“The Fig Tree” a sermon based on Luke 13:1-9 Lent 3, March 24, 2019

 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” 

Then he told this story: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’  The gardener replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, then cut it down.’” 

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Ten years ago, Norio decided he wanted a pear tree in the back yard. Now, the back part of our yard – that part which isn’t flower or vegetable garden – is about 40 feet by 60 feet – and in that 40 x 60 we have two kinds of bamboo, white pine, red maple, spruce, Colorado blue spruce, Alaskan dwarf cypress which somehow hasn’t yet figured out it’s a dwarf, shagbark hickory, purple smoke tree and Korean lilac. In the midst of all these trees, a pear tree gets planted.  Jump ahead three years. I return from Newfoundland to find a complete bamboo grove in the back yard, and the pear disappeared, swallowed up by the bamboo. Norio didn’t like to dig out or otherwise kill off plants.

Well, most but not all bamboo got dug out, and then there was the argument about what to do with the pear tree – take it out, or feed and prune it. Honestly, it looked like something out of “Day of the Triffids”, ready to grab any unsuspecting person wandering by.

The pear tree got pruned, the soil around the roots loosened and fertilised, and the following year produced a bumper crop which fed innumerable birds and squirrels. It was fruitful all right, but we didn’t get more than maybe one pear out of the lot. So we are now, of course, learning about bagging the fruits till they fully develop.

There are two seemingly separate texts put together in today’s reading from Luke, and at first read they don’t seem to relate to each other at all. On second glance, maybe they do. I suspect Jesus has been hearing comments that the Galileans who suffered, and whose blood Pilate had used in sacrifices, were somehow worse sinners than other people. It’s a common human response – they probably did something and deserved what they got, but *we* aren’t like that. Or, says Jesus, those who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them, were they worse offenders than everyone else?

Then he says, unless you all repent, you too will perish as they did. He tells the story of the fig tree. Now, the fig tree was a symbol of goodness and peace, and hospitality. Sitting under the fig tree, drinking the fruit of the vine, eating the produce of the land. Hospitality. So, not tending to the fig tree is a metaphor for not tending to the core of faith – becoming so ‘root bound’ ourselves that we neglect the most critical thing - hospitality.

If the tree is simply left to its own devices, will it produce fruit? 

"Let's tear out this fig tree," says the land owner. "It ruins the soil, the grapes can’t grow. It’s supposed to produce fruit, and it's not even doing that. It’s just sucking out nutrition."

When Norio and I trimmed the pear tree, that wasn’t all we did….every so often, the soil needs to be loosened, and fertiliser put down – otherwise the tree will grow lots of branches, but because the roots get tightly bound and there’s no nutrition, they won’t produce any fruit – everything goes into leaf growth. If the roots aren’t fed at all, the whole tree will sicken and just die.

I was reading a sermon from a colleague, Rev. Heather McCance, who says (paraphrased):  - “Because there are days when I'm sick and tired of the stupid, horrible things we human beings do to one another, there are also days when I completely identify with the harsh punishment line of thinking. There are times when I can understand the story of God flooding the earth, saving only one human family and some animals – and starting again.”

There are days, I confess, when I feel like that too. Some days it’s incredibly hard to carry on believing that every human is a child of God and worthy of some compassion.

Heather McCance’s comments are echoed in the book “The Education of God” by David Bumbaugh. In the chapter called “Noah”, God has kind of forgotten the tiny little planet that was created, but one day when things are boring, She notices the tiny speck, and goes over to take a look. Adam and Eve were sent out on their own, having been booted them out of Eden as a kind of gentle punishment – but when the whole mess which has grown since then becomes apparent, God becomes angry at how the people, in this experiment with this tiny blue planet, have behaved. This was to be a crowning achievement, a jewel in this galaxy, and they all act like complete idiots and jerks. So in anger God floods the earth and wipes out just about everything, and starts over. Noah and his family reach land after the 40 days afloat.  Then Noah, Ham, Shem, Japheth and Yam and others in the family promptly get stinking drunk, pass out, and the whole cycle starts over. Bumbaugh says God learned something from that experience. Harsh punishments don't work.

Let’s imagine we are the fig tree. We’ve been planted in the same place for a long time – and we tend to get root-bound, planted in our familiar garden in our familiar ways of being. I don’t think God is exactly interested in cutting us down and starting over, because there are always second chances with God. I do think, though, that drastic measures happen – digging around our roots, spreading manure, cutting back branches, pushing us to produce fruit; pushing us to be who we are called to be – especially in a world where being compassionate and caring, and kind even to those we believe have hurt us or hurt others, is more and more important.

We are the fig tree, called to produce fruit for the world. The first step is to continue to feed the roots, to take care with the soil, not to let it get so packed down that the roots suffocate and starve. Churches which remain just the same – which do worship just the same, which don’t re-evaluate every so often and check out where they are, which shy away from change and risk, are root-bound and will wither and die. Churches which step out, even when unsure and afraid, are the ones which have a chance.

So, we have the work of working at the roots – loosening and aerating the soil, clearing space around the tree, cutting back branches and working for new growth. The second step is producing the fruit of the Spirit – the fruit which brings peace, and no more fear. Just pruning branches back won’t help a lot. The whole of the tree is important, from the roots to the tips of the new growth. The roots must be fed properly, and watered properly, for the rest to happen. It’s not a quick process, sometime – but it is necessary.

The whole of the person is important; the whole of the congregation is important.  The roots of faith are fed, and the result is the fruits of faith. Paul’s letter to the Galatians tells us “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." A congregation which works to feed and live these fruits is one which will find a way to fulfill its mission. May it be so.

Sources:

1.      Second Chances a sermon based on Luke 13:1-9 by Rev. Heather McCance

2.      The Education of God by Rev. David E. Bumbaugh. Rising Press Series 1994, Copyright - Reprinted in paperback 2010.  Professor of Ministry, Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago, Illinois.

3.      Galatians 5:22-23.