The Spirit Transforms

The New Testament vision for following Jesus is not just about belief with our minds.

! It's about the transformation of our spirits.

! And that's an ongoing spiritual transformation throughout our whole lives.

! As the Spirit dwells in us, the Spirit also moves in us.

It's a dynamic image that Paul gives us.

One of being transformed and transformed and transformed.

Since we live by the Spirit, he says, therefore let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Very early on in Christian history, Paul was eager to point out the distinction between

simply paying lip service to Christianity and Christian belief, and being filled and transformed

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There was a little girl, she was about six.

And she noticed two things that her dad seemed to do at mealtimes.

The first thing was he always insisted that grace was said before meals.

The prayer of thanksgiving be prayed.

The other thing she also noticed, to put it bluntly, he was quite foul-tempered with everybody else, with his family around the table.

The way he spoke to people, he was grumpy.

He was quite rude and aggressive at times in the way he spoke to everyone.

One day, this six-year-old said to her dad, Daddy, does God hear us when we pray?

He said very sternly, well, of course he does.

He said, Daddy, can I ask you another question?

Does God hear everything we say?

He said, well, of course he does.

He said, Daddy, which does he believe most?

Since we live by the Spirit, let's keep in step with the Spirit.

You see, it's one thing to talk of what we believe.

It's another thing for the Spirit to be at work in us and to transform us, which is totally the vision that we're given in the New Testament.

A number of years ago, you may remember, a book was written by somebody called Craig Gruchel, called The Christian Atheist.

The subtitle of that book says it all.

It's The Christian Atheist Believing in God, but Living as if He Didn't Exist.

There's a warning there to all of us to take a deep, hard, honest look at our lives.

If we seeked, if we talk about living by the Spirit, do we keep in step with the Spirit?

We believe in God, but do we live as though He does exist?

And more than that, do we know that transforming presence of the power of His Spirit in our lives?

You see, at its most extreme, and this is especially pertinent on Remembrance Sunday,

some of the most violent warmongers in history have claimed to be Christian,

or at least laid claim to a version of Christianity.

Hitler being one of them.

Paul draws a razor-sharp contrast in these words to Galatians,

a razor-sharp contrast between life in the flesh, as he calls it,

where we're driven by those broken human sinful desires,

and life in the Holy Spirit.

He gives a list of the sort of behaviours you might expect

if you're driven by your human brokenness.

But then he gives a powerful description of what he describes as the fruit of the Spirit.

And note that it is singular fruit, not plural fruits.

In other words, there is the expectation

that as the Holy Spirit is at work in us,

not just one or two of these fruits will grow,

but all of this as a single fruit,

with these nine different characteristics,

will grow.

Love will grow.

Joy will grow.

Peace will grow.

Patience will grow.

Kindness will grow.

Goodness will grow.

Faithfulness will grow.

Gentleness will grow.

And self-control will grow.

Not one or two at the exclusion of the others.

But we are to expect, as this transformation takes place,

for all of this to grow and flourish.

This list of dimensions of spiritual fruit,

remember it is just one fruit,

differs from elsewhere.

Paul talks in the New Testament about gifts of the Holy Spirit,

because when Paul talks about gifts of the Holy Spirit,

whether that be healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues,

whatever it may be,

it's not necessarily that every Christian will be given every single gift.

We are gifted in different ways.

That's how the body of Christ flourishes.

But not so when it comes to the fruit of the Spirit.

The expectation, the understanding is laid out very clearly by Paul,

that the fruit of the Spirit is expected in every Christian believer.

So as you seek the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life,

expect all of these things, all of them,

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,

to grow in your life.

And you know, a really great way of engaging with that

is at the beginning each day to pray through that list,

to invite the Holy Spirit to move among you

and to pray intentionally for each of those things.

I recently heard it put this way,

and he said, if you want to put this in action,

if we're really serious about transformation

and the fruit of the Spirit growing,

let's aspire to be triple A Christians.

The three A stands for three things.

Okay, so acknowledgement, attention, and action.

What do they mean?

Well, acknowledgement means at the beginning of the day,

make it the very first thing you do

to try to push aside all the other things

that you might have on your mind

and focus on that one single truth

that you are a child of God,

that you are His.

Acknowledge that before anything else gets into your mind.

Remember, Scripture before screens.

Acknowledge who you are in Christ.

Remember Paul says here in verse 22,

those who belong to Christ.

In Christ you're given a new identity.

You're a child of God.

Know that.

You've probably heard me share this story before,

but I'm going to tell it again.

A story about a group of eggs that,

there were chickens' eggs and one eagle egg,

and they all hatched at the same time.

I don't know how the eagle egg got in among the others,

but it did.

And these birds,

these chickens and one eagle,

grew up together.

The eagle, being on his own,

just copied the chickens all day long,

clucked around,

looked rather silly

as they all grew bigger and bigger and bigger.

But that was the only thing he'd ever known,

to walk around on the floor all day,

clucking around like a chicken

and eating the food from the ground.

That was life for this eagle.

One day,

another adult eagle

flew above the place

where these birds were.

And they all looked up

and gasped in wonder

as they saw this eagle

with its wings stretched out wide

in full flight and majesty.

