Apples and Oranges

“Apples and Oranges”

The Rev. Jen Van Zandt

June 26, 2022

Of all the disturbing headlines that confound us each week, especially in this last week, there’s one that, although small in the big picture, actually really got under my skin. Perhaps you heard about it. It was a report of over 200 teens, that broke into an $8 million mansion in Florida and partied their way through the night; trying on the clothes and the jewelry of the owners, jumping on their furniture, dancing in the living room and drinking all of their liquor. The owners had only been out of town for a day and their home was utterly overrun and used as a club in which these kids danced and partied and ‘made themselves at home’.

My first question was, whose are the parents of these children? They made themselves at home without regard to the owners or anybody else in any way shape or form, and not only that… they took pictures and videos of themselves, enjoying themselves in this home to share with their friends… and thankfully, The Police!

Of all the 15 “works of the flesh” that Paul names…I am guessing they carried out most of them in that evening. I’m also guessing (hoping) that in the light of the next day (and the days of the coming weeks and months), as these students are identified, not all of them will be equally proud of their behaviors, especially as they begin to face the consequences of their actions. Yet Paul’s writing is not really meant to be used as a list, in order to judge others’ behaviors AND ours. Instead, as Richard Hayes says, Paul’s list of the works of the flesh is a “catalogue of human behavior that is a result when human flesh is given as the base of operations.” Notice however, not all of the behaviors that Paul lists have to do with the human body.

Beverly Gaventa posits that some of those “have everything to do with the orientation of a human being as a whole, such as…quarrels, dissensions, envy, factions, and my favorite… sorcery, (which I’ll have to research a little more because I don't really understand what that means beyond using a wand). So, what’s Paul’s point?? Paul's listing of both sets of these behaviors, attitudes and mindsets, are not compiled as a lesson in right and wrong behavior for us as individuals, but the character and the qualities made manifest in the community through the work of the spirit.

No one could argue that the rabble rousers at this Florida mansion too, were a “community” of sorts, even though the fruits of their actions were poisonous indeed. Their fruits were a product of works of the flesh and of the heart, and Paul is calling us as a community to manifest fruits of the spirit so that all can see and experience the difference between these good bad behaviors; between apples and oranges. But Paul is not calling the Galatians themselves to work at cultivating these qualities. Instead as Richard Hayes says, speaking descriptively, “Paul is painting a picture of the harvest that the spirit, [not we], produce.”

That’s a hard concept for us to trust. Most of us rely on our own wisdom and our own intellect to carry out the things that Paul is calling us, (and Christ is calling us), to do in the world. But we are never successful when we are calling upon our own egos to carry out the things that we think are right. The fruits of the spirit grow organically from God through the power of the Holy Spirit, who should be foremost in our minds, especially because Pentecost was just a few weeks ago. But notice, we are not bystanders either, waiting to be showed a magical seed to plant. Paul’s list of qualities are the outcomes when we live not by the flesh but when we are guided solely by the Holy Spirit.

If we go back to the text, especially in verse 22, we notice Paul is saying, by contrast, the fruit of the spirit is actually love - that's the first word that Paul talks about. Notice he starts with love and ends with self-control. Just imagine If we just focused on those two things for the rest of our life. We would be living out Paul's instructions, (and Christ's call) on our lives.

Now I know that none of us is really able to do this on a consistent and regular basis. We want to be intentional; we want to be active; we want to be consistent, but we don't rely on the Holy Spirit to help us with that. We all want to show more patience. We all want to be more faithful. We all want to be more kind and even more gentle… until… someone or some situation pushes our buttons. Then all bets are off! Whether we say it externally or internally, we say “I just can't!” (be kind, loving, patient, etc.) Right? We exclaim “I just can't! (fill in the blank)”, which then gives us the excuse to then behave, or act or do what feels good because we've feel like we’ve “had it”.

I know that you know this…, that we're all human and we're not perfect. But that is why we need to call on God's grace. Paul is trying to help us see that there's a way to build up community; by being mindful of the Holy Spirit calling us so that when we don't feel like we can take that next step; when we don't feel like we can keep our mouths shut; when we don't feel like we can stop judging that situation, or person, or decision; the Holy Spirit can and will intervene for us!

Paying attention to the Holy Spirit's activity is not easy, and it takes practice, but I've noticed a couple of times that when I'm about to say something that I might regret, the other person in the conversation changes the topic. It's like the Holy Spirit is rescuing me from saying something really dumb. That's the nuance. The Holy Spirit is not going to always come in like Pentecost, in this crazy rush of wind, but if we're attentive to the gentle movement of the Holy Spirit, nudging us towards good habits and away from others, that is what Paul is talking about. That's what Paul is naming. Although we'd far rather let loose on our friends or a community or a decision made at a local or a national level but Paul is calling us to be reminded that we are called to a higher level of care; a higher level of activity; a higher level of behavior, love and self-discipline.

If we look back again to those people at the party, they're not all bad, they're not deeply inherently evil. Immature? Yes. Stupid? Yes. But we've been there too, maybe not in such a bad plight, but we've been in places and spaces that were not the best choices, or with the best outcomes.

I was talking with a friend recently and she said, “I heard your sermon last week when you talked about being awake at three o'clock in the morning…” and what happens for her at three o'clock in the morning is that she replays all the things that she shouldn't have said and done in her life. That is not what God wants for us! What God wants for us in our daydreams and our night dreams, is a more hopeful way of living where there is love and peace and joy and compassion and mercy especially when we're up against it; especially when we're tempted; especially when we're flat out exhausted; especially when we might be hopeless. This is the invitation, my friends. It's not an easy one but I think it's really the only way to live.

I invite us all to pray for those teens and their parents, (most of whom are probably mortified that their children did what they did), and for the homeowners and their recovery from this traumatic experience. I invite us to pray the countless number of peoples and populations in the world who don't have the comfort and the ease of sitting here, (even without air conditioning!), in a place that's safe, and kind, and forgiving, and loving.

Let's take this message to the streets, let's take it to our communities, to our families, and to people who desperately need to hear that message because they may have lost their way and need to be reminded what the calling of all God’s people really and truly is.

May it be so. Amen.