I was interviewing Rusty Taylor for my podcast and I asked him, “What is your favorite dessert?” This is a standard question to end my podcast interviews. His response, though, was unexpected. Everyone else I had asked that question had talked about cakes, pies, cookies, etc. Rusty, though said, “Watermelon. Only after the Fourth of July, at least that’s what my grandfather taught me. Before then, it’s not ripe enough to eat.”

   Rusty knew how to answer my question and didn’t hesitate in doing so. He knew that there was only one right answer for him. He knew that watermelon was the only dessert for him.

   Let me ask you something. “What is your favorite Fruit of the Spirit?” Think about that in two different ways. First of all, what is the favorite in terms of what is evident in your life right now? Secondly, what is your favorite in terms of I need more of that fruit? Could you answer in a no hesitation manner as did Rusty?

   Even as I pose these questions, I am trying to answer them in my own mind. You see, when it comes to the Fruit of the Spirit, how many of us actually think about them being present in our lives? How many of us strive to allow that fruit to be on display for all the world to see?

   John Wesley said that once we get the love of Christ in our hearts and began to see the world as Christ sees it, then the first thing that would be produced in our lives would be Fruit of the Spirit. The questions that are before each of us are these: Is there Fruit of the Spirit present in my life? How is this fruit manifested and seen by others? Is there fruit present in my life that I may not recognize, but that others do see? Am I striving to make the fruit abundant? What is God’s role in this process?

   The more I think about this topic, the more questions that arise in my own mind. I am trying to remember if I have ever heard a sermon or sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit. In the back of my mind, I vaguely remember one and it was decades (Yes. I am old enough to use the word decades in this context.) ago.

   So, I suppose, I need to do some searching on my own  and see where the Lord leads me on this topic. I suggest that you, likewise, begin some searching. I sense that there may be a sermon or two that might come out of this search. I can’t promise when, but I suspect soon.

​Let me close with the following quote from the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer for us to ponder this week:

“Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends.”

  Have you ever marveled at the way a garden grows? It is not a haphazard process. Sure, some plants will come up again year after year without your intervention. However, when I think garden, I tend to think of something orderly and intentional.

   You have to first till and prepare the soil. Then you have to decide where you are going to plant the various seeds or young plants. Then, once they are planted, you have to tend them. Then you sit outside every night and all day long and you say to the seeds and plants: Grow. I Command you to GROW.

   Is that the way you grow a garden? Not really. Once you get everything planted, other than a little weeding, you sort of sit back and let it happen. It doesn’t happen, though, on its own. You see God has created the seeds and plants and God programmed them to grow and blossom and bear fruit under the right conditions. We can assist the process, but we are not ultimately responsible for the process. Nor can we force the process.

    Our spiritual growth is sort of the same way. We have to cultivate the soil and get things ready. We have to plant seeds. We have to water and weed, but ultimately, the growth will come from God. The Fruit will occur in God’s time. Specifically, the Fruit of the Spirit will blossom in our lives as we do the things we can to prepare our spirit, but we have to rely on God to bring them to full fruit. They are God’s gift to us, not something we can demand or make happen on our own.

    In the Wesleyan Way of Discipleship chart (I hope you have one of those by now-they are available online and in the office) you will note that once we begin to see the world as Christ sees it and once we put Christ on the throne of our heart and begin to love the world as Christ loves it, then things begin to happen. As we become more and more eager to be like Christ, then God rewards that eagerness on our part by producing fruit—i.e. the Fruit of the Spirit— in our lives.

   God doesn’t typically dump the whole orchard on us all at once. I tend to think that God begins to produce a crop one fruit at a time. He might help us first with patience or faith. Maybe he will produce more love in us and then help us with meekness. I don’t know the order. I don’t know the process. I do know, that the master gardener is at work in us. I also know, that the more we prepare the soil (read the Bible, engage in prayer, attend worship, receive the sacraments) the more quickly God will be able to produce that Fruit that we all desire.

