Sermon Title: "Fertilizer, Figs & Faith"
Date: March 7, 2010
Minister:  Rev. Susan Bjork

Lesson:  Luke 13:1-9

 

One really good piece of advice I gleaned from my preaching class in seminary was “don’t shy away from difficult or challenging texts because sometimes they may offer the richest foundation for a good sermon.”

Well, I don’t know if this is a good sermon or not; you’ll have to decide that for yourselves.  But what I do know is, as one of my seminary friends remarked on facebook this week, this scripture passage from Luke, is a “doozy.”

This thirteenth chapter of Luke begins with a description of political violence.  In particular, some people who were with Jesus told him about an detestable incident in which Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, killed some Galileans and mixed their blood with that of the sacrifices they brought to the temple. 

No other ancient writers recorded this particular instance, but there are writings from the era that describe some of Pilate’s other abuses of power in Jerusalem including various instances of violence against all sorts of people, causing a riot by bringing Roman effigies into town with no regard for the Jewish religious prohibition of idols, and forcefully taking money from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct.  So it seems like this kind of political domination was the norm.

Now it’s hard for us to know the motives of the people who brought this to Jesus’ attention because the biblical text simply doesn’t go there; instead, it jumps right into Jesus’ response in which he asks them first, “do you think these people who Pilate killed were worse sinners than anyone else.”  And second, “what about those people who were killed when that tower randomly fell on them; were they worse people than anyone else?”  And along with these two challenging questions also comes a very clear call to repentance, lest they perish also.

Whoa!  At first this response seems a little out of left field.  Where is the compassion?  Where is the hope?  Where is Christ as mother hen who I spoke about last week?  Where is the comfort?

Well, as uncomfortable as it may make us feel, I don’t think that comfort was Jesus’ goal in this interaction.  Instead, he picks up on the worry and fear expressed during this conversation and uses it as an opportunity to teach.  And, as we all know, not all valuable lessons are very easily learned.

Jesus was, after all, a very good teacher and he knew how to seize a teaching moment when it presented itself.  And so he picks up on the anxiety and discomfort of these people and encourages them pay attention to that feeling.  Fear of oppression and fear of death are not enjoyable experiences, but one may very well learn from and grow from these experiences.

I think that Jesus seized upon this moment for a couple of reasons:

The first reason is to respond to some popular theological claims of his day, one of the most popular being a “theology of retribution” that viewed sin as the cause of suffering, violence, and tragedy in this life.  It was not uncommon in that culture to believe that bad things happened as God’s punishment for bad behavior.

By responding in the way he does, I think Jesus is seeking to debunk this claim.  “No,” he says to them, answering his own question, these people who suffered weren’t any worse than any other human being.  They were fallible just like all humans and free to make choices in this life just like all humans.  The suffering they endured was not punishment for sin and their mistakes were not worse than anyone else’s.

And then, Jesus gets to his second point and it’s as if he goes on to say, speaking of sin, have you thought about your own failings lately and what separation from God is like?  And not so subtly, even harshly, Jesus issues a call for repentance, reconciliation, and renewed commitment to relationship with God.

You see, I think Jesus takes this expressed fear of physical death and transforms it into a warning against what we might go as far as calling “spiritual death” or a willful separation from God and God’s Beloved Creation.  Again, this interaction is not about comfort and consolation, but it is a challenging call to sit with the discomfort, the fear, the existential angst and learn from it.

And it’s almost as if he’s saying, you’re focusing on the wrong thing!  And you’re focusing on the faults of others when you should be focusing on yourself.  First off, physical death will happen to us all.  We don’t know when and we don’t know how, but we can’t avoid it.  Life is uncertain and death is unpredictable.  So, it’s as if Jesus asks instead, what I want to know is what are you going to do right now in your life?  You are alive today and have an opportunity to repent for your failings and to seek “right relationship” with God and with others.  Are you going to take that opportunity?

I think that is what repentance and forgiveness are all about, after all.  Repentance is not simply a formal apology (though it may include that).  Nor is it a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”  Repentance is an honest reflection on our own shortcomings, a desire to learn from our mistakes, and a commitment to strive to do better next time.  Repentance is about seeking “right relationship” with God and with each other. 

And though Jesus utilizes the fear of these people as a starting place to teach this lesson, I am guessing that he hopes for a deeper reason for why people would seek to repent and strive to repair our relationships than simply fear.

Next, Jesus goes on to teach in a way he often does when faced with a question or concern of one of his followers.  And so, of course, he tells a parable!

This parable is about a fig tree planted in a vineyard.  When the owner of the vineyard comes to see it, he finds that it has not produced any figs.  Seeing as how this is the third time he’s come to look for figs on this tree, the owner is inclined to say “third strike and you’re out!”  After all, this barren tree is taking up valuable space in the vineyard that could be used for a tree that would bear fruit.  But the gardener says “Just give me one more year.  Let me dig around it…maybe its roots need a little breathing room…maybe there are some weeds that need to be pulled.  And let me give it some fertilizer…maybe it needs some nourishment, an energy boost, in order to bear its fruit.  Just one more year of nurture and then we’ll see where we are with this tree.”

Ah!  So maybe our God is a God of second chances, after all, and things are not as bleak as they may seem, even when political violence and freak accidents occur.  Perhaps focusing on our fear of suffering and death, real as it may be, may get in the way of nurturing our relationship with God and nurturing our relationships with each other. 

Perhaps we are in need of a little fertilizer at times in order for the figs of right relationship, reconciliation, and repentance to have a chance to be born.  After all, a wild fig tree on its own may or may not produce fruit, but given the right nourishment, it probably has a better shot at it.

We all know that relationships take work!  Human relationships like marriage and friendship, parent-child relationships and employer-employee relationships all take work and nurture.  There is give and take and sometimes a need for repentance and forgiveness.  And even with a lot of work, sometimes there comes a time when our human relationships end.

When it comes to our relationship with God, however, I think God is even more persistent than human beings are capable of being in inviting us out of isolation and into relationship. 

But the need for fertilizer is still there.  And through this parable, Jesus invites us to regroup, renew our commitment, and respond to God’s invitation for right relationship with God’s very Self.  Perhaps if we nurture our relationship with God, then we may even see new fruit arrive on our once barren branches.  There is hope for new growth and new life in repentance and seeking renewed commitment.

But even as there is hope in this story of second chances, there is also a sense of urgency.  It’s as if Jesus is saying through this parable, if not now, when…when are you going to make your relationship with God a priority?  That’s why he used his follower’s existential fear as an entry point into a discussion of repentance, I think.  As uncomfortable as it may be, perhaps they needed a little push.  Perhaps we need a little push.

The parable of the fruitless fig tree is a wake-up call and an invitation to fertilize our faith with a healthy helpin’ of repentance and renewal that leaves room for new experiences of grace…an invitation to grow, and leaf out, and blossom, and bear the God-born figs of love for our neighbors, of compassion for difficult people, of peace (even in the face of violence), of hope (even in the face of tragedy), and of willingness to do our best to seek just and right relationship with God and God’s beloved creation.  If not now, when?  Amen.