Sermon for Sunday March 20 2022 - The Gardener

GOSPEL: Luke 13:1-9

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

1At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.2[Jesus] asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
  6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

My previous call was to St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church 

in Spruce Grove, AB. 

It is the oldest Lutheran congregation in Alberta, 

founded in 1891. 

St. Matthew’s was also the place where 

the Lutheran Theological Seminary - now in Saskatoon, 

was born. 

The first faculty meetings and courses 

were held in the pastor’s living room. 

The seminary celebrated its 100th anniversary a few years back, 

and they came to us in Spruce Grove to celebrate, 

during a crazy blizzard that November. 

We talked about the vision for the seminary 100 years prior: 

there was a great need for western Canadian ministers, 

trained in Canada 

for contextual ministry here. 

It wasn’t going to work long term 

to keep bringing clergy from Germany. 

With great risk, 

and amidst great opportunity, 

a seed was planted, 

the seminary was born, 

and growth would come for the church. 

We also named some of the realities 

that the church was facing in 2013,

and is still facing today: 

church decline, 

declining and aging membership, 

fewer prospects for pastoral ministry, 

let alone seminary education. 

It was risky 100 years ago, 

and it is risky today 

to invest in seminary education, 

let alone investing ourselves in the church. 

But President Ogilvie reminded us of some words 

attributed to Martin Luther: 

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, 

today I would still plant my apple tree.” 

It is a message of hope and trust in our mission, 

our ministry, 

and our purpose as the baptized. 

No matter what tomorrow might bring, 

today we love our God and love our neighbour. 

Today we continue to live into our baptismal promises: 

to live among God’s faithful people, 

to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, 

to proclaim the good news of God in Christ 

through word and deed, 

to serve all people, 

following the example of Jesus, 

and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. 

The seminary gave the congregation a gift: 

a plum tree. 

The tree would be a reminder to us all 

to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ in hope, 

even amidst evidence that 

the church is shrinking and dying - going to pieces. 

We decided to plant that plum tree on Pentecost Sunday. 

We trusted that by God’s Spirit, 

we too might continue to bear good fruit.

We wanted this tree to live and thrive, 

so we made plans to water it 

and monitor its health. 

And then we killed the tree. 

Too many people cared for it, 

too many people watered the tree 

and it drowned. 

So we got a new tree on warranty. 

This time we came up with a better plan 

to keep that tree going:

we made sure that it wouldn’t be over-watered, 

we kept mulch around it;

we cared for it the way it ought to be cared for. 

But several years went by, 

and that plum tree gave no fruit. 

Someone told me that we forgot something… 

we didn’t think of the bees.

Bees don’t really like the busy intersections, 

and that tree was pretty close to the busy corner. 

We also didn’t think about cross pollination: 

we really ought to have planted a second plum tree. 

It is hard for a lone tree to bear good fruit.

We made it difficult for plum tree #1 and plum tree #2 to bear fruit. 

We had good intentions, 

but our good intentions weren’t really working. 

That plum tree is a metaphor for the church today; 

there is a grand mission field 

- cities are growing - 

yet decline is happening. 

Maybe we are missing the cross-pollination, so to speak.

Often we get stuck in nostalgia 

for “the good ol’ days” of the church

thinking - if we plant it, it will grow.

Right now there is a new mission field with online ministry - 

do we know how to cultivate that kind of soil? 

Like that first plum tree that drowned,

how many times have we Christians cut off other trees

from the church’s garden

because we didn’t properly care for them,

because we hurt them,

or smothered them? 

We didn’t exactly check with the experts

on how to care for a plum tree.

we just tried what we thought might work.

Are we forgetting to listen to our neighbours

and we end up over watering?

Like not asking about the bees,

are we even asking the right questions?

Here’s the good news in Jesus’ parable: 

The Gardener says, “give it another year” 

By God’s Spirit, 

the tree that is still living, 

though it bears no fruit, 

still can. 

The tree still belongs to Christ, the Gardener. 

Something to keep in mind with this parable of the fig tree 

- Jesus’ words right before it.

Jesus was told about the Galileans 

whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 

“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way 

they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 

Or those eighteen who were killed when 

the tower of Siloam fell on them—

do you think that they were worse offenders 

than all the others living in Jerusalem? 