​    So. What are you doing in your life to get the soil of your spirit ready for the Fruit that God is seeking to produce in your life? If you aren’t trying to get things ready, then you shouldn’t expect God to bless you with a bountiful crop.
 

   In my younger days, I used to act. I was in several productions. Each production was different, yet there was one thing in common with each of them. I had to memorize my lines.

   If you have never been in a stage production before, you might not realize how difficult that can be at times. You see, the playwright put those words in the order that he or she wanted them and arranged them to convey the emotion and meaning that was within them. It wouldn’t do for an actor to rewrite the script as he or she went along. You see, other people were counting on you to say your words correctly so that they could then say their words correctly.  

   Working on stage fosters a sense of interdependence, wherein, each person needs the other person to succeed and to do and say the correct thing. When this happens, the actors come together and the play is more likely to create the intended effect.

   I think the church is like a troupe of actors. You see, we have been given a script (The Bible) and we have been asked to learn or memorize it. By knowing our lines, we can uphold one another and working together we can present a harmonious performance that allows us to experience the oneness that comes from being individual parts of the greater body of Christ.

    When it comes to the script, I think that it is important for us to memorize certain parts of the Bible. This week I am challenging us to look at the fruit of the Spirit and, if we have not already done so, to commit them to memory. Wesley taught that out of the Love of Christ that was in our hearts, the first thing that would flow would be evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We will be spending a few weeks on this first ring in the Wesleyan Way of Discipleship and it is in this ring that we will talk about and question one another concerning the fruit of the Spirit.

   Now, depending upon your favorite translation, the list of the fruit of the Spirit may differ somewhat from the lists that follow. That’s okay. I merely want us to be able to recite the fruit. Pick a version that is most familiar to you. That is our part of the script. That is our line in the play. That is how we will help to get God’s grace within us.

   From Galatians 5:22-23 in the New Century Version we get this list:
22 But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.

​  Some of you may be more familiar with the King James listing of the fruit of the Spirit.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 meekness, temperance:
 

   We live in a world that, some would say, is defined by multi-tasking. That is the ability to do more than one thing at a time. It brings to my mind a juggler trying to keep several balls moving through the air without dropping any of them. Multi-tasking is great, if you are able to do it. Some people say, it’s not possible but only an illusion.

   I bring it up because I want us to consider our relationship with Jesus. In the Wesleyan Way of Discipleship, we begin by putting Jesus on the throne of our hearts. We also have to learn to let nothing come between us and the relationship that grows out of putting him at the center of our lives. Therein, lies the problem that we face as maturing disciples. Sometimes, it is quite easy to get distracted from the main and most important thing. Sometimes, it is difficult to keep our focus upon Jesus and what it is that he wants us to do.

    The multi-tasking that so predominates in our day to day earthly lives quite easily makes its way into our spiritual lives. We have lost the ability to focus on the most important thing and get sidetracked by so many things that pull us away from Jesus. It becomes more and more difficult to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit when our minds are cluttered with so many different things pulling us in so many different directions.

    We need to take a step back and truly examine our lives in relation to Christ’s call. Are we hearing His voice? Are we going where He tells us to go? Are we seeing the world as Christ sees it? Are we aware of the hurt and pain that surrounds us? Are we able to focus on the main thing—Jesus Christ?

   As you go forth into the week, I need for you to consider the following questions:

-- Is there something that regularly gets between me and my relationship with Jesus?

-- Is there some situation in which I regularly find myself that draws me away from Christ’s presence and more toward the world?

-- What do I do to foster a deeper relationship with Jesus on a regular basis?

-- What could I do to be drawn closer to Jesus and put him squarely on the throne of my heart?

-- What is the most important thing in my life? Does it keep me from knowing Jesus more clearly and following him more obediently? Am I willing to give this thing up so that I can deepen my relationship with God?

