The heart of Washington apple country is the Wenatchee Valley, where the region’s rushing rivers produce crisp, delicious and nutritious fruit. If you are like me, you feel the need for a snack around 3 in the afternoon most days. I’m learning to reach for an apple instead of a cookie because apples are mostly water, have only about 100 calories, and though sweet, contain no sodium or cholesterol. They boost blood sugar more slowly than other snacks taking our bodies right to the dinner table without the need for anything else. Because of a good parent’s efforts, most of us know that fruit is better for our bodies than processed foods, and regular exercise is vital for both our physical and mental health. But where do we find the power to change our habits, the power to choose life-giving, life-sustaining practices?
As we consider the role of our Helper, the Holy Spirit, we must confront a deeply entrenched but faulty assumption. How many times have you heard it? How many times have we said it to ourselves? “People never really change.” This assumption rings true to us because change is difficult, gradual, and not without discomfort, even some growing pains. Still, change is possible, especially if we have help, and, according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is our helper. How does the Holy Spirit help us change? What does the help of the Holy Spirit look like in human bodies and communities? I would suggest that it looks something like apple orchards in the Wenatchee Valley of Washington State, if we look closely and maintain our gaze.
Though growth spurts can occur, most change is gradual and organic, which means the most benefit comes from what the Helper starts with and what the Helper constantly provides in an environment that encourages growth. When it comes to apples, you want to start with disease-resistant varieties like Heirloom or Antique. These apples have been around a long time and have developed defenses against common diseases and pests. The Helper starts change in human beings by planting a seed of life that does not come from us, it is God’s seed, God’s DNA, growing in and among us. This spark, this desire for eternal life in us is not from us. Christians are “born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or of a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:13). As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, “flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (3:6). Spiritual growth begins with God’s DNA, the seed of the Holy Spirit. But this is not true of us only, it is true of the orchard, which leads us to the Spirit’s ongoing help for our growth.
Not only must apple growers start with good seed which produce good apples, they also must cultivate an orchard of pollination. Orchard keepers know that the presence and organic interaction of crabapple and other varieties of apples is vital for healthy growth and a productive harvest. Likewise, our Helper, the Holy Spirit does not save us alone nor leave us alone but puts us in orchards of pollination, local churches. As Paul illustrated for the Corinthian Christians, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we are all baptized by one Spirit into one Body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor 12:12-13). Christians who live in the US tend to think of spiritual growth as an individual self-improvement program, a solo performance. But the energy and resources for change come from being part of an ensemble, from being a tree in an orchard or forest. Those who study forests have discovered that each tree is connected to an organic network of exchange. In like manner, those who have received the Spirit share the Spirit’s gifts, pollinating, encouraging, grace-infusing one another with nutrients for growth and power for change. Not only do we have a Helper in the Holy Spirit who we petition in prayer and whose voice we hear speaking through the Scriptures, but we experience the Spirit’s presence through the Spirit’s gifts and fruit expressed in each member of the Body of Christ. This is a difficult lesson for many of us, but we don’t have everything we need as individuals to change for the better on our own. While we can degrade through inactivity or malnourishment, we cannot grow without the pollination that comes from other trees in the orchard. Trees of different varieties have nutrients that we ourselves do not possess. We grow by being planted near them and interacting with them in the orchard of the Church.
Just like there is no perfect church, there is no perfect apple orchard. The trees themselves must be pruned and shaken. Early in the life of apple trees, orchard keepers pick the blooms off the trees to encourage the growth of the tree itself before it becomes fruit-bearing. Throughout the life of the tree, growers keep watch on the leaves and fruit for signs of disease or pests. Leaves and fruit, even branches are pruned to protect the overall health of the tree and encourage new, healthy growth. Jesus told us that the role of the Helper was to remind us of everything He has said to us: “When the Helper comes, he will expose the guilt of the world with regard to sin, and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). With the sharp power of God’s Word, God’s Spirit pierces our conscience, judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts to reveal sin and spark repentance (Hebrews 4:12-16). If we listen to the voice of the Spirit, speaking through the Scriptures, speaking through the exhortation of a brother or sister in Christ, and confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Pruning is not only about removing the leaves and branches, the poor habits and sinful patterns which are stunting our growth, it is also about how the Helper helps us replace them with good habits and life-giving patterns. “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). The hunger is real, but you and I must reach for an apple not a cookie. The psychic pain is real, but you and I need true companionship and life-giving conversation with a Spirit-filled friend or counselor not a drink or a drug.
Still, there are times, when the Helper shakes us with external trials and afflictions. When Japanese beetles descend on an orchard, the Orchard keeper goes out at night to shake the trees. Japanese beetles are heavy sleepers and the most effective way to confront them is by spraying leaves with soapy water during the day, then taking a tarp out at night, laying it below a tree and shaking it. The beetles fall on the tarp and can be gathered up and put in the soapy water to drown. The apostle James tells us to “count it pure joy when you face trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish it work so you may become mature and complete lacking nothing” (James 1:3-4). Both here in James’ letter and in Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians where he tells them “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5), the apostles point out that God, in his goodness and power, uses suffering, even when it arises from evil, for our good. Suffering can also come from doing the right thing. When we choose to set our minds on what the Spirit desires, instead of the desires of our sinful nature, when we choose to put to death a habit of our old way of living-death, and to replace it with a habit of eternal life, we suffer pain. But this pain, like the intense pain of childbirth is generative, resulting in great joy. In sum, because of the Holy Spirit, we have God’s DNA, the seed of eternal life. Because of the Holy Spirit, we are part of an orchard of living, gifted, fruit-producing trees that pollinate on another for life. Because of the Holy Spirit, the pain and suffering which comes from the Spirit’s pruning, results in new, more productive growth. Because of the Holy Spirit, we can eat from the tree of life. Finally, the next time you read Genesis 3 about the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, take note that Moses never said it was an apple.
