"Let's Follow the Spirit" - Psalm16, Galatians 5:13 - 26
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Psalm 16 // Galatians 5:13-26
Let’s Follow the Spirit
The Rev. Kate Fiedler
Last week, Ginger Evans and I had the delight of accompanying three middle school youth to their first conference at Massanetta. Nothing quite compares to the curiosity, skepticism, and energy of over 150 middle schoolers gathered together! Nothing is quite like it. Before we could get out of the van, we were welcomed by a team of joyfully yelling high schoolers, super pumped to be there as the Advocates and counselors for the conference. The first miracle happened before registration was complete—every youth and every adult had a negative rapid-test for Covid. Hallelujah! More miracles unfolded as the days were filled with activity—people liked the food, the auditorium was focused during energizer dances and the keynotes about the gospel, no one needed to go to the emergency room, and new friendships formed across state lines without screens or social media. Our crew had a fabulous experience, and you’ll hear a Moment for Mission from Frances, Henry, and Liam this summer with more highlights. I want to share one important moment from my experience—a workshop led by a college-age young adult about How to be A Neighbor. Two small groups combined—with about a dozen middler youth, two high school Advocates, and four adults. After answering questions on poster paper about being a neighbor, we practiced it right there. First, we started in pairs, getting to know someone we didn’t know before that workshop. Then we moved to groups of four. It was a simple set-up, and it worked. Two groups became one, and new connections were made around the room. I observed how one middler, Nicholas, was completely at ease and taken in by his group. I had heard Nicholas talk with his mom earlier in the day, and I knew an adult from his home church who confirmed that Nicholas is on the Autism spectrum. But in that room, moving from strangers to friends, acting like neighbors, Nicholas was relaxed and talking without any visible anxiety or rocking. He was laughing; he was listening; he was a part of the new neighborhood we created. I believe that’s how God’s vision of being a good neighbor works. That’s how God’s beloved community is formed and felt right here, in our very midst. There is a place and safe space for everyone. Being a good neighbor includes appreciating differences and acknowledging needs so that all of God’s people—all children, all youth, all adults—all God’s people feel known and valued. It’s the ultimate all y’all lived out with delight and laughter, with peace and patience.
Now maybe it’s not just me, but last weekend seems like a long time ago. If I’m honest, this sermon today is a different draft from where it began. As a country, we’re in a different place today than when Ginger and I dropped off the youth, smiling and sharing stories with their parents last Sunday. As a church family, we carry our different anxieties and ideas about the decisions made by the Supreme Court this week with us. Change and strife are in the air.
And yet, God’s word is steadfast and true. God’s word does not change from week to week. God meets us right where we are, no matter what may be in our heads and hearts. Benjamin read Psalm 16, which has been part of the Hebrew Scriptures for longer than anyone here has been alive. I’ll share some highlights of that song of praise for God, but first I want you to hear from a letter written to a divided church in conflict long ago. Today we read from the letter to the Galatians. Scholars believe this may be one of Paul’s earliest letters, and he's writing during a crisis. The church is debating about how they define their identity as Christians and how they understand their mission. Paul writes to clarify that the identity and work of Christ should guide their identity and mission more than their own actions and ideas. During a crisis moment, he puts God’s love and the love of neighbors at the center. I hope you will prepare your heart to hear God’s word for you today. Let’s pay careful attention to this letter to the Galatians, from the fifth chapter:
13 You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. 14 All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. 15 But if you bite and devour each other, be careful that you don’t get eaten up by each other!
16 I say be guided by the Spirit and you won’t carry out your selfish desires. 17 A person’s selfish desires are set against the Spirit, and the Spirit is set against one’s selfish desires. They are opposed to each other, so you shouldn’t do whatever you want to do. 18 But if you are being led by the Spirit, you aren’t under the Law. 19 The actions that are produced by selfish motives are obvious, since they include sexual immorality, moral corruption, doing whatever feels good, 20 idolatry, drug use and casting spells, hate, fighting, obsession, losing your temper, competitive opposition, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, 21 jealousy, drunkenness, partying, and other things like that. I warn you as I have already warned you, that those who do these kinds of things won’t inherit God’s kingdom.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and its desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit. 26 Let’s not become arrogant, make each other angry, or be jealous of each other.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Beloved of God, this letter was written in the middle of the first century, to a church in conflict. This letter was written to a congregation debating the interpretation of what was faithful and what was right action. Paul wrote this letter to address a particular crisis among a particular people, struggling to discern how to be faithful followers of Christ, who were balancing what it looked like to adhere to the Jewish law and serve God. And yet, it could be ripped from the headlines this week. The Supreme Court and Congress are interpreting what is law and how we understand freedom. With decisions and legislature about gun rights and gun control, about abortion and states’ rights, we are in the midst of contentious debates about freedom, the law, and how we form a more perfect union together.
