9/15/63

Scripture: Matthew 7: 15-20.

People are judged less by what they say than by what they are and what they do. governments are judged by what they accomplish. Churches are judged by the same pragmatic standard. We say, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." In the same frame of mind, we feel the deep, permanent truth in the insight, "By their fruits you shall know them."

That expression was used by Jesus more than once. More than one gospel writer noticed it and recorded it. Matthew recorded it in the seventh chapter, from which we read the morning Scripture lesson today. He was talking in vivid picture language about false prophets who could look as innocent as sheep, but be as ruthless as wolves. "You will know them by their fruits," he said. And his warning to the disciples had the same ring of accurate judgment as had the saying of a more nearly modern teacher in the saying: "What you are doing speaks so loudly that I can not hear what you are saying."

Switching his reference from the animal realm to that of plants, Jesus reminds his hearers of what they surely expect from thistles or thorns; from fig trees or grape vines; from sound trees or bad trees. "You will know them by their fruits," he said. Quite right!

Matthew records another saying of Jesus a little farther on in his gospel at chapter twelve. Beginning at the 33rd verse he quotes Jesus as saying: "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! how can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." [Matthew 12: 33-37].

Luke also remembered this kind of reference by Jesus. In the sixth chapter, beginning at the 43rd verse, Luke quotes Jesus as saying: "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." [Luke 6: 43-45].

This is more than a clever insight by a good teacher. Life forces it upon us as a requirement of living. We judge people more by their deed than by their word. "By their fruits," we choose to size them up.

Of course, in fairness to the Scripture references, we ought to grasp the meaning of this insight to the Gospel writers and their readers in the early church. The parable of the fruits is a warning to the church to beware of heretics; to be on guard against false prophets who pretend to be genuine.

Many of us, in our day, take heresy lightly. We rarely hear of such a thing as a heresy trial in ecclesiastical life anywhere, and we have forgotten that such trials were important in much of the history we have studied. We even use as a term of praise such an expression as: "O, I’m a heretic!" Probably we find it difficult to appreciate the need for the warning to the early church --- the utter seriousness of it. But try to think, for a moment, how it looked from where they were.

We live in a land, and at a time, in which the majority of folk or at least half, claim some connection with a church. Our religious faith is given respect and tolerance. But those early disciples were just a handful of people among millions in the Mediterranean area. It is true that the early church grew rapidly. But by the end of the first century, when the gospels had been written and were being circulated, Christianity was still a small sect -- very much a minority group. As a minority group, its members could find hope for the future and strength for survival only in the strength of unity. Whatever built, or augmented this unity, was good. Whatever weakened, disrupted or destroyed it was bad. And so all changes in the church were carefully studied in the light of what might happen to the unity of the brotherhood.

One of the constant problems of the church, then as now, was trustworthy, dependable leadership. Teachers of religion, prophets, evangelists were in constant circulation. So long as they were in agreement, the unity of the Christian groups was assured. But when they fell out among themselves, the listeners split into camps and Christian groups began to fall apart.

So the early Christians were warned to "beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but, inwardly, are ravenous wolves." [Matthew 7: 15]. The warning was only against "false prophets" -- not against all prophets. But the real problem was this; how are you going to know which are false and which are reliable? Anybody would discount the teachings of a false prophet if he were known to be false. Anyone would welcome and heed a true prophet if one could be sure he were true. The early church, like the Hebrew folk of an earlier time, had to find ways of determine what was true and what was false. They came to the conclusion that the only certain way to test the prophets was "by their fruits."

Jeremiah had concluded that, if what a man prophesies is what actually happens, he is a true prophet. If not, he is false. The early Christian church broadened the base of that test somewhat, but kept the principle that the only way to decide whether or not a prophet is true or false is to listen to him; then gauge the meaning of what he says for the strengthening of Christian living, and the welfare of the Christian group. If he is self-seeking; if he splits the group; if he refuses counsel by the elders of the group; he is a false prophet and should be sent on his way at once, they reasoned.

