Repentance Means to Stop Judging and Bear Fruit

Here's the gospel from today's Roman Catholic lectionary (Luke 13:1-9)

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil? ’He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

Along with most of our nation, I've been following the presidential debates and listening to the decisive and cataclysmic rhetoric being employed by Mr. Trump. Many of his followers embrace his inflammatory style and resort to derogatory terminology toward women, toward Secretary Clinton, and toward people who can't support his messages of degradation, stereotype, and fear. Recent political discussions online made me think about the concept of fruit, and how scripture tells us we are to judge according to it.

Now the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5 is  "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." This seems to be the opposite of the fruit from Mr. Trump. He does not convey love, joy, peace or forbearance. He does not act kindly. His behaviors are hard to categorize as good. He has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of faithfulness. He is the opposite of gentle. And self-control is one of his weak points.

In light of the Galatians description, his fruit is small, bitter, and worm-riddled.

In today's gospel we see Jesus chastising those who clamor about the sinfulness of others, presumably claiming that a particular group of Galileans are so sinful that they deserved harsh forms of suffering. It reminds me of the claims of some fundamentalists who say that hurricanes are the result of homosexual behavior. It reminds me of the outlook of some of Trump's followers, proclaiming woe unto our nation and the dire destruction that is to follow if we don't change our ways.

How does Jesus respond? First, he tells them they are wrong about the premise. Then he tells them to repent. Then he describes what repentance looks like: the production of fruit.

Good fruit.

Today I pray that those producers of meager, bitter, rotten fruit listen to the call of Christ:

Repent. Stop assuming that the sins of others are greater than your own. Start producing the fruit of the Spirit.

And recognize the fruit of your chosen candidate.

False prophets bearing good fruit?

The readings of the day include this passage from Matthew, the first verse of which is often used to describe people like me who offer apologetics for Christ's acceptance of same-sex relationships:

^{Matt 7:15} “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 

I've had it flung from an assortment of places online, sites in which fundamentalist Christians gather to pick up scripture like a burning brand with which to purge the land of the scourge of gaydom. 

The passage continues with this:

¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

This morning we turned to Galatians, to read more about good fruit:

^{Gal. 5:22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  

In conversations with these folks, verses of scripture spray out like bullets from a Gatling gun, with little skill and no concern for accuracy. Just a scattershot of ammunition designed to destroy or at least frighten into submission.

My prayer for those of us who love God from within same-sex relationships is that we be mighty bearers of good fruit. In all our discussions, no matter how infuriating or repetitious or contentious, may we bear gentleness and self-control. May our behavior stand in sharp contrast with the hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, dissensions, and factions that are listed as un-Godly fruit described in verse 20.

May we return the harsh brutality of scripture as weaponry with a gentle rain of living water. 

And may they indeed know us by our fruits.