One of my all time favorite meals is biscuits and gravy. Can you relate? Every Sunday morning of my childhood and teenage years, my Mamaw Ruby would make biscuits and gravy and our whole family would gather for breakfast. It was a glorious thing! I still love to eat biscuits and gravy however I have learned that it’s probably not something I should do every morning.
A few years ago, my wife introduced me to this odd thing I had never paid much attention to called a grapefruit. When I was first getting to know my in laws, I walked into the kitchen one morning to find everyone cutting up grapefruit for breakfast. I was like, “hey, where’s the gravy?” So I decided to try one these things and I followed each of their steps. I cut the grapefruit down the middle. Then cut all the little sections and finally I used my spoon to dig in. It was kind of sour and kind of sweet, but overall it was delicious! Later that day, I googled “grapefruit” and learned just how good this strange new fruit was for me. Grapefruit are high in fiber and low in calories. They can help protect you from disease and assist the body in fighting conditions like fatigue. Grapefruit contain a high amount of water which helps in changing the complexion of the skin and they are an excellent appetite suppressant. Some say that the smell of grapefruit reduces the feeling of hunger, which is why grapefruit are included in a lot of weight loss programs. Now you might be thinking, “I’m going to start eating a grapefruit for breakfast every day.” Thats a good idea because here’s the point— good things happen to our bodies when we eat grapefruit.
The gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 9th, is John 15:9-17. Verse 16a says, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last.”
Fruit is an important part of a well balanced diet and fruit is not only something that’s good for you, but fruit is delicious. Bearing fruit however is a real, labor-intensive process. It takes, for instance, a lot of work to grow a grapefruit. In order to grow grapefruit, you have to plant a grapefruit tree which need a lot of care and attention. They need a lot of sun, and like any plant they must be watered every couple of days and once a week they require a deep watering. Grapefruit trees must be fertilized once a month and then over time these trees must be pruned of weak or dead branches. Grapefruit trees must be protected from frost and freezing in the winter. And finally it takes at least three years before any quality fruit is produced so any fruit that grows on a grapefruit tree in the first or second years is removed so that all the tree’s energy is directed into growth. After all this work comes the season for harvesting when the fruit are a perfect golden yellow. Timing the harvest is critical because the best, largest, sweetest fruit is the fruit that is allowed to remain on the tree to ripen.
Jesus calls us to produce fruit that lasts. Fruit is so very good but it does indeed take a lot of work and intentionality to produce. In our culture we are very accustom to instant gratification. We want things when we want them and we want them… now! Who has time to grow a grapefruit tree when its so easy to go through the drive-thru for fast food? In verse 12 of this lectionary text, Jesus says, “This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.” To love people the way Jesus did takes a lot of work and intentionality. The fruit produced however will be even better for us than a grapefruit for breakfast.