The Fruit of Obedience

For the past couple weeks, I have been preaching a sermon series from the book of Proverbs. Each week we have been looking at a theme that runs throughout the book and asking, "What does it look like to live wisely in this area of my life?" This morning the topic was family, and in my preparation for the message I realized that Proverbs has a lot to say about family.

One passage that I took a look at this week is Proverbs 5:15-18, where the reader is told to "rejoice in the wife of your youth." In his commentary on the passage, Tremper Longman III pointed out that this passage comes in a chapter that is full of warnings against the "forbidden woman." In the context surrounding the passage, you find repeated admonitions to stay away from the adulteress. But verses 15-18 are the flip side of that coin. Longman explained that the best way to avoid adultery and immorality is to foster a strong and positive relationship with your own spouse.

I found Longman's statement both insightful and true. A married person could walk the streets focused on what he or she shouldn't be doing. Stay away from the adulteress! Or, he could focus on having a solid relationship with his spouse. More than anything else, that may be the most effective defense against temptation.

I think that this principle can be expanded beyond the physical marriage relationship. It also applies to one's relationship with God. I often find myself so focused on resisting sin and fighting temptation. Be sure to avoid this bad thing, and that bad thing, and even that bad thing way over there. I have a list of rules in my head, and I worry about being sure to follow every rule on that list.

To be sure, obedience is important. God gives his people certain commands, and our response ought to be to obey them. But perhaps a more important thing than avoiding all of the sins is to develop a stronger relationship with God. Perhaps that, more than anything else, will produce obedience in our lives. Perhaps that's the center of a holy life.

Maybe that's why the New Testament talks so much about "fruit."

Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. (Matt. 7:17)

But the fruit of the Spirit is.... (Gal. 5:22)

For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. (Eph. 5:9)

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. (Jn. 15:5)

The person who is connected to Christ, who is filled with the Spirit, who is in relationship with God--this person bears the fruit of obedience. Holiness, then, isn't so much about being sure to check off every command on a list in your pocket. It's about abiding in Christ, because obedience then comes as a natural byproduct, just as an apple is a natural byproduct of a branch connected to an apple tree.

My hope is that, in the pursuit of a holy life, I don't leave God behind. That can happen, I think. We become so concerned with doing the right things and avoiding the wrong things, that we forget to foster a relationship with God. But that never works. Only God is holy, and we are holy insofar as we allow ourselves to be filled and led by his Spirit. As Paul told the Galatians, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).

It sounds so much simpler than trying to follow a checklist. But it can be very difficult, because we like checklists. Being Spirit-filled...it seems so mystical. So mysterious. So uncontrollable.

And yet, so fruitful.

Inconvenient Love

Earlier this summer, I read the late Brennan Manning's book Patched Together. The book is a modern-day parable about Willie Juan, who grows up as somewhat of an outcast in a small town in Mexico. Willie Juan doesn't really fit in with the other kids in his village. His ethnic blend causes him to look different from the others, and he lives with his grandmother rather than with his father and mother. Because of Willie Juan's oddities, the other children constantly pick on him and pull embarrassing pranks on him. The only one of his peers who defends him or  shows any kindness toward him is a little girl named Ana.

As the years go by, Willie Juan becomes increasingly skilled in wood-carving, and his craftsmanship is recognized by a wealthy American patron. Willie Juan leaves his poverty-stricken village in Mexico and moves to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He lives in a large mansion and enjoys the luxuries associated with his new found success. The struggles and hurts he experienced as a child have been left behind him, and he begins a life of acceptance, respect, and wealth.

More time goes by. Then one day Willie Juan happens upon someone he did not expect to see--Ana. The girl who had once been his only friend had become a young woman and moved to Santa Fe, where she worked among the poor. She lives in a cardboard shack only eight feet long, where she cares for several orphaned children.

Willie Juan quickly becomes enamored with Ana. He goes to visit her every day, and they take long walks along the river before he walks her back to her shack. In his own mind, Willie Juan vows to one day take Ana away from the poverty in which she lives. Finally, one day Willie Juan takes Ana's hand, professes his love for her, and asks her to marry him. Ana responds to Willie Juan's proposal by admitting that she also loves him. But she also loves the poor people among whom she works and lives, and she says that she would be happy to marry Willie Juan if he would come live and work with her there.

Willie Juan is confused by Ana's answer. It's not what he had been anticipating. He asks, "What? I don't understand. You mean to marry you I must live like you in a little cardboard shack with no water and no bathtub? I have worked so hard to get away from all that." Willie Juan had worked his whole life to attain what he had, but marrying Ana would mean giving all of it up, and he is unwilling to do that. So he goes home and tells himself that if Ana would not come to be with him, he would not go see her again.

