Good Morning and welcome to the penultimate unpacking of the Fruits of the Spirit. We have enjoyed our ramble along the paths of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness and Faithfulness. Today we embrace Gentleness and on Friday, Self Control.

One of the interesting things that clergy discover very soon after their ordination is that their understanding of Theology is vastly different from the view of the strangers they meet in their first parish. I am not talking so much about church members, but the folk they come in to contact with as they try and make an impression in their local community.

I remember when I arrived in Eastbourne, 40 years ago full of the excitement and enthusiasm, ready to tell everyone all the wonderful things I had learned at University and Theological College. I had loved studying Moral Philosophy, and the History of Anglican Liturgy, and our New Testament Studies had blown me away. Deconstructing my childlike faith, and replacing it with a deep and meaningful understanding of the great mystery which is the incarnation. I had learned New Testament Greek, has a smattering of Hebrew, and I knew all about the Parousia! 

Imagine my poor first parish. I thought my mission was to be to those outside the church, so I spent my time at the local pub, getting to know my new parishioners.

You will not be surprised that they didn’t want to talk about the things on my agenda. They were not interested in the synoptic gospels, or the authorship of Galatians. Theirs was a simple faith, mainly informed by the Christmas Carols they sang so gustily after the pubs closed and they went to Midnight Mass.
They believed in Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. And they loved, Little Donkey. 
They had no time for me trying to tell them of Jesus the revolutionary who turned over the tables of the money changers at the Temple, or who challenged the Roman authorities by questioning their authority. My new non church friends definitely liked their Jesus to be gentle.

In my defence, I was only about 12 years old, but they taught me a great deal, not least that it is not my job to expect  them to think the same as me,  but rather it was my job to encourage them to cherish the faith that God had given them, and where possible, to help it to grow.
This is where the Fruits of the Spirit make such great sense for me.

There is, of course, a place in our religion and liturgy for the great challenges of the Christian faith. The message of Jesus is not to be taken lightly. We are called to pursue Justice in a broken world, expected to welcome the sinner, the stranger, the foreigner. We are called to love our enemies.
Each day at Evensong, we say, in the Magnificat

He has shown strength with his arm  
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

                   Casting down the mighty from their thrones  
and lifting up the lowly.

                   He has filled the hungry with good things  
and sent the rich away empty.

This is indeed dramatic and powerful stuff. But we mustn’t lose sight of the Gentleness which is also so evident in Jesus’ teaching. There is love, compassion and quietness in so much of what he says, and for me the striking words to the crowds who are about to stone the woman ‘You who is without sin, cast the first stone’ is a demonstration of the gentleness which is in his heart.
His words completely diffuse the situation, and call people to reflect. The world needs so much of this today.

So, we may want to be passionate about change, we may want to combat all forms of social, racial and gender  injustice,  we may want to cast down the mighty from their thrones – but there is awesome power in the Gentleness that comes to us as we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. Our enemies are destroyed when they become our friends. The outcasts are removed when they are welcomed in. The poor are no more when we share what we have. The stranger is removed when we ask them their name. Those who are different have the most to teach us, and gentleness can change the world.

Give peace a chance, transform by delight, and hear the sound of God in the still small voice of calm.
Praise the Lord for the Fruit of Gentleness, that’s what I say.

Bless you, Bless you, Bless you. 

As ever,

Fr Marcus