No, I tell you; 

but unless you repent, 

you will all perish just as they did.”

This parable of the fig tree

is an invitation to repent - 

To repent means to do a 180,

to change your mind,

to change your life,

to change your direction

to return to the Lord, our Gardener.

With the invitation to repent

comes an invitation to pay attention to the social issues, 

the justice issues of the day,

and a subtle insight into how we might do so.

As New Testament Scholar, Jeremy L. Williams says, 

we ought not focus on a past event that cannot be controlled, 

rather to focus on what we can control, 

what we can change: 

our minds. 

We don’t know much about these tragic events Jesus refers to;

only Luke’s Gospel records them in our bible. 

The tower falling and killing 18:

that is likely a tragedy that occurred at random,

with no one to blame. 

The other story is a tragedy of brutal treatment of Galileans 

by the empire of the day;

an injustice, 

a complete disregard for the Galilean’s ritual, 

and a disregard for their lives. 

Whether the suffering occurs by random, 

or by the power of human hands,

we are invited into repentance,

to return to God.

Jesus combats the bad theology of the day: 

that suffering happens because of our sin. 

That God inflicts suffering on us to punish us; 

the greater the sin, 

the greater the punishment of suffering. 

No, that is not how God works. 

Those with wealth and power 

are not more blessed by God than those with less. 

Suffering is not God’s punishment. 

Suffering does not mean disfavour with God.

We can talk about the suffering of the church this way: 

is it our fault that the church is declining? 

Is this God’s punishment against us? 

Is this just a natural part of an evolving society?

Maybe that doesn’t really matter 

- we can’t change the past,

and we ought not dwell on it - 

but we can change our minds. 

As the church declines,

as we feel the suffering in that decline,

we are still blessed - 

we are still favoured by God.

We can repent, 

we can return to God, 

we can love God and love our neighbour. 

Individually, repentance for us might mean 

asking ourselves some self-interested questions:

What kind of soil is my tree of faith planted in? 

Am I getting enough Son-light? 

Is my tree watered in the baptismal font? 

Am I allowing myself to be nourished? 

Am I cultivating the soil?

am I restricting the Gardener’s access?

And like too many people watering that plum tree,

am I smothering other trees?

am I causing others to drown?

In the end, you cannot force a tree to bear fruit 

- trust in God’s Spirit,

trust in the Gardener - for yourself, and for others.

Repent - return to God.

Returning to God wont guarantee that we wont suffer,

that we wont die,

that the church will grow,

however returning to God will help us be prepared

for whatever goodness or calamity we might face.

Returning to God will prepare us to bear good fruit. 

You can worry about the social problems of the day,

you can try and figure out who deserves justice,

who deserves to have their tree rot

or you can change your mind,

and love your God

and love your neighbour. 

Repentance, self-examination for the disciples

wont change the fact that the tower fell and 18 died,

nor will it change the injustice from the empire,

But it might just lead to them

caring for the families and friends of the 18 who died, 

or into seeking justice for those 

who have been wronged by the empire. 

You cannot change the past, 

but you can change your mind.

For us,

Repentance, returning to God 

might help me to see where I bear fruit for the empire 

and where I might bear fruit 

for the Kin-dom of God instead.

Repentance doesn’t change injustice,

but it might lead us to care for the 

most vulnerable among us 

Give thanks to God that

The call to repentance 

is accompanied by the Gardener’s patience.

Even if you aren’t bearing fruit, 

even if you think your tree is dead and gone, 

even if the fruit you bear builds the empire, 

God decides what to do with your tree. 

Sometimes good fruit takes time to grow.

The fact that you are breathing 

means that God is not finished with you yet. 

Even when you’re finished breathing,

God is not finished with you.

When faced with suffering and injustice,

May you return to God

and change your mind by God’s Spirit.

When you don’t see fruit,

May you see the Gardener come to your tree,

and though the Gardener brings pruning hooks, 

and it might smell like manure, 

or it might feel like you’re drowning, 

or being swarmed by bees,

May you trust that

God our Gardener is not done with you. 

Thanks be to God. Amen.