"Expectations" and "Timing" seem to be at the heart of our lessons
this morning. When it comes to the first, we know we all have them, and timing seems to be that process by which
we evaluate their success. Your boss had them on the day you were hired, your elementary school teacher had them
beforehand. Everyone from the store clerk to the President of the United States is subject to scrutiny on the basis
of them, and some of the most significant events of your life have followed the same pattern:
You meet and fall in love, and the expectation is
that sometime down the line there will be a deeper
commitment and you will marry.
You do marry and after a few years of working on
your future the expectation of many if not all is
that the time will come when you will start a
family of your own.
Your get your children through those difficult
years of adolescence and college and your
expectation is that the time will come when they
will get out on their own and stop depending on
you.
We all expect to grow old and come to our mortal
end, but of course that will be a long time down
the road and we will certainly all go to our final
reward before our loved ones.
We expect to leave our loved ones safe and secure
knowing that in time they will be able to go on
just fine without us.
One only needs to look around the average room to see that not all expectations are met, and that what comes
too soon or too late changes everything.
In the Gospel lesson Luke reminds us that God has expectations too. A time will surely come when there will be
a judgment, and that judgment will have finality to it. The axe will cut deep and the results will be permanent.
The "good news" in the passage is that God is faithful and patient and desires that every possible
chance be given to bring those expectations to fruition.
Luke's point in the gospel lesson is that according to Jesus, it doesn't matter where you are or who you are,
you are expected to be productive. Whenever you find the "vineyard" as a concept in scripture you should
be immediately alerted to the universal nature of that concept. The vineyard is the world for the Jewish audience.
It is a metaphor for all the possibilities that can take place within it. And so the "fruit" that God
is looking for in the vineyard is "love". Such a little word, but such an awesome and majestic concept.
Embodied in a watchful caring and active compassion that is almost beyond human comprehension, this concept of
love is that truly fulfilling and better than life experience, that the psalmist refers to in psalm 63, which we
first experience in our relationship with God. Like a rich feast, or a food that is sweet upon the lips, it is
the source of all satisfaction, and without producing it in our own lives, we will have no worth. For the Christian
audience it is imperative to draw upon the rich resources Christ has placed within our hands, and not give up before
God has decided that "now is the time." We need to grow in our ability to love.
It does not come naturally, or easily, nor should we expect it from everyone we meet. Hence the symbol of that
"fig tree" in the midst of the vineyard, - a total paradox.
Fig trees are high maintenance. When producing, they produce two crops per year. If pruned after the winter crop,
they will give a poor yield in the spring. The variety most common in the Holy Land usually does not produce fruit
until its third year and Levitical law required another three years of fruiting before the fruit was considered
"clean" for human use. They require regular watering (unlike the vineyard), and they deplete soil nutrients
rapidly, thereby requiring fertilization (again, unlike the vineyard). The wood of the tree is hollow with a white
pith at the center and is practically useless for any kind of carpentry. The bark exudes a caustic latex which
irritates human skin. The canopy of the tree provides thick, dark shade under which nothing else can grow (consequently
not a good thing to plant in the midst of grape vines). The wood is sometimes used for firewood, but it burns very
hot and fast and must be well-ventilated so that the caustic fumes from the latex in the bark don't asphyxiate
anyone nearby.
In short, a fig tree which is not producing figs is worse than useless, it is a resource-consuming nuisance.
The fruit is its primary redeeming reason for being, at least from a practical point of view. Hence, the vineyard
owner at the end of verse 7 says (in Greek), "why should we let it continue to spoil the ground?" A
healthy, productive fig tree was a symbol of success for an individual or a whole community in scripture; the pride
of a family or a whole village. A fig tree can grow 15' tall with large, palm-like leaves which provide shade and
a place to sit and ponder thoughts, and when all expectations have been met the fruit is sweet, tender and very
nutritious. In fact, in the Midrash tradition the fruit in the garden of Eden was never thought to be an apple,
but a fig.
When Jesus called Nathaniel to be a disciple, and seemed to have prior knowledge of him, he said "I saw
you sitting beneath the fig tree." It was another way of saying "I have known you from the days of your
infancy" for fig trees were also the most desired nurseries of Biblical times where mothers placed their babies
while they themselves worked in the hot sun.
So what does all of this have to do with the business of the Church, or the baptisms we celebrate this day? Well,
a lot really. When we participate in any baptism the expectation of many in a congregation is "We'll never
see them again." Just as in a marriage ceremony we know that "Words are easily spoken and promises are
sometimes very difficult to keep." In fact, without God's help we would never be able to live up to any of
the lofty ideals that scripture challenges us to.
The point is that it takes a long time to fulfill the expectations God has for us. It takes hard work and community
support. It takes being loved even when we are not too lovable, and often having someone tenderly prune away our
rough edges to give us every possible chance to become productive in our own right.
Sometimes life does not seem very satisfying,…the pressures, the expectations, the demands. Other times one can
even do a difficult task and find it hard to believe that they get paid for what they do. Those times, it more
than satisfies and has nothing to do with money. Sometimes we know the "cost" is very expensive but clearly
worth it, and sometimes we recognize a great deal is being "spent" on things that do not satisfy and
require a cutting down so that we can go in a new direction. These are the words of the Prophet Isaiah. In the
midst of Lent, come and feast on that which truly satisfies!
The last four verses of that pericope constitute the first part of a Canticle called "The Second Song of Isaiah".
It's concluding verses (as published in the Book of Common Prayer 1979) are:
"For as rain and snow fall from the heavens and return not again, but water the earth, Bringing forth life
and giving growth, seed for sowing and bread for eating, So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not
return to me empty; But it will accomplish that which I have purposed, and prosper in that for which I sent it."
The Epistle reminds us that we can't get to Easter without facing up to the temptations that surround us. Temptations
to give up too soon or to hold on too long. And, believe me, they are everywhere! And so we make confession.
We don't so much confess in order to be forgiven;
rather, we confess because we are forgiven!
We are not honest about our sin in order that God
will love us. Rather, first knowing in Christ that
God loves us, we can be honest.
Therefore let us stretch the limits of our faith to include those who grow slowly, and let us include ourselves
in that group. We have all come the same route, and we have further still to go. If we do not have all the skills
or all the answers perhaps we can trust the words of Meister Eckhart who said:"The soul must long for God
in order to be set aflame by God's love; but if the soul cannot yet feel this longing, then it must long for the
longing. To long for the longing is also from God."
Paul writes, These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us.
May we benefit from the time and patience showered upon us, and produce abundantly for the Kingdom of God.
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