WALKING IN THE SPIRIT - What might it mean for a community to "walk by the Spirit?" Seems that Paul is trying to answer that question for us in our lesson this week. At least he suggests some specific actions that such a community can take in mutual correction of one another, self-examination, and financial support of the leadership and staff.

SOWING AND REAPING - We are posed with a contrast either of sowing the wild oats of the flesh or of sowing to the Spirit. I would rather have a third option. A sort of centrist position-the image of sowing seeds of mixed origins. But that’s me, not Paul. Paul, ever the apocalyptic thinker, has no middle ground here. The seeds that we cast will fall on one ground or the other-it’s our choice.

The words of this passage reflect an extended family, not an institution. You may want to push that metaphor in your proclamation. Perhaps this will help you to get started: an excerpt from NIB that carries that theme . . .

Life in the Spirit is not a life of lonely striving, not a life restricted to a zone of privacy; rather, it is a life lived in community . . . characterized by the interdependence of its members. Because we are members of one body in Christ, our common welfare depends on the spiritual health of each member, and we have a stake in helping one another walk faithfully. A church that takes Paul’s pastoral guidance seriously will seek to develop patterns of life together that enable us to profit from gentle and timely corrections offered by other members of the community . . . [1]

Paul suggests by analogy that our lives are like a field that will produce whatever is sown in it. What have you especially taken pains to broadcast in your life?

Judith Wright, in her book, There Must Be More Than This, suggests that we all sow seeds of "soft addictions" in our life-TV junkies, constantly checking email, investments, the weather, shopping, glamorizing, housekeeping, hygiene, leering, overworking-to name a few. What weeds in your life do you need to pull out?

Get a copy of Wright’s book (mentioned above) as a way to enter the discussion about sowing to the Spirit and sowing to the lower nature.

Help people find more to life through a deeper understanding of what the Spirit is after-and desirous to produce-in our lives.

_______________________________________________________
[1] Ibid, page 338.