I
Just Don't Give a Fig
“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." Luke 13:2-3
What will the Vatican
give for the Pope's name? Rogers Cadenhead sought an answer. Upon the
death of
Pope John Paul II, this self described "domain hoarder" registered
www.Benedict XVI.com before the new Pope's name was announced.
Cadenhead
secured it before Rome
knew they
needed it.
The right domain name can
prove lucrative. Another name,
PopeBenedictXVI.com, surpassed $16,000 on eBay. Cadenhead, however,
didn't want
money. A Catholic himself, he was happy for the church to own the name.
"I'm going to try and avoid angering 1.1 billion Catholics and my
grandmother," he quipped.
He did want something in
return, though. In exchange for the
name, Cadenhead sought:
1. One of
those hats;
2. A free stay at the Vatican hotel;
3. Complete absolution, no questions asked, for the third week of
March, 1987.1
Makes
you wonder what happened that week, doesn't it?
I wonder if he ever heard of repentance?
Frederica
Mathewes-Green says this about repentance:
The
first time Jesus appears, in the first Gospel, the first instruction he
gives is "Repent."
From then on, it's his most consistent
message. In all times and every situation, his advice is to repent. Not
just the scribes and Pharisees, not just the powerful—he tells even the
poor and oppressed that repentance is the key to eternal life.2
And Catholic sister, Kathleen Norris has this to say as well:
Repentance
is not a popular word these days, but I believe that any of us
recognize it when it strikes us in the gut. Repentance is coming to our
senses, seeing, suddenly, what we've done that we might not have done,
or recognizing ... that the problem is not in what we do but in what we
become.3
The New Testament word for repentance is metanoia, which literally means
"change of mind".
It is a realization of being on the wrong course and getting back onto
the correct course. It may or may not be accompanied by great emotion,
but it is always accompanied by a change in direction.
Some times repentance is a public matter and sometimes it is a quiet
and private matter. Sometimes it is totally personal and sometimes it
is corporate, a whole community changing course.
A must-see, if I may make the suggestion, is the movie, Amazing Grace.
It is the movie about William Wilberforce and his life long crusade to
end slavery. It is a movie of personal as well as public and corporate
repentance.
The text in Luke we read this morning comes in the context of some of
Jesus more stern teachings. Chapter 12 and 13 contains some of the
strongest warnings in Luke's gospel. While he is in the process of
doing some scolding of the crowds, some of those present tell Jesus
about a massacre of some Galileans at Pilate's hands. One known
historical event occurred during a public demonstration against Pilate
who was taking some of the temple offerings to build a fresh water
aqueduct into Jerusalem. He sent Roman soldiers into the crowd and many
were killed. This may be part of the same event.
Jesus says, "so do you think those people were worse sinners than
anyone else that day? No way. But I tell you this, if you don't all
repent, the same thing will happen to you." He goes on to remind them
of a pubic building project near the Siloam pool that fell crushing
eighteen workers. This may have been Pilate's aqueduct project; and if
so, the people might have thought the workers got their just deserts
cohorting with Pilate on this infamous project.
Jesus says in effect "they were no worse than anyone else, so don't be
smug. In fact, you better repent or you will share their fate!"
What is He talking about?
He has been going around the country, from Galilee to Judea and his
message has been clear and very similar to John the Baptist's message:
Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand.
The fact is that HE IS the
kingdom of God at hand.
But under the surface are huge social and political tensions.
There are revolutionaries who want to rebel against Rome and regain
their independence.
And there are those who counsel peace with Rome.
Jesus knew Rome was on the verge of obliterating the nation, which they
did in 70 AD.
He is saying that focusing on an earthly kingdom by intrigue and
rebellion rather than turning to God and seeking His will, has only one
ending for them--total destruction.
Then he tells a parable of a fig tree in a vineyard.
Fruit trees such as figs were often planted in vineyards so they could
take advantage of the best soil and best care.
This particular tree is now three years old and for a fig, mature and
at the age when they start producing fruit, but it is totally
fruitless. It doesn't give a fig.
So the owner of the land says, "That's it. This tree is just a waste of
space and using up good nutrition for nothing. Cut it down."
