“Where’s the Fruit?”
"This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit,
showing yourselves to be my disciples."
John 15:8 (NIV)
In 1984 the Wendy’s hamburger chain launched an iconic and ultra-successful advertising campaign with one simple question: “Where’s the beef?” Since then the slogan has become an all-purpose phrase questioning the substance of an idea, event, or product.
I’ve thought a lot about that question this spring, but not as it relates to hamburgers. Instead, I’ve been asking “Where’s the blooms?” 2020 has proven to be very different, and not just because of the corona virus and pandemic.
Blue hydrangeas are my favorite flowers. Our journey with hydrangeas began about twenty years ago at a time when we had kids in college and our finances were really tight. For Mother’s Day I asked for "a" single hydrangea plant as my Mother's Day gift. Bruce went to Aldrich Gardens, bought 6 hydrangea plants, and I almost had a heart attack! Of course nothing bloomed that first year. A couple of the plants had to be moved the next year when we realized that they weren't getting enough sunlight. Eventually, however, my hydrangeas grew and bore beautiful blooms. Each year I anxiously anticipate our hydrangea harvest much as a child looks forward to Christmas.
In early April during our quarantine, I began to look closely at my hydrangea bushes expecting to see a number of flower buds. The leaves looked large, lush, healthy, and promising, but surprisingly there were no flower buds. At first, I just thought the season might be late or perhaps I was looking too early, but one day Bruce came inside and gloomily said, “Not one bloom.” I grieved and grumbled, “Really, Lord? First the pandemic, then the mandatory quarantine, and now barren hydrangea bushes.”
As I prayed for the pandemic and quarantine to end, I also prayed for hydrangea blooms. “Please Lord, just one bloom,” I pleaded.
My spirits lifted just a bit when in early June I spotted one blue hydrangea bloom out at Mama’s farm. It was small and looked a little stunted, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut it. I was grateful for having seen at least one bloom when I’d really given up all hope of seeing any. I reluctantly reconciled myself to this year’s hydrangea crop failure and started looking ahead to next spring’s harvest hoping for a much different outcome.
Then one night in mid-July, we were enjoying coffee on our deck. I looked down and spotted the beginnings of a small hydrangea bud on a bush below. “Bruce, come look,” I said excitedly. The one green and white bud brought me such joy and hope that this year wasn’t totally wasted. I wasn’t sure the bud would actually mature into a full-grown flower. We’ve never had hydrangeas bloom in mid-July. Hydrangeas require a lot of water and don’t do well with high temperatures. But hope bloomed in my heart with the sight of that one bud. In a way, it was a real resurrection, not just of a flower, but also of hope, joy, and promise.
A few days later we saw a couple of other new buds. Within a week, there were eight buds and some small pink or blue blooms. Each new bloom brought me more joy, delight, and gratitude, not just for the blooms themselves, but also for the life and hope they represent. Bruce and I celebrated when the first flower was finally large enough to cut and bring inside. It wasn’t the hydrangea leaves that brought us joy. It was the fruit. And as we cut blooms and began to fill vases, I kept looking for more buds to replace the flowers that we just cut. I'm always looking for more blooms.
The other day I thought about today's verse- "this is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit"- and wondered, "Am I bearing fruit? If so, how much fruit am I bearing? and Does my fruit bring Jesus joy?"
Jesus went on to command his disciples to bear fruit- fruit that will last. We do that when we obey His commands, walk in the Spirit, and produce the fruit of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23) And unlike my flowers, that kind of fruit WILL last, not just this growing season, but through eternity.
Which brings us back to the beginning “Where’s the beef?” question. If someone asked you “Where’s the fruit?” how would you respond? Are you bearing fruit for God's glory? If so, what kind of fruit are you bearing and what can you do to be more fruitful? Jesus' words to the disciples are still true today, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing." (John 15:5) God's goal for our lives is not just that we bear fruit or even that we bear much fruit. God's goal for our lives is that we bring Him much glory.
Hopefully my late blooming hydrangeas did just that last week when we used them for an altar arrangement for our church’s Sunday morning’s worship service. As my friend Carolyn and I arranged the flowers, I realized in God’s economy that harvested fruit is actually joy multiplied. My hydrangeas not only brought me joy, but placed in God’s hands, they were used to bring some beauty, joy, and service to others, while also bringing glory to God.
Oh that our lives would be lives lived that bear much fruit for God’s glory!
“This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit” (John 15:8)
Amen and Amen,
Donna