Fruit
Galatians 5
There are a lot of “light” metaphors used in the scripture:
God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And it was good.
You are the light of the world.
You are children of light.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
God spoke to Moses from a burning bush.
Don’t hide your candle under a bushel. Let your little light shine.
You get the idea. As people of faith, we affirm that God’s grace is the source of light. We are the benefactors of that light. The light comes from God and when we let our lives shine, we are simply acting as mirrors of God’s light – reflecting that light to others. Mirrors are a good analogy.
Some like the candle metaphor. The presence of God within us is the tiny light that burns in the darkness. It only takes a candle to dispel great darkness. Some of us act like this metaphor is so powerful that we end up burning our candle at both ends. I like what anti-marriage equality proponent Rick Warren says about that. He said that if you’re burning the candle at both ends, you’re not as bright as you think! Yes, even fundamentalist preachers can be funny!
I want to suggest for GLBTQH folks another metaphor that I have found powerful which can symbolize how to live our lives faithfully. It is as a prism. When light hits a prism, the light passes through the prism and is broken down into its individual parts. The result is a rainbow of color.
Our text for today tells us that the fruit of our lives reveals the quality of who we are. That, of course, is the Eknes-Tucker translation of this passage. The actions, values, evidence and effect emanating from your life reveal the quality of the person you are. That seems to be a self-evident truth, doesn’t it? The scripture talks about this in terms of fruit. The fruit of the prism is a rainbow. The fruit of your life is what happens when the presence of God permeates who you are and emanates from you to make your world brighter. So I encourage you today to embrace your inner fruit. What kind of fruit would you be if you allowed the freedom of God’s grace to bless through you? What colors would glow from your rainbow if you allowed God’s grace to flow through you?
Throughout our history, the people of All God’s Children MCC have tried to call forth from ourselves and from our community those qualities that help to make our world a better place. We have produced some amazing fruit! Today I am pleased to continue that tradition by presenting the 2010 Troy D. Perry Living Our Vision award. This award is presented each year from our congregation to an outstanding individual who has made the world a better place for the GLBTQ community. Past recipients have been community leaders, media personalities and politicians. Today’s recipient is an activist at heart. She has worked passionately for over a decade both in California and in Minnesota to reduce health disparities in the queer community. This work has specialized in the prevention and intervention of substance abuse including tobacco. Today she is the Director of Programs for the Rainbow Health Initiative where her work continues to make Minnesota a safer and healthier place for all of us. I am pleased to present the 2010 Perry Award to Loretta Worthington.
For many years many of us despised it when catty people referred to GLBTQ folks as “fruit.” It has been my experience that one of our greatest spiritual gifts is the ability to take something meant for evil and to make it into something good. God’s presence blesses through the prism of our lives and the fruit is a rainbow of diversity, hope, love and strength. That which others meant for evil God can use as an instrument of good. It comes down to whom do you give the power in your life? To whom do you allow the power to make you feel bad about yourself or good about yourself – that your gifts are making a difference or making no difference? We have that choice. In fact, it is imperative, I believe, that we claim the power to make that choice. For when you give your power to someone who doesn’t deserve the honor of having that power over your live, you become enslaved to their brokenness. Conversely, when you put that power in the hands of the one who is the source of the rainbow, the result is a beautiful outpouring of color and light.
No two rainbows ever look completely alike. When God’s grace emanates from our lives, it manifests unique qualities in each of us. Yours may have a preponderance of the green of growth or the blue of tranquility. You may be a person whose rainbow has lots of red passion or purple noble qualities. Maybe orange is your strong color. I have no idea of what goes with orange! We’ll call orange the maverick color. You blaze your own trail.
The call of scripture is clear, “Let your light so shine that all might see your good works.” Let the prism of your life flood the world with the grace of God emanating from you. The world needs more fruit like us. Amen?
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com The Candle or the Mirror, June 2010.