Skip to main content

Bearing Fruit

I have a weird thing were I can remember conversations and stories but I can't often remember where they took place and who was there. Anyway, in the last couple weeks, we were having a conversation about religion and I said one of the things I appreciate about the Roman Catholic church is the Saints. Because here in Protestant church, we know the basic stories of the people in the Bible, but we have only a vague idea about how people lived out their faith a century ago, two centuries, or five hundred, one thousand, or fifteen hundred years ago. Most of us know the names of Mary and Joseph, Jesus, Peter, Simon, James, and John, and Paul the Apostle, Jonah, Moses, Noah, and Adam and Eve, but can we lift up people throughout the history of Christianity, which is now 2,000 years old, who made a difference, who bore fruit in their time and changed history and the church?

Most people could name 5 musicians or bands they like, their 5 favorites actors/actresses, 5 professional athletes, maybe even a couple of writers, but outside of our church and our community, can we name 5 people in today's world who we think are bearing fruit? If I asked about about the last 100 years, the top two names would probably be the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sister Theresa of Calcutta. Who else would be in that list for you? ...  Even in liberal Protestant churches, we have made our faith too much personal and private, rather than about bringing the kindom of God into this world, we are satisfied with just changing hearts and maybe a few minds. 

It is the strangest thing about John the Baptist's story in the Gospel of Luke. He greets the coming crowds not as a gracious host, someone who is bringing good news of great joy, not as a carnival barker wanting them to buy the ticket to get in, but as a prophet of old, Eugene Peterson writes like this, "“Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God’s judgment? It’s your life that must change, not your skin. And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as ‘father.’ John the Baptist goes on to talk about trees being cut down and the separation of the wheat and chaff and the chaff being burned with unquenchable fire. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contribute to the needs of God's People

  On Aug. 28, 1893, Sen. James Kyle of South Dakota introduced S. 730 to the U.S. Senate to make Labor Day a legal national holiday on the first Monday of September each year. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill on June 28, 1894. By then, a fall holiday called Labor Day was already being observed. Beginning in the late 19th century, parades, picnics and other celebrations took place to support labor issues such as shorter hours, better pay and safer working conditions, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In introducing the legislation, Kyle said that labor organizations were united in asking that the first Monday of September be set apart as a holiday in order to make the observance uniform. This would result in workers enjoying vacation privileges on the same day, according to the Dec. 1, 1965, issue of “The Wi-Iyohi,” a monthly bulletin published by the South Dakota State Historical Society. Prior to serving as a U.S. Senator, Kyle served as pastor at the Congregati...
Post a Comment
Read more

Selling Out

 Last Fall, I read a book called, "A History of Burning." It is a multi-generational story about a family that migrates from India to Uganda for hopes for a better future to help the British build a railroad, whose children through education secures a government job, but then Uganda throws off their colonial oppressors and gains independence and turns against the Indians who live there, and they have to migrate again and start all over in Toronto, Canada. It is a sad story of colonial power of the British Empire bringing in foreign cheap labor to build their infrastructure that leaves out the local population. And once Uganda gets independence, the corporations still control much of the economy and fosters division between the Ugandans and Indian to keep the country unstable. It is a triumphant story of human determination in the face of adversity, but only a few make it.  One of the first paragraphs in a Wikipedia search about Africa told me that Africa is politically unstab...
Post a Comment
Read more

For They Were Afraid

 The Gospel of Mark starts with Jesus' baptism, there is no birthday story, no background, just jumps right in with his baptism, driven into the wilderness to be tempted, proclaims, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." Plucks Simon and Andrew up which they mend their fishing nets, heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law and she immediately gets up and serves them. (How many times does Mark use immediately?) And the next morning gets up early and while everyone is searching for him, he is heading to the next town. It is like a big movie opening that grabs everyone's attention and it doesn't slow down.  Did you ever watch Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail? There was to be this final battle of King Arthur with his forces and the God's blessing and just as the battle commences, modern police show up and arrest everyone and the movie is over and we are left scratching out head, "What just happened?" The end of Mark is just as confusing,...
Post a Comment
Read more