“Pentecost; Fruits of the Spirit”

Acts 2:1-4; Galatians 4:1-7, 5:16-26

^2:1On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. ² Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

^4:1Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. ² They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. ³ And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

⁴ But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. ⁵ God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. ⁶ And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

^5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. ¹⁸ But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. ²⁵ Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a man who was on a hike with his best friend one day. They were walking up a hill, talking about what had happened during their childhood. About halfway through the climb, the man spotted a purple flower out of the corner of his eye. He went over to it and picked it up. He turned to his friend and said, “Hey, look! A purple flower!” His friend’s face started to turn white. “Dude, what’s wrong?” the man asked. His friend started screaming and ran down the hill. He screamed, “DON’T EVER TALK TO ME AGAIN!” The man was very confused. He decided that he might as well not run after him, so he started to walk down the hill. Once he got to the bottom of the hill, he went to the small shop for hunting gear near the forest. The shopkeeper was an old friend of the man’s father. He walked into the store and the shopkeeper said, “Boy, you look off. What’s wrong?” He replied, “I’m not sure what just happened. I was on a hike and my friend just ran off!” The shopkeeper asked, “Well, what made him do that?” The man started, “Well, I picked up this purple flower–” The shopkeeper cut him off. “A purple flower!? Do you have it with you?” The man said, “Yes.” and pulled out the flower. The shopkeeper yelled, “GET OUT OF MY STORE!” He pulled one of the rifles from the wall and started to load it. The man immediately ran out of the store and down the dirt road. He made it to the suburbs of his town. He thought, “Wow, today has been crazy. I can’t wait to tell my girlfriend this.” He called a cab and started down the road. The driver made conversation. “Hey, how ya doin?” “Oh, not great.” “Huh? Why’s that?” “It’s a very weird story. I was hiking with my friend when I found a purple flower. He ran away from me, then–“ The cab driver cut him off. “A purple flower?” The man pulled out the flower and said, “Yes, this flower right here.” The driver slammed on the breaks and screamed, “GET THE HECK OUT OF MY CAR!” He was pushed out of the car. He started the walk to his girlfriend’s house. Once he finally got there, he opened the door to his girlfriend preparing dinner. He decided it would be best not to mention the flower until after he had dinner. They sat down and began to eat. His girlfriend asked, “Did anything interesting happen today?” To which the man couldn’t help but reply, “I was hiking with my friend today when I found this purple flower, and then he started–“ Unsurprisingly, his girlfriend cut him off. “Purple flower!?” “Yes,” the man said. He was bracing himself for the screaming to begin, and then it hit. “GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! WE NEVER DATED! WE NEVER EVEN MET!” He walked out the door as it was slammed behind him. Confused, he went to his parents’ house for guidance. He knocked on the door and they opened it, happy to see their son. They watched TV and talked for a bit before the flower came up.

“Mom? Dad?” he said. “What is it?” his mother replied. “Today, I found a purple flower on a hike, and everyone’s been screaming about it the whole day!” “That’s horrible,” his father said. “Do you have it with you? I want to see it.” Relieved, the man pulled out the flower. His mother took the pillow next to her and put it over her face. His dad’s face turned beet red. He

screamed, “GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE! YOU’RE NOT MY SON! I NEVER HAD YOU!” He ran out of the house, sobbing. It was now getting dark, and he was soaked from the rain. He sat down at a bus station next to an old woman. The old woman looked at him and said, “You look distressed. What’s wrong?” He explained. “Well, today I was on a hike with my best friend when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a purple flower. I picked it up and he started running and screaming. I was confused and then went to the hunting shop near the mountain. I walked in and showed him the flower and he sent me out of the store! Then I got a taxi to go to my girlfriend’s house, but when I told the driver about the purple flower, he threw me out. Then, once I got to my girlfriend’s house, I told her, and she said that she hated me and never even knew me! Then, I went to my parents and asked them about it, and they threw me out too! I don’t know what’s going on.” The woman nodded. “You know, there’s a library across the street. You could probably find something about it there.” The man lit up. “Thank you so much!” he said. He started running across the street…and then he got hit by a bus and died. Moral of the story: Look both ways before crossing the road.

Yikes! Makes ya wonder what it was about that purple flower that caused so much trouble for that man! I mean, it didn’t kill anyone! Why all the animosity from everyone around him? Well, I think it’s a good illustration of the effects of sin on our lives. Paul gave us a pretty solid list of effects in his letter to the Galatians: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and so on. But the thing is, we don’t know the effects while we’re committing the sins. We’re just carrying around a purple flower, oblivious to why it affects others so negatively, and eventually it leads us to death. Sin and sinful desires are powerful yet sneaky which is why we need the gift of the Spirit. When we’re led by the Spirit, the effects on others are much more positive: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as Paul so wisely listed. The Spirit leads us into right relationships with others and who among us doesn’t want to be in right relationships with others? Yes, we need the work of the Spirit in our lives to help ensure harmonious relationships.

Today we celebrate the gift of the Spirit who leads us away from destructive relationships into more fruitful, beneficial relationships. Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” (John 16:13) The Spirit works on behalf of our loving Father and the truth found in loving relationships. And believe it or not, the future is loving relationships. How it can it be otherwise? Loving, cooperative relationships are the only possible future and thank goodness, we have the Spirit guiding us ever so slowly towards them. Let us rejoice and give thanks for the Spirit. Thanks be to God!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.