The Fruit of the Spirit is Gentleness

Galatians 5:16-26

“Walter, get down here right away! Company’s coming and you still haven’t picked up the living room.” Mabel’s shrill voice pierced his ears. ‘Yes dear,” Walter responded as he made his way down the stairs. Mabel saw him descending and attacked, “Didn’t I tell you to change your shirt and put on a sweater? These are your friends coming over, not mine. I want you to make a good impression. Go up and change.” “Yes dear,” said Walter as he reversed his direction on the steps. Her voice followed him. “And then get down here and pick up the living room like I told you to do.” “Yes dear,” muttered Walter.

Meekness or gentleness as it is translated in the NIV, isn’t that a quality you want to have in your life? As you grow in the fruit of the Spirit, don’t you want to be more meek? More gentle?     More like Walter?

The problem with gentleness, or meekness, the eighth of the fruit of the Spirit, is that gentleness and meekness are confused with weakness and no one is attracted to that.

Words change in meaning over time. I have a wonderful daily calendar that each day describes the etymology or origin of a word. For example, take the word flaw. In the 1300s, flaw was used to mean “flake” or “fragment. By the 1600s, a different meaning began to emerge. This time, the word implied a flake or fragment that was broken off something, such as a flake of ice, and this soon solidified into the contemporary meaning, “a mistake or imperfection.” So one might say, “The car is beautiful but it has one flaw. There is no engine.”

In understanding a word in Scripture, it is sometimes helpful to see how that word has been understood over time, so let’s take a look at the word translated as gentleness or meekness and see how it evolved.

In the Old Testament the corresponding Hebrew word was used to describe those who were poor, without landed property, and who therefore could be taken advantage of. From there, the meaning was expanded to describe those who were defenseless, those without rights, the oppressed, those who were cheated, exploited and cursed.

Yahweh, the Lord, was revealed as one who took the part of those who were defenseless, without rights, oppressed, cheated, exploited and cursed. And so the meaning changed to describe those who in deep need and difficulty, humbly sought help from Yahweh alone.

So gentleness or meekness is the characteristic of one who throughout life, but especially when in a difficult situation, humbly seeks help from God and God alone. It’s the quality of one who in a difficult situation says, “OK, God. It’s you and me and I trust you because there is no where else to go.”

The difficulty is that the meaning of words is continually evolving, no matter how many laws the French create to prevent this from happening. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that.)

When I talked with Noreen Maxwell in our congregation who is 86, well educated and very well read, she knew immediately that meekness was humility. Unfortunately that meaning is passing and meekness is today commonly understood to be a form of weakness. So translators switched to gentleness to describe this fruit of the Spirit. Older translations like the King James say meekness, but all the modern translations I looked at have switched to gentleness.

But gentleness doesn’t quite do this word justice. Gentleness only describes what happens to a person who exhibits this fruit of the Spirit in their lives, not the root cause and original meaning.

Someone who does not say harsh words to another person is considered to be gentle. A young child will try to pet a cat or dog and the adult has to protect the pet from being smacked because the child does not yet have enough control over his or her muscles to be gentle. Being gentle means not bruising someone, physically or emotionally. “Be gentle with her,” says the mother as an older brother picks up the younger baby. “Gently, gently,” says the fruit stand vendor as a particularly hard shopper pinches and inspects each piece of fruit before buying it. “Be gentle with him,” says the mother as the father goes in to discuss with his son the speeding ticket he received.

But gentleness goes far deeper than that.

Aristotle said that a virtue is the mean between two vices. If you take two vices, bad qualities, that stand opposite each other, the character quality that sits in the middle is a virtue. So in this case Aristotle said that with rage on one hand and indifference on the other, gentleness was the virtue that sat in the middle between these two vices.

This gives new meaning to gentleness. Gentleness is more than not bruising another person emotionally or physically. Gentleness carries with it a toughness, a strength that allows a person to stand up in a difficult situation without resorting to rage or indifference.

Let’s take a look at Jesus and see how this quality revealed itself in his life.

When Jesus was arrested and beaten and mocked and flogged and crucified, what were his options? Do you think Jesus was smart enough to talk his way out of his arrest? Look at how he continually outsmarted the religious leaders who came to ask him questions and trap him. Over and over they went away frustrated from their encounter with Jesus because they could not out think him. Don’t you think Jesus could have done the same thing at his trial? Don’t you think Jesus was capable of saying just the right thing to Herod or Caiphas or Pontus Pilate that would have allowed him to avoid being crucified?

