INTRODUCTION:

"The story is told of an English bishop who visited a sleepy little parish along the river Thames.

"The village priest was discouraged and depressed, not really accomplishing very much.

"Finally, the priest confessed, 'Bishop, I can't say that we are setting the Thames on fire.'

"The bishop looked him sternly in the eye and said, 'Young man, I am not the least bit concerned about setting the Thames on fire. What I want to know is, if I take you out and drop you in it, will you sizzle?' ⁽¹⁾

1. Sizzle, what did he mean by sizzle?
   
1. Did he mean energy?
   
2. Was he referring to activity?
   
3. Was he asking if the priest was spiritually alive?
   
4. Perhaps it is all three of these.
2. What would happen if we were dropped into the Wisconsin river?
   
1. Would we sizzle?
   
2. We can learn the meaning and application of sizzle from John's encounter with the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

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MAIN BODY:

1. Imagine that John the Baptist were asking the same question of the Pharisees and Sadducees who were coming for baptism.
   
1. Are you sizzling?
   
2. Were the Pharisees and Sadducees sizzling?
   
1. Oh, yes, they were but for different reasons.
   
2. They are coming to John for one thing, he is referring to another.
   
3. The Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism assume that they are secure because they have Abraham as their ancestor.
   
4. John calls them "a brood of vipers."
   
5. This is in stark contrast to their own assessment of their understanding of their own character and purpose.
3. John exhorts them to "bear fruit worthy of repentance."
   
1. Apparently, in John's mind, the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism are going through the motions for very different purpose.
   
2. Could it be that they are apprehensive about what the average person thinks of them?
   
3. Could it be that they are concerned with their own reputation and place?
   
4. In attempting to cut through the high opinion that they have of themselves John informs them that already the ax is laid at the root of the trees.
   
1. Trees that do not bear good fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire.
   
2. This wood is only good enough to provide some warmth on a chilly evening.
   
3. They are in danger of the cleansing fire of the final judgement of God.

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2. Even though this passage directed to the religious leaders and is applicable to the clergy of today, it is one from which we can all learn.
   
1. We are to bear the fruit worthy of repentance.
   
2. We could spend a lot of time discussing the meaning, acquiring and growing fruit.
3. We are given a great deal of help in understanding fruit in Galatians 5:19-23
   
1. In verses 19-21 is enumerated the works of the flesh.

¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

2. In verses 22 and 23 is listed the fruits of the Spirit.

²²By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

3. Now it is obvious that these positive qualities of a Spirit-filled life are values that require sustained growth.

Consider this story which comes out of native American culture.

It concerns a young Indian brave who goes to the tribal chief, his grandfather, and says, In your great wisdom, grandfather, can you tell me the most important steps one must take in order to become a chief?

Well, the old chief replied, first, he must pluck the fur from the tail of the sacred bobcat. He must bring down the great white buffalo with his bare hands. He must wrestle the brown bear two falls out of three. And, of course, there are the customary trials by fire and water.

The young brave thought for a moment, and then responded, Whatever happened to wholesome good looks and a nice personality?

1. Well, you cannot get by on wholesome good looks and a nice personality.
   
2. This is like the Pharisees and the Sadducees appealing to Abraham.
1. To sizzle you learn to live in connectedness with the source of life.
   
1. This is why Jesus in John 15 told the story of the vine and the branches.

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

1. He is the vine.
   
2. We are the branches.
2. The ones that are not productive are pruned and also cast into the fire.
   
3. There is in this story another element that connectedness requires.

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4. The Christian life is a life of discipline.
   
1. Discipline is not a penalty for wrong-doing, although there are penalties for wrong-doing.
   
1. This discipline is essentially experiencing the consequences, the results of wrong-doing.
   
2. We have listened to President Bush speak of the need for the Talaban government of Afghanistan to turn over to the proper authorities Assam ben Laden.
   
1. If you do not then you will experience the consequences.
   
2. We are seeing the consequences.
2. The discipline that I am referring to is a way of life.
   
1. And what matters in this way of life is production.
   
2. We are very familiar with the word production.
   
1. Production is the means by which an individual's work is measured.
   
2. There is no difference between the secular world and the world of the Spirit.
3. In many of the parables that Jesus used we are reminded of the need for production.
   
1. Jesus, in Matthew 13, told the story of the Sower who went out to sow.
   
1. The seed that fell on the good soil brought forth grain with differing results, some 100%, some 60%, and some 30%.
   
2. It is all productive.
2. In Matthew 25, Jesus told the story of the division of the talents.
   
1. It is not the number of the talents that is important, but what the individuals did with them.
   
2. Two individuals invested their talents for productive purposes and are commended.
   
3. One individual did not invest the talent for productive purposes and is characterized as being worthless and not fit for the kingdom.
3. This is the Christian's necessary work.

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CONCLUSION

1. This is aptly illustrated by William Boggs, in his book, Sin Boldly: but Trust God More Boldly Still ⁽²⁾.

He describes how we can acquire what it is that we need.

He writes: "One hot Carolina afternoon, on a visit home, my family and I were driving along when we passed an orchard of peaches that advertised especially low prices if we were only willing to pick them ourselves.

"I doubt that any bargain would be sufficiently attractive to me now to lure me out of my air-conditioned car and into a steamy afternoon to pick peaches, but we were younger then, poorer then and in less of a hurry than we tend to be these days.

"So we pulled over, paid our money, and selected a bushel basket to fill with fresh, ripe Spartanburg peaches.

"As we set off into the orchard, an old fellow, as wrinkled as a peach pit and who was tending the place, said, 'If you want the best fruit, go deeper into the orchard; the peaches along the fringes are picked over, but deeper into the orchard, you'll find the best fruit.'

"We walked a way, far enough along that I figured we had gone past the picked-over sections.

"But just as we set the basket down, he hollered, 'Go deeper.'

"So we picked up the basket, went a little farther, set the basket down, and again we heard him shouting his advice, 'Go deeper. The best fruit's farther in.'

"Once more we picked up the basket and walked along, finally deciding that surely we were now deep enough, but once more as we prepared to pick the peaches, he hollered, 'Go on. Go deeper.'

"This time we went a substantially longer distance, and discovered that indeed he was right.

"The finest, plumpest peaches were untouched and waiting for us".

1. So many people pick around the edges of God's peach or apple orchard.
   
2. The fruit is good but there is still more fruit to be picked and enjoyed.
   
3. Fruit which nourishes the soul and the spirit.
   
4. Fruit that is the productive result of Christian discipline.
   
1. Are we complete? No!
   
2. Are we perfect? No!
   
3. Do we still have much to learn? Yes!
2. Every time we are tempted to stop we hear a voice that tells us to go on.
   
1. Go deeper.
   
2. Go deeper
   
3. To go deeper is an encouragement to eat and drink deeply for that which provides the greatest satisfaction.
   
4. We too can go deeper and find that which Jesus provides which fulfills the call of John to avoid being called a "brood of vipers" and to bear fruit worthy of repentance.

Amen!

1. Will you? James A. Harnish, Tampa, Florida, 29 May 1994.

2. William Boggs, in his book, Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), (101-102).