The parable of the false prophet describes him in two ways -- neither of them complimentary -- both drawn from the rural life with which all of the Palestinian people were familiar. One describes him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing; the other as a grape on a thorn bush. One thing binds the descriptions together: the heretic is not genuine; he is not interested in the church; he does not belong to the Christian fellowship and community. He sounds a wrong note. In our vernacular, we would say "he is a phony."

The Gospel writers were great believers in integrity. Together with Jesus, they were convinced that one’s inner nature will sooner or later be revealed by what he does. Pious words may deceive people for a while, but not for long. The contradiction between the internal man and the external man will soon become clear to the discerning observer. And so we read in the Gospel writing that "the good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil; ... for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

Matthew, who knew how to catch a sharp phrase, quotes Jesus as saying to the Pharisees: "You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil?" If they were, as he charged, evil through and through, from the inside out, their words were surely corrupted at every turn.

--------------------

If we are to accept the teaching of the parable that deeds are the true gauge of the whole person, we may give some thought to the question: "If you could be given your choice, by what deed or achievement in your life would you like to be remembered?" History makes some interesting choices. One of Shakespeare’s characters makes the somewhat cynical observation that: "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones."

History is often more charitable than that. But it does make choices.

Harold Bosley observes that two of the most widely known and best respected preachers of their times in American history have been Phillips Brooks and Harry Emerson Fosdick. Both published numerous books of addresses and sermons. Brooks preceded the radio, but Fosdick was heard all over the nation on the radio for many years. But it is probable that each of these two preachers will be best remembered in history for poems that have become deeply loved hymns of the church. Christmas brings to mind the words and music of "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Phillips Brooks wrote it as he sat on a hillside overlooking Bethlehem on his first Christmas eve visit to the village where Christ was born. And, after all, it is a splendid memorial to Brooks that gathers up the first fruits of his faith, his hopes and dreams. By this poem we know Dr. Brooks quite well.

Dr. Fosdick has written many significant books. He was in the thick of every important social engagement of the church for over a half century. His voice and mind and spirit reached the far corners of this country. Many of us have found enlightenment and courage in the light of his faith. Notwithstanding all this, it seems likely that Fosdick may be longest remembered in history by his hymn, "God of Grace and God of Glory," (which we sang last Sunday). It comes to mind as fitting his own life and ministry. There is a fine integrity between poet and poem. The hymn is the fruit of a good tree; a good word spoken from the heart of a genuine man.

It is said that Thomas Jefferson wished that he might be remembered best as the author of the provision for religious freedom in the constitution of Virginia. He was a great man, and there is a great deal for which he may be rightly remembered. But surely his wish represents one of the fruits of his life by which he deserves to be known and remembered.

------------------------

If people and government and groups are to be rightly remembered by their fruits, for what deed or achievement of the church would you like have her known? The church has been all too human upon occasion. But she has brought forth a harvest of good deeds and significant achievements which bears upon the whole course of history. And the end of her contributions is not yet. If we are permitted to make a list of the church’s good achievements as fruits by which the church may rightly be known and remembered, the list may include, first, (1) that she deserves to be known and loved for the way in which she has nurtured us in the worship of God.

Among all human institutions, the church alone centers her life on this calling. The main thrust of the church’s life and work is to lead us to the fuller praise of our Creator. The church confronts us with God, the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer of life; with God in whom we live and move and have our being; with God the Judge of all earth; with God the Father of all mercies to whom erring children can come in confession and find forgiveness for sin; with God the One whose love will never let us go. The church does not create God; she discovers Him and helps others to discover Him. She nurtures people in the worship of Him. She seeks to serve Him. She invites all who believe in Him to find their place in His service.