As a reader, I wanted to have a little chat with Willie Juan at this point. You know that Ana is the person Willie Juan needs to be with. You are rooting for these two childhood friends to come together. But Willie Juan walks away because he is unwilling to sacrifice the life he had constructed for himself. In his mind, Ana just isn't worth it.

It's a good lesson on love, I think. When I reached this point in the story, I shut my book for a moment and thought about where Willie Juan had gone wrong, and the conclusion I came to is this:

Love is a willingness to bend.

Willie Juan thinks he loves Ana. But when faced with a choice between Ana and the comfort and wealth he has become used to, he chooses the comfort. He wants to marry Ana, but only if its on his terms.

Many people (including me) try to love others the same way that Willie Juan does. We say we love others, but only insofar as that love doesn't rattle our lives too much. But genuine love always costs something. It's always inconvenient. It always demands something of the lover.

A while back a friend of mine was telling me about his relationship with his wife and how he felt when they started dating. He said that if there had been something keeping him from her, he would have done anything to get back to her. He would have quit his job, dropped out of school, moved across the country...whatever it took. He has a furious, all-in type of love. And that may be the truest type of love.

The truth is that if you are only looking for friendships that won't make many demands on your time or attention, then your life will only consist of shallow, superficial friendships. And if, like Willie Juan, you want a husband or wife who will "fit in" with the life you've already planned for yourself, you're setting yourself up for either loneliness or frustration. And if you want a God who you can just "add on" to your life like an accessory, you won't find the real God.

I can be a bit of a planner. For most of my life, I've had a pretty good idea of what I would be doing in the future, and perhaps this has led to me thinking that's what I need to be doing in the future. For example, I decided where I would go for college when I was just beginning my high school career. I planned out what I would do with my summers months in advance. Then I chose to go to graduate school, thus locking down another three years. I've always liked to feel like I have some level of control over my life. But this can be a problem for me. I recognize that. I wonder how my social relationships have suffered because I have been unwilling to sacrifice my own plans, and I wonder how my connection with God can also suffer for the same reasons. Have I not been open to others because of how it might affect my plans? Have I kept God at arm's length for fear he would wash away the sandcastle I've worked so hard to build?

I don't want to be someone who is controlled by preset plans or self-imposed duty. I want to be a person who is motivated by love--someone who is willing to sacrifice his own interests for the sake of others and someone who is open to others and to God, regardless of how inconvenient it may be. Someone who is willing to bend.

The Kingdom: Membership and Inclusion

Last week I wrote a post in which I argued that the most significant characteristic of a citizen in God's kingdom is simply a realization that no one deserves to be in that kingdom, but that citizenship is dependent entirely on the mercy and grace of God. The kingdom is given to the poor in spirit and to the children who recognize their helplessness. It is withheld from the rich who bank on their self-sufficiency, as well as from the "righteous" who believe their efforts grant them with a visa into God's kingdom.

When the only entrance requirement is recognition of one's own insufficiency, the type of people who make up a kingdom may look different from what you would expect. Think of it like a football team. Normally, the requirements for being on a football team are athleticism, skill, knowledge, strength, and speed. But what if there were a team for which the requirement was only that players acknowledge their own athletic inability? What if making the team meant confessing that you weren't all that fast or strong, and that you don't know how to throw or catch a ball? I suppose that team would look a lot less like the New England Patriots and a lot more like the Bulldogs, my 4th grade team that didn't win a single game all season long.

If citizenship in God's kingdom depended on the candidate's own abilities or history, then you would expect the kingdom to be made up of a certain type of person. It would be filled with rich people. Morally upstanding people. Influential people. Powerful people. And, as far as the hearers of Jesus' teaching were concerned, Jewish people. (And kosher, bacon-abstaining Jews at that).

However, in light of Jesus' unexpected qualifications for leadership, the people of his kingdom look much different that you might expect. In Matthew 21, Jesus is challenged by the "chief priests and elders of the people" (people who, I assume, would have considered themselves first in line for God's kingdom). Jesus tells them a story about a father with two sons. One of the sons vows obedience to the father but then ignores his instructions. The other son first blows off the father's instructions but then ends up obeying. At the end of the story, Jesus points out that it's the son who actually did what his father asked who did the father's will, and then he says something very surprising: "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you."

The kingdom isn't full of Pharisees, priests, and kings. It's filled with swindlers, prostitutes, Gentiles, and sinners. Why? Because they understood they didn't deserve to be in God's kingdom. They knew that they needed Jesus. They poured perfume on the Messiah's feet instead of criticizing his every move. They invited Jesus to dinner instead of complaining about his unwashed hands. They surrendered to him instead of crucifying him. And so, "people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God" (Lk. 13:29).

