The Third Sunday of Lent The Planting of the Lord Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen! Jesus tells us a parable in today’s Gospel: A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, “Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?” And he answered him, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” Dear Christian friends, Throughout His Scriptures, God frequently compares His Church to a vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 8:13, Hosea 9:10, Micah 7:1, John 15). God compares His Church to a vineyard because He wants each of us—you and me and baby makes three—God wants each of us to think of ourselves as a green plant growing safely behind the vineyard wall and under the vinedresser’s daily care. “In Good Soil by Abundant Waters” (Ezekiel 17:8) When Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,” He wants each of us to be thinking of our own self. By calling us each “a fig tree planted in [God’s] vineyard,” Jesus is speaking both good and bad news to each of us individually. • The good news is that you are “the planting of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:4), as God describes you in another place. That is to say, your place in the holy Christian Church—your place God’s heavenly and eternal kingdom—really has nothing to do with your efforts or labors. Jesus wants you to know in today’s Gospel that you are a fig tree that God your Father has lovingly and graciously chosen to bring home and to plant in His vineyard. “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,” says Jesus, and Jesus is talking about you. With these Words, Jesus wants you to know that you are safe and secure; you live behind the strong wall of the vineyard of God’s holy and eternal church, there to grow and bear fruit. • You are “the planting of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:4). That is the good news in today’s Gospel. The bad news is, you might not be producing as much fruit as you ought. After all, what does Jesus say about each of us—me as much as you? Jesus says, “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.” Maybe there are a couple of withered figs tucked up under the branches here and there, but by and large, the fig tree is not producing anywhere near as much fruit as it ought to be producing! Think about your own good works, that is, stuff you produce in your life because of your faith in Jesus. o God says in His Scriptures, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22). That indeed may be as list of what God the Spirit promises to produce within His Christians, but it is also a list everything I need to improve upon in my own personal life. And maybe you also find your branches are likewise a little bare when it comes to “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control.” o We might not want to say that we never produce any good works, because we certainly do not want to deny the good and gracious work that God does in and through us every day. But still, who here would be so bold as to make a list of his or her good works and show that list to God with the expectation of receiving a compliment? Should we not consider our produce small because God says it is small? o Where good works are lacking, the axe gets sharpened. John the Baptist was utterly serious when he preached, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8). Again, “Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). And what does the owner of the vineyard say concerning each of us in today’s Gospel? “Look,” He says, “for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?” This bad news makes today’s Gospel a good Gospel for Lent. Today’s Gospel lets us know, loud and clear, that we have no way of fooling God our heavenly Father. No matter how upright and pious we might make ourselves appear in public; no matter how much we each might try to look like we are a cut above other people; even when we put forth our best efforts for those brief moments in which we are willing; God still knows the real you and the real me. God can see through the branches. “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.” “Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing” (John 15:8) In today’s Gospel, Jesus starts with the good news that we are each “the planting of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:4), planted in God’s eternal vineyard not by our act or desire, but by the will and doing of God alone. Then Jesus swings us into the bad news of our poor productivity, despite our miraculous location in the safety of God’s care. Here is the truly wonderful and praiseworthy thing about today’s Gospel: Jesus does not leave us with the bad news of our poor productivity! Rather, Jesus immediately swings us into the good news of God’s grace and mercy once again! A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, “Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?” And he answered him, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” With these Words, Jesus wants you to know that He is taking full responsibility for you. Jesus does NOT tell us in today’s Gospel that the fig tree will remain in the vineyard if it somehow manages to try harder and do better next year. Jesus promises us today that the fig tree remains in the vineyard on account of HIS loving care and HIS continual attention. After all, what did the vinedresser say? “Sir, let [the fig] alone this year also. I will dig around [the fig] and put on manure.” • “I will dig around the fig,” says Jesus. So maybe not every moment of our lives is overflowing with hugs and kisses, fresh air and sunshine. Maybe God’s Christians go through bad experiences. Maybe God’s Christians feel harsh treatment in this life. And while these sorts of things are happening, maybe we should sing for joy to Jesus our Vinedresser. Jesus says, “I will dig around the fig.” Then Jesus uses such bad experiences of everyday life to prune us and dig around us, in order to produce more fruit within us. • “I will put on manure,” says Jesus. With these Words, Jesus promises to provide you with every nutrient you need for good fruit. In the same way that manure fertilizes the root of a tree, Jesus wants you to know that His Word and His Holy Communion likewise fertilize you, so that you may bear good fruit. If you look in your life and find yourself lacking, perhaps you should not run and hide from God. All the more to the Word! All the more to the Holy Communion! Your good works lay waiting for you in these things! “Sir, let [the fig] alone this year also. I will dig around [the fig] and put on manure.” Can any Words sound more pleasing to the ear? Today’s parable is not about Jesus shaking His finger at us, despite our thanklessness and our paltry fruit. Today’s Gospel is about Jesus assuming full responsibility for each and every one of us—each a fig that has been tenderly planted in the vineyard of God. And Jesus knows, under His loving care, something good to grow from our branches. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
