The Third Sunday of Lent – Year C
March 7, 2010
The Reverend Monna Mayhall

Luke 13:1-9

You know, Bob and Ann have been priests and in the preaching business many more years than I have, and when a gospel like the one we have today from Luke pops up in the lectionary, I sometimes just wonder if they know what readings are coming up when.

It’s gospels like the one for today that we really have to wrestle with and look hard to find where the GOOD NEWS is in all of this…because at first glance there does not seem to be a whole lot to make us feel warm and fuzzy.  

…And the ending…well, that might seem a little unsettling. In fact it’s readings like this that bring to mind something very important that I learned early in seminary – a minister’s job is to not only to comfort the afflicted and but also afflict the comfortable. 

This reading with a repent or perish message, seems like it could be one of those “afflict the comfortable” lessons.

But I have to tell you, in preparing my sermon for today, I didn’t chase that repentance rabbit so closely, but rather I went down the trail of seeing this gospel as more of a promise than a threat.

And now, aren’t you on the edge of your pew wondering how I got to that point? 

“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard” – The parable that Jesus tells begins with hope, because the fig tree was planted in a vineyard where a vinedresser could watch after it and care for it, rather than planted in some place where it would be left unattended and uncared for.        

…And the fig tree?

Back in the ancient days, the fig tree was the most valuable of all trees because it was naturally productive and bore three crops yearly. And it typically had fruit on its braches 10 months out of the year. 

Fig trees were much more certain to produce fruit than vines, and so fig trees were commonly planted among the vines – for even if the vines weren’t productive, the fig trees more than likely would be. Normally it took 3 three years for a fig tree to produce fruit, and in the parable, the master was ready to give up for he had waited the three years and still there was nothing…no growth…no productivity…no reason to even let the tree continue to take up space in the vineyard.                

But the vinedresser steps in and says, “Wait! Don’t give up on the fig tree yet. Its’ just going through a rough time, because it’s capable of being producing fruit…Give it time…Just wait…Just wait…” 

It’s clear the vinedresser is ROOTING for the fig tree…pun intended.     

But let’s back up to the beginning of the gospel and see why Jesus even told this parable. Jesus surely stirs up the people’s emotions as he asks them rhetorical questions about horrible tragedies that claimed many lives. 

Terrible things happen…to bad people and to good people. And there is no way to possibly explain it or blame anyone for it. But in those times, maybe there’s a way to try to take advantage of the situations; maybe there’s a way to get something good out of them. 

The fear that comes with terrible things can be paralyzing. When fear grabs hold, it can immobilize us and can keep us from taking care of responsibilities, from going about normal activities, from being productive…from becoming the person God intends us to be. 

It seems that that even though we are humans in a state of being, we live in a state of becoming. And focusing on something bad that has happened or on the thought that something bad that might happen can keep us from doing most anything else.

Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor says, “Don’t worry about all the things that can come crashing down on your head. Terrible things happen, but don’t let that stop you from doing what you are doing. That torn place your fear has opened up inside of you is a holy place. Look around while you’re there. Pay attention to what you feel. It may hurt you to stay there and it may hurt you to see, but it’s not the kind of hurt that leads to death. It is the kind that leads to life.”      

Whether through fault of our own or no fault of our own, sometimes we fall short of those things done and in particular those things left undone. 

And though we might not think there is hope within ourselves, as the collect for today reads “we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves,” our God, the Great I AM, is a merciful God who does not give up on us, but rather through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus continually draws us closer – loving us and nurturing us as we strive to live out our baptismal covenant in becoming the children of God we are called to be.

Through a play at my son’s school, I have recently been reminded of the wonderful story of Pinocchio. I imagine that many of you are familiar with this story, and that I’m not spoiling it for you. It’s a story about a dear man, a toymaker named Geppetto who carefully creates and crafts a wooden puppet boy and names him Pinocchio. He places Pinocchio on the shelf before going to sleep, and then wishes on a star for Pinocchio to become a real boy. 

Pinocchio does come to life, though still a wooden boy. He’s drawn away from home and has many adventures and faces lots of challenges, including donkey troubles and whale troubles, and not to mention nose troubles when he tells a lie. But even though Pinocchio is struggling to become a “real boy” like his father Geppetto wants him to be, Geppetto, all the while seeks after him, relentlessly trying to find his little boy and bring him home.     

We are all created in the image of God…we are valuable and worthy of God’s mercy and love. The fig tree capable of producing fruit…because of its nature, was very valuable, and needed to be kept it in the vineyard, and the vinedresser knew that. 

The season of Lent is not only a time of reflecting on those things that keep us from growing into the person God calls us to be, but also a time of discovering new things that help us grow. Surely there are or will be those times in our lives when things happen to us or those we love and we feel hopeless…unable to move. 

But we can eventually take a step, move forward, and take those chances of growth trusting that when we fail, because we will fail from time to time, but when we do, we fall in the arms of a merciful God who loves and cares for us all.

Let us pray.      

Let me be at peace within myself.

Let me accept that I am profoundly loved and

need never be afraid.

Let me be aware of the Source of Being that is common to us all

and to all living creatures.

Let me be filled with the presence of the Great Compassion

toward myself and toward

all living beings.

Let me always be an instrument of my own liberation and

not of my own oppression.

Let me see the face of Jesus in others.

Let me be the face of Jesus for others.

Let me be at peace within myself. Amen