Fruit
My grandfather loved to tell a joke about fruit. “What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?” “Finding half a worm!”
Winter is the season we might find ourselves longing for good summertime fruit. With global shipping there is almost no ‘off-season’ for any fruit but eating summer fruit in the summer means that it is local and picked at the peak of ripeness. (Sorry for the pangs you may now be feeling for a juicy peach, a sweet plum, or some tart bright-red cherries.)
In the gospel accounts Jesus teaches using fruit as a metaphor.
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
Luke 6:43-45
According to Jesus, what our lives produce is a direct reflection of our character. Yet, our culture encourages us to concern ourselves with things that infrequently bear fruit in the biblical sense. Fruit is something that is used to better the health and well-being of another. It is taken and consumed providing joy and satisfaction in the one to whom it was given. Self-absorption, however, leaves no room for considering the benefit of my life for others, how I can give myself in a way that provides joy and sustenance in others. When my focus remains on my own comfort and satisfaction with life, I have little left to contribute to the well-being of others. The limited fruit that I produce there has little value in the kingdom of God.
Changing that dynamic is painful. A poor producing tree requires pruning, cutting off weak and dying branches to allow more energy for fruit bearing. What are the weak or dying branches of our lives that prevent the development of beautiful fruit that can be shared others? What are the things that distract us, sap our energies, and impede us from concerning ourselves with the well-being of others? How can we prune these, removing them from our lives so that resources are focused on producing fruit that Jesus would call good? What help do we need from those close to us to assist with the pruning process?
Spring is finally here which means summer fruit is not far away. Perhaps the remaining days in Lent provide a good season for us to consider what our lives are producing and how we might become a more productive fruit bearer. The evidence of good produce will be the benefit others experience as a result. Let’s get pruning.
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Dan Kreiss, RPC’s Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach, brings with him a heart for service and a diverse array of experiences in the mission field. Be sure to subscribe to the Mission Outreach Blog to read and follow along as he documents his personal journey and shares his vision for RPC’s mission outreach commitment. Along with providing meaningful resources, this blog will help jumpstart the important conversations our church community must be having about missional living.
Dan Kreiss
Rev. Dr. Dan Kreiss is the Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach at RPC. Dan is particularly passionate about encouraging the church to reflect the diversity found in its surrounding community in regard to age, gender, ethnicity, education and economic status.