Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 63:1-8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9

            Throughout the Bible the image of the fig tree is one of the most prevalent and consistent.  It is symbolic of blessing and goodness.  When a biblical text describes times and places in which good things are happening, the growth of fig trees and the ripening of their fruit figures highly in the descriptive imagery.  Fig trees are the only individually named plant in the story of the garden of Eden.   The parable of the fig tree, which we hear today  from Luke’s gospel also appears in similar form in Mark and Matthew.  In this instance, the fig tree’s usual symbolic function is turned on its head.  The tree in question is not a sign of goodness and Blessing.  It gives no fruit and it hasn’t for three years.  Just as fruitful fig trees are a symbol of blessing, this barren fig tree signifies unrighteousness.  Jesus tells the parable  in the context of a discussion of sin and punishment.

          It begins with an account of Galileans who were slain at the order of Pontius Pilate.  He is an official of the Roman Empire, familiar from the Palm Sunday and Good Friday lectionary.   Rome governed its conquered territories with an eye toward maintaining order and deriving the greatest possible revenue from the land they acquired by conquest.  Occasional peasant insurrections were dealt with harshly.  Although we can’t identify the dead Galileans mentioned in today’s lesson with  specific events, such peasant uprisings were not uncommon.   This story is a parable and Jesus’ parables always challenge the assumptions of his audience.  We see that with the fig free and in his challenge to the the assumption that hardship, punishment and suffering are inflicted because of sin.

          In the interaction before the parable, Jesus tells the crowd that the Galileans who suffered at the hands of Pontius Pilate were not particularly better or worse than any other Galileans – including those gathered around him at that moment.  He reminds them that all of humanity is sinful; all of humanity falls short of God’s ideal.  Those who were singled out by Pontius Pilate suffered and that is a terrible thing, but it could have been any one of the group of people Jesus is talking to.  All of them, all of us must repent and turn away from sin continually.  To presume that those who suffer did something to deserve it that none of the rest of us has done is wrong.  We can only count ourselves blessed that we do not suffer as others do and turn toward God for forgiveness.

          Jesus goes on to tell the group gathered before him a parable.  In it, there is a fig tree which has no fruit.  The owner of the garden where it is planted comes looking for figs and is once again disappointed.  We learn that he has waited for three years for the tree to produce and it has never grown a single fig.  He instructs the gardener to cut it down, saying that its presence on the land is a waste of the soil that might grow a more productive plant.  The gardener’s response is interesting for a couple of reasons.  He challenges the master’s order to cut down the tree and asks for another year to work with it, rather than simply doing as he is told.  He describes the work he will do with the tree, digging and fertilizing.   The gardener concludes his plan saying,  “If it bears fruit next year, well and good.  If not, you can cut it down.”  The shoe is on the other foot now.  The gardener is telling the boss what to do next year if the tree has still not produced.   Jesus has shocked his audience with a very assertive gardener and the mention of a form of fertilizer that they would not have expected to hear about from a traveling preacher.

          This parable leaves the audience hanging.  They will never hear the end of the story – we won’t either.  But it points the hearer in the direction of hope.   And there is more to the imagery than one more chance for the barren tree.  The image of the fig tree giving fruit is integral to biblical descriptions of the hope for the Messiah and the restoration of Zion.  And on a number of occasions in the Bible, women who have been barren eventually give birth to children.  The promise of Israel’s deliverance and the miraculous births to women like Sarah and Hanna call to mind the entirety of God’s gracious and mighty acts.  In the context of this gospel lesson, Jesus reminds his hearers that God leaves open the path to repentance even for those who have been given up as hopeless sinners.  God has the power to transform that which was cursed into blessing.  God does not see failure as the end, but as a point on the journey.

          In his blog this week, Bishop Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California wrote the following about the Episcopal Church:  “we are a church that believes Christ continues to be with the world, moving with us, helping us find meaning in moments of joy and also loss and pain.  The Christ whom we recognize is the one who speaks in John’s Gospel, saying, “There are many things I would teach you but you cannot bear them now . . . the Spirit will lead you into all truth.” 

          Lent is that time of year when we step back from our own goals and desires and allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit toward those things which we are not able to see and hear through our own efforts.  Our culture is geared toward meeting goals and being productive.  One of the prominent cultural and political motifs of the last 30 years has been the perceived divide between those who produce and those who do not.  Our nation’s government has ground to a standstill more than once having been consumed by conflict over the appropriate rewards and punishments for those who are perceived as makers and takers.

          This parable points out that for all our efforts and accomplishments, we come before God as creatures who have failed to live up to the promise of our creation in God’s image.   We come before God in need of forbearance, patience, cultivation and forgiveness.  Everyday life does not teach us to see ourselves in that way, but the Spirit gives us the opportunity to become aware that all we have comes from God.  Through prayer and fasting and setting ourselves apart from the pleasures and routines we take for granted we have the opportunity particularly during Lent to enact that reality.  In doing so we feel Christ moving with us through the world.