“Get that Love!” June 26, 2016 Psalm 77.1-2, 11-20, *Galatians 5.1, 13-25 Pastor Jacqueline Hines

All Bethel gardeners work hard to plant and weed and harvest[slide # 1 gardener] They cannot even begin to number the hours of love that are poured into each shovel of soil and each plant! We can all understand because we all do our part in spiritual gardens.

We are all disciples planted and growing in this church. We are also disciples planted in our homes and our communities. When the world sees us, we want them to see the fruit of our labors. We want the world to see that we are Christians by our love. We want everyone to enjoy the fruit of the Spirit -  the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness-generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. [slide # 2 fruit of the spirit]

Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Galatians that we are reading today. [slide # 3 Paul with scroll] Paul wrote the letter because while he was away, a couple other preachers started preaching something other than what he had been preaching and teaching. [slide #4 Paul teaching] Paul must have felt like hard-working gardeners feel when they look into the field and see that their plants, vegetables, and flowers have all been eaten up by critters during the night. [slide #5 groundhog]

There are all types of teachers, and there is no lack of tension between teachings. There are various philosophies and understandings that have stood the test of time. Whether it be in the field of education or health or business or agriculture or faith. We have come to believe what we have been taught. We have learned that reading is fundamental, exercise is critical, investing secures a future, planting feeds the people and faith fortifies our country. We believe what we have been taught. [slide # 6 graduation cap…]

There are other teachings on which great doubt has been cast, or that we find confusing. We will always be growing and developing as we learn. We will always be learning and testing new ideas. [slide # 7 test tube] Let’s just be as prayerful and careful as we can be so as to avoid being deceived and getting sucked into the ways of the world. [slide #8 hands and bible]

As faithful disciples we want to learn to plant and weed and water God’s word as best we understand it so we can enjoy the harvest that God has promised us. [slide #9 spiritual harvest] We want to enjoy the fruit of the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness-generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Doing all that it takes to harvest the fruit of the spirit is not easy. Teaching others to be disciples who plant and water and weed is not easy. Yet, it is exactly what we are called to do. [slide # 10 making disciples]

At times, just as we feel like slaves to our gardens, we may feel like slaves to our mission of making disciples. Paul agrees. In verse 13 he writes, “You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.”  [slide # 11 through love become slaves]

Our mission goes better with love. [slide # 12 heart, chained to foot] The way to grow in love is to spend time in the SONSHINE of God’s love, to pray, to sing, to give, to serve, to meditate, to share gratitude, to exercise our spiritual muscles so we can grow stronger where we are weak.

We do well to ask ourselves how we can be the best blessing we can be to other disciples around us. How would our lives be blessed if we spent more energy sharing words of encouragement and thanksgiving instead of complaining or gossiping?

I heard a sermon by Joseph Prince a few weeks ago. He said God hates complaining. One word for complaining is “luna” as in lunatic. In others words to be a complainer is to be lunar, moody, unstable or as the saying goes “crazy as a loon.” Although, the Holy Spirit taught me not to refer to others as crazy. Rather I have learned to say, “mixed up.” Those words make for a kinder, gentler Church. [slide # 13 hands in circle]

This week a banker gave me misinformation and it cost me some time to correct. It was aggravating, and I was just about to complain, but instead I calmed down, looked at the bright side, remembered that God had my back and moved forward. After all, I was glad that the banker and the manager and I all finished with a smile instead of a frown. It turned out to be a good day.

God hates to hear us complaining as much as we hate to hear someone complaining about us. The Holy Spirit is not teaching us to complain. We learn that from somewhere else. The Holy Spirit is all the good stuff. Anything else we learn is from the enemy. The goal of the enemy is to steal, kill, and destroy. The goal of the Holy Spirit is to help us encourage one another and comfort one another and strengthen one another!!

Joshua Becker says that complaining fosters a negative attitude, makes us miserable, and makes those around us miserable as well. We really do not want misery when we can have peace. [slide # 14 waterfall]

Complaining does not change our circumstances. Sometimes we complain when we are stuck. Instead we should hurry up and run to God [slide # 15 hurry to God] where we will find the strength to do something about a situation even when it seems too hard and even when it would require some action we may not be ready to take.

Often when we complain, we have forgotten that the circumstances or people that we are complaining about may be the very sandpaper we greatly need in our lives, to smooth out our rough edges! [slide # 16 sandpaper]

Complaining is not only unpleasant and unattractive, it leaves us in the victim mode when God calls us to be victorious. [slide # 17 victory]

We can complain because roses have thorns, or we can rejoice because thorns have roses. [slide # 18 roses]

To get in the habit of complaining less, Becker [slide # 19 Becker] teaches us 8 things. #1 put our thinking caps on and make the better choice for ourselves and all those around us.

2. Accept that we live in an imperfect world, a world that does not exist for our pleasure, but nevertheless requires our dedication and service.

3. Learn the difference between helpful criticism and complaint. [slide # 20 learning is fun]

4. Be mindful of who you complain to. Is it someone who can help solve the problem or someone who wants to swap gossip with you?

5. Try spreading more cheer and fewer complaints. [slide # 21 spread the joy] Complaints may get more attention, but they don’t help us win friends.

7. Become aware of when you complain the most. Do you complain more around a certain person, or during a certain time during the day?

8. Finally, experiment. Set a goal such as going a day without complaining. [slide # 22 stop complaining] A goal that is short and sweet helps us focus and succeed. [slide # 23 never stop learning]

When we enslave ourselves to being loving, that is when we step up our game and deepen our love for God and one another, we avoid producing bitter fruit and we are more apt to harvest the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness-generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And, Lord knows we always appreciate the blessing of good fruit. [slide # 24 fruit of the spirit] Amen.