Advent Lutheran Church

"One More Chance to Grow"

“There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus?  I tell you, No: but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?    I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish”.

And he told this parable:  “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard: and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none.  Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure.  And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

One More Chance to Grow…

The newspapers and cable news shows are full of stories that give us pause.  Multiple murders, earthquakes, towers falling, unthinkable tragedies….. even in my own relatively safe life I have wondered why bad things happen.  Do we think that people who endure calamity here on earth do so because they are more sinful?  In the first part of this reading, we are told that extraordinarily bad things don’t happen to people because they are more sinful.  We ALL are sinners, and we ALL are in need of repentance. 

The word “repent” brings to mind John the Baptist, that colorful figure who came to be the warm-up act for Jesus.  Can you imagine him, dressed in his animal skins and shouting out in the wilderness?  He was warning us to repent, and giving us a vivid picture of what will happen if we don’t.  John says that an ax will be laid to the root of ALL trees that do not bear good fruit.  He also said that someone else is coming who will change everything.

Perhaps because I am a gardener, the parable in which Jesus describes this fig tree is particularly meaningful to me. Several times I have stood over a sad scraggly little rose bush, in the hard clay soil of my Kansas backyard, wondering whether it was worth the effort to try to get it to turn around.   I can clearly envision a Father and Son conversation regarding this recalcitrant fig tree.  After an ample amount of time of no growth, bearing no fruit, just taking up space, it would be understandable if God just cut us down to make room for healthier, more productive specimens.  But the Son intervenes for us.  He seems to say “I have a plan; I will stir things up around this tree, and then I’ll nourish it, and give it one more chance to grow.”