Sin, at its core, is selfishness and self worship. Our sinful flesh is full of lusts. It lusts to be number one and to have God and the rest of the world serve ME. Everything is about ME. Consider the works of the flesh that St. Paul lists for us in Galatians: fornication, idolatry, covetousness, hatred, and so on. What do these things all have in common? They're all about making ME happy. Satisfying MY flesh. Giving ME what I want. Taking what I want. Believing what I want. There is no room there for God and certainly no room for my neighbor. In fact, God and my neighbor had better get on board with ME and MY lifestyle and MY priorities. That's sin. Wanting what the Lord has not given you. Not wanting what He has given to you. And making it all about ourselves. Sin, at it's core, as evidenced by its works is selfishness and self worship. And St. Paul reminds us what such sinfulness means: You can't inherit the kingdom of God. No eternal life. No paradise and everlasting happiness. Go ahead. Make your life all about YOU now and there's no place for you in God's kingdom. Those who live by their flesh are worthless people. They live only for themselves. They could care less about their neighbor and they will die that way lonely and forsaken, having nothing but what they really want: themselves.

Does that frighten you? It should if you run down that list and see how you behave! We can all spot several items on that list of fleshly works that should do us in. But what can be done about such flesh? What can be done with those sins? Didn't you hear? Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The only thing to do is kill that sinful flesh. How is this done? Paul tells us: Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires! You HAVE been killed. You sinful Old Adam has been slain. How? Where? When did that happen? It happens because Jesus comes into this world and takes on flesh. Human flesh. But NOT sinful flesh. His flesh is spotless and pure. His life is perfect and holy. But He is our Savior because in His Baptism He takes on our sins. His flesh, though it is perfect, becomes covered with our sins. His perfection is covered by our sinfulness. His perfect flesh sheds blood on the cross in the place of our sinful flesh. Jesus is crucified for us so that our flesh may in turn be crucified and the Spirit given to us. YOUR flesh is crucified when you die with Christ. Where is that? At the font in the waters of Baptism. There you died with Jesus and rose with Him. His death is YOUR death. His resurrection is YOUR resurrection. At that font, by water and the Word, you are given the new birth of the Holy Spirit. You are given the Holy Spirit. Just as the flesh of those ten lepers was cleansed by the Word of Jesus, so the water and the Word in Baptism have cleansed and forgiven you and filled you with the Holy Spirit.


So now we talk about the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control. Think about that list for a moment. What do you notice? What's the difference between what our sinfulness does and what the Holy Spirit does in us? Well, the works of the flesh are SELFISH works. The fruits of the Spirit are gifts that make us better neighbors to those around us. In other words, the works of the flesh are selfish. The fruits of the Spirit are SELFLESS. The fruits of the Spirit are in us, not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of our neighbors. Our spouses who need us to love them. Our children who need us to be longsuffering with them. Our friends and relations who need us to be good and kind. Even people like the young lady taking your order at McDonald's or the man driving slow in the left lane who need our goodness and kindness. Do you see and understand the difference? What we work, we work for ourselves. What the Spirit works he works in us for others. WE need to die. To be crucified and killed with Jesus. The Spirit makes us alive with Christ. Alive for those around us. That's good news! Good news because the Lord has saved us from our sinful flesh and good news for our neighbor who has the Spirit taking care of them through us.


But watch out! This works of the flesh and fruits of the Spirit stuff is easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. It's easy to toss Jesus back out of the picture and make the fruits of the Spirit all about ME again. Who does the works of the flesh? We do. The danger is in thinking that being a Christian is just about having some willpower to stop doing the works of the flesh and start being more loving and patient and kind and all that. As if WE are the ones who can accomplish anything! Think about this: Works are things we DO. Fruits are things that are grown. You can do works of the flesh. But you can't make fruits of the Spirit apart from the Spirit. So, let's be clear. Our sins are our own. Yet they are now laid upon the Lamb of God. The fruits of the Spirit are the Spirit's. HE works these gifts in us. They're HIS fruits. If some Christian is loving and patient, don't pat THEM on the back. Rather, thank God that He has given them His Spirit. When St. Paul talks about the fruits of the Spirit, he's not laying out a Nine Step program to changing your life and becoming a better person. He's not laying down virtues and qualities that if you do them, you'll avoid hell. No, Paul is describing what the Spirit works in those who have had their sinful flesh crucified with Jesus.


So, how does one get the fruits of the Spirit? Didn't I just say the Spirit works them in us? If you sin more, you've done more works of the flesh. So, if you want more fruits of the Spirit, put in more Holy Spirit. Where do we get the Spirit? How does He come to us? How does He work His fruits in us? By the holy means of the Word and Sacraments. God's Word; the water and word of Baptism; the word of absolution; the body and blood of Jesus. These gifts give us the forgiveness of sins and you can't have the forgiveness of sins without the Holy Spirit who delivers it through those gifts. So, if you want to be more loving, kind, patient, etc., for your neighbor's sake, then the only thing to do is get more Spirit. Live more and more in your baptism. Come more and more often to confess your sins and be absolved. Come more and more to receive Jesus' body and blood given for you. Hear the Word of God preached and taught more. Do as the Samaritan leper did and come back to Jesus for more! It is by those gifts—the Word and Sacraments—that the Spirit crucifies your sinful flesh and begins growing His fruits in your life. Let the Spirit do the work! Don't YOU run around trying to change your life as if fixing your attitudes and actions is what makes you a Christian! Rather, believe that the work of the Spirit is to crucify your sinful flesh with Jesus and give you fruits in a new life that benefit and help your neighbor.


Listen very carefully. This is important. Evil works are not erased by doing good works. And you can't get the fruits of the Spirit by trying to crank them up in yourself. All of your life as a Christian is the work of Jesus in you through the Holy Spirit. The killing of your sinful flesh is done by joining you to Jesus' death for sinners on the cross, joining you by Holy Baptism. The sinful flesh is overcome when the declaration that your sins don't stand against you is made by your pastor. The sinful flesh is finished when you have the holy and spotless flesh of the Lamb of God put into your mouth in the Sacrament. See? It's all Jesus. But the fruits are the Spirit's too. Whatever the Lord works in you to be a better person, a better neighbor, a better husband or wife or parent or child or whatever—that is the fruit of the Spirit which the Spirit gives and grows. You don't get it by trying to get it. It is given to you in the means of grace when the Spirit kills what is against God and grows what is beneficial for those around you. Brothers and sisters in Christ, our flesh wars against the Spirit. Our flesh loves to be selfish and to worship itself. But our Old Adam is finished. The Spirit is stronger because He brings to us the Jesus who has already paid for our sins. And now, led by the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, we're something useful in this world for the Lord to use to bless our neighbors. Want to be a better neighbor? Then more Jesus. More living in your baptism. More absolution. More body and blood of Jesus. Those gifts give the Spirit and the Spirit, giving us our rescue from sin, grows good neighbor gifts in us. It's all the Lord's doing in Jesus. Amen.