Gardening Isn't For Wimps

Luke 13:1-9
13:1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
13:2 He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.
13:4 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?
13:5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."
13:6 Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.
13:7 So he said to the gardener, 'See here! 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?'
13:8 He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.
13:9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

 

I own a few apple trees.  They line my driveway here in Ohio and I am pretty excited about one day getting apples off of them.  The operative phrase there is "one day."  Last year only one of them actually produced apples, the other...well it had pretty foliage.  The trees are young trees that I planted a few years ago and they really haven't had time to come into their own yet.  At least that is what I keep telling myself.  The one that actually produced apples (four of them) served to feed the deer and bugs more than me.  I did get a bit of one apple that the worms were kind enough to leave for me and it was delicious. So, lets hope there is a future for my trees this spring.  To be sure I am planning on fertilizing them and, this year, spraying them for bugs.  I know that isn't very "organic" but the only worms I want in my apples are gummy-worms. 



I do love gardening but I will be the first to admit that it can be more than a trifle frustrating when something that you worked so hard on, sweat over, and worried about does not produce anything worth anything. I have a patch of ground in my back yard where I had a garden for three years.  For three years the bad soil quality, poor light, and ample access for deer and groundhogs left me with nearly nothing from it despite my best efforts to improve all of the above. Finally I took down the fence, re-seeded grass, and moved the whole operation to container and raised-bed gardening close to the house where I could better monitor the soil conditions, water, light, and varmints... especially the varmints.   



Think how God felt after all of those years...no...centuries...nope not yet....millennia of carefully growing humanity.  All of the laws that should have been obvious...  Did we really need to have God tell us not to steal things? How is that not self evident?  All of those covenants..all of which we found ways to break or abuse. All of those prophets, most of whom were were killed.  All of those scriptures....left unread....  God must really be one frustrated gardener most of the time.  

One day folks ask Jesus about a little item that was really trending in the news of the day: the famous Galilean massacre in Jerusalem.  Did Jesus think that those people who were killed by the Romans in a really horrible way deserved it in somehow?  Was it some kind of Jewish karma thing?  

By the way, this little piece of news didn't really survive antiquity well.  The historian Josephus mentions that the Galileans were, by far, the biggest agitators and revolutionaries and they also celebrated their religious holidays in Jerusalem... so it is not unthinkable that Pilate killed a number of them while they were offering sacrifices in the temple but we really don't know.  

Jesus counters the question by mentioning a random tragedy from Siloam (a neighborhood in East Jerusalem) where a building collapsed that was under construction killing the construction crew. He asks if those people deserved to die either.  His point is that God isn't going around killing people vengefully. Frankly, Jesus points out, if God WERE going around killing people who deserved it, no one would be exempt.  No one is keeping all the laws, no one is perfect, no one is as obedient as they should be.  Not a one is blameless like God.  So, no.  There was no divine retribution for the Galileans who were killed but that does not change the fact that we ALL need to consider how much the grace of God has pardoned and protected us from ourselves. 

 

Humanity is like a fig tree and God is like a homeowner who planted that fig tree to get some tasty fruit but received nothing for his trouble. Instead of declaring the fig tree worthless, God suggests a new, more radical approach.  How about we dig up the poor dirt around it, and replace it with rich fertilized soil.  Give the tree every chance to grow and fruit. Then if it still does not produce figs, at the end of all that can be done, we let it go.  This is what Jesus proposes to do for us.  

He digs up the dirt of our earthly kingdom and replaces it with the very kingdom of God.  He takes away the rocky soil of our sinful nature and replaces it with the gifts of forgiveness and salvation. He takes the sterile soil of our limited human perspective and strength and fertilizes it with the very Holy Spirit bringing us new hope and new life.  Every possible concession that could be made for humanity is.  Then, God says, we wait and see if humanity allows itself to grow in this new environment.  If they don't... then we cut down the tree.

Every so often someone asks me why God goes to such lengths to help us humans choose to flower and fruit when God is omnipotent.  Why can't God just "make us perfect"?

The answer is simple: life size puppets are creepy. 

 In order for God to make us perfect as he is, God would have to first take away our free will.  Then what would we be but life size puppets? What is the purpose of making a whole universe so that you could people it with living souls only to rip the thing that makes a person a person out of the living soul and turn it into a puppet?   No. God is a loving God. God wants us to love him back. God wants us to love one another. God also wants our lives to be fruitful, whole, and rewarding.  In order to do this he gives the very life of God the Son in order to save us.  What we do with it is not pre-chosen for us by God.  

So how are you growing?  Is your life bearing fruit worthy of the kingdom?  If not, have you really allowed your roots to take in the hard work the gardener has put in for you or, are you trying to hold back from all the good gifts God has given you by the Holy Spirit and the sacrifice of Christ on the assumption that you really don't need his help. Ask yourself this one question:  are you letting the hard work of the gardener in through prayer, study, worship, fellowship, the sacraments, etc...Or are you trying to grow on your own?  If you really want to grow, let the gardener help.