Soul Shaping

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16

It is common when applying for a new job to provide a résumé that includes references. These references, of course, are people who know the candidate well and can speak as to what kind of person he or she is. Typically, when references are contacted, one of the questions that are asked is simply, “What can you tell me about so and so?” They want to know who you think this person is.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus wanted to get a read on what His disciples thought of Him. So He asked them a question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” It’s an interesting question, especially considering where they were at the time.

Matthew tells us that they were in Caesarea Philippi. This city was located in the upper Jordan River Valley along the southwest slopes of Mt. Hermon. From the earliest days it was the center of the Canaanite worship of Baal. Later during the Greek period, a shrine was erected there in honor of the god Pan whose was thought to control the crops that grew in the region. After that, Herod the Great built a white marble temple dedicated to the worship of Emperor Augustus.

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. Luke 23:26

Abraham Zapruder. Many of you immediately recognize him as the man who made one of the clearest video recordings of the assassination of John Kennedy. Zapruder learned that Kennedy’s motorcade was going to be in Dallas, so he decided to go film it having no idea that within a few hours, he would become a household name and a part of one of the most tragic experiences in American history.

Much the same could be said about a man who happened to be standing by the side of the road while Jesus was being dragged through the streets of Jerusalem to Skull Hill where the crucifixion took place. The man’s name was Simon from the city of Cyrene in northern Africa.

We know absolutely nothing more about him. Nor do we know why he was standing there on that dreadful day when Jesus came by. All we know is that Jesus was being dragged by the Roman soldiers down the street carrying the top part of the cross on his shoulders. Already weak from the flogging he had received, Jesus likely may have stumbled or perhaps even fell right in front of where Simon was.

But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Luke 23:18-19

A former Olympic athlete stands before a sea of microphones and tearfully confesses to family and friends of her use of performance enhancing drugs and of lying to federal authorities when questioned about it.

A grim faced state governor known for his crusades against corruption admits to being involved in a prostitution ring which forces him out of office and leaves him fighting to hang on to his family.

A church secretary has a complete meltdown when it’s discovered that over a period of several years she has stolen tens of thousands of dollars from the congregation in order to increase her standard of living.

Each of these tragic stories have a least one thing in common. They’re all stories of people in need of grace. And they’re not alone. For each of us have similar stories. Some of our stories may be scandalous and well known while others are more socially tolerated and private. Either way our stories of transgression force us to face our humanness and our inability to live a truly righteous life on our own. They expose our desperate need for grace.

The fruit of the Spirit is … self-control…. Galatians 5:23

I recently read about an incident that happened in Detroit in the 1930s. Three young men boarded a bus and attempted to pick a fight with a black man sitting alone in the back of the bus. They insulted him time and time again. But he said nothing in response. He just sat quietly. When the bus came to the man’s stop, he pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to one of the young men. The card simply read, “JOE LOUIS – BOXER.”

These three young men had tried to pick a fight with a man who was the Heavyweight Champion of the World for 12 years. He could have easily given these men the fight of their life, and no one would have blamed him. But he didn’t. Instead he exhibited self-control.

I don’t know anything about Louis’ relationship with Christ, but his demonstration of self-control illustrates the final description of the fruit of the Spirit. The word Paul used in Galatians 5 reflects a spirit that is non-reactionary. One’s fleshly impulses have been bridled.

The fruit of the Spirit is … gentleness… Galatians 5:23

Gordon MacDonald shared the following story about visiting a small group of men and women affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. MacDonald said that he visited the group because he has friends who are recovering alcoholics, and he wanted to see for himself what they were talking about. Here’s what he found:

One morning Kathy—I guessed her age at 35—joined us for the first time. One look at her face caused me to conclude that she must have been Hollywood-beautiful at 21. Now her face was swollen, her eyes red, her teeth rotting. Her hair looked unwashed, uncombed for who knows how long. ‘I’ve been in five states in the past month,’ she said. ‘I’ve slept under bridges on several nights. Been arrested. Raped. Robbed (now weeping).  I don’t know what to do. I — don’t — want — to—be—homeless—any more. But (sob) I can’t stop drinking (sob). I can’t stop (sob). I can’t.’ 

Next to Kathy was a rather large woman, Marilyn, sober for more than a dozen years. She reached with both arms toward Kathy and pulled her close, so close that Kathy’s face was pressed to Marilyn’s ample breast.  I was close enough to hear Marilyn speak quietly into Kathy’s ear, ‘Honey, you’re going to be OK. You’re with us now. We can deal with this together. All you have to do is keep coming. Hear me? Keep on coming.” 

