1 Corinthians 10: 1-13; Luke 13:1-9 Fig Trees, Fertilizer and Fruitfulness Sermon by Rev. Aaron Fulp-Eickstaedt Immanuel Presbyterian Church, McLean VA March 3, 2013 Our first passage is from the pen of the Apostle Paul, writing to the troubled church he helped found in Corinth. In it, he refers to the Old Testament stories of God s deliverance of the Israelites and how God also punished them for idolatry and immorality. The passage with the verse from which the saying, God will not give you anything more than you can handle ( or will not let you be tested beyond your strength ) developed - but notice that it adds, he will give you the means to endure it. I am reminded of the poster I saw that said, If God won t give me anything more than I can handle, God must think I m one tough cookie. Of course, you ll notice that the passage is not about what we can handle on our own, but what we can handle when we rely on God s help. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ * to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. Our second passage comes from Luke s Gospel. Listen to how Jesus moves from a mention of two tragedies that would have been news at the time to an admonition for the people to repent, and then tells his hearers a story about a fig tree and a gardener who wants to give it one more chance to bear fruit. 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.
2 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. 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? He replied, Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down. If we pay any attention at all to what goes on around us, we are constantly reminded of how fragile and fleeting life is. We hear this week to week during celebrations and concerns. At last Sunday s morning and evening services someone stood to mourn the death and pray for the family of a 21 year old who died of an apparent overdose. As if that reminder were not sobering enough, the next day the McLean High School Band was rocked by the news that one of their own, an alumnus whom both of my daughters knew, who had been the low brass section leader as a senior Martha s freshman year and who came back in the summers to work with the band, had been found unresponsive in his apartment at college - also dead, too early - at 21. His service is tomorrow at Temple Rodef Shalom. Some of the band will play for it, but the whole band is reeling. One minute here, the next gone. The fragility, the fleetingness of life. We can t really escape it. The friend you just vacationed with who a week later dies in an accident. The bizarre news this week about the sinkhole that opened up and swallowed the man in his Florida home He was just lying in his bed, and then plunged into a great big hole in the earth. The deaths due to violence, illness, and mishaps of all sorts; the natural disasters that wreak their havoc through wind, rain, fire, and flood All of these things keep us cognizant that life here on earth is but a span. They remind us that, as the poet says, all flesh is like grass, here today, gone tomorrow The people among whom Jesus lived were just as aware as we, probably more so, of how fragile life is - although they were not bombarded with information from around the globe like we are. They knew about the fragility of life. Luke portrays some of them coming to Jesus to tell him about a tragedy that would have been news at the time. Some Galileans, who d gone to the temple to worship, were murdered by Pilate s men, mixing their blood with their sacrifices. Also on their minds was the news that a tower had fallen on and killed 18 people who, scholars think, may have been helping to build an aqueduct and might have been considered collaborators for taking part in an infrastructure project, funded by Temple money, but led by Pilate. They knew about the fragility of life. One of the questions that always comes up, spoken or not, when such things occur -actually, when almost any death occurs - is, Why? First, what was the direct cause? Did the deceased do something to provoke it? Did they anger the authorities unnecessarily? Were they taking drugs? Were they in the wrong neighborhood? Did the woman die of lung cancer because she smoked her whole life? Was it just an accident, was it a genetic flaw, or was it somebody s fault? And then, depending on the circles you run in, there is wondering about why God caused it, or allowed it, to happen. Was it punishment of some sort? Was it just God letting free will take its course, not intervening to prevent the consequences of people s actions? Why, God, why? Why her and not him? Why him and not her? Why me? Those why questions may well be interesting. But I think they often boil down to a way for us to assign blame. Sometimes to the victim, sometimes to the perpetrator, sometimes to chance
3 or to God. Typically the answers to those questions, even if they re right, are less than satisfying, however. I think more important than the why? question is the what now? question. When the people tell him about the Galileans being killed, Jesus doesn t play the blame game. He doesn t blame the victim and he doesn t blame God. If you think this is about them being worse sinners than anybody else, you re wrong. But unless you repent, you will perish just as they did. He s not saying that they died because they were sinful - in fact, they were just going to the Temple to sacrifice - that was a good thing. He s using the tragedy as an invitation for his hearers to live differently. To repent. This, by the way, is a function tragedy often plays. A loved one dies, too early, and we think to ourselves, perhaps, I have to make some changes. I have to learn to appreciate life and my loved ones more. I have to take better care of my body. I have to make sure that when the final curtain drops and the preacher stands up there and eulogizes me, she has something good to say. When death comes to a high school setting, it rocks the world of the students, who believe, more so than anyone else at any other age, that they are immortal. And for at least a while they re a little more careful behind the wheel, a little more appreciative of those they love, they are a little more aware that they want to make the most of life. To use a religious term, they are moved, in a way, to repent. Here it might be useful to define the word repent, since Jesus tells the people that if they don t repent they ll perish just as the Galileans did. Which might be a reference to the Roman destruction of the Temple 40 years later - in which many people died by the sword. But it might be something else. In Hebrew, the word for repent was SHUV, which meant to turn. Turn from the ways of sin, turn towards God. But in Greek, the language in which the Gospels are written, the word for repent was METANOIA, which literally meant, Go beyond the mind you have. Go beyond the nous, the knowing, you have. Think differently. What if Jesus was saying, in that tragedy of the Galileans being slaughtered, and what if God is saying in every tragedy, here is an opportunity to go beyond the mind you have? To look at life in a fresh way, to look at it from a new perspective? Not the same old, same old, checking off the days without really valuing them, passing by people without really seeing them,accepting the status quo as if it can never ever change. What if the metanoia, the repentance required, is really appreciating what you have while you have it? Here is an opportunity to die to an old way of looking at the world and rise to a perspective that sees that we are all connected in a world that needs our appreciation and care. In Jesus day, as in our own, as in every day and time, it seems there were people who were stuck with the mind they had. The approach they had. And they don t go any further than that. And Jesus was calling them to metanoia. To go beyond the mind that they had Do you see how that s different than how we typically look at repentance?
