One more chance – Luke 13:6-17

The Scriptures from Luke for this week and next both relate to us examples of how God refuses to give up on people. Today it is about a fig tree and a healing. Next week is the familiar story of the Prodigal Son.

Let’s begin with the parable of the fig tree.  Figs were and probably still are an important source of nutrition for people living in what today is called the Middle East. But if your tree just produced leaves but no fruit, it would not be very helpful. The space being taken by an unproductive fig tree would be better given to another tree or another crop that would produce something edible.

In the parable, Jesus tells us about the owner and his conversation with the gardener.  Presumably the gardener has been doing everything he knows to encourage the tree to produce fruit. For three years the owner has come expecting to gain something from the tree, but it remains barren. The owner is frustrated and wants the tree to come down. The gardener pleads for one more year. The gardener will clean up the area around it and feed it once more. If nothing happens by the next year, the owner can cut it down.

Once again the number three appears.  Think back to the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus and the appearance of Moses and Elijah.  Moses brought the Ten Commandments from God to the people of Israel and    encouraged them to bear fruit by ordering their personal and community life after them.  Elijah stood against the false god of Queen Jezebel who had convinced her husband the King of Judah to turn from the God of the people. Elijah revealed to the people that God was not dead but very much alive and that the people were to bear fruit by living faithful lives according to the law of the one and only living God.  Jesus comes as the Son of God to reveal the deep love of God for the people and call them to repent and believe.

Three significant moments in the history of the people of Israel. Three times that the Word of God came to the people and encouraged them to be fruitful. Three times that growth began but never flourished to the point where that growth produced fruit.  But says the gardener, give it one more chance.

Jesus is the gardener who knows that the tree has not borne the fruit that was expected, but who has hope for the tree and wants to give the tree one more chance to prove it can be fruitful.  The gardener hopes that the tree will absorb the goodness from the soil and so finally bear fruit.

To move out of the parable and begin to relate this to our lives, the tree represents our life with God and God’s firm hope that we will seek to be part of the tree that is nourished by the word and wisdom God has shared through the prophets and now through Jesus. God’s firm hope is that receiving the nourishment of that word in our minds, our hearts, and our spirits will encourage us to not only abide in that tree but also produce fruit that can nourish others.

In last week’s lesson from Philippians, Paul encouraged the people to imitate him in his actions and not just his words. He wanted the people to follow the way of Jesus so as to bear fruit through their lives and become an example for others to follow.

It is one thing to say we are Christian; it is another to live as Christian. It is one thing to say we believe; it is another to live what we believe.  Living the gospel of Christ, living in the Spirit of the living God is a commitment to not only believe the message of God to be true but to grow in our understanding of what it means live the message of God.  That is a challenge that will be with us for the rest of our lives here on earth.  But the good news is this: as the gardener was willing to give the fig tree one more chance to bear fruit, so God is willing to give us one more chance to bear fruit.  Time for God is not measured in our human constraints.  There is still time in this year of God for each of us to have that one more chance to bear the fruit of the Spirit and so live as the children of God.

The fruit of the Spirit is spoken of in more than one place in the Scriptures. The list from Galatians 5:22-23 reads like this: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.”  Paul then goes on to say that if we choose to live by the Spirit, we need to be guided by the Spirit not becoming conceited, competing with one another, or envying one another. And just as God gives us one more chance, we give each other one more chance.

The account of Jesus healing the crippled woman is one that speaks to our human struggle to please God by following the rules we believe need to be observed.  Jesus is in the synagogue teaching when a woman who has been crippled for eighteen years enters.  Jesus stops teaching, goes to her, and heals her.  The leader of the synagogue sees it as his duty to remind Jesus that the people need to respect the Sabbath and not do anything on that day that could be accomplished on one of the six other days of the week. While not disrespecting the Sabbath and its importance in providing people with a chance to rest, Jesus points out that people would not leave an animal in distress just because it was the Sabbath.  How more so should we not leave another human being in agony if we have the ability to relieve their suffering.

If the Sabbath was indeed created by God to give people a chance to rest, to reflect and to deepen their relationship with God, then should it not also be the day when – if the situation presents itself – we allow those we find in pain and suffering the chance to experience relief, to be able to rest in peace, to be able to feel hope and joy.  When the Sabbath loses its freeing and restorative purpose, it truly becomes just another day.

Whether at a time of worship, at a time of study, a time of fellowship or a time of work or play, our willingness to be guided by the Spirit of God and to reveal the fruits of the Spirit needs to be uppermost in our actions and our words. And so as we look for our one more chance with God, we can give others one more chance as well.

Now may the angels of heaven protect us this day and circle us with the fragrance of peace. May Christ our Lord and loving friend protect us this day and circle us with affection and love. May the Spirit of truth who dwells in our hearts protect us this day and circle us and fill us with joy.

Amen