One day, God's kingdom will come to its full realization. And when that day happens, I imagine I will run into some people that I didn't expect to be there. I assume also that many people will run into me and be surprised that I'm there too. But that's the beauty of the kingdom. It includes people you wouldn't expect, because it runs by God's rules and not our own. I'm glad that the kingdom isn't for the powerful or self-righteous, because I'm not powerful, and I'm rarely right.

We are what the band Switchfoot calls "a church of the dropouts, the losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools." It's an unexpected team. Not the type of citizenship most kings would choose.

Of course, not many kings possess the grace, mercy, and love that ours does.

The Kingdom: Membership and Dependence

What qualifies a person for membership in God's kingdom?

If I were writing the bylaws of the kingdom of God, I could come up some pretty good entrance requirements. Maybe a person would have to submit a lengthy application with letters of recommendation and a personal interview. Maybe they would have to perform good deed, like helping the poor or bringing peace of the Mid-East. Maybe they would have to successfully play a game of "Name That Tune," using hymns and Michael W. Smith songs. Maybe they would have to run an obstacle course like on that show Wipeout or win a hot dog eating contest.

I can think of a lot of qualities that ought to precede entrance into the kingdom: Personal righteousness. A solid family history. Lots of money. Talent. Intelligence.

And yet, when you read the gospel, you find that the most important qualification for membership in God's kingdom is the realization that none of these things matter. Those who are welcomes into the kingdom are those who recognize that they have nothing to offer but rather are completely dependent on the grace of God.

This doesn't happen in any other sphere of life. When you're applying to a college, you don't want to tell the dean, "I know my grades are terrible, and I certainly don't deserve to attend this university, but I'm hoping you'll let me in anyway." At a job interview, you shouldn't say, "I'm completely unqualified for this job, sure. But maybe you can give me the job out of your mercy and kindness?" And an immigrant who applies for U.S. citizenship shouldn't come to their test saying, "I don't know what that banner is with the stars and stripes on it, and I've never even heard of George Washington."

Everywhere else, citizenship and membership depends on what you do to earn it. But for God's kingdom, membership depends on understanding that nothing you do can earn it.

Jesus begins his Kingdom Manifesto by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the persecuted" (Matt. 5:3-10).

Nowhere in that list does one find "Blessed are the rich. Blessed are the powerful. Blessed are the talented. Blessed are the self-righteous. Blessed are the trophy-winners. Blessed are those in influential positions. Blessed are the ones who have achieved much. Blessed are the stylish. Blessed are the popular." In fact, more often than not, these qualities are what prevent people from entering God's kingdom.

Jesus once said that the kingdom of God belongs to those who receive it like a little child (Lk. 18:15-17). Perhaps the most noticeable characteristic of a child is that a child is completely dependent on others. A child can't feed himself; he needs to be fed. A child can shelter himself; he needs to be housed. A child can't get himself places; he needs to be driven. A child needs others in order to survive, and most kids who tried to run away when they were five came to this realization by the time they got to the other side of the street.

Shortly after Jesus welcomes the children, a rich and powerful up-and-comer asks him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Lk. 18:18ff.) After some back-and-forth between the man and Jesus, it boils down to the command, "Sell all that you have and distribute tot he poor, and yo will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." At this, the man turns around and walks home, unwilling to give up his possessions for the sake of following Jesus. As the man walks away with his head down, Jesus says to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

I think it's no accident that the gospels pair this story with the account of Jesus and children. The children receive the kingdom because they are dependent on God and know that they don't qualify for the kingdom by their own rights. The rich man fails to enter the kingdom because, even though he had kept the commandments since he was a boy, was too attached to the treasure he had attained for himself to forsake it and receive a kingdom he could do nothing to earn.

It's the tax collector who prays simply, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" who goes home justified (Lk. 18:13-14). And it's the Laodiceans, who claim, "I am rich. I have prospered, and I need nothing" who are about to be vomited from Christ's mouth (Rev. 3:16-17).

A few weeks ago I preached the funeral for a long-time member of my church. As I talked with her family and friends in preparation for the service, I learned that she had lived in Cincinnati for a number of years but then returned to her small rural hometown in order to care for her ailing parents. During that period of time, she often repeated Psalm 91 to herself. This Psalm begins, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

That's the attitude of the citizen of God's kingdom. Such a person has made God their dwelling-place, their refuge, their fortress, and their trust.

It's a kingdom filled with people who know they don't belong there.

And in God's eyes, that's the best kind of kingdom to have.