Reflections on the Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree

The gospel appointed for Lent 3C -- which includes the parable of the fruitless fig tree -- was the very first text I ever preached as a "Ministry Study Year" intern at St. Francis in Simi Valley the year before I went to seminary.

I remember as if it was last week beginning to prepare for the sermon by pulling one Bible off my shelf -- and finding "TURN FROM SIN OR DIE" as the "tag line" on the top corner of the Luke 13 page. I then turned to a second translation and found "GOD'S LOVE FOR US NEVER CEASES" at the top of that page.

How was it possible, I wondered, that two equally reputable translations could come up with such different approaches to the same scripture? The answer is that each phrase provides a portion of the truth – and that the choice of how to label the scripture says almost as much about the person doing the labeling as it does about the scripture itself. And choice is a crucial issue for us as Christians– not only in how choose to describe scriptural references but in how we choose to live our life in Christ. As a brand-new preacher I understood that an "either/or" approach to Luke 13 was not going to serve my sermon well. And yet, decades later, we feel the pressure from those in our wider communion -- within our own church -- insisting that "either/or" is the only option on the table.

If my first sermon deserved better than that SO DOES THE CHURCH!

TURN FROM SIN OR DIE is without a doubt part of Jesus' message in Luke 13. Sin is what separates us from God and NOT to turn from sin is to choose death. But a life lived in fear of judgment is not the sort of life abundant I believe God would have us live. I believe what Jesus was offering his listeners – and us -- in the parable of the fig tree was the time to once again hear his message of love and acceptance, to get out own act together by living the life of grace God would have for us – and to bear the fruit we were meant to bear as God's people in the world.

GOD'S LOVE FOR US NEVER CEASES is a promise that we can trust – a gift that we can live our lives in response to. That love can and does transform lives with its healing grace – as Paul said in Ephesians, "that power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine." It is that love and that promise that makes us "Easter people" – even as we journey through these 40 days of Lent.

For more on yesterday's gospel check out these fine sermons:

Mark Harris' "We are a Tree that bears the fruit of repentence" on Preludium

Jon Richardson's "Same Day, Different Manure" on Telling Secrets