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Third Sunday in Lent

Luke 13
1About this same time Jesus was told that Pilate had given orders for some people from Galilee to be killed while they were offering sacrifices. 2Jesus replied:
Do you think that these people were worse sinners than everyone else in Galilee just because of what happened to them? 3Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don't turn back to God, every one of you will also be killed. 4What about those eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse than everyone else in Jerusalem? 5Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don't turn back to God, every one of you will also die.
6Jesus then told them this story:
A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. One day he went out to pick some figs, but he didn't find any. 7So he said to the gardener, "For three years I have come looking for figs on this tree, and I haven't found any yet. Chop it down! Why should it take up space?"
8The gardener answered, "Master, leave it for another year. I'll dig around it and put some manure on it to make it grow. 9Maybe it will have figs on it next year. If it doesn't, you can have it cut down."


Every now and then I get a panicked call from my mother, usually early evening:

Mother: “Are you okay? Your father and I are worried about you.”
Michael: “Huh?”
Mother: “We’re worried, we were watching the news.”
Michael: “What news?”
Mother: “The news, the thing that’s happening in Toronto…”
Michael: “Mom?”
Mother: “Yes?”
Michael: “Have been watching CFTO news again?”
Mother: “Of course I have, you know your father and I always watch the news in the evening.”
Michael: “Well mother, I’m looking out my window and I don’t see anything happening.”
Mother: “Yes, but it’s all over the news!”
Michael: “Is it happening my street, mother?”
Mother: “No, of course not, but you father and I are worried for you.”
Michael: “Thank you, mother.”

I have stopped trying to convince my mother that people from Mount Albert have no legitimate right to watch Toronto news and even less right to worry endlessly that something happening in a city of two-and-a-half million might effect her middle-aged babies. Having children means never having to stop worrying. When I’m worried about my kids, I send them an email. I guess some things never change.

The other thing that never changes is sensationalized news coverage: The beginning of Luke 13 could easily be mistaken for CFTO news:

When we’re back: Did King Herod mix the blood of those he murdered in with temple sacrifices? We have a special report. And later: Unanswered questions in the Siloam Tower disaster. Were the 18 victims bigger sinners than everyone else in town? We’ll show you the results of our viewer poll, when we return.

The journalist in this case is Jesus, and the question is quickly answered: “Were they worse sinners than everyone else in Jerusalem? Of course not,: he says, “but I should also mention: if you don’t repent, you will die.” It’s a curious thing. This story is unique to Luke and the only place in the Gospels where Jesus uses the phrase “repent or die.” He urges the people to repent in the face of his healing activity and he begins his preaching in Matthew with “repent, for the Kingdom of God is near.” But nowhere else does he say “repent or die.”

Now, if we were to apply some historical criticism we might say ‘this is an addition to the text by an over-zealous scribe, and it’s unlikely that Jesus ever said such a thing.’ And that may be true, but it also feels like neglecting our duty as interpreters to simply edit the verse from the version we read. Better that we confront the verse that doesn’t seem to fit, and allow it to teach us, or at least to try.

The message “repent or die” seems terribly clear. It reads more like a bumper sticker than a verse in scripture, but we know that the Bible has concise moments. Think of it as a first-century “sound-bite,” the kind of message suited to a 90-second news item on the 6 o’clock news. Yet despite its brevity, it’s a bit confusing when Jesus is unwilling on one hand to make a connection between degree of sinfulness and scale of calamity, and then quickly adds “but repent or die.” So which is it? Is there no connection between sinfulness and eventual fate, or are they intimately connected?

The thing that is missing from this newsy sounding report and the summary “repent or die” is the visual content. Since this is the only time that Jesus is reported to use the words “repent or die” I want you to imagine with me that he is delivering this message with a bit of a glint in his eye. Imagine he is somewhere between a glint and a smirk as shares this truism “repent or die.”

The imaginary glint is telling us that Jesus is having some fun here. Sure he can say repent or die, but we’re all going to die anyway. Whether we repent or not, we are all going to die (I hope this isn’t news for you). The question that Jesus is really asking is: before you die, will you produce the fruit of repentance? Enter the tree:

6Jesus then told them this story: A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. One day he went out to pick some figs, but he didn't find any. 7So he said to the gardener, "For three years I have come looking for figs on this tree, and I haven't found any yet. Chop it down! Why should it take up space?"
8The gardener answered, "Master, leave it for another year. I'll dig around it and put some manure on it to make it grow. 9Maybe it will have figs on it next year. If it doesn't, you can have it cut down."

I love the kind of allegory that makes you ponder all the possible combinations and permutations in a given situation. Is God the man with the Vineyard, and Jesus the gardener pleads for mercy? Is Jesus the man, and God the gardener extends forgiveness? Perhaps the man is the world, and the gardener is the church. I have no answer. What I do have, is a search for fruit.

Everything dies. The fig tree dies. The plants in my office die. I will die. You will die. That is never the question. The question is: what will the fig tree do with its one-year respite? Will it produce fruit? Or will it continue to hold off, dying next year or perhaps receiving more grace? Since we have a clear picture of the “way of all flesh,” we are left only with the question “what will you do with the time God gives you.” Yes, Jesus likely did say “repent or die.” But since he and his companions were well acquainted with death, and Jesus in particular was preparing for his death, the more pressing question was “what will I do in my remaining time? What will I do or say to further the Kingdom? What grace would I extend, if I were given the role of gardener for just a little while.”

And for Jesus, another set of preparations: “What can I tell them that will sustain them in the long years I am gone? What message of hope can I share? Do they know that they are forgiven, and can in turn forgive others? Do they understand that they have a limited time to produce fruit, and that the fruit they produce will be a gift for all of creation?”

“Will they see in my death the seeds of new life? Will they understand that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it cannot produce a new crop? Do they know that I will taste death and through it my Father will come to know the length, depth and breath of human experience, making reconciliation possible? Do they know that my death will be a source of life, understanding that just hearing the story of redemption will turn hearts of stone to hearts ready to love and serve others?”

May we come to know these things deep in our hearts. May our questions point to answers that always include grace and the desire to share that with grace with everyone we meet. May God bless us as we continue our Lenten journey. Amen.

posted by michael jacob kooiman @ 7:37 AM