Consider the Fig Tree

Fig Tree
Stushi

Luke 13:1-9
March 20, 2022
Lent 3

 

We’re obviously missing part of this

conversation.

We don’t really know too much about these

“Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with

their sacrifices.”

that they were telling Jesus about.

 

What it seems to be is that some Galileans,

who would be Jewish, were killed by Pilate –

we know historically that Pilate was a cruel and violent man

and it was very common for him to kill

Jewish people, and really all kinds of people, just to make

an example of them for other people

who might step out of line.

 

And people were killed for punishment all the time then.

But these were worse even, either they were killed

in the temple where the sacrifices were done

or they were killed and then their blood was put on the altar after the sacrifice.

 

So their punishment was death, which was bad enough,

but it was also public humiliation, religious insult,

and an insult to their families and heritage,

which was worse even than death.

 

So the conversation was probably if these people were killed

in such a horrible and insulting way and their families

were so insulted, then they had to be terrible people, terrible sinners

in order for God to punish them in that way.

What could they have done that was so bad?

 

And that was pretty much how people understood things then.

More so even than now. If someone had a bad fate,

they were poor, or sick or unfortunate

or they had tragedy or accidents in their families in their lives

it was assumed that God was unhappy with them.

Not that Pilate was a crazy despot, but it was God’s doing.

 

You can see it in various stories in the Old Testament scriptures

You can see it in the story of Job and his friends.

They insisted since Job had such misfortune

that he obviously did something to upset God.

 

It’s a stubborn element in our understanding of God

and our relationship with God.

It has prevailed in the Christian church throughout its existence.

And some people still subscribe to it now.

 

I think I’ve heard Pat Robertson do it with

every disaster that’s happened in the last 15 years:

He said that Haitians worshipping the devil was the cause

of the earthquake there. He said that Katrina was caused by

the people in New Orleans of supporting all sorts of vices.

And he said that 9-11 was because New York of supported

feminism. You see, it’s not climate change, it’s not a natural disaster

it’s not even a human choice and terrorism, it’s because God is mad.

 

Even the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church, Kirill

in his sermon on the Sunday after the Russians

began the invasion of Ukraine, he didn’t really say anything

about the war itself or the suffering of the Ukrainians.

He basically said that the Ukrainians bear the blame for the invasion

because they adopted too many western ways

and for having gay Pride Parades. Honestly.

That was his sermon. Basically, in his estimation,

this human created war and violence

and terror was God’s judgment.

Even if we don’t go to the extent this does,

we still have that way of thinking in other ways.

We often do it to ourselves,

when illness or calamity hits us, we wonder

“What have I done to deserve this?”

  

And then we look at other people’s misfortune too

And then we say things like

“There but for the Grace of God go I.”

And “I thank God for my blessings”

 

It still gets us to the same place

Those who are doing well are blessed by God.

Those who are not doing well are cursed by God

Same conclusion as those people

talking about the Galileans with Jesus.

 

The trouble with this understanding is

It leads to some horrible conclusions

that just don’t work with other parts of Christianity.

What about the poor? what about people who are starving?

What about the sick? What about those who have accidents

just plain misfortunes? Are every one of them horrible sinners?

Is that why they’re in such bad situations?

Has God punished every one of them?

 

And when we do it, we paint a picture of

an angry and punitive God who never forgets or forgives

The excel spreadsheet God who keeps track of everything and

and meters out punishment in cruel ways

and causes the world’s suffering and pain.

A picture of a God who is no better than Pilate,

someone who kills and humiliates just to set an example.

 

And that is what Jesus is faced with,

not just the people that are talking to him today,

but many people who held that understanding of God.

And a religion that used it to tear down

those who needed God’s love most.

  

But when the people start this conversation

questioning the sinfulness of those who

were killed by Pilate, Jesus doesn’t try to talk

them out of it. But he makes them part of the equation.

 

Jesus says to them,

If you want to play that game theologically and

drag God into it, we can play.

But realize you’re going to lose too.

 

If you want to compare yourself to each other

and decipher someone else’s standing before God

 

If you want to look into the heart of God,

and try to see who’s got the upper hand or the better grade,

then know that you’re just as much of a disappointment.

If you and Pat Robertson and Patriarch Kirill

want to subscribe to the picture of God who is

counting all our sins and tallying up the debts we owe,

Then honestly, you will be judged more than all

the people you’re judging.

 In fact, we’re all done for.

 

Then Jesus says,

“Now that you know you’re in the same boat

as the people you judge.

Let me give you another picture of God

the way that that I understand God.”

  

There’s a vineyard and a tree in it.

And the tree is not bearing fruit

It’s a fig tree, and its whole purpose

is to give figs but it’s not doing it.

 

And the landowner wants it gone

and maybe by rights that is what should happen.

But that Gardener is too soft hearted.

The gardener says, just give it one more year.

Just give it one more year.

 

The landowner is those judgmental people.

The ones who love punishment and rules.

The people who run by the way of the world.

The ones who have no time for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

They want to cut the trees down and throw them out.

 

And we are those trees,

we are made in the image of God

but we are not reflecting God to others.

We’re not doing what we were meant to do.

Not caring and serving.

Not reacting to others with love and tolerance

We are not nurturing and forgiving.

We are not giving fruit.

 

And the Gardner is God.

That gardener knows how to create and cultivate

And that’s what he wants to do with

the trees who don’t bear fruit.

The Gardener knows that the right amount

of water, manure, can do things.

But it takes time.

He wants to nurture us to life.

  

God wants us to change, God needs our repentance

Needs us to turn to what is good. God wants us to grow.

Make no mistake about that.

God needs us to turn from the ways of death to the ways of life.

But God will not do it by cutting us down

and throwing us out, even though we may deserve it.

God has decided to love us into life.

 

Maybe that gardener is just a silly optimist.

But that’s the kind of gardener he is.

In his career, he has seen plenty of trees that were left for dead

come back later and bear lots of fruit.

So every year that gardener says,

“just one more year.”

“Let’s give that tree just one more year.”

 

This is God that Jesus knows and reveals to us.

That is the image that Jesus offers those people.

And one that they can offer to the world.

 

Jesus reveals a God who knows that fear of punishment

can make people obedient,

but that love can make them live again.

 

It might take longer, it might be more work.

It might not be the most expedient way.

But Jesus tells us, that the God that he knows

will love and forgive us back into life.