The eagle on the ground,

who didn't realise that he could fly,

stretched out his wings

and said to his chicken friends,

do you think I could?

And they laughed at him.

Don't be stupid, they said.

You're one of us.

We're born to be in this space,

to cluck around

and to eat our food each day.

And so tragically,

that majestic bird

never took off,

even though he had been born

to fly.

The sad, tragic reality

is that every time

somebody rejects Jesus

and everything he stands for,

they accept the life of the chicken,

not realising that every single one of us

has been given those wings

and that we are born to fly.

There's no exclusivity in this.

It's for everybody.

The gospel is for everybody.

And God has plans and purposes

for each and every one of us

that only you can fulfil

because only you are you.

and only you have been designed

and shaped and formed

and given the experiences

and taken through those experiences.

Only you can fulfil those plans

and purposes that God has for you.

And it's never too late.

Any age, any stage in life,

we can know this reality.

To be born to fly

most essentially means

you know who you are.

You acknowledge

you are a child of God.

Make it the first thing

you do each day.

If you want to grow,

if you want to see

the fruit of the Spirit grow,

begin by acknowledging it

at the start.

The second A

is attention.

Having acknowledged,

having acknowledged it,

stay attentive to it.

I say that as though it's easy

and it's not.

I realise that.

We get distracted

by all sorts of things

that come our way

during the course of the day.

But our call is

to practice the presence of God.

See your tasks

throughout the day

not just as tasks.

See them as ministry.

The ministry that God

has given you

that only you can fulfil

because only you are

in that particular place

at that particular time

in a way that nobody else

on this planet is.

Give your attention to it.

As Paul says in Thessalonians,

pray without ceasing.

So acknowledgement,

attention,

and the third one is action.

You know,

it's not that we should go around

all the time thinking

what should I avoid?

What should I not do?

Rather,

to keep in step

with the Spirit

is about asking the question

what aspect of fruit

of the Spirit

might grow now?

That positive action.

Not what do I not do,

but what do I do?

Holy Spirit,

I acknowledge that I'm

a child of God.

I give attention

to your presence,

so Lord,

lead me into action.

What are you putting

before me now?

And let's remember

that that list

that we refer to

as the fruit of the Spirit

is there as a vision

from God

for what we can become

in a life of freedom,

knowing our identity

in Him

and not something

that we just

follow out of

slavish morality.

There's one last story

and then we'll pray.

And it's about a woman

who got married.

Well, a man and a woman

that got married.

But the story is about

this particular lady

who was presented

with a list

from her new husband.

on one side

of this piece of paper

was a list

of all the things

that he promised

that he would do

and that he regarded

as what he would do

in the life

of that marriage

each day

or each week

or each year,

whatever it may be.

He said,

these are the things

that you can expect

from me

that I bring to the table,

the jobs that I will do,

the responsibilities

I will take.

And on the other side

of that piece of paper

was another list

and he said,

here is the list

of things

that I expect

from you.

Things that I expect

you to do.

He arranged

all sorts

of different

tasks,

duties

and expectations.

The woman

was quite puzzled

by the fact

that he presented

what seemed

almost like

a contract.

But she took

it seriously

and she tried

her best

each day

to look

at that list

and remind

herself of the

things

that her husband

wanted her,

expected her

to do

for him.

After a few

years,

forgive the bluntness

of this story,

her husband

became sick

and died.

After a period

of mourning,

this woman

eventually

met somebody

else,

fell in love

and got married.

Years

passed,

indeed

decades

passed

and this

woman

was blissfully

happy

in that

relationship.

One day

she was

going through

some things

in a drawer,

some old

papers,

having a bit

of a clear

out,

and she

saw an

envelope

which she

sort of

vaguely

recognised

but had

forgotten

all about.

She couldn't

remember

what was

inside.

She opened

it up

and pulled

out

the very

list.

That had

been given

to her

in her

first

marriage.

And as she

read back

once again

at the list

of expectations

that her

first husband

had had

of her,

the things

that he

expected her

to do

each day,

she came

to realise

that in

her new

marriage

of love

and being

loved,

she

actually

did

everything

on

that

list.

The thing

is it

wasn't a

list for

her.

It didn't

need to be

written down.

It wasn't

a code.

It wasn't

a set of

rules.

It was

simply what

you do

when you

love

and know

that you

are loved.

God,

since we

live by

the

Spirit,

let us

keep in

touch.

Let us

keep in

step

with the

Spirit.

Let's

acknowledge

each day

that we're

children of

God,

born of

His

Spirit.

Throughout

each day,

let's be

attentive

to that

reality.

And let's

be people

of action,

not because

we're

a slave

to a

list of

expectations

and demands,

but because

we know

who we are

in Christ,

filled with

His Spirit.

Let's pray

together.

Lord,

thank You

that You

create us

to be

Your

children,

to love

You and

to know

that we

are loved

by You.

So fill us

with Your

Spirit and

transform us

by Your

Spirit,

that the

fruit of

Your

Spirit would

grow in

our lives

each day,

each week,

each month,

each year.

Transform

our lives

and shape

us into

the people

that You

long for

us to be.

We may

know that

we are

born to

fly.

Amen.