(2) The church deserves, further, to be known for her love of Jesus Christ and for her faith that in him we have our clearest insight into the will of God for mankind. Jesus Christ was the center of life for the early disciples. He is still the center of life for present-day disciples in the church. In the fellowship of the World Council of Churches, we are making a momentous discovery. Jesus Christ is at the center of the Christian tradition. The many churches of the Council have been separated from each other; but as we move closer to Christ in the common search for the divine will, we find ourselves drawn nearer to each other! The more we center our faith, not in our peculiar differences, but in Christ, the more we find ourselves in understanding of each other. Our unity in the spirit becomes more apparent. At the great conference in Amsterdam and at New Delhi, the delegates said, with great joy, "Our unity is in Christ." And in so saying, they gave expression to the experience of finding each other as all confronted Christ together.

The appreciation of this fruit is not reserved alone for those who have participated in the work and worship of the World Council of Churches. It is one of the secrets of why we are willing to work in the church -- why we believe in the church. The closer we draw to Christ, the more at home we feel in the church and the better we are able to do the work of the church.

Lay members, here and elsewhere, give it as the reason for what they are doing in the church. It was a layman in a church in an eastern city of our country who made it a point to greet new members of that church with these words: "We want you to love and serve the Lord through this church." He was not a deacon of the church nor a member of a committee on spiritual life. His church job was serving as chairman of its commission on Stewardship and Finance. But he saw that, and all other responsibilities of church groups, as part of their loyalty to Christ.

It is no accident that the symbols of the church center in Christ. We owe him what we are and what we hope to become. In his service, people have given themselves to needs near at hand, or have gone to the ends of the earth. And may we never let that phrase, "to the ends of the earth" blind us to the immeasurable amount of sacrifice, hardship and true glory involved in it! For where Christ leads, people of integrated character who believe in him, must go without calculating cost or measuring gain. He is our Lord and Leader.

There is a disposition on the part of some to say that they believe in Christ but not in the church. And yet, were it not for the Church, Christ could hardly be known as he is known. The disciples, who gathered around him in love and trust, were the first church. Their recollections and teachings provided the materials form which the New Testament was written. The continuing church wrote the New Testament, which contains practically all we know of Jesus Christ. The church treasured the New Testament and taught it until it became the spiritual discipline of Christians in all ages. The church has taught this faith and lifted this witness. There are those of the church who have died for the faith. That is why it is available to us today.

(3) A third fruit of the church is the study of the Bible, opening it to all the world. The church alone, of all the institutions of the world, is concerned enough to study it and to present it as a worthy object of study. We call it the Book of Life. As indeed it is the book which brims full of life. It is the richest deposit of religious experience that we have. It contains the reliable records we have of God’s dealings with the Hebrews and with the early Christian church and man’s response to Him. In it we find the record of man’s experience in climbing toward a richer, fuller belief in Him. We find in it food for our journey here and resources to carry us along and beyond this mortal life. The Bible is a book of comfort and assurance. But it is also a book of rebuke and of judgment. It is a book of guidance, pointing the way toward God, giving to those who want to serve him some notion of what that service means.

One of the goals of church life is the continued study of the Bible. This has been the effort of the church through the years. Now we have a newly designed curriculum in the United Church of Christ to study further the Bible and its guiding light on all facets of our living.

(4) A fourth fruit of the church is the steady effort to bring people into creative, redemptive fellowship with one another. These fruits of the church are not to be snatched from the tree of the church and devoured in some corners where each of us might withdraw into ourselves. These fruits are most nourishing when shared together with others in the fellowship of the church. Each one calls us to do something in response to them. (1) The worship of God leads to work and service for God’s sake. (2) The discovery of Christ means to follow him as truly now as ever. (3) The study of the Bible is most useful when it is a shared pursuit. The church seeks to be (4) the fellowship of those who not only "love God and enjoy Him forever" but who are willing to bring their own life, and the life of their society, under His judgment. The church has a right to be known by its fruits. We individual people are known by our fruits. May we be the genuine sort whose deeds and accomplishments yield a harvest of usefulness in our world.

Amen.

-------------------------------

Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, September 15, 1963.

Also at Waioli Hui’ia Church, February 24, 1974.