And would you believe it, one of the lectionary texts chosen decades ago for this very Sunday addresses these questions and concerns! That is the Spirit at work in ways my mind can’t fully comprehend. So, let’s dive into this letter, written long ago, with implications for today.
First, I want to begin with a magnifying glass, on the first word of our text. In our translation, verse thirteen begins with the word, “you.” However, when I looked to the Greek, I was not surprised to find that this is the Second Personal Plural of you. As New Testament scholar Frances Taylor Gench puts it, this is a case for the Southern “y’all” right here in the gospel. Paul is not addressing personal, individual freedom. Paul is not writing to one person. The you here is communal; this letter is written to a community. We begin by being called to freedom together, as a collective of followers of Christ. And Paul pushes this community-mindset even further. We are called to serve each other with love. We are called to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. From the beginning of our text today, faithful living is created for a community to practice beyond the community. The love of Christ is directed throughout and outside the church. We are called to love those who look different, those who think differently, those who vote differently, and those who understand community differently. Paul declares that to follow Christ, we are called to think of our neighbors first and to love them.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, our mission here at Second Pres. is to love our neighbors well. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are called to focus our political life on how we love our neighbors, no matter what the issue is that drives us. Spiritual Director and writer Nish Weiseth puts it this way,
“Spiritual formation is the process by which we are shaped by the power of the Holy Spirit into the image of Jesus for the sake of others. … It is a formation that has others in the centre. When we are formed into the image of Jesus for the sake of others, only then will we have a politics that is formed by our faith, rather than the other way around.
Politics is the single largest systemic tool we have at our disposal with which we can love our neighbor. Simply put, politics for the Christian should be institutional neighborliness.”[1]
I think Weiseth echoes Paul’s letter here. We are called to love, and “Politics is the single largest systemic tool we have at our disposal with which we can love our neighbor.” Our identity as Christians is all about loving God and loving our neighbors. Through our advocacy with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, we act with love for and with our neighbors when we write letters and send emails to our elected leaders, supporting environmental protections, a livable wage, and affordable childcare and housing. Our Walk-In and Shower ministries are weekly ways we strive to serve and love our neighbors in need. There is no doubt, we have work to do to encourage “institutional neighborliness” throughout our Richmond community and our country. We are called to love God and to love our neighbors as a church family. We are called to love together. I recognize that makes loving our neighbors more complicated, but our impact together is far greater than anything we can do alone. God’s love makes the complexity of working together worth it.
When the Lectio Divina group and I read this passage together on Monday, the scholars on Zoom taught me several insights. I wrestled with the binary language of Spirit vs. flesh. I was uncomfortable with the long list of specific actions that go against the Spirit’s ways compared with the shorter list of the fruit of the Spirit. I didn’t like the implications that our bodies create shameful and selfish actions, and our hearts create the beloved community. But the Lectio scholars pushed back…. They pushed me to notice that Paul sets up a binary of what works towards a life led by the Spirit—beginning with love and also including joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control---versus actions that are selfish and self-centered, actions that put me and my needs before the interests of the community or my neighbors. Paul wants the church to look up and look around, to pay attention to our neighbors with love. We are called to strive for the common good, and not for our own satisfaction or welfare. Our love for God points to our love for one another. When we fully trust that we don’t need to perform or achieve our way into God’s heart, when we can rest in our belovedness, then we are empowered to love our neighbors. We read in First John, “We love because God first loved us.”[2] It’s a never-ending cycle—God’s love moves us to love our neighbors, and loving our neighbors echoes the fullness of God’s love.
Last weekend, I saw that love in action. The leadership created a space where over 150 youth could act out that love together. Love became a collective verb as the youth created thank you cards for local nurses, as they laughed together on the dance floor, as they listened to each other’s stories, and made sure everyone was included. This week, we are called to put love into action. How will you show up with love for your neighbors on social media or in the yard? How will you practice peace, patience, and kindness with those who are responding differently to the political news? How will you vote to love your neighbors? Psalm 16 declares, “God shows us the path of life. In [God’s] presence there is fullness of joy.” God created us with hope for blessing and abundance. When we honor the Divine light in each other, we honor God’s love. When we work together for the health, welfare, and wholeness of our communities, we are serving with love. Division and conflict, anger and fighting are not new concerns for the church. Paul makes it clear; we are called to serve each other with love. We are called to show up for, to serve, and love our neighbors. We are called to follow the Spirit, and not our own agenda. The way forward will be challenging. However, we go together, with love, trusting in the power and presence of the Spirit. Let’s follow the Spirit together.
Prayer for Commitment:
God of Life and Light, we ask for your kindness and compassion to overflow these days. Guide our hearts to lead with love. Lead us to serve our neighbors. May your love inspire us to create the beloved community. Amen.
[1] Nish Weiseth, “Examen Your Politics,” A Rhythm of Prayer. Ed. Sarah Bessey. New York: Convergent, 2021. 95-96.
[2] 1 John 4:19