“Bearing
Fruit or Fruiting Bare?”
1 Kings 19:14-15a Then he
said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of
Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets
with the sword. And I alone am left; and
they seek my life, to take it away.” The
Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness…”
I know, I know. This is a blog about fruits so I am supposed to quote Jesus saying, “I am the vine and you are the branches…” or maybe Paul defining the fruits of the Spirit. But that isn’t really what this is about. I want to talk today about the perils of bearing fruit and what happens when we are not cautious to daily take care of the tree… or vine if that is a reference that makes you more comfortable in fruit talk.
The Bible tells us the story of Elijah in 1st and 2nd Kings and I think his story is the one that most aptly gives us this warning. Elijah was a tremendously powerful prophet but lived at a time when the Lord was being greatly dismissed from the people of Israel. He was faithful to do everything that was asked of him from the Lord. He spoke many wise things by God’s own words and even performed several miracles in the land by the power of God working through his hands. Yet here he sat on this desolate mountain top awaiting a refreshing word from the God he followed faithfully only to hear God say, “Go back to the wilderness.” Ouch!
You see, even in bearing bountiful fruits in the name of the Lord, Elijah was showing unsettling signs. Signs that became evidence that his faith was being shaken, even as God cast down fires from heaven at his beaconing and raised the dead at the sound of Elijah’s request. So what were these signs you ask? There were two, so let’s look at them both.
First, Elijah was afraid. Not that fear alone is a sign of faithlessness, but Elijah’s fear was one that was perceiving a threat that was not there. Jezebel said she was going to have him killed. That part was very real, but that isn’t why Elijah ran. Not at least according to his own words. When God said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:13) Elijah quoted our core verse for this lesson reasoning the he fled because “I alone am left”. What is wrong with that? Well, he wasn’t alone. He had with him his servant, he had been given provision by angels, by ravens and by a widow. Shortly after this passage we see that he was also aware of a contemporary prophet in Obadiah who had protected two caves full of prophets from Jezebel. Then God mentions 7,000 others that He was raising up for Himself in addition to Elisha who would be his successor. He was not popular, but he was certainly not alone. Fear can make us perceive things as being quite different from what actually is. Elijah ran because he was “alone” despite having a bare minimum of 7,102 plus the angelic army by his side.
Second, Elijah believed he had to do everything on his own. He certainly recognized that he accomplished nothing but by the hand of God, but what he did not recognize was that he could have accomplished nothing if on by himself. He would have starved if not for the widow and her son, his messages would never have reached Ahab without Obadiah, and he wasn’t going to change the hearts of the Israelites by himself. Even the Lord’s fires consuming the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah on Mt. Carmel had only a minimal effect. In fact, the people of Israel would not have their hearts changed in the life of Elijah at all but it was to be after him that change would occur. And it is surely exhausting to try and change the entire world on your own while blinded to the help God has sent.
Here Elijah was on the mountaintop asking that God would just kill him and get it over with. But as he pleads with God to end his misery, God says, “Go back into the wilderness.” With what does God equip him to muster up the strength to go? Does he give him a flaming sword or a horse with wings? Nope. He parenthetically says, “You are not alone.” He tells him that there are others, and that finally brings me to my point.
You see, we are called to bear fruit. We are called to give that fruit away over and over because it is God who provides the growth and so the source is limitless. And as Christians we believe that and hold that truth very dear but then, often times, we find that is not in line with the experiences we have in reality. That isn’t to say it isn’t true, that is only to explain that sometimes things sneak into our lives unknown to us that begin to tamper with our fruit production such that we are no longer bearing fruit, but we are fruiting bare. However, since we are just going about life the same as always, we stubbornly continue giving that fruit away over and over because that is just what we are supposed to do; God will provide we reason. Friends come to us and need a word, the lost are all around us and we have a desire to reach them in some way, loved ones suffer and we are willing to give them anything they need even if it hurts.
