Scripture Reading Luke 13:6-9 (NRSVUE)
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘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.’ “
Meditation
On Sunday I shared that approximately one third of the Psalter is made up of psalms of lament. Tonight I’m sharing that just about one third of Jesus’ teachings in the gospels are in the form of parables. Parables are usually short stories, but some are longer. But they are memorable. They are pithy. And they tell stories based on the real lives of the people who are standing or sitting in front of Jesus, listening. Jesus tells stories about yeast, and about seeds. He speaks of working in vineyards—which were plentiful in Judea, they were everywhere. He talks of lost coins—who hasn’t lost something valuable to them? He talks of sheep, which were also plentiful in most of the regions he addressed. And in all these parables, Jesus, generally, leaves interpretation to the listeners—thought not always. Parables are a lot like Zen koans—short statements that confound the brain, but stay with you, and keep you thinking, what IS the sound of one hand clapping?
Tonight’s parable is about a fig tree. The parable comes just after stories about local catastrophes, the kinds of things people would be talking about for years. In one of them, the cruelty of Pontius Pilate is on display, the only time in the gospels outside the stories of Jesus’ passion and death. In the other catastrophe, a tower collapsed and killed eighteen people. And the impression you get is that Jesus is being asked a question: Did these things happen to these people because they were wicked? Were they sinners? Jesus says, No, they were just regular people. All the same, he adds—don’t YOU sin.
And then he tells this story, about a fig tree that would not produce figs.
Are there any gardeners here this evening? Have you had any problems with a plant that wouldn’t flower, or a vine that wouldn’t produce tomatoes? Maybe a Christmas cactus that stopped blooming. (That last one’s mine.)
Did you find this experience frustrating?
Yeah, so does the owner of this fig tree. In fact, at another time in the gospels, Jesus himself not only expresses frustration at a fig tree with no figs, he curses it! So. There you go.
But that’s not how our parable goes.
The owner of the fig tree is the owner of a vineyard—this is the sole fig tree planted there, which probably means: Whereas a vineyard is a generally a business, it’s likely that this fig tree was planted for personal use, personal delight.
Have you ever eaten fresh figs? Have you ever read D. H. Lawrence’s somewhat randy poem, “Figs”? I highly recommend it. Suffice to say, Lawrence makes hay with the fact that that the fig isn’t in fact a fruit. It’s what is called an inflorescence—a cluster of many flowers and seeds inside a stem which has adapted to the oddness of having an inside-out bouquet by making itself a bulb shape.
Figs are delicious. We have to understand what the owner is upset about. It’s been three years. In all his wealth and privilege, he has decided he wanted his very own fig tree, and it is not blooming. He is not happy. He wants it gone. It’s taking up (literally) valuable space.
But you hear what his worker says. Give me some time with it. One more year. I’ll give it some extra fertilizer. I’ll open up the soil around it, let the roots breathe.
This is a poem about second chances. Think of the owner. The owner has everything he wants, everything he needs. But this fig tree, which he gave a chance in his own vineyard, is such a disappointment.
Parables aren’t allegories, but sometimes you can’t help thinking… so, is the owner God…? Are we the fig trees? That’s certainly one valid reading. God is our owner—we belong to her. She created us, we are hers, the work of her hands.
We are put on this earth to bear fruit—not really cool inflorescent fruit, but more like Galatians-type fruit. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Generosity. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-Control. We are put here to love one another, to find joy in living. We are put here to live in peace with those who are not our kin or our kind, but who are also God’s beloveds, put on this earth to bear fruit. We were born, not with patience, but to learn it, because patience and kindness are the essence of love. We were created with an impulse toward generosity—it’s true, it’s hard wired in us, a result of evolution in which we must learn to share or else we will all perish. We were placed here in hopes we would find faith—in fact, we Presbyterians believe God had that all planned out even before we were born. Gentleness may not be inherent for all, but it sure is for some, and we can learn from them. Ditto self-control.
Our owner wants to see us flourish—flower—with all these attributes. The Spirit is with us, and wants to help us out as well. It would be a bummer if our owner had a one-strike policy, and we were out. It’s a good thing the owner sent the worker.
I’m so interested that the worker has asked for a year. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus’ ministry lasted one year. That would be the time during which worker Jesus would give the fig tree everything it needed—doses of the Spirit, in terms of his preaching and teaching. Healing, in terms of digging around. What’s manure? It might just be exactly what it is—the not great byproduct of living, which still has its use. Our struggles. Our pain. Our hardship. Our prayers. All the things our parents told us would build character. All the things we may be lamenting about. All the things that make life hard. Is it possible our parents were right? Is it possible they would help us, at least, to grow? Maybe. It’s probably a case by case situation.
But at the end of the year… what a beautiful flowering there would be. It would be delicious. It would be delightful. The tree would be fulfilling its purpose on this earth, and the owner would be overjoyed, and so glad she sent the worker.
Thanks be to God. Amen.