When Jesus was on the cross, what resources did he have at his disposal? In Matthew 26:53 when Jesus is being arrested and Peter pulls his sword to defend him, Jesus tells him:
Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

Jesus had tremendous resources at his disposal. The Roman guards and the rest of their legion would not have been able to stand up to the army of angels Jesus had at his disposal. And yet Jesus chose not to depend on his intelligence and the angelic army. He chose to submit to God, to rely solely on God.

When Jesus faced Herod and Pilate and Caiphas and was mostly silent, offering no defense, Jesus was exhibiting gentleness. He chose not to respond with rage at the injustice of what was being done to him. He was not indifferent to what was happening.

Jesus chose, with great strength, to submit to God and allow the will of God to be done. What did Jesus pray in the Garden of Gethsemane?

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

This is gentleness, exhibited by Jesus. This is the great prayer of gentleness. Gentleness is strength under submission.

As with all the fruit of the Spirit, we learn by looking at God what those qualities look like since those qualities are, in fact, the character qualities of God. Once again, Jesus, God in the flesh, demonstrates for us what gentleness looks like.

As we grow in our relationship with God, we take on the character qualities of God in our own lives. We grow in the fruit of the Spirit as we abide with Christ. The fruit of the Spirit may not be as evident in our lives when we first begin our relationship with God, but over time we are changed and the fruit of the Spirit become more evident in our lives.

It has been obvious to me in this series of sermons that I have much need for growth in my own life. When I preach on a certain of the fruit of the Spirit, I think of someone who seems to me to evidence that fruit in their lives. And inevitably, it is someone older who has lived a lifetime of seeking God and depending on him.

When I think of someone who needs to grow in a particular fruit of the Spirt, I inevitably think of younger people (and here I am calling myself young – as strange as that may seem to someone in their teens or twenties). We grow, we make progress, over time, when we continue to live in relationship with God.

We see this in the life of Peter. The picture of Peter in the Gospels is of one who is brash and impetuous. Peter is the one who steps out of the boat to walk on the water toward Jesus. Peter is the one who speaks up to say that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Peter is the one who pulls out his sword to defend Jesus when he was arrested. Peter was a natural born leader who was used to relying on his own strength and his own power. Gentleness is not a quality many confuse with the Peter they meet in the Gospels. Yet look at the Peter revealed in his letters toward the end of his life.

Peter writes to a church undergoing persecution and it is apparent that this is not the same Peter who pulled out his sword to defend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter’s advice to those who are experiencing persecution, hardship, and injustice is, over and over again, submission. Listen to this advice from his first letter. He is talking about those who are treated unjustly.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

“Not my will but yours be done.” The Peter of the Gospels would have railed against this injustice, but the Peter who has grown in his relationship with God says to submit for a greater good.

In Fox’s Book of Martyrs, there is a description of  the circumstances of Peter’s death.

Hegesippus said that Nero sought evidence against Peter to put him to death. When the people perceived this, they pleaded with Peter to flee the city. Peter, because of their insistence, eventually was persuaded and prepared himself to leave. But when he came to the gate, he saw the Lord Christ coming to meet him. He worshiped Jesus and asked, “Lord, where are you going?” The Lord Christ responded, “I have come again to be crucified,” by which Peter understood he was being called to suffer and returned to the city. Jerome said that he was crucified with his head down and his feet up because he said he was unworthy to be crucified in the same fashion as the Lord.

We don’t know that this is exactly what happened, but this does flow with the development of Peter from brash disciple to letter writer who urges Christians to submit to unjust authorities and cruel masters because in doing so we represent Jesus to them.

The fruit of the Spirit as gentleness is evident in this account of the death of Peter. Peter did not react with rage to the persecution of Nero. He was not indifferent. But in an act of submission, he sought the will of Jesus and when he perceived that it was time for him to return and be crucified, he did so. Peter acted on the prayer of Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done.”

How does this work out in our own lives?

Let’s say you begin having a discussion with another person. This is a person who Jesus loves and for whom Jesus died. He says something that irritates you and you say something back. Before you know it there is a verbal war taking place and physical violence is not far away.

