EATING OF THE TREE OF LIFE: Fruits of the Spirit Part 9, Self-Control

Happy Saturday, beloved!

Lots to consider this morning, as this beautiful holiday weekend begins. I like to think of Labor Day weekend as one long Sabbath rest, a gift of God to re-center and nourish us, a time to rest and play and give thanks for good work. A reminder that work in any form, paid or not, is a gift of God...and at the same time, a reminder that whatever our work is, it does not define us or establish our worth. A Sabbath rest reminds us that we are not defined by what we accomplish. No matter what we do, what we can no longer do, what we wish we had done but never did, we are beloved and belong to God. And life is GOOD. Wherever you are spending it, at home or elsewhere, I hope that you take time to make it holy.

This Sunday in worship, we finish our series on the Fruits of the Spirit with the last one Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23: self-control. This one, at least on the surface, seems different from all the others. All of the others we can see begin with God. We can see God's own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness is expressed toward us, and how it transforms us. We can feel the seed planted within us, feel how it grows in us, see how it changes the way we live and move in the world. When we nourish that seed with prayer, worship, study, obedience, and service, we experience how the seed God planted becomes a strong and healthy plant, producing the fruits of the spirit in US. We become loving, peaceful, patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle people...we become a gift to all of those around us, through whom God can plant more seeds in more people. And pretty soon, the earth becomes the Garden of Eden restored, with the Tree of Life right in the middle. Paradise.

Self-control, though? It feels different. And it is. Our God is blessedly extravagant, loving and forgiving us in a no-holds-barred, carefree, utterly uncontrolled, passionate way. God created the earth in a burst of creative abandon, resulting in an impossible variety of people and creatures and things that live in wild, interconnected perfection. That paradise we look forward to, the complete joyful freedom in it, the Tree of Life with all of its fruit, the abundant life Jesus promises us, these are limitless, boundless things.

And yet...

I don't want to give it all away here. Just read Luke 15:11-32. This -- self-control -- this is the big one. See you in worship.

Forgiven and free,
Pastor Dawn

PS We are having an ice cream social next Sunday, September 10! If you are able, bring your favorite ice cream or topping, fresh fruit, cookies or brownies, whatever you love best with ice cream, and celebrate the end of Summer and the return of our Bible studies, choirs, and Sunday School.

PPS Hope to see you at the Labor Day parade! We are still collecting candy for the kids, so bring a bag or two to church on Sunday if you can!

PPPS THANK YOU for your donations for new pew Bibles!! Because of your generosity, we already have nearly enough to buy them, just need about $200 more. Any extra you provide we will use to provide preschool-aged Bibles to our little ones (they are so cool, all stories and colorful pictures, along with a CD for them to listen to!), Bibles for young readers to our mid-elementary aged students, and adult Bibles to our high school graduates. The more Bible reading in the world the better, and the younger the better, amen? AMEN.