The Open Table - The Presence - Chapter 3 day 4 - The Original Version

When we bought our last house it was late fall and most of the leaves had fallen off the trees. Everything was bare. When spring arrived the trees started to bud and it was then that we noticed our neighbor’s tree was dead. During the winter it looked like every other tree in the neighborhood but once spring hit, it stood in stark contrast to the life all around us.

Regardless of species, trees all have one thing in common; the first sign of life is always the budding leaf. Some trees go on to bear tastier fruits like apples or walnuts, but the first fruit of a tree is its leaves.

The Bible refers to God as a vine and us, the church, as the branches. John 15:4 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

The vine, God, is always about producing life. In fact, Jesus refers to himself as “life” in John 14:6. So its pretty straight forward, a love relationship with life (God) will bear fruit. And if we engage Gods love, we enter into fruit bearing life. If we say yes to love we are saying yes to life.

So what’s life look like, well, its green and leafy and sometimes there are apples or walnuts. Life is about fruit. Or maybe I should say it this way. Fruit is the evidence of life. My neighbor’s tree, the one without the leaves, it was dead.

Ok Jason, I’m with you, so love bears fruit, how does that apply to community? Well, I’m so glad you asked…

There is another scripture in the Bible that talks about what a community grounded in love looks like using the metaphor of fruit. It say’s, “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23)

A love community is essentially a place that models the fruits of the Spirit. Love always bears fruit, so love communities will always have signs that point to life. A love community will have evidence of Gods presence and that evidence looks like the fruit described in Galatians 5:22-23.

I think when we look for a community to make our own, when we seek mentors, brothers and sisters to live the journey with, we are looking for a people marked by Gods presence, a community with evidence of Galatians 5 fruit.

When I look for a place to find community, I want to know that we are pursuing the same thing – Gods presence. A community is simply a group of people running together toward a common purpose and the purpose of a love community is always the presence of God. I’m not saying we have to agree on everything, true community is not about conformity but transformation - it’s about being transformed into the image of Christ.

If you want to know what Gods presence looks like in a community, look for evidence of the fruits of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the revealed presence of God and it always looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the attributes of a love community and this scripture gives us practical mile markers for what community is meant to look like.

When it comes to fruit, be it the leaf, apple or walnut, it takes time. Fruit doesn’t just happen over night. A community of love may not exhibit all the fruits - it’s a journey. But if the presence of God is the central pursuit, there will always be evidence of life.

I encourage you to find and nurture a community of love that is practicing Galatians 5. I encourage you in all things to always seek his presence.