Lent 3C – George Yandell
I want to talk about changing hearts and community. It all starts in the passage from Exodus- God speaks to Moses from the burning bush. God recounts to Moses who God is in the lineage of those who preceded Moses. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all encountered God, but Moses’ encounter was personal, direct and terrifying. God gives Moses his marching orders, to rescue God’s people from Egypt. And Moses says, timidly, terrified, I think, “When I tell the Israelites you sent me, and they ask, ‘What is the name of the one who sent you, what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, in a voice like the Wizard of Oz in capital letters, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them I AM has sent you to them.” The name I AM in Hebrew comes out as ‘Yahweh,’ a verb. That moment changed the course of Hebrew history, and one can argue, the course of salvation for humankind. The gospels tell us Jesus is descended from Moses, sent to rescue God’s people forever and for good.
The gospel story of the fig tree follows grim pronouncements from Jesus. Galileans whose blood Pontius Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, the 18 killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them. “Unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did. Don’t think you’re any better– Repent or perish!” says Jesus. Luke has Jesus warning about a ruthless God, which is unlike Jesus in the other portions of the gospels.
I have a hard time connecting the warnings of Jesus to the parable about the fig tree. The obvious connection is that Jesus seems to compare his unrepentant hearers to a fig tree that produces no fruit and is threatened with being cut down. But that doesn’t seem to explain things.
Paul tells the followers of Jesus in Corinth that God was not pleased with many of Moses’ people, and struck them down in the wilderness, about 23,000 people falling dead in a single day. And about some who put Christ to the test and were destroyed by serpents. The key for getting behind Paul’s exhortation is realizing how often he uses the words “destroy” and “testing.” Paul says the dire events happened to others as examples to the followers of Jesus. It’s like Jesus and Paul’s teachings are stringing people along like they were yo-yos- up and down, up and down.
‘Testing’ can also mean ‘being tempted.’ The difference for Paul is that he always means the whole community of Christians is being tested, not individuals. Testing from God aims for the whole community to be built up, the heart of the community changing as we help our fellows when we lag or falter. Only by supporting one another and relying on God’s faithfulness can the body of Christ be built up. Combining the dire warnings from Jesus and Paul, it sounds like God plays with God’s people like a yo-yo. There’s another understanding: It’s about the fig tree.
I heard a story sixteen years ago from the archeologist on a pilgrimage to study Paul in Turkey at the sites where Paul was active. It was led by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. A life-changing time for me. Haluk the pilgrimage archeologist told us something only folks from the Middle East would know- he said, “If you want to play a bad joke on your neighbor, go at night into his garden and plant a fig tree. It will take over everything, and when you try to cut it down, it just grows back more prolifically. You can never rid your garden of the fig tree- it grows everywhere!” Immediately it changed my thinking about the parable.
Now do you hear a different meaning from Jesus? His hearers would have laughed and laughed at the vineyard owner- they identified with the tree. They knew that even if the gardener had cut it down, it would spring right back up. Jesus is telling a joke, putting an end to the threats with a moment of relief in the fig tree parable. The joke means to disarm and reassure his followers- even if dire things happen, you will rise above them. You can’t be suppressed. Add in Paul’s perspective: even when the community of followers is being stressed and tested, God provides the way up together, and the community thrives as a result.
What we need to hear over and over, is that the followers of Jesus had already engaged the kingdom of God. They knew the humor and compassion of Jesus were leading them into the heart of God. In all Jesus and Paul did they turned peoples’ hearts anew to God, leading them into the joy of God’s kingdom now. They preached it could only happen as a community. Changing hearts happens together- I rely on you, you rely on me, the fig tree flourishes, and it is us. No yo-yos here, just a string of tests for us that yields the kingdom.