-- If I were to ask a close friend what they thought of my closeness to Jesus, what do I think their answer might be?
 

​  In order to begin a disciple’s life, you have to start with Jesus. In particular, you have to make that conscious decision to accept him as your Lord and Savior. Without that piece of the puzzle in place, there cannot be any form of discipleship.

   At its very basic nature, a disciple is someone that chooses to follow a teacher, leader or philosopher. As a disciple of Jesus, you have chosen to follow him and his teachings. Therein, lies the problem that we face. “I’ve chosen to follow Jesus. What does that mean?” In the weeks and months ahead, I will attempt to answer that question. I will try to do so from a decidedly Wesleyan approach. In other words, I’ll try to answer that question in a manner similar to how Wesley may have answered to his followers. Wesley pointed them toward Jesus and them gave them some very specific instructions on how to live their lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.

   One of the first things that Wesley insisted upon was the role that Jesus played in your life. In Sermon 92 “On Zeal” he gave us a word diagram that presented a series of ever larger circles. (think of a bullseye) At the center of these concentric circles was Jesus. Jesus has to be a the center of our lives. He has to sit on the throne of our hearts. He has to be the purpose for which we live. Wesley also taught that there could be nothing that stands between us and our relationship with Jesus.

   This relationship formed the foundation of all that is to follow. From that foundation we will be able to forage out on a journey of growth as a disciple of Jesus. (You’ll hear more about that process in future lessons.) If anything, Wesley was methodical and provided a framework that seemed to work in the 18th century. I think that this framework can also work in the 21st century.

  You’ve seen the Provoking Question listed above. To help answer that question, when someone asks you, consider the following.

· Did I get to know Jesus through a Damascus Road type of experience or a more gradual awakening of his presence in my life?

· Was my giving my life to Jesus tied to some specific event or activity?

· What effect did my coming to know Jesus have on my life at the time?

· After careful consideration, do you truly think you have accepted Jesus as your Savior? Would you like to talk with someone about it? If so, the pastor is available.  

  I want to begin this process by explaining the Wesleyan Way of Discipleship. Wesley enunciated this way in Sermon 92: On Zeal when he described a series of concentric circles as a way to understand discipleship.

     The first ring out from the center is labeled by Wesley as Holy Tempers. It might more clearly be stated as Holy Habits and Wesley invoked the Apostle Paul and the Fruit of the Spirit as the "habits" that would form in the life of a person that has Jesus at the center of his or her life.
​
     The next ring involves what Wesley refers to as Acts of Mercy (see list above for examples). These are outwardly focused actions in which the Christian, in response to God's love in his or her heart, undertakes on behalf of the Kingdom. If we are in love with Christ, Wesley would say that we would be inclined to demonstrate that love by engaging in these acts of mercy.

    The next ring involves Acts of Piety. For Wesley, as we mature in our discipleship, we must also engage in certain actions that will draw us closer to God. This is an inward focused action. We draw closer to God via prayer, reading scripture, the sacraments, etc, (see list above.)

     The final ring represents the Church and draws upon a passage from Hebrews 10:24-25 in which we are admonished as members of the church to provoke one another in love. Provoke in this sense does not mean to provoke to anger or agitation, but rather to remind one another of the things that God is doing in our lives and to see if God is likewise doing it in the lives of others.

   It will be very important for you to keep this diagram in mind if you plan on following this blog on a regular basis. This diagram IS the basis for this blog and in future posts I will be seeking to provide commentary and to "provoke" you to a deeper relationship with God.

I want to welcome you to the Wesleyan Way Blog. This blog will seek to help you become a mature disciple of Jesus Christ. I will be sharing with you my weekly thoughts The Wesleyan Way-Disciple Life. These thoughts were originally designed to be a bulletin insert. I will include a .pdf that you can download and print if you want to use them in your local church. I hope you enjoy them and that they will help you to become a more mature disciple of Jesus Christ.