Over and over, we invite
one after the other to come take of the fruits… but then it happens. One day, we invite someone to take of the fruit
and there is nothing there. A neighbor
needs to talk about a sorrow they are enduring and rather than having our
attention all we can think about is, “How long will this be?” or “I swear I
heard this same story last week.” A
friend wants to borrow your truck and you know that is code for can you help me
move but instead of offering you say, “I will leave the keys in the potted
plant out front.” Your son experiences a
teachable moment and you just let it pass because, “I just want one night where
nobody asks me for anything.” Not only has
the constant production of fruit ceased almost completely, but now when those
invitees come to take and find nothing, you offer them a leaf… and then a
branch. Before long you have been
stripped bare and you can feel that you have nothing left to give. You have become a stump.
We have all been there,
don’t feel guilty. But how is it that
this limitless fruit indeed has limits? Is
it because you are not following the Lord or because you are not reading His
word enough, or you are not worshipping hard enough? Do you need to go on a 40-day fast and prayer
diet or surrender to a 3-month foreign mission?
Maybe, but that sounds a lot like trying to do it all alone like Elijah
doesn’t it? And if you have nothing to
offer your son, how is it you believe you would have something to offer a
foreign nation? Perhaps instead you need
to gather around with a group of believers and tell them what is going on. Receive some encouragement from people who
have been where you are. Let someone in
on what has been distressing you. Elijah
was hiding in a cave by himself while there were two caves full of other
prophets out there going through the same exact thing. Maybe instead of running from Jezebel we need
to have our faith renewed by finding our Elisha who emphatically exclaims to
Elijah 2nd Kings 2:6b “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself
live, I will not leave you.” Maybe
instead of asking for God to just kill us we need to politely say “No” to being
one of the 20 percenters at the church and instead be revived before we get
back into the game.
Now, I am saying all of
this with the understanding of your maturity.
I am not at all saying that you should only do what you feel like doing,
but what I am saying is that you should take a look at your toolbox before agreeing
to build a house. If you are a few
wrenches short, perhaps God is not calling you to fix the car but instead to invite
a mechanic to also partake. You don’t
have to do it all alone and if it doesn’t get done it isn’t necessarily your
fault.
Secondly, don’t let that
which is ungodly sneak in and cause you to perceive things as they are
not. Elijah was not alone, perhaps he
just needed to get back into metaphorical wilderness with the rest of the prophets. You are not too busy… perhaps there are godly
changes that need to be made in your life.
You have not been abandoned… perhaps you were freed. You are not useless… perhaps you were doing
something for which you were not created.
You are not too old… perhaps your ministry is evolving towards
wisdom. You are not barren… perhaps it
is time to look around you and see where God is already working and go be a
part of that. You are not fruitless…
perhaps you are being called to involve others in the fruits God is producing.
Isaiah was called to render
the hearts of the people insensitive to the Lord; producing a stump out of
which would come the shoot of Jesse, but not in his lifetime. Elijah was called to slap around the monarchy
of Israel so that the prophets would arise and win back God’s people, but not
while he remained on Earth. Moses was
called to lead God’s people out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the promised
land, but not while he had breath in his lungs.
They each had very difficult ministries, but they were not alone. Isaiah had his wife and sons, Elijah had
Elisha among many others, and Moses had Joshua, Jethro and his wife. Although I have not done a complete scan, I think
you would be hard pressed to find anyone who did what they did all by
themselves even if God were at their side.
For completions sake, even Jesus required not only the Father but twelve
companions on which He relied in order to have the strength to bear the fruit He
bore. If Christ alone were not even
alone, why should we be an exception? If
we try, we are likely to be giving away branches instead of the fruit; the
stump which gets left behind is still good for offering a seat on which to rest
for the weary, but God has plenty of stones for that. He has proposed a much greater and more
living ministry for you.
Worship God regularly,
read His word daily, stay fervent in prayer, take that sabbatical and do not
neglect these things. But don’t forget
that the tree God has planted (you) is human, and as humans we have the need
for companionship, for encouragement, for an ear to hear us vent, a shoulder to
cry on, and a loving touch to ensure us that we are not alone. In that soil, even in our fallenness, we will
bear much fruit.