Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser
Saving Our Nectarine Tree
March 24, 2019 Lent 3C
When my young kids and I moved into our house in Norfolk, we found a rich array of flowers as well as a couple fruit trees, which had leaves like either apple or peach. We let them grow that first season to see what they were, and it turned out they were nectarine trees. That first summer, the fruit was little more than skin on seeds, although with enough fruit in them to attract wasps. As they fell off into the grass, they made sticky problems to step on and trip on. I was disgusted. One of the trees was just outside the back door, and the other was in the side yard, so lots of lawn was affected. They were hard to rake up, especially with the bees.
When I found out that my older son was using the side tree as a way to escape out his 2nd floor window, I took an axe and chopped it down. Sounds like the text, doesn’t it? But when, in my anger at the seeds and bees and hard lumps in the grass I turned to chop down the tree in the backyard also, my daughter begged for its life, again rather like this story of the fig tree Jesus told in today’s Scripture. “It would be cool to have nectarines,” she declared. “We can prune it and fertilize it, can’t we? You’ve done that to other plants. Give it another year.” I was smart enough to know she meant I could prune it and fertilize it... Of course I’ve preached this passage in Luke every time it rolls around in Luke in year C, and I’d even written some about God as a gardener. So she got to me. I bought a guide to pruning fruit trees, some good pruning tools, and some fruit tree fertilizer spikes. I learned what a ‘drip line’ is, and pounded in the Job’s Spikes. I pulled out my ladder and pruned. My daughter promised to help…..she kind of did. Nobody did a good job raking those nectarine pits up, though.
The next summer, our nectarines had a little more heft to them, not a lot, but enough to see that the plan was working. My daughter begged for another year of effort. So we did it again, and this time also pinched off some little nectarines when the blossoms started to set fruit, so that the plant’s energy would be more focused. That third year, then, we got nectarines with enough flesh on them to be able to cut them up on our cereal, and even make some jelly, although they still didn’t look like nectarines from the store. And it was pretty cool to be growing nectarines in our backyard.
So now I think of that nectarine tree when I read Jesus’ story about the fig tree. (Actually, we had a fig tree at our Va Beach house, which never had any trouble setting and growing figs - we enjoyed that a lot, too.)
I guess I played both parts of the story, both the one ready to chop down a troublesome tree, and the one who fertilized and pruned to get better fruit - although my daughter was the one who begged for its life. And I guess all those roles are actually roles of God, according to the verses in the passage earlier. God desires for us as Christ-followers to show it, live it, in other words, “bear fruit” of our salvation, yet God is also willing to work with us - pruning or fertilizing or composting events of our lives in hopes that we will respond. Jesus’ point, in the way Luke linked these 2 disaster stories and the fig tree parable, is that the time to live according to God is now - and if we’re not, its time to repent, because time is precious, and time is fleeting, and more time is not guaranteed.
So it seems pretty obvious what the message is here, although I’ve also learned that the obvious message is not always the only message. Jesus speaks often about we believers as meant to grow and meant to bear spiritual “fruit” ie a life of compassion, hope, faithfulness, kindness, following God’s guidelines for life, prayer and worship - what the apostle Paul calls the fruit of the Holy Spirit evidenced by our lives. The point of us being called by God, forgiven and given a new life, is that we become God’s ambassadors, God’s visible acting, God’s compassion for the world fleshed out. We become Jesus’ sisters and brothers, so-workers. Actually, according to the apostle Paul, we become Christ’s extant body. We are each called to this, not just leaders and pastors, or missionaries or Christian educators or youth group leaders. EACH of us here are called to this life of following Christ.
Our hearts and minds, through the indwelling Spirit of God, are being transformed into a likeness with Jesus’ heart and mind, our Scriptures say. That is, if we listen, if we respond, if we stay open to Christ’s presence and the Spirit’s work. If we are seeking to be the called ones that we truly are, we will bear the fruit - our actions will show that the mind of Christ is guiding us and shaping us as we interact with neighbors, strangers, and each other.