And then Marilyn kissed the top of Kathy’s head. I was awestruck. The simple words, the affection, the tenderness. How Jesus-like. I couldn’t avoid a troubling question that morning. Could this have happened in the places where I have worshiped?  Would there have been a space in the program for Kathy to tell her story? Would there have been a Marilyn to respond in this way?”

The fruit of the Spirit is… faithfulness…. Galatians 5:22

Faithfulness. The word means to be trustworthy. It’s one of the hallmark descriptions of God’s character and one that is replicated in those who are allowing the Holy Spirit to conform them to the image of Christ. But what is this thing called faithfulness? And how is it developed?

In response I want to share a story that answers both of these questions.

The story is about a father’s actions during a time of great turmoil and danger. The incident happened in 1989 when a magnitude 8.2 earthquake hit an area of Armenia and shook the ground for over four minutes. Buildings swayed, buckled and then collapsed as if they were nothing more than houses of cards. By the time it was over 30,000 people were dead.

In the midst of the chaos, a distressed father ran through the winding streets of the city to the school where his son had gone earlier that morning. As he climbed over all kinds of debris on his way to the school, he couldn’t stop thinking about the promise he had made to his son countless times before, “No matter what, Armand, I’ll always be there.”

The fruit of the Spirit is … goodness…. Galatians 5:22

The last years of my dad’s life were challenging. He had dementia. Of course, he thought he was perfectly fine despite the fact that he forgot how to operate the washing machine or even how to change the channel on the TV. So I stepped up my trips from Birmingham to Chattanooga to take him to the doctor, go through his mail, and basically be of whatever help I could be. That included frequent trips to the grocery store to get him food items that required no preparation when he got hungry.

I encouraged him to move to an assisted living facility, but he would hear none of it. Again, in his mind he was fine. Reluctantly, he agree to have outside help come in to clean the house, fix some meals and basically keep tabs on him. With that help and with the assistance of some people at his church, he managed to continue living on his own until he passed away shortly before his 88th birthday.

The fruit of the Spirit is… kindness…. Galatians 5:22

I’m not a wine drinker, but I’ve always heard that wine mellows with age. So when I learned that the word “kindness” in Galatians 5 essentially means to be mellow, I decided to do a little research. What I discovered is that as wine ages, it tends to lose some of its acidity. Therefore, certain wines that would be unpleasant to consume in its youth would be more acceptable after it has had time to mellow.

There is a message here for Christians. If part of the fruit of the Spirit is kindness and if kindness means to be mellow, then one of the ways we can judge the quality of our life in Christ is to see whether or not we are becoming less acidic in our relationship with others. This is best tested in our unguarded moments especially when we are under stress.

Think of it this way. What do you get when you squeeze a tube of toothpaste? Toothpaste, of course. That’s what’s inside the tube. The same is true when life puts the squeeze on us. What’s in us comes out of us. If our hearts are full of acid, then that’s what will come out. But if we have mellowed, if we have allowed the Spirit to age us within, kindness is what comes out.

The fruit of the Spirit is…patience… Galatians 5:22

Let’s face it. Some people are just irksome. These are the folks who get on our last nerve. They know how to push all our buttons including those we didn’t know we had. Whether it’s the things they say, how they act or their overall demeanor, there’s something about them that we find hard to handle.

After dealing with them for awhile, we are tempted to give them a good tongue-lashing with the hope that maybe they will change or at least dial down what’s bothering us. If that doesn’t work, we have the option to just abandon them, because they’re too much trouble to be around.

The Christian, however, has a higher calling. Paul tells us that part of the fruit of the Spirit is patience. The word for patience means something more than learning how to wait your turn in the checkout line at Wal-Mart. The word actually means longsuffering.

The fruit of the Spirit is…peace… Galatians 5:22

Two longtime friends have a disagreement over a business venture. Now they hardly speak to each other and try to avoid contact as much as possible.

Neighbors go to court over a dispute concerning the proper placement of a fence. Both claim the fence is on their property.

After the death of their last parent, siblings get into a bitter fight over the will and what they believe mom and dad really meant when they drew up the document.

A husband and wife have an intense argument that is left unresolved. The next day both pretend nothing happened although everyone in the house can feel the tension.

A church gets into a disagreement over the performance of a staff member. Those for and against the minister divide into camps. Emotions erupt during business meetings. Some vow to leave and never come back.

On it goes. Harsh words. Misunderstandings. Resentments. And broken relationships. We’ve all been touched by them in one way or another. And we’ve all wondered why people just can’t seem to get along with others.