Filled with the Fruit of Righteousness

Text: “9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:9)

Before we get to addressing the text, rarely does one of the readings express the goal of a sermon as perfectly as today’s epistle reading. These words, originally addressed by Paul to the church in Philippi, are rightly echoing from pulpits still today:

“3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. ...9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11).

Today’s gospel reading is a hard warning. Today we begin to hear again the hard message of John the Baptist: “9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8a). It’s a hard warning. It’s a hard warning because it needs to be. It needs to be because judgment is coming.

That’s a reality that all of us have to acknowledge and deal with. In ancient Greece, the famous teacher Socrates issued a similar warning when he taught that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” To this day, that saying resonates with those willing to wrestle with the reality that, one day, we are all going to die. Now, not all of them are ready to accept the reality of judgment that goes with it— they may prefer to frame the issue in terms of making sure that they’re living a life of ‘meaning’ and ‘purpose’, but they’re dealing with the same basic question. The fact remains: whether we want to accept it or not, the axe is, in fact, already laid to the root of the trees. Every tree— every life— that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Unfortunately, what Socrates and his like miss is the fact that all the fruit of our lives is rotten. The problem isn’t just that you didn’t bear enough of the good fruit. The problem is that “44 [E]ach tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:44–45, ESV). The problem isn’t that you need to “do more good stuff.” The problem is more fundamental than that. It goes deeper than that. The fruit of your heart and mine is rotten—including the good things you do. And the wrath of God is coming. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and burned. On that day the nations will desperately try to find somewhere to flee to. They will cry out to the mountains to cover them. But there will be nowhere to hide. Every tree not bearing fruit will be cut down and burned. Where will you flee?

That’s why, even for you who know Christ, today is a call to repentance. We return to the words of St. Paul: “9 it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11). Because, the problem isn’t that you need to “do more good stuff.” The problem is more fundamental than that. It goes deeper than that. The fruit of your heart and mine is rotten—including the good things you do. As I like to say, no matter how hard you try, no matter how careful you are, no matter how much effort and self-examination you take part in, you can’t squeeze clean water out of a dirty sponge.

Whether you need to flee from the coming wrath, or you hope to be found filled with the fruit of righteousness on that day, the message is the same: flee straight to where John the Baptist is pointing you: to Jesus Christ.

We are about to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. “2 [H]e grew up …like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2, ESV). But the fruit of His life is righteousness. Perfect love for God and love for His neighbor. Perfect humility. Perfect charity. Perfect chastity. Perfect kindness. Perfect temperance. Perfect patience. Perfect diligence.

The fruit of His life is compassion for the sick, the suffering, the sinners. He was passionate about being in His Father’s house and just as passionate for healing the sick and feeding the hungry and raising the dead. The fruit of His life will most certainly stand on judgment day and beyond.

And more than that, when Jesus went to the cross, He took the fruit of your life, corrupted and poisoned by sin, upon Himself. He takes your pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth where He and they are consumed by the fire of God’s wrath so that you will not be. “8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; ...he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people[.] ...11 Out of the anguish of his soul he [has seen] and [been] satisfied; by his knowledge [has] the righteous one... [made] many to be accounted righteous, and he [has borne] their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:8, 11).

His cross becomes, for you, the tree of life. The angel with the flaming sword is removed and replaced with the angel declaring that Christ is risen and death is defeated. The tree of life is now replanted in your midst, that you may eat of it’s fruit and live forever.

So bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Acknowledge with your actions the invisible, spiritual reality of faith: you have been forgiven. You were dead but are now alive. You have been washed clean, inside and out. You have been made ready for the day of judgment. The fruit of His life is now credited to you.

Until that day, do not neglect coming and eating the fruits of His cross: His body and blood, given and shed for you there. Until that day live in the promise made to you in baptism: you have been united to Him, which means that His undying life is yours and He lives on in you, continuing to bear good fruit. As you continue, connected to Christ through those Means of Grace, “9 your love [will] abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11).

By the power of baptism, by the power of Holy Communion, by the power of His Word at work in you, He continues to produce perfect humility, perfect charity, perfect chastity, perfect kindness, perfect temperance, perfect patience, perfect diligence. Through you, He continues to have compassion on the sick, the suffering, and sinners. Through you, He is still passionate about being in His Father’s house and just as passionate for healing the sick and feeding the hungry and raising the dead. This fruit that He produces within you will also most certainly stand on judgment day and beyond.

It’s not about “doing more good stuff.” It’s about bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. “Whoever has two tunics… share with him who has none, and whoever has food… do likewise” (Luke 3:11). Now is the time to ask yourself what the fruit of your life looks like. To be reminded who and whose you are. At times that will look more like trying to understand and minimize the harm you’ve done to others by your sins. At other times, it will be the joyful work of standing along side of those crushed by the burdens of this life and helping them to bear the load; of weeping with those who mourn; of bearing fruit in keeping with repentance in the full confidence that, in Christ, not only will you remain standing on judgment day, you will stand before His throne of judgment “11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”