Speaker: Alma Thompson

Text: Exodus 3:1-6, John 15:1-12, Galatians 5:22-23

Good morning.  My name is Alma Thompson and I seem to have been born a “go big or stay home” human.  And, I’ve come to appreciate that here at CMC, I’m in good “go big” company, with a “peace on earth, good will to all people” perspective. 

I am privileged to lead an organization that advocates for under-resourced children, all around the world.  We’re active in more than 40 countries. We dream of a world where every child is loved, safe and developing their god-given potential.  

As you would rightly suspect, this impossible dream brings impossible issues across my desk every single day.  The risk of compassion fatigue is very high. So, as a global team of leaders, one of our shared-culture questions is, “Is it my job, today?” “Is it your job, today?”  We ask this of each other, with the shared belief that God has a job, and God does not expect us to do her job!  And we have a job that God does not expect to have to do.   The simplest way to answer the question is based on the assumption that if I can control it, it’s mine to do.  If I can’t, If I can’t control it, it’s not mine to do. 

This brings us to our fruit of the spirit for today, “Self-control”.  SELF-control. Clearly, it’s articulated as if it’s MY job.  It’s my job to control myself.  But, what if I can’t?  What if I can’t control myself?  Then maybe it’s not my job?

Shall I admit that I am powerless?

Shall I submit to a higher power?

Shall I talk to others about the fact that I can’t?

The oxymoron of Self-control: Fruit of the Spirit

It is in the list of spirit fruit; Fruit that Holy Spirit brings about, fruit that The Spirit makes happen.

My mind hyperlinks to John 15, Jesus’ words that Godde is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches.  And simply put, if we the branches stay connected to Jesus the vine, then fruit – like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and SELF-Control.  If we stay connected to Jesus, and to our fellow branches, Fruit happens.

Before moving to Ohio, our family lived in The Concord Grape Belt of Western, New York.  Our neighbor, Kurt was the viticulturist, farming not only his own 250 acres but, having all the proper equipment, he farmed another 300 acres.  Poor guy. Nobody knows better than a farmer, what they really can, and what they absolutely cannot control. 

We learned so much about vines and branches, abiding and fruit production.  

Did you know:  

• They prune the plants every fall, because in the spring, fruit will only grow on new shoots. 
• The vineyards grow in a thin strip of micro-climate stretching along the shores of Lake Erie, precariously located within 50 miles of Buffalo.  If you know anything about Buffalo, it’s like hot chicken wings and that they get tons of snow, every winter. 
• A winter freeze can kill an entire harvest 
• Perfect picking time is determined by the sugar content of the grapes, the sweetness
• Sweetness quality comes from sunshine, but juiciness quantity comes from rain
• Grape sweetness is measured in Brix, and the perfect picking sweetness is 21 Brix
• It’s a rare season when the grapes all get to 21 Brix, in a sufficiently staggard time frame to allow them to be picked, perfect

Did you know:

• Every batch of grapes that leaves a farmer’s property is measured for and allowed a slight percentage of MOG; Material Other than Grapes

We’re talking about Self-control as a fruit of Holy Spirit.

It’s ironic, perhaps moronic, to think we don’t develop self-control by ourselves. 

My mind hyperlinks again, from vineyard to desert, from vine to bush and I imagine that we are the Bush. 

And the gardener says, “I will bring forth fruit of freedom and life.”

The hesitant Bush replies to its maker, “Woe is me. I am a bush with unclean lips!”

Creator takes a coal, to place on the Bush and Bush cries out, “That’s impossible! I’m a bush!”

Ahh…but with God, all things are possible.

And Bush replies, with open branches, “Here am I. I am the Lord’s servant. Be it unto me as you have said.”

And the Bush is on fire!

The Bush does not try to be the fire. 

And the fire does not consume the Bush.

And the fire does not try to be the Bush. 

It’s Holy Ground. 

It’s simply an IMPOSSIBLE UNION.

Self-control as Spirit Fruit is the result of one such Holy Ground, Impossible Union. 

I’m struck by the fact that the Bush becomes no less Bushy. 

Likewise, we, in pursuit of self-control come face to face with our human nature, in all its bushy beauty and challenge.   As humans, we seem to have endless propensity for shame and guilt, to perceive ourselves as failing over and over and over again, flailing in our morose of never being enough.  I follow the pathetic little ritual of compromising myself, with food or sexuality, resentment, anger, prejudice. The inability to control oneself, by oneself, shows up in commonly experienced arenas: our thoughts and our tongues – our words about ourselves and others, substance use and abuse, lust, anger, how we do or don’t use our time or our phones, guilt of whether we’re being good, peace-filled, productive Mennonites 😉.  We may even say, “ugh!  I’m 58 years old.  I should have known, this or that, by now!”

We perpetuate violence against ourselves – against the very part of ourself that needs most to be loved. 

I wonder if Holy Spirit will, in fact, join us in our impossible place, to empower our ability to be honest and endlessly tenderhearted toward ourselves.  (let me say that again.)

There’s a part of me that gets it. And there’s a part of me that doesn’t get it yet. (Maybe you find the same thing.)

Might Spirit Fruit mean that Holy Spirit will power the part of me that gets it, to show up, for the part of me that doesn’t get it yet.  Power me to show up with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and Gentleness to myself.   And then with and for others.  And perhaps, in that very process, will grow the Impossible, juicy, sweet Union of self-control.