Eternal God, your kingdom has broken into our troubled world through the life, death and resurrection of your son. Help us to hear your word and obey it, and bring your saving love to fruition in our lives through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
Luke 13: 1-9Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' " 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
In this story about the fig tree, there is a lot going on. The owner intends to put the soil that the tree sits on to better use. The gardener intervenes and pleads for one more season to nurture the plant to growth before it will either produce or be cut down. This gardener, our gardener, takes on the fate of all humanity, our suffering and our death, head on. He not only tends to the tree, but dies on a tree. He suggests that being cut off from God is a terrible fate, and then he endures that fate with us and for us. By joining us in our suffering, Jesus does not answer the questions about why we suffer. Instead he lives it. He shows us that it does not have the last word. Beyond our hope and comprehension is something greater still, of which by his death we can only catch a glimpse. For this purpose he tends the unproductive tree and dies with it, with us. We turn to our constant gardener for help and hope that we might indeed become productive, just as a plant will turn toward the light that is in part fuel for its fruit. The process is the point-and the point is our process. In this gardener we find our purpose and our deliverance - our growth and our potential - our promise through his presence. Jesus carries his cross for us and before us, that God's response to our suffering is not indifference but to join us in it and walk with us through it. We may never understand it, but we know that unexplained suffering and pain are not our journey's destination or our life’s point. The why may elude us... But the who is always with us - as a companion in a pilgrimage.... in our Lenten journey.
O God, your son came among us to serve and not to be served, and to give his life for the life of the world. Lead us by his love to serve all those who to whom the world offers no comfort and little help. Through us give hope to the hopeless, love to the unloved, peace to the troubled and rest to the weary. God of all our days, help us to treasure each person and each day you give us. Guide us to live always for your glory. Amen.
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