The worker who has tended it says, "Why not give it one more year? I
will water it, dig around it and fertilize it. Maybe it will start to
produce. If not, then sure, its firewood."
The message to them would have been obvious. Repent while you have a
chance, the clock it ticking.
It is true that our God is slow to anger, abounding in mercy and swift
to forgive.
But it is also true that if we persist in going down the wrong road,
that eventually as all roads do, it leads to its ultimate destination.
Get off that path and onto the right path while there is still the
chance to do so.
This is a personal and a corporate challenge.
In a recent interview, Aerosmith's lead
singer, Steven Tyler, confesses, "We need to go back to the way it was
30 years ago, when everybody had Grandma and Grandpa, and we were
willing to pass moral judgments about right and wrong."
Tyler is aware his comments are shocking, coming from someone who has
partied with the best of them. "But [September 11] brought me to my
knees," he says. "It made me change. When that second airplane hit the
building, we all changed. We need to get back to some serious
thinking." 4
I wonder how Mr. Tlyer is doing these days.
I am not skeptical, but I know as you do, that we can make many
promises to change in the heat of some great emotional upheaval and
then forget them the moment life enters quieter waters.
There has to be both a clear sense that the old path leads to
destruction and there has to be a clear understanding that a path we
had avoided really is the right course to follow. We have to be
committed to both.
The parable reminds us of some things in life:
1. Those to whom much is given, much will be required. The tree
occupied a favored place, but was fruitless. It just didn't give a fig.
Jesus says, you have to care that your life is fruitful. We will be
held accountable for all we have been given, just as the servants in
the parable of the talents. We have been given much. Much will be
expected.
2. Wasted opportunities invites disaster. We hear the good news
sometimes until it becomes a bore.
One of the great hazards of being exposed to the gospel all your
life is that you take it for granted and assume that God did all these
things to make us happy and comfortable in life. We snooze through His
call to repentance and live essentially selfish lives without giving so
much as a fig for what God expects of us in return. But the clock ticks.
3. Nothing that only takes can survive. I like how William Barclay puts
it. Remember he is preaching in the mid 1900's before what we call a
post Christian world, but his words are very relevant:
We have inherited a Christian
civilization and a freedom which we did not create. There is laid on us
the duty of handing things on even better than we found them. "Die when
I may", said Abraham Lincoln, "I want it said of me that I plucked a
weed and planted a flower wherever I thought a flower would grow."
John the Baptist and Jesus say, bear the fruit of repentance.
If you don't give a fig for anything other than ensuring a happy life
for yourself, recognize that God has planted you in a good place not
for your enjoyment, but to bear fruit.
This applies to us as a group as well.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada has invested heavily in us and it is
incumbent on us to produce fruit.
That means lots and lots of people who come to know the life changing
gospel of peace and grace.
That means giving our life away to those who need it.
That means sharing our blessings, spiritually and materially with those
who need it most, and doing it as widely as possible.
My hope for my own life is that I plant the best seed that I can and
that I plant as much as I can as widely as I can.
I think this is what God requires.
And I hope I will always have someone to bring me up short when I slack
off and when it seems that I don't give a fig.
I will do that for you and hope you will do that for me.
Cross my heart.
Preached March 11, 2007
Dr. Harold McNabb
West Shore Presbyterian
Church
Victoria, British Columbia
Notes
1.Max Lucado, Facing
Your Giants, W Publishing Group, 2006, p. 131-132
2.Frederica Mathewes-Green, The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian
Path of Transformation, Paraclete Press, 2001
3.Kathleen Norris in "The Cloister Walk", Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no.
12.
4.Steve Beard, "Rock Goes Spiritual," RelevantMagazine.com 2-20-02
5. William Barclay, The
Gospel of Luke, The Daily Study Bible, Saint Andrews
Press, 1960, p.180
Resources Consulted
William Barclay, The Gospel
of Luke, The Daily Study Bible, Saint Andrews Press, 1960
Norval Geldenhuys, The Gospel of Luke,
The New International Commentary of the New Testament. Eerdmans 1977
Malcolm O. Tolbert, Luke, The
Broadman Bible Commentary, Broadman
Press, 1970
Online Resources Consulted
http://www.preachingtoday.com/
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