It sounds easy and automatic - its actually more difficult than it sounds. Because our attentions gets drawn to other things, like making a living, finding a mate, trying to be what our culture calls a success, trying to fit in, please people, keep up our relationships, get an education, have great vacations, exercise, and so many other things that are a part of being alive. The call of God to follow Christ is a lifelong, encompassing task - it is the Great Work of our lifetime, the Big Picture of Life and its meaning. It takes developing a wisdom about people, including our own self; it takes the strength to face things about ourselves that aren’t lovely, although we are loved by God; it takes the ego strength to order our behavior and the humility to not look down on those who slip; it takes the time and attention to reflect on the events of our days and years, and listen for what the Spirit says. There are enough tasks to challenge us through all the stages of human development. It is never completed in this life - we trust that it is completed in whatever comes next when we go to God.
Being in a church is an integral part of being formed in the image of Christ. I once compared the ups and downs of staying with a church to those rock polishing kits - you know, you throw stones in that cylinder and then start turning it and shaking it. Its the rocks grinding against each other that polishes the stones and reveals their beauty. Sometimes church communities can feel like rocks grinding against each other, with all our differing personalities and styles and ways of doing things and what we consider important… Somehow, it is the sometimes painful and prayerful need to be together that forms us and eventually polishes us. Its the ups and downs of living day by day that throws us back on God to try and understand. ALL of life is grist for our prayer and our formation, or transformation, into the likeness of Christ.
God’s people have always lived in communities, whether its families, tribes or church gatherings. Worship together is important. I know it has its difficulties - it also has its joys. I know that events in our lives have moved into Sundays and challenge our participation in this particular community. We have to deal with that. I know its difficult to see our friends hanging out with their coffees while we drive to church. My kids had the problem, as we walked from the car to the Sunday School building in our church clothes, of having to pass the backyard fence of some friends, and hearing their shouts of glee as they slid down the slide into their pool. The truth is, we will find the time for things that are important to us and things we value.
While following Christ is so much more than the ability to win Bible Trivia contests and quote verses, having that familiarity with our Holy scriptures, our faith ancestors and the stories that have been preserved for us, is also important. It is the worldview in which we live and breathe. It is the common story that we share. It is part of what the Spirit uses in our souls and minds to speak to us, challenge us, invite us, nudge us, and shape us. I’d be glad if more folks read the Scriptures, even if its only as literature - because it is compelling and thought-provoking to encounter. I’d like for us to have a Bible reading plan together, details to come.
Jesus’ illustrations in this passage are about the brevity and uncertainty of life. Sudden and unexpected deaths happen. They are not judgments on those killed, Jesus says - take that blame game thing out of the equation. Things happen to people. One illustration is a deliberate, ugly killing by the government, graphically described as the blood of the people being mingled with the blood of the sacrifices they brought - this was evidently in worship, like the slaughter in New Zealand in the past week. The other is a total accident when a tower collapses - whether its old infrastructure or poor materials or shoddy workmanship it doesn’t say - these folks were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Jesus disagrees with the televangelists that this happened to them because of wrong living. Jesus just reminds us that life is just uncertain, and we live with risks - we can’t ignore that or deny that. One day you’re fine, the next day you’re in chemotherapy; we may be driving along with our good driving record when the other driver is texting. The time to serve God is always right now.
Being pruned or having manure spread on us as ways to improve our fruitfulness isn’t always fun, either. Pruning could be a way of being asked to hone our energy and attention to what it vital; something happens to us that forces us to make choices and weigh what matters. (The manure that is suggested in the story is a cleaned-up word for the actual Greek or Aramaic. Jesus can evidently be rather earthy in his language.) “Manure” happens. Dealing with painful events is a kind of spiritual ‘compost.’ Without sounding like a Pollyanna here, in my experience God can help us break it down, look at our responses, and often learn something. I know things happen that can hurt us deeply and wound us. When my second daughter died, people came up and told me that God was making me a better pastor - telling someone that, is, like, totally inappropriate when they are grieving a huge loss. At some point, as they work through it, they will change in some deep and significant ways - and maybe even be a better pastor, or maybe not - but right at first is not the time to glibly say something like that. Pruning and manure dressings ultimately form us, with God’s help, and with our inner work. Just about anything that happens to us can be used by God in our formation, as it becomes a part of our story. I’m fearful of saying ‘everything’ - in my life up until now, God has used most anything to work on me. That’s all I can say.
The challenge of this gospel story is to realize that the time we have is right now, the time to bear fruit is right now, the time to repent of those things God is convicting us about is today; this is the time we have. Don’t put God off, don’t say we’ll get to it down the road. The time of decisions is here. AMEN.
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