One Good Apple
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
We always hear that one rotten apple infects the entire bushel. Indeed. That’s true! A rotten apple gives us ethylene gas, which does indeed spread to every other fruit around it! Even fruits that aren’t apples will ripen and rot faster due to the “rotten” apple’s infectious presence!
But no one talks much about the advantage of a good apple! A good, healthy, apple likewise will keep those around it safe, healthy, and ripening at just the right pace! We may take the “good” apple for granted, but you can’t underestimate the value of an entire bushel of “good” apples when it comes to good fruit!
Whether bad or good – the state of a single apple can influence the bushel for bad or for good!
People may not give off “ethylene gas” the same way an apple does, but one person too can influence an entire group! One bad influencer can cause dissension, division, and all variety of bad behavior. One bad leader can cause anxiety, depression, and low morale, as we have experienced. And it doesn’t take long for it to go “viral!”
But what about the good ones? Psychologists have a word for the positive influence of that one “good apple”! They call it a “positivity contagion”! Yes, positive behaviors can also go “viral”! We just tend to hear about these people a bit less!
While the “bad apples” tend to keep drawing the most attention, those “good apples” are busy spreading optimism, happiness, and positive morale. With their high energy and infectious compassion, a singly motivated individual can improve team dynamics, increase, productivity, and encourage greatness in others, just by being there within the group!
Did you ever know that person who lights up a room every time they walk in? Or that person who can always make people laugh, even in the worst of circumstances? Those who have the gift of infectious enthusiasm can change an entire room, just by walking into it!
Jesus was that kind of person! We see it in scriptures. We heard it from the prophets! Jesus was the kind of person who, when surrounded by others, would mesmerize some with his compassion, kindness, and healing energy and would anger still others with the strength, identity, and power of his person! He would be messiah to some and stumbling block to others, depending upon their motives. But everyone in the room would be somehow “infected” by his presence. You couldn’t just “overlook” Jesus! I love that Jesus calls himself Living Water!
Because water shapes everything around it! Water is nature’s most powerful sculptor and life-giver. It can erode, reshape rock, dictate geography, and sustain entire ecosystems. It can create biodiversity, allow for human communities, nurture agriculture, allow for life itself!
Did you know that every drop of water on Earth is interconnected? In fact, being in the presence of water can even shape our mood, our outlook, and our feeling of healing. Water shapes how life exists, and it shapes our entire state of mind! Scientists call this the “Blue Mind” Effect. Being near bodies of water measurably reshapes our brain waves. It lowers stress, and it shifts our brains into a state of relaxation. It can even boost creativity!
Our brains are approximately 73% water. Water shapes our cellular structure, our electrical signaling, our nutrient delivery, and our formation of tissue and its function. While we are asleep, our brain uses water-like fluid to wash away metabolic waste and toxins. This “flushing out” helps us maintain our neurological health! Water is the lifeblood of our minds and our emotions! Imagine then the power of the Living Water!
Being close to Jesus, communing with and spending time in prayer and meditation with Jesus allows the “living water” power to saturate us, body, mind, and spirit. Spending time with Jesus literally can reshape our brains and restart our lives! It’s no wonder that Jesus invites us to come and drink!
Let’s face it, most of us have hot points in our lives that contribute to a kind of dehydration of our souls. The kind of stress that we endure from being around or influenced by some less than favorable apples can cause us great harm – even if we can’t figure out where it’s coming from!
But spending time with Jesus can refresh us and wash us clean from that dry debris and can infuse us with life-giving sustenance to make us not just healthy in body, but healthy in spirit!
In our scripture for today, we see some of those instances of Jesus’ infectious and powerful living-water-like influence on those around him!
He calls out to Matthew, and there’s something so charismatic and curiously good about Jesus that Matthew literally drops everything, gets up, and follows him!
He sits around the dinner table with Matthew’s friends, including other tax collectors, “sinners,” and people who were doubtfully Jewish, and his powerful presence draws them all in.
Then during a request by a synagogue leader to help to cure his daughter, a suffering woman approaches, touches the fringe of his cloak, and she is instantly healed!
We know these are not isolated incidents. But wherever Jesus goes, his presence draws attention. He fills every room. He commands every space!
When our hearts begin to resonate with Jesus and our faith deepens to the point in which we receive and perceive the power of Jesus presence, we change!
Jesus doesn’t change! Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow! But we can!
When Jesus comes into a life, a church, a community, or a simple “bushel” of people, his presence is like that “good” apple – He changes the entire group just by his presence!
Knowing that makes prayer important! Take a moment now and invite Jesus in. Allow Jesus to shape you, fill you, nurture you, heal you. And what happens next?
Whatever it is….it’s got to be “good!”