Galatians 5.1,13-25, Luke 9.51-62
Whitegate (Morning), Trinity 5, Proper 8, 30/6/2013
O that I were a preacher of old who could take hold of the text of Galatians chapter five - with its earnest exhortations to renounce the flesh and live by the Spirit - and turn them into fearful, fiery, unforgettable prose. Like the great C. H. Spurgeon who in his sermon on Paul’s text spoke of:
The reveling which makes night hideous with its so-called songs - call them howling and you are nearer the mark - the reveling which spends hour after hour in entertainment which heats the blood, hardens the heart and chases away all solid thought, is not for us who have renounced the works of darkness - for us there is a better joy, namely, to be filled with the Spirit - “the fruit of the Spirit is love.” [1]
Spurgeon is keen to invoke his listeners to clearly see the distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Party Spirit. With a distaste for the sorts of things which people most like to do at parties, he is good at telling people how not to live, what things to avoid - yes, the sorts of things which people most like to do at parties. The relish with which he does this seems to betray a fascination with these forbidden fruits, but his intention is good - to point people towards a better, more lastingly satisfying, more deeply fulfilling way, a maturity in the Spirit of Christ.
So Spurgeon was right, as preachers of that style today are right: the church undoubtedly loses people when it focusses on the denial of pleasure; but equally, we will gain people when the positive benefits of knowing God are accentuated and celebrated, when people are drawn to see that the greatest pleasure in life is in knowing God. If the Party Spirit leads to self-destruction then the Spirit of God leads to fulfillment. I, for one, will drink to that.
Now, you might say, I am no party animal, I’m not devoted to the Party Spirit, I don’t need sermons on personal behaviour because I’m really not given to bouts of fornication, impurity, licensiousness, drunkenness and carousing. If this is the Party Spirit then give me the Holy Spirit any day. I am after spiritual maturity.
And if you do say this, then that is good. And as part of spiritual maturity is making sure we’ve studied the scriptures carefully so as not to miss some of their meaning, let’s ensure we’ve got from Galatians 5 all that Paul intended us to get. I just missed a verse out of Paul’s list of the desires of the flesh. Let’s look at it now. Because this verse takes us out of the nightclub, away from the dancefloor, into behaviours which go to the heart of our life together.
This is verse 20, (and I quote from the Revised Standard Version translation) where Paul’s list of the desires of the flesh expands to include ‘idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension’, and ‘party spirit’.
What is this Party Spirit? This isn’t about clubbing. In the New Revised Standard Version in our pews this word translates as ‘factions’; in other bible versions it comes over as ‘divisions’. The Good News version speaks of people ‘separat[ing] into parties and groups; the New Living Translation uses thirteen words: ‘the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group’
Now this is a different sort of Party Spirit altogether. And one which offers profound challenges to we who yearn towards spiritual maturity. For one idolatry which we religious people are prone to embrace is the sense that we are right and others wrong; deeper than that, the sense that we are right because we are different than those others. This spirit of hostility is an unfortunate feature in religion today, as it was way back in Jesus’ time.
Look again at today’s gospel reading, for the Party Spirit is there. Jesus disappointed at the Samaritans’ refusal to offer hospitality to his party; Jesus rebuking his disciples when they responded with hostility to the Samaritans. It’s the Party Spirit at work.
Biblical historians tell us that Samaritans were consistently hostile to Jews making their way to Jerusalem for their religious festivals. Not unlike present-day Roman Catholics hijacking Orange Parades in Northern Ireland, or conversely Orange marchers in Liverpool banging their drums provocatively outside Catholic churches on the 12th of July.
Our own sectarianism may be less naked than that, but we’re all liable to fall foul of the Party Spirit, for we are creatures of flesh and need to be aware of it. So next time you find yourself criticising another kind of church or another sort of Christian for what they do, take time to ask yourself why you’re doing that, what spirit drives you there.
Note Jesus’ response to the Party Spirit. When he’s victim of it, as in the Samaritans treatment of him, he ignores it, doesn’t let it stand in the way of his progress towards Jerusalem; when his followers demonstrate it, he rebukes it in them. In the Kingdom of God there is no place for the Party Spirit.
So our journey towards spiritual maturity in Christ, requires us to keep the Party Spirit at bay. Requires us not to be drawn into factionalism - like putting a label on another church and saying, ‘they’re wrong, we’re right’. Our journey towards spiritual maturity in Christ requires us to develop attitudes of love, joy, peace towards those of our brothers and sisters who do things differently than us.
It’s a work of patience - trying to understand other people’s ways. It’s a work of kindness - giving space and time to those who differ from us. It’s a work of generosity - allowing yourself to give up attitudes and practices which stand in the way of Christian unity. It requires faithfulness to God, gentleness to others, and self-control to move away from the Party Spirit.
Thank God that we have the Holy Spirit to draw on as we take steps in that direction. Thank God that there are others beside us in the Kingdom who worship God differently than us, from whom we can learn so much, with whom we can share so much.
Notes
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, The First Fruit of the Spirit [pdf] No. 1782 at www.spurgeongems.org
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