By: Dr. Steven K. Parker
· What does gentleness look like?
· What does gentleness not look like?
Hear:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
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 keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:16-26)
Pause:
· If the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists are a normal part of life when we live in God’s kingdom, what does that say about gentleness?
· If we grow in the Spirit, we will grow in gentleness, but how do we grow in God’s Spirit in a way that produces gentleness?
Reflection:
Over the last few weeks, my Facebook feed has been littered with comments like these: “Only a fascist-fear-monger would require the wearing of masks; if you’re wearing a mask in public you’re an unthinking lamb in a flock of manipulated sheep.” “If you don’t wear a mask out in public, you’re a selfish, foolish idiot; you’re showing that you don’t care your grandparents or mine.” When I read comments like that, I want to say, “No, please don’t sugar coat your feelings, tell us what you really think!” When opinions are so heated and polarized there is little room left for nuance, dialogue, or any sense of unity. Such statements are the norm of life in the divisive age in which we live, but Paul reminds us this morning that they are not the norm of life in the kingdom of God, because the fruit of the Spirit is gentleness.
Jesus described himself, “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29) and described the blessed life of His kingdom saying: “Blessed are the meek (gentle), for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Followers of Jesus do not show strength by throwing their weight around, asserting themselves, or shouting others down. Jesus’ followers show strength the way He did, by harnessing that power and pulling together under the controlling influence of the Spirit of God.
Paul knew that in a diverse church there would be differences of opinion; there would be different worldviews colliding; there would be different ideas about how ministry should be done. Those differences really hit me at one point in this pandemic when we were discussing re-opening our services the first time and one member reached out to me with really passionate, well thought out reasons why we needed to re-open as soon as possible. No less than 5 minutes later, another member reached out with really passionate, well thought out reasons why he feared we might be re-opening too soon. Both are good people who love the Lord and love our church and both thought about the issues we are facing in the completely opposite way. How can followers of Jesus from such different perspectives not just exist together but grow as the family of God, becoming one familia of faith? How are the pro-mask and anti-mask believers among us and everyone in the middle ever going to be united in one fellowship? We can be one only as we grow in God’s Spirit and learn to let our thoughts, words, and deeds become softened by Christ-like gentleness.
Aren’t we glad that God is gentle with us? God could have so easily looked at the sinful mess that we make of our lives and said, “You know what, I’m done with them.” But God didn’t do that. Instead, he looked at us in our sin and shame and said, “I love them so much, I’m going to send My Son to die for them; whosoever will may come.” If God is gentle with us and gives us the space to be wrong, what right do we have to come down so hard on others when we disagree or feel wronged? The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness. Gentleness is the norm of life in the kingdom of God.
If you’d like to hear more about gentleness, you can access a recent sermon in our Living Into A Kingdom Normal series by clicking here.
Wonder:
· Why do you think the simple virtue of gentleness is so significant?
· How can we show gentleness through this pandemic?
Bless:
· Affirm what everyone has shared.
· Pray that God might help us to grow in His Spirit that our lives might more and more be characterized by gentleness.
Pray together:
“Lord, we are thankful that you show us gentleness rather than wrath. Forgive us for when we do not follow your example in how we relate to others. In the midst of the frustrating uncertainty of this pandemic, help us to show others the gentleness of Jesus that can point people to your kingdom. In the face of all the loud, vicious attacking of the current volatile political climate, may Jesus’ style of gentleness be on full display in all our dealings. Amen.”
We hope that you will join us online Sunday at 9:30 AM in Spanish and at 11:00 AM in English. We also have various Zoom Bible Studies and Sunday School classes that you can plug into; call the church office at 956-968-9585 or message us on Facebook for more information about those. May God produce His gentleness in us!