YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN– After Ash Wednesday, we start our Lenten journey.
The Lenten observance has changed over the centuries. The early church celebrated Lent only for a few days before Easter. Over time, the length of the season grew until it was several weeks long.
In the seventh century, the church set the period of Lent at 40 days (excluding Sundays) to remind people of the duration of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
Often, the observance of Lent is abused. It has, in certain times and places, become a period of empty abstinence from tidbits of affluence, and the enjoyment of gloom of self-denial.
Some people believe it is a time to feel miserable. However, I believe that is not the purpose of Lent.
These 40 days should be a period of engagement with God, of repentance, prayer, and a renewal of our baptismal vows.
Lent looks towards God’s act on the cross and the resurrection. Lent is the opportunity to move within the shadows of the cross, and let the heart experience the love of God. Lent is a time to look toward the victory of Easter, and the victory that is ours in Jesus Christ.
Our scripture text is about the parable of the fig tree. On the first reading, we can easily conclude that the parable of the fig tree is about judgment–God’s judgement.
However, if you read it twice or three times more, we can say that the very heart of this parable is about a marvelous word of grace–God’s grace.
Let us take a closer look at the parable. Its primary message is about unfruitfulness that is not allowed in God’s vineyard.
Jesus tells the story to make clear that the purpose of the fig tree’s life is to bear fruit. That is the reason for planting the tree. Therefore, if the tree does not bear fruit, then it has no reason for existence, and should be destroyed.
The English writer H.G. Wells once wrote an essay on a tribe of people he called the “Goodness Sakers”. These were the folks who — when they saw something that needed to be done, or when they saw a social evil, or detected some moral shortcoming — would stand around, and wring their hands and say, “For goodness sakes, why doesn’t someone do something about this?”
We encounter a lot of people who are “goodness-sakers”. They are always saying, “For goodness’ sake, something ought to be done!” But they never get around to doing anything about it.
So the obvious truth of the Parable is that unfruitfulness is not allowed in God’s vineyard. Uselessness is a sin because it means that when we are useless, we fall short of God’s intention for us.
But then, when the owner of the vineyard wanted to cut the fig tree, the gardener pleaded with him, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it, and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.”
To be sure, there is a law of uselessness that induces death.
But there is another law, maybe a higher law in the economy of God–the law of grace. I would like to call this parable as the Parable of a Second Chance.
The prophet Isaiah described the redemptive nature of Israel’s suffering: He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6)
But we can also say that these words describe to us of the redemptive suffering of Jesus on the cross that sets us free. It is a suffering love that never leaves us in spite of what we do. Or in spite of our turning away from God.
In the book Unconditional Love, Fr. John Powell tells of a young man, Tommy, a student in his class, The Theology of Faith. Tommy turns out to be the “atheist in residence” in the course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally-loving God.
At the end of the course, he asked in a slightly-cynical tone: “Do you think I’ll ever find God?”
Powell decided on a little shock therapy. “No!” he said.
“Oh,” Tommy responded, “I thought that was the product you were pushing.”
I let him get five steps from the door, and then called out: “Tommy! I don’t think you’ll ever find him but I’m absolutely certain he will find you!”He shrugged a little, and left my class and my life.
Later, I heard a report that Tom had graduated, and I was duly grateful.
Then a sad report, Tommy had a terminal illness. Before I could search him out, he came to see me.
“Tommy, I’ve thought about you so often. I hear you are sick.”
“Oh yes, very sick.”
“Can you talk about it?”
“Sure. What would you like to know?”
“What’s it like to be only 24 and dying?”
“Well, it could be worse.”
“Like what?”
“Well, like being 50 and having no values or ideals; like being 50 and thinking that booze, and making money are the real ‘biggies’ in life. But what I really came to see you about,” Tom said, “is something you said to me on the last day of class. I asked you if you thought I would ever find God, and you said, ‘No!’ which surprised me. Then you said, ‘But he will find you.’ I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was not at all intense… at that time.
Tommy continued: “One day I woke up and decided to spend what time I had doing something more profitable. I thought about you, and your class, and remembered something else you said: ‘The essential sadness is to go through life without living. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.’