4 There was a woman in one of my previous churches who started to come to church later in life, when she was in her seventies. This newfound church attendance seemed a little odd. So I went over to her house to visit with her. Her husband, who had a dry sense of humor, said, Louise, tell the preacher what you are doing. Then he looked at me and joked, Louise is just cramming for the final exam! But you see repentance, metanoia, is not about getting ready to die, at least in terms of passing the final exam. It s about getting ready to really and fully live in the here and now. Did you get that? I m going to say it one more time. Repentance is not about getting ready to die. It is about getting ready to really and fully live in the here and now. This is when Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, that Robbie Hefferon did such a great job explaining to the kids during the Moment for Young Disciples. You know, if you ve been reading The Last Week with us, that in Mark s gospel Jesus curses a fig tree in that last week of his life. He s just turned over the tables in the Temple, and now he s hungry, he s looking for fruit, and the fig tree doesn t have any. Marcus Borg and John Crossan, the authors, say that in Mark s Gospel, this is an object lesson. i It is a symbol for how the Temple and the religious establishment is not bearing fruit. It s an object lesson. So Jesus curses the tree and it dies. But Mark says it is not the season for figs, and Jesus blasts the tree anyway. More than one of us have remarked that this is really not all that fair to the tree. I mean, it s one thing if figs are in season to expect figs from the tree. But if it is not fig season, that s not fair. Here in Luke, Jesus is much more forgiving, when it comes to the way he deals with fig trees. This, by the way, is the only time this particular story - the story of the gardener asking for more time for the tree - occurs in the Gospels. You ll only find it in Luke. And Luke is all about second chances. You remember, in Luke s gospel, when Jesus is on the cross and there are two thieves crucified on either side of him, that one thief reaches out and says to the other thief and says, Why are you mocking him? This man has done nothing wrong. Then he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus responds, Today you will be with me in Paradise. That s in Luke. In Mark and in Matthew, both thieves revile Jesus. He is utterly alone. But in Luke, there s the second chance. So Luke puts this story, this parable of the fig tree, in Jesus mouth. The parable is about a fig tree which has not borne fruit for three years. For three years, the owner has been looking for the tree to bear fruit and has gotten nothing. Some of you may have made the connection that Jesus ministry lasted for three years. For three years he s been looking for fruit and hasn t found any. But the gardener says, Let it go one more year. Give it one more chance, while I dig around it and put some manure on it, and maybe then it will bear fruit. Maybe then the people will really live. I can t help but get caught on the word manure. What about you? It s a stinky word. Why does Jesus use the word manure? I think what he is talking about, perhaps (because people back then knew what manure smelled like better than we do), is the stinky stuff in life - the stuff that just happens.
5 And he s saying - of the community of faith and individuals - there is going to be manure spread around this tree. I m going to open up the roots, I m going to expose the tree, make it more vulnerable, and then I m going to put manure on it. And that manure might just help the tree to grow and bear fruit. I ve been doing a little research on manure. It s an odd thing to research, I know. I didn t grow up on a farm. My mom did. One of the things that I know about manure is that if you dump it straight on to a plant, fresh, it will burn the plant. But if you let it sit for a little while, and then put it on the plant, it can help that plant grow. So the bad stuff that happens in life, maybe dumping it on the plant of our spiritual lives right away, without pausing to get a little perspective and to think about how we might grow from it, well that s not a good idea. But if we pause, get some distance and take some time to reflect on how the yucky stuff might help us grow, we might actually find that we grow from it. My Mom, my favorite theologian, pointed out to me once that in the middle of the word growth are two letters? Gr ow th. And o-w spells ow! Sometimes it hurts to grow. One more thing about manure, and that is I ve learned that it has to be turned. If you are using manure as fertilizer, or working with a compost heap, it has to be turned, and it should ideally be turned at least once every seven days, so that air gets to it. I think about that, and it calls to mind how often we get together as a community to reflect on life and its meaning in light of God. At least once every seven days, right? So, I m not sure what the manure is in your life. And it is not up to me to tell you exactly how to deal with it. Other than to say that I hope you can find a way to transform it into something that will help you grow in your spiritual life, so that you re ready - not to die, but to really live. In Jesus name. Amen. Aaron D. Fulp-Eickstaedt
i Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week: What The Gospels Really Teach About Jesus Final Days in Jerusalem, (New York: Harper Collins, 2006).