March 7, 2010 (3rd Lent)
Today’s Readings (text):
- Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15 (RCL* Isaiah 55:1-9)
- Ps 103:1-11 (RCL* 63:1-8)
- 1st Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 (RCL* 10:1-13)
- Luke 13:1-9
Today’s gospel reading is the parable of the fig tree, but even if we are not a person who plants fig trees in our gardens, we can get the drift of the story. For three years, the tree bears no fruit, leading the owner of the fig tree to want to cut it down. But the person tending the garden convinces him to leave it for just one more year, during which time he will pay special attention to it. “If [it doesn't bear fruit next year], you can cut it down,” he tells the owner of the fig tree.
In the mid-1800s, in the Kansas Territory town of Osawatomie, peaceful people who were against slavery, ideologically led by ministers such as Rev. Samuel Adair, stood their ground, holding on in the face of militant pro-slavery forces. Although the peaceful abolitionists lost a few battles in guerrilla-style warfare, they were winning a publicity war back in the East.
Because they stuck it out, there was more time for settlers to come from free states in the North, and soon, people who opposed slavery outnumbered — and outvoted — those who supported slavery.
This is kind of like the fig tree parable. It takes time for a tree to bear fruit. It doesn’t always happen in the first, second, or third year. Sometimes you don’t get fruit until the fourth year. The peaceful abolitionists in Osawatomie didn’t win any elections when their movement began. Rather they chipped away at the pro-slavery majority by giving time for like-minded settlers to make their way to Osawatomie. And today, the town enjoys the same commitment to peace prevalent in the time of Samuel Adair.
Our God is a God of infinite goodness, but the time he allows in his schedule for us to turn to him is not so infinite. God works on his own schedule, not on ours. When the psalmist declares, “The Lord is kind and merciful,” the “mercy” refers to the time given after we have sinned but during which no punishment occurs. God alone decides the time for punishment, as he did in the many punishments written about in the Old Testament.
So really, the fig tree story is a little like a call to repent. It tells us God will give us time and show us mercy, but after that time has elapsed — and we don’t know when that will be — if we still haven’t turned our hearts, minds, and strength to God, that’s it. He cuts down the fig tree.
Finally, the single most popular page on this Web site is my retelling of the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, featured in today’s Roman Catholic Old Testament reading. The Revised Common Lectionary uses a passage from the Book of Isaiah today, which basically gives the same advice that could be gleaned from the fig tree parable. I have no idea why the Moses story is so popular among Google searchers, but it seems to have become a hit. I wrote it for a seventh-grade religious education class, along with other stories from the Bible.
Please take a moment to read the moral of the story at the bottom. Keep in mind that our God is infinite in his goodness in our lives. He continues to refresh our minds with new events that bear witness to his kindness. The Burning Bush story asks us, Would we recognize God and his actions in our lives today? Would we give witness to his glory as he works through us every day?
———-
* RCL refers to the Revised Common Lectionary of the Christian churches, copyright by the Consultation on Common Texts, as endorsed by about 16 Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic church.