I think gentleness, when it is developed in us allows us to diffuse confrontations because we put ourselves and our situation in God’s hands and in his hands alone. Someone says something that irritates us and we respond but then as things begin to heat up, gentleness says, “Not my will, but yours be done.” At this point there is an act of submission to God and all of a sudden, my irritation doesn’t seem so important. I may be capable of beating up the other person verbally and physically, but I choose to submit to God and allow his will to be done.

What I think happens when I do this is that my venom is removed from the argument which allows reason to reenter the conversation and the possibility for God to work in the encounter returns.

In his first letter to Timothy, written at the end of his life, Paul urges him:

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this [conceit, unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels, envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, constant friction], and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

How can you pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness and your own stubborn point of view? Gentleness is the needed antidote to relational strife.

In the United States, splitting churches seems to be as popular as baseball. Churches split for many reasons. Some split because one part of the congregation wants to build a new church and the other part wants to give more to missions. Some churches split because half of the congregation likes the pastor’s twenty minute sermons and the other half wants forty minute sermons.. Some churches split because of disputes on obscure theological doctrines. There is a long list of why churches split.

Here is what I think happens. An issue comes up about which there is discussion. One group says that worship needs to be more contemporary with guitars and praise choruses. Another group says that worship of God needs to be more liturgical with hymns that speak of the theology of our faith. The discussion heats up over the weeks and months and finally it gets to the point that neither side is conscious of who it is to whom praise choruses and hymns sing. Christ has been pushed aside and the point of view being argued has taken his place.

At this point, what is needed is Christians who pray the prayer of gentleness, “Not my will but yours be done.” When that happens, the argument cools down and allows room for God to come back into the fellowship.

One of the images used to describe the Body of Christ is that of each Christian being a building block and together, with each block in place, we make a beautiful building with Jesus as the cornerstone.

Unfortunately, the church too often resembles a defeated city with stones scattered here and there across the landscape rather than a well constructed building.

Young people split churches and more mature Christians regret the tearing apart of the body of Christ.

Perhaps you have someone you love who is not a Christian, a spouse, parent, child, sibling. Because you love them you have told them about your faith and encouraged them to surrender to Christ and accept his gift of salvation. Because you love them you have told them this several times, many times, many, many times.

Gentleness allows you to put your full reliance on God and depend on him to work in the life of the person you love.

What happens is that you then are able to back away from the intensity of your concern and simply love that person. God’s love is more easily able to flow through your life because you have submitted to him, “Not my will but yours be done.” God is more easily able to work in the life of the one you love because you have submitted to the one who loves that person far more deeply than you are capable of loving.

In a marriage relationship, you have a discussion about finances and different spending habits. The conversation moves quickly from “Honey, I know that you..” to “Sweetheart, you know that you always…” to “Honeybunch, don’t go too far on this one…” In a matter of minutes, the conversation has moved to a major confrontation. I think that gentleness, as a fruit of the Spirit, is evidenced in this situation by stepping back and saying, “Not my will but yours be done.”

What I think happens then is that room is created in the relationship for a more honest sharing of what is behind the argument and the marriage is strengthened rather than weakened.

Perhaps there are some here who have strained relationships with someone in their family, a brother or sister, son or daughter, parent or in-law. The relationship is strained and getting together is difficult. I think that gentleness, as a fruit of the Spirit, is revealed by a Christian praying to God, “Not my will but yours be done.” This submission to the will of God does a powerful thing.

It removes my venom from the family dispute and allows me to put the needs of the other person before mine. This does not happen because I eat humble pie and submit to the other person. That too easily leads to pride. This happens because I submit to God and that act of submission allows me to consider the other person’s needs. I allow God to work in the relationship because of my submission to him. Because I submit to God, I begin to see the family member as a person in need of being loved by God and not as a person who wronged me or who irritates me.

As I say this, I am aware of how difficult it is to do. It is not easy to choose the path of gentleness, the path of submission to God. And it is because it is so difficult that it takes a lifetime to develop.

Be encouraged this morning. We have the privilege of sharing together in the sacrament of Holy Communion, a time when Jesus reminded us we should remember him and renew our attachment to him. It is in attaching ourselves to Christ and abiding in him that we will be able to grow in gentleness and the other fruit of the Spirit. God is at work in you and you will be transformed as you abide in him.

Benediction
Philippians 4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.