice you dress up on Sunday – all of us. It is our natural barbarian inclination.

What God has done in Jesus is to show us the alternative. There is another way to live. You heard the list: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Nine nouns, none of them a surprise to us. The surprise is how Paul describes them. They constitute the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit. Not the “fruits,” plural – but the singular “fruit.” God wants to work in our lives – and the evidence will come in these nine nouns – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I’m preaching nine sermons this summer. Guess what the topics will be! That’s right – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Which is to say, the word for today is love.

Paul puts that first, to accent its importance. A case can be made for the other eight nouns living under the umbrella of love. I find that to be a bit of a stretch. But we can quickly understand how the fifteen-plus vices of the flesh are the opposite of love. Sleeping with somebody to whom you do not belong (fornication) is about “me,” not “us.” Worshiping something not worthy of ultimate devotion is self-determined idolatry. Stirring up fights (described in five near-synonyms on Paul’s list) is about personal victory and demolishing others. Envy is the rat poison we sip while we wait for others to die. What a terrible way to live!

Love is the alternative. In particular, the self-giving, other-directed benefits that express our love. Love declares a basic truth both human and holy – that life is about other people. It’s not about us. It’s about others. That’s love. True love pushes us out of the isolation of a self-centered life, prompting us to ask, “What can I do for you? And for the world?”

If you know physics, you know the difference between centripetal force and centrifugal force. Centripetal wants to pull in, like gravity. To experience centrifugal force, put a ball on a string, swing it around your head, and let it go – it flies out.  That’s the difference between “flesh,” which is about me, and “Spirit,” which is about what God is releasing in me. Paul says, “Live in the Spirit.” Live according to what God wants to blossom through you.

The fruit of the week is love. It’s the first marker of life brought alive by God working in us. Is there any love around here? That’s the first question of a community of Christians. And my first response is to step back and say, “Did you see what happened here yesterday?” Over two hundred souls stuffed this room to thank God for a saint named Shirley. She created smiles and liberated our laughter. She loved us – and we loved her.

It’s the same reciprocal love that Jesus commands. It’s the same love that the Gospel proclaims. It’s the first blossom of God in our communal soul.

And it occurs to me that if God’s Spirit is going to create love within us and among us, this love is going to come in two ways. First, we learn to love by receiving love: somebody out there (God, Jesus, Spirit, or another) has determined we are lovable. So we learn love by letting them love us. The second way: we learn to love by loving. It’s another case where practice will someday make perfect. Love will be perfected by more loving.

Listen, says the apostle Paul, and I will sum up the entire ethical teaching of God in a single commandment. Then he stood on one foot to say, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14).” Any questions?

Next week, the fruit of the week is “joy.” See you then.

(c) William G. Carter. All rights reserved.