“So I began with the hardest one, my dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him. ‘Dad?’ ‘Yes, what?’ he asked without lowering the newspaper. ‘Dad, I would like to talk with you.’ ‘Well, talk.’ ‘I mean, it’s really important.’ The newspaper came down three slow inches. ‘What is it?’ ‘Dad, I love you. I just wanted you to know that.’ The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I could not remember him ever doing before. He cried, and he hugged me. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that he loved me. It was easier with my mother, and little brother. We shared things we had been keeping secret for so many years.”
“Then one day I turned around, and God was there. Apparently, God does things in his own way, and at his own hour. But the important thing is that he was there. He found me. You were right. He found me even after I stopped looking for him.”
“Tommy, you are saying something very important, and much more universal than you realize. You are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make him a private possession, a problem-solver, but rather by opening yourself to his love.” (God’s Gift, James Garrett, C.S.S. Publishing Company)
Yes, the surest way to find God is opening ourselves to God’s love.
We have a God who loves us, and cares about our challenges, our heartbreaks, our suffering because God, through Jesus, went through these experiences himself. When we understand that kind of love, we can live more joyfully and freely.
As what a hymn says, “In peace that only thou canst give, with thee, O Master, let me live.”
But then, knowing that God loves us is not enough. We still have to bear fruits. We need to let others know of that love that will never leave us by being instruments of that love.
In his life on this earth, Jesus set people free, healed them, stood up for those who were oppressed. He welcomed the rejects, and looked out for the forgotten. He was a voice for the voiceless. Jesus never wavered in his mission to bring hope, healing, and freedom to those who were most in need.
In reality today, evil is among us almost everywhere we look. Humanity’s inhumanity to individuals and groups of people has a long and sordid history. We have experienced evil spirits working deep within the human soul as people destroy one another.
Just listen to the news, or listen to the presidential candidates and their leaders. We hear negative things that the opposition are doing to win the election. Or watch to what is going on between Russia and Ukraine. Or China against small nations like the Philippines.
Other than that, we also experience evil that manifests itself as undeserved illness in the lives of so many people whom we know and love.
As a Pastor, I cannot explain to you why some suffer more than others, or why some are healed of their afflictions, and others are not. Nor can I explain to you why some people die of the coronavirus, and some only have slight symptoms.
I do not believe that God uses illnesses to punish people for their sins, nor do I believe that we go through suffering because God is teaching us some sort of painful lesson that will bring us into line.
What we can be sure of is that our God is a God who loves us all the time. Our God is a God who suffers with us, and who feels our pain as we feel it.
In the end, God will be victorious over evil, and all things will work together for good to those who love God.
But more than that, God uses us to be instruments to help ease some of the pain and suffering of others, to be the voice of the voiceless, to be a friend of those who are rejected by others, to welcome the rejects and look out for the forgotten.
God uses us to be instruments of overcoming evil that we see, and to help take care of this world that He created.
Together, with the spirit of God in our hearts, we can make ready to do battle with evil which plagues this world and thwarts God’s good intentions for us in this world.
In a sermon The Richest Family in Church, King Duncan tells of the story of missionary Adoniram Judson who spent 38 years ministering to the people of Burma, the area now known as Myanmar.
He and his wife, Ann, spent six years in ministry to the Burmese people before they had their first convert. At one point, Judson was thrown into prison on suspicion of being a spy. While in prison, his wife Ann died. After his release from prison, he contracted a debilitating disease that dogged him for the rest of his life.
And yet this man, who suffered so much in his life, is famous for his unwavering faith and tireless commitment to serving God. He was known for the saying, “The future is as bright as the promises of God.” (Christian Globe Network Inc., Dynamic Preaching, 1st issue, 2022)
“The future is as bright as the promises of God.” Do you trust God’s character and power enough to believe in God’s promises, no matter what your current circumstances are?
Of the barren fig tree, the owner of the vineyard said to his vine dresser, “Cut it down; why should it use up ground?” And the vine dresser answered, “Give it another year, sir. Let me put fertilizer around it, and if it bears fruit, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.”
There is still time for us. This is a suitable time and a good place to ask ourselves whether we are bearing the fruit that Christ means for us to bear in our jobs, in our homes, in our communities.
We are not asked to be something we are not. All Christ is asking of us is that we be the best that we can be as instruments of God’s reign in this world.
This is the year of the Lord’s favor. This is the Good News.
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