A reflection on today’s lectionary readings, particularly Paul’s letter to the Galatians and the Gospel reading from Luke.
These past eight months have been for me a time of resetting – figuring out new routines, new ways of handling the ordinary, daily stuff like laundry and yard work and grocery shopping; of managing my schedule so the dogs are cared for; and keeping myself fed slightly better than a bowl of Cheerios for dinner because cooking for one is, well, a bit depressing. I am feeling like I’m coming out of the depths, like I can breathe a bit better and moving through the days is less and less like walking in a pool filled with pudding (not that I’ve ever done such a thing, this is just my attempt at a metaphor of walking, neck deep, through something thick and sticky).
I find it fitting that as we enter into the church season of ‘ordinary time’ that some of my new routines are beginning to feel ordinary. The Sunday lectionary readings for the next six months will focus on living life as Jesus teaching us in flesh and blood in the ordinary moments of our lives. Life as we follow Jesus is done together grounded in loving God, our neighbors, and ourselves. God made humans to be communal, interdependent on each other as we journey together toward wholeness in God. This is our unifying purpose, defined by who and Whose we are, not who we may or may not be against.
In the letter to the church in Galatia, Paul tells us that the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Please note, ‘fruit’ is singular. These aren’t a cafeteria list of things we can pick and choose. They are a singular package of ‘gifts’, a community manifestation of God’s love for the whole world. When we choose to live by the Spirit, we will produce this fruit, love-joy-peace-patience-kindness-generosity-faithfulness-gentleness-self-control fruit.
When we choose to follow Jesus and are guided by the Spirit, our whole lives change. Jesus invites us to bring our whole life under his reign, be it the grief and pain that comes from burying our loved ones or the relationships of those we do life with on a daily basis. Responding to Jesus’ invitation ‘follow me’ isn’t to church on Sunday or a commitment we can step in and out of as it’s convenient for us. It is a daily, lifelong journey through which our lives produce the fruit of the Spirit just as Jesus did. If we find ourselves on a journey defined by fear and anger and who we are against, we can be certain we are not following Jesus.
In the gospel story, Jesus isn’t telling these two would-be followers to turn their backs on their loved ones, but to live into all of their relationships from the foundation of God’s kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven. We can’t keep one foot in our life before Jesus and one in the Kingdom. Our commitment to God is with our whole being, our whole life, the moments of deepest grief and greatest joy and all the ordinary moments in between. The kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven isn’t an exclusive club we earn or buy our way into so that we can say we are ‘better’ than others. The good of the fruit of the Spirit is for the benefit of all, not just those who have committed to following Jesus. We bear the fruit for the benefit of the whole world, extending Jesus’ invitation to ‘follow me’ in a way that really is good news so that all of us can breathe a bit easier in this challenging world.
Mother Nancy's Coffee Thoughts 