Grace that Burns

In contemplating the epistle, the following words stood out to me:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

From this, we know that it is God we have to thank for all of the good things that we have in our lives: and surely we have been blessed fantastically and have a lot to be thankful for. We also know from this verse that we have not created or attained these good things for ourselves, we can't depend on ourselves or other men for the blessings we take for granted each day, but on God. This is my topic: the good and perfect gifts from God.

In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus talks about the greatest gifts ever given to us, and one which we couldn't deserve less: the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost truly is a gift sent by Jesus from the Father to all who put their faith and trust in Jesus. We are given visible signs of the indwelling of the Spirit in Galatians 5, when Paul lists the Fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. They are so important to us! They are so important that Jesus left the disciples! He said:

"It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Notice that the fruits of the spirit are all characteristics and qualities of Jesus' life. Because of Jesus' atoning death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, the Holy Ghost produces fruit in our lives that make us more Christlike.

Have you ever thought about it this way before? Jesus left to send the Holy Ghost in order that through the work of the Holy Ghost we be made more Christ like. Christianity is not just a matter of getting a stamp on your passport. It's a matter of change and transformation through the work of the Holy Ghost. It's a change in your being that is manifested throughout your whole life.

As Christians, we have accepted the gift, praise God! But in using the word "gift" here I think I have been a little misleading. The second part of the epistle says that every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights, "in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." There is no variableness in God. God does not change with the winds of time and society, his perspective is from eternity, world without end. He knows what's hip and trendy, but he's not limited to that either. That means that his gifts are going to be wisely given from that timeless context, not necessarily from our current point of view. If you are familiar with that Janis Joplin song that goes "Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz," that's what most of us picture when we think of "gift." of course, sometimes the gifts of the Holy Ghost are exactly like that. Extravagant, beautiful, useful, unexpected, undeserved. The sort of think that makes you say "wow," the sort of thing you wouldn't actually ask for, except with your tongue in your cheek, half-joking.

But the gifts of the Holy Ghost can also be like the Jesusita fire. Because unlike God, we are shortsighted. God's wisdom doesn't always look very wise to us as Paul said the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. The Holy Ghost offers us the gift of meekness in a situation where we are being wronged, and we think, "Aaah! A fire! Put it out! Extinguish it!"

This is just a metaphor so don't take this too far—please stay safe from the fire and pray that it ends. The fire raging now is truly terrifying and dangerous. But the gifts of the Holy Ghost can be too. If we don't take them seriously, we really can be burned. Christians throughout the ages can testify how the gift of Faithfulness led to great suffering. Love itself requires a vulnerability: if you love someone, you can be hurt by them in a way that nobody else can, even if the pain you experience is just from watching them suffer. There are good reasons to fear the Gifts of God. This is powerful stuff, not to be trifled with.

Like a fire, the gifts of God have the strength to overwhelm the entire countryside, completely unstoppable. It has the power to transform the landscape. The gifts of God will run through you and burn up whole swaths—as James says, "Throw off all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness." The landscape of your heart will be forever changed.

But like a fire, this power and destruction makes way for new growth. After the fire is done, new buildings can be built. In fact, regular fires are an essential part of the natural cycle. If you go up to Goleta sometime, look into the hills where the Gap fire raged recently. It's the most green that I have ever seen it. The ash from fires is nutrient rich, and from the charred ground spring plants grow faster and thicker than they could if all the old buildup of brush was still sitting there. And in the landscape of your hearts, we find the new life is better than the old dead wood that was burned away.

Like a fire, the Fruits of the Holy Ghost are a matter of life and death. If we have made sin and evil an essential part of our being, that cannot survive the blaze. It is like a refining fire, and we have nothing of value when the fire hits, we will be entirely consumed. It's scary, love, peace, humility—all the other gifts. Humanly speaking we have every reason to resist!

And some people, I think, resist the gifts of the spirit for their whole lives, because it's not always like a Mercedes Benz. We have firefighters working hard to extinguish the Jesusita fire and keep it contained as we speak. But if we never let fires burn through, the dead wood and brush builds up. Year after year the forests of our souls get thicker and denser, difficult to navigate, and full to the brim with old, dead fuel. Then when a fire does come and it can't be put out—as is guaranteed to happen eventually, the fire rages through and destroys everything, burning so hot that even the healthy trees are ignited and there is nothing left. When God's grace does come, it burns as an overwhelming inferno, too hot to withstand, and it destroys rather than renewing. The consequences of systematically resisting the works of the Holy Spirit throughout your lifetime is utter and complete destruction, death, blackness.

So my encouragement to you is this: accept the Holy Ghost into your life, and accept the fruits of the spirit. When it doesn't make sense to you from your limited perspective, don't work against the fire of his love, but let it burn through, even if it hurts. The gifts of God are offered, and the question is, will you work against it, or will you accept?

Also, remember that the true source of love, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, and other godly works is not yourself, but God. The fruits of the spirit are truly sacramental. They are the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace: the presence of the Holy Ghost. Don't work hard to build up humility or joy on your own, those are the outward signs. Like baptism, the outward sign only has meaning because of the inward sign. Water being poured over your head is meaningless unless it is a part of the sacrament.

It goes the other way too. Every good and perfect gift is from above. If you act with patience, don't congratulate yourself, rather, thank God for his generosity. Thanks be to God that he sent his Son to live on earth and to be crucified, and resurrected, and thanks be to God that he ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to transform us to be more and more like Christ. I pray that we will all be transformed, continually, by the Grace of God. Amen.