This morning I would like for us to consider what our emotional, intellectual and spiritual investment has yielded in terms of energizing our lives with the gifts of spirit that Paul described in Galatians 5:22 i.e., peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness humility and self control.  In other words, what kind of fruit are we growing?  When others observe us what do they experience? 

     Earlier in that same letter, Paul revealed the results of his faith prior to his life changing experience while on the road to Damascus.  He wrote, You have been told how I used to live when I was devoted to the Jewish religion, how I persecuted without mercy the followers of Jesus and did my best to destroy them and that for which they stood.  I was ahead of most other Jews in the practice of our faith and was much more devoted to the traditions of our ancestors.@ (Galatians 1:13-14) 

     Paul, who was then Saul of Tarsus, was convinced that he had the truth but his understanding bore the fruit of arrogance, hostility and witch-hunts.  His faith orientation motivated him to arrest, persecute and destroy those who were not like him, a familiar theme we know all too well for Islamic extremists.  What do our beliefs inspire in us?   

     When I was a teenager, frequently our youth group went into the District to attend meetings of the Christian Youth Crusade.  I was in junior high at the time and completely unprepared for the intense emotional appeals concerning personal salvation that were made by this group's leadership.  There were testimonies from other teenagers of how Christ had changed their lives.  I had no problem with listening to them.  Then the hard sell began. 

     The CYC's leaders spoke a great deal about the work of the Devil and how Hell awaits for those unwilling to welcome Christ into their lives.  These experiences with the CYC evoked the most intense feelings of fear that I ever encountered as a young man.  Their words were so unnerving that I decided I would no longer attend the youth fellowship as long as our group continued to travel to the Christian Youth Crusade.  

     Yet, I was confused.  Was I running away from God?  Or, was I reacting to the persuasive techniques of people who wanted to save my soul by any means possible, including evoking fear of eternal damnation if I did not submit to receiving God's love according to the verbal formulas they had determined?  This was not the only occasion I experienced confusion.   

     Several times members of our church went to hear the evangelist Billy Graham at the old Griffith Stadium.  He delivered excellent messages.  Yet, I can remember his altar calls to this day.  Don't harden your hearts, he would say, there may not be a next time for you.  God wants you to say Ayes to Jesus Christ tonight.'  

     Dr. Graham's pleas were accompanied with the massive Crusade choir singing, Just As I Am. Again the altar call produced confusion.  I had always honored the teachings of Jesus as being the highest benchmarks of behavior we can experience.  Was God calling me or was I being coerced into proclaiming a verbal formula that was foreign to me?  I have never been attracted to fear-based thinking.     

     The spirit coming from this style of Christian witness was dark, unattractive and repelling.  For me, Christianity was never about saving my soul but about healing the world by teaching others why it is absolutely essential that we learn to love each other.  The stress from these leaders on personal salvation was akin to suggesting that people needed a security blanket that would insure their entrance in Heaven.  Jesus did not invite his disciples to save themselves, but to be a light in darkness.  For me, the evangelical message stressed self-interest rather than marching into hell for a heavenly cause.    

     During Paul's earlier years, he firmly believed with all his heart, mind, soul and strength that living in harmony with God meant being obedient to the Law.  Paul reasoned that since God had handed down the Law through Moses, it must be obeyed.  Equally, he must have felt that he was in harmony with God's will because he was stamping out heresy that needed to be destroyed aggressively, lest others become vulnerable and be persuaded that truth could be found elsewhere. 

     At least a half dozen times during my ministry I have encountered a number of very devout Christians who informed me that I was going to Hell because of what I was teaching and preaching.  The more I listened to them, the more I realized that their words were betraying them.  

     What they were saying had nothing to do with God's love.  Their words had nothing to do with me.  Their words had everything to do with how they perceived me because of what was within them.  Their beliefs and convictions were making it impossible for them to build community with anyone who did not share their understanding.  How isolating their witness was!  Who would find such a message attractive and compelling?   In my experience, such a message has driven countless thinking people from the church.   

     In many respects they were like the Apostle Paul prior to his conversion.  These Christians had become so convinced that their system of beliefs was correct that now they could presume to know the mind of God with respect to others whose beliefs were different from theirs.  When we sincerely trust God for the outcome of all things, we no longer have to judge others who are not like us.  

     One of the reasons Jesus attracted all kinds of people was because he loved them.  Listen to these words from Mark's Gospel, A large number of tax collectors and other outcasts was following Jesus, and many of them joined him and his disciples for a meal.  The Pharisees asked his disciples, Why does your Master eat with such people?  (Mark 2:15-16)  Again, Jesus loved them and accepted them where they were in life. 

     The most wonderful people in our lives are those who love us in spite of our flaws, in spite of our rough edges.  If we fail to meet their expectations, they do not waver in their friendship.  If we engage in behavior that could disappoint them, their friendship remains unblemished.  With this said about those who will not let us go, God is not a fair-weather Creator who loves us only when we are good, wholesome and spiritually energized.   

     Some people will tell us that this kind of friendship is giving others the flexibility to engage in all sorts of behavior that compromises what Jesus taught.  Of course it does.  What we may forget is that this kind of love is what flows from God.  If God were in the habit of fixing people, all of us would have learned by now how to love our neighbors.  It is clear that not all of us have evolved to the place where we can do that.  God's love surrounds us nevertheless. 

     God allows us to be what we are, where we are.  God has also designed a safety net in creation. Consequences have the ability to offer us alternative course corrections when we wish to change our minds.  God's love for us is eternal.      

Regardless of what we have been taught, God offers unlimited forgiveness.  The responsibility for our spiritual evolution is ours alone; it is not God's.   Nothing else will work but God's plan for us. God knows this.  God's plan for us is that we become like Jesus, not in our self-righteousness and pride, but in the clarity of love that we direct toward others.  Our eternal destiny could never be determined by just one sequence of years in these physical forms.  God's plan is much larger than our minds can conceive.    

     Prior to his change of mind, Paul's salvation was found in his obedience to the Law.  Jesus had discovered that people could obey the Laws flawlessly and meticulously while still remaining condescending and self-righteous toward others.  Conforming to legal formulas did not work. 

     Salvation for a number of today's Christians is found in their faithfulness in conforming to correct beliefs.   Jesus did not teach this.  Such a belief can inspire spiritual arrogance every bit as misguided as that of the Pharisees.  He wanted the behavior and attitudes of his followers to reflect the spirit by which he lived.   

     What kind of fruit are we growing?  What do other people perceive from us?  What do our thoughts, attitudes and desires communicate?  Even though our lives are absolutely transparent before God, life remains abundant when we become inspired by love rather than from our fear of failing to please God.   Our desire to please others can easily grow from a motivation that is different from love.  

     Friday evening I officiated at a wedding that took place in an incredibly beautiful setting along the Chesapeake Bay.  The marriage was remarkable in many respects.  The bride's family is Christian and they had migrated here from Kenya.  The groom's family is Muslim and they had migrated to America from Nigeria.  Think of all the implications symbolized by that union.