THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

[cappie]

Today's reading is found in the chapters of Luke's Gospel that describe Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. During this journey, Jesus teaches and heals.    The context of the passage is this: Word reaches Jesus that Pilate has made a religious sacrifice to the Emperor and as a part of that burnt sacrifice, he slaughtered a gathering of Galilean Jews and placed their remains on the sacrificial pyre. And as if that is not horrifying enough, at the same time that Jesus hears of Pilate’s treachery, news arrives that a tower in Siloam has fallen, crushing eighteen people. The crowd who relayed this news to Jesus was burning with the same question that has echoed  for 2,000 years: “Why did this tragedy happen to these people?”

 Even today, it is difficult to pick up a newspaper or turn on the television without encountering vivid and often excruciating details of the latest tragedy that has befallen innocent victims. “Why has this terrible thing happened to such innocent people?” we often ask.

 And so, things from as simple as a paint scrape on a new car to suffering as profound and heart-wrenching an ominous diagnosis, or even the death of a loved one, can cause us to ask the question, “What did I do to deserve this?”  But as the crowd asks Jesus the question of who or what is to blame for these tragedies, Jesus cannot be clearer: Those who died were no better or worse than we are. Rather, Jesus says, we have all made mistakes and lost sight of God’s will for our lives, and we are all sinners.

What’s more, although Jesus insists that the relationship between sin and suffering is not causal—that is, God does not cause us to suffer because of our sin, Jesus also reminds us that sin itself can cause us to suffer. There is no question that Pilate’s murderous deeds—as well as the horrific actions perpetrated by today’s extremists and dictators—are sinful. And sin has consequences.

Destructive behaviors, violence, the lust for power, and the quest for vengeance and retribution lead to much suffering in the world. The Church is called to speak out in opposition to these forms of suffering, and to do all in its power to combat them.

But with all of that said, what sense can be made of the parable of the fig tree? Why does Jesus tell that particular parable, and why does he do it here?

We humans  hold “fairness” as an important value. Fairness, in a moralistic sense, is often defined as receiving rewards for doing good and receiving punishment for doing evil.  This concept of fairness is at play in the parable of the fig tree. The landowner says what most of us have come to believe about fairness: “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?”

In other words, it hasn’t met its mark or lived up to its potential, and it’s affecting my bottom line, so it has to go. But the gardener proclaims another possibility: “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.”

This parable is a reminder that God operates, not on our conventional conceptions of fairness and causes and effects; but rather, God operates  patience, faithful tending, and hopeful expectation.

Rather than certainty; rather than providing a recipe for putting an end to human suffering; rather than offering a panacea that would make the world turn on blissful peace and harmony, Luke 13 offers a word of good hope: God is still tending the garden.

God is still working in and through God’s people to bring light and life, love and peace to a broken and sinful world. And in that, there is indeed hope for us all.

On Ash Wednesday, St. Paul appealed to us "not to receive the grace of God in vain...Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation."

May today be a day we choose one thing - just one thing - that keeps us from bearing fruit. Jesus' parable warns us that the consequences of not doing so will be disastrous. But we can do it, we really can, with God's grace. We just have to make the decision,

[Gary david]

Very well written! You have taken the time to cover many issues in peoples lives that explain many important things. It puts us all on an even plane. Makes us see clearer not out of our eyes, but Gods eyes, whether we brought them about ourselves or not. No one likes bad or painful things to happen, but they are far easier to manage if we take fairness out of it. There is far, far more to life than our weak minds and bodies can possibly know. It seems that people make things so much more complicated than they are. Gods plan is best. Its simple it seems. We just seem to get in the way of His plan when we put everything else in front of Him.

Again, nice writing. Much to ponder. May God bless you.....