Bearing Fruit

6:00 PM FUMCA Revive Worship 0 Comments


The gardener responded, ‘Lord, give it one more year, and I will dig around it and give it fertilizer. Maybe it will produce fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.” - Luke 13:8-9 [CEB]
I’m not personally the best gardener.  I’ve tried to grow herbs, vegetables… a lawn… and I’ve definitely had more misses than hits.  Mostly, I’ll admit, it’s because I haven’t done my due diligence with regard to the plants. Planting at the proper times. Protecting them from weeds and bugs. Watering and fertilizing them as they want.

Part of it also is talent… Gardening is just not my thing. However, it is Jesus’ thing.

We are Christ’s crop and Christ is doing the best he can to get us to grow and bear that fruit.

He’s not the first person in the Gospel of Luke to call on people to bear fruit, however. John the Baptist has a similar word to offer in Luke 3, in preparation for those that would listen to receive the Messiah:
“Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives… The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire.”

Yikes, right? But, before you get scared, John explains himself:

“Whoever has two shirts must share with one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.”
 To tax collectors coming to be baptized he says, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.”
 To soldiers coming to be received, he says, “Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.”
You might not be a tax collector or soldier, or maybe you are, but the picture of a fruitful and changed life is clear.

Be kind to the other.
Share with the other.
Take care of each other.

It’s something I often think when I’m at a personal crossroads, about to make a decision that I’m skeptical about -

If I believe in Christ - then I should… what?

While John the Baptist is rough around the edges, the words of Christ carry the same urgency, the same message - to change our hearts and lives. But, Christ, as the Son of God, the gardener in the Father’s Garden, can offer something John, a human, cannot: the Grace of God.

And that grace is this:
You have a chance,
In this very moment,
To start bearing fruit.

Be kind to the other.
Share with the other.
Take care of each other.

Imagine, if we the Revive Worship community, and all those who follow Christ, chose to make that decision right now, at the same time.

In Christ,
Pastor Jarrod

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