Third Sunday in Lent, cycle C

LUKE 13:1-9
THERE IS A BUMPER STICKER YOU WILL SEE NOW AND THEN, BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT IT SAYS IN CHURCH. IT COMES FROM A SCENE IN THE MOVIE “FOREST GUMP” WHEN FOREST, WHO IS NOT TERRIBLY BRIGHT BUT VERY WISE, ACCIDENTALLY STEPS IN SOMETHING ON THE SIDEWALK THAT HAD BEEN LEFT THERE BY A DOG. HIS COMPANION POINTS THIS OUT, AND FOREST REPLIES WITH THOSE TWO WORDS WHICH ARE SOMETHING LIKE “MANURE HAPPENS.” IN OUR GOSPEL, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME OF THE PEOPLE WITH JESUS MUST HAVE ASKED HIM ABOUT THE TWO DISASTERS ON EVERYONE'S MIND. SOME JEWS, BUILDING A TOWER FOR THE ROMANS, HAD DIED WHEN THE TOWER COLLAPSED. AND SOME JEWS FROM GALILEE HAD BEEN SLAUGHTERED IN THE TEMPLE WHEN THEY WERE TRYING TO OFFER SACRIFICE. “JESUS,” THE PEOPLE ASKED, “HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS?” DID THE JEWS WHO WERE BUILDING THE TOWER DIE BECAUSE THEY WERE WORKING FOR THE ROMANS? WHAT DID THOSE GALILEANS DO THAT BROUGHT SUCH DISGRACE UPON THEM AND UPON THE TEMPLE ITSELF? BECAUSE IN JESUS' TIME ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED HAPPENED FOR A REASON, AND ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO PEOPLE WAS OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE GOD WAS EITHER REWARDING THEM OR PUNISHING THEM, OR SOMETIMES, REWARDING OR PUNISHING A CHILD OR A PARENT.
AND JESUS REPLIES, SOMETHING LIKE THE STATEMENT MADE BY FOREST GUMP, “MANURE HAPPENS.” THE JEWS THAT BUILT THE TOWER AND THE GALILEANS WHO WERE SLAUGHTERED, THEY WEREN'T ANY DIFFERENT THAN THE REST OF US. AND JESUS GOES ON TO SAY THAT WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT, SOONER OR LATER, ALL OF US WILL EXPERIENCE MANURE HAPPENING, AND IF WE KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR US, WE HAD BETTER LOOK AT WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE; ARE WE REPENTING? ARE WE LIVING LIVES OF SELFISHNESS OR GIVING AWAY OURSELVES; ARE WE WASTING OUR TIME, OR USING OUR TIME WELL? ARE WE BEING GENEROUS WITH GOD AND OUR NEIGHBOR, OR ARE WE COUNTING UP OUR GOOD FORTUNE AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET MORE. IN SHORT, ARE WE TRYING TO WALK WITH GOD, OR ARE WE GOING OUR OWN WAY. BECAUSE JUST LIKE THOSE TOWER-BUILDING JEWS AND SLAUGHTERED GALILEANS, MANURE HAPPENS. WE'D BETTER BE READY.
AND JESUS GOES ON TO PREACH THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE. THINK ABOUT THAT STORY FOR A MINUTE. IT'S RELATED TO WHAT HAS JUST BEEN GOING ON. WHICH ONE ARE YOU? THE OWNER OF THE ORCHARD, THE GARDENER, OR THE FIG TREE? FIG TREES GENERALLY GROW FOR ABOUT THREE TO FIVE YEARS BEFORE THEY BEGIN BEARING FRUIT. ONCE THEY START, THERE ARE FIGS ON THE TREE FOR TEN MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR, WHICH WAS THE REASON THEY WERE PLANTED ALL OVER THE MIDDLE EAST; THEY WERE A MAJOR SOURCE OF FOOD. IN THOSE DAYS, PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW THAT THE FLOWERS OF THE TREE HAD TO BE FERTILIZED BY WASPS CARRYING POLLEN FROM ANOTHER TREE. AND WHEN THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN, THE TREE COULD NOT BEAR FRUIT. SO WHEN A TREE FAILED TO BEAR, IT WAS GENERALLY CONSIDERED WORTHLESS AND CUT DOWN.
USUALLY THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD IS THOUGHT TO REPRESENT GOD THE FATHER, AND JESUS IS THE ONE TENDING THE TREE, AND THE TREE IS THE NATION OF ISRAEL, OR PERHAPS YOU AND I. IT IS A PARABLE OF MERCY. AND THAT'S ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT.
BUT THOSE WHO WERE SPECULATING AS TO WHY THE TOWER BUILDERS AND THE SLAUGHTERED GALILEANS HAD DIED WERE JUDGING; THEY WERE LIKE THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD, WHO KNEW ENOUGH TO SAY THAT YOU SHOULD GIVE A FIG TREE THREE YEARS, BUT KNEW VERY LITTLE MORE THAN THAT ABOUT GROWING FIG TREES. AND WE AREN'T DIFFERENT; WE OFTEN CATCH OURSELVES WONDERING WHAT SOMEONE DID TO DESERVE WHAT HAPPENED. SOMETIMES WE CRY OUT, “WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?” WHEN WE SEE SOMEONE BETTER OFF THAN WE ARE, SOMETIMES WE SAY, “HE DOESN'T DESERVE THAT.” AND I THINK THAT IS THE POINT JESUS IS MAKING. HE SAYS THAT THE GARDENER PROMISES THE VINEYARD OWNER THAT HE WILL CULTIVATE THE GROUND AND FERTILIZE THE TREE, AND THEN IT MAY BEAR FRUIT. IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN MANURE HAPPENS, IT ISN'T BECAUSE GOD IS REACHING OUT TO STOMP OUT SINNERS, OR HARM THOSE WHO DON'T TOE THE LINE. THAT ISN'T GOD, THAT HASN'T GOT ANYTHING TO DO WITH GOD. BUT RATHER, WHEN MANURE HAPPENS, IT MAY BE A SIGN THAT GOD IS WORKING TO HELP SOMEONE BEAR FRUIT. IF GOD EVER CHOOSES TO INFLICT SOME SORT OF TRIBULATION ON SOMEONE, THAT WOULD BE THE REASON; NEVER IN ORDER TO PUNISH OR DESTROY.
SO A WAY TO LOOK AT THIS PARABLE IS TO SEE OURSELVES NOT ONLY IN THE TREE, TO WHICH MANURE WILL SOON BE HAPPENING, BUT WILL BE ADMINISTERED BY A LOVING GARDENER WHO ONLY WANTS THE BEST FOR US, THE BEST BEING THAT WE WILL BEAR FRUIT, THAT WE WILL BRING ABOUT OUR PART OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THAT WE WILL LIVE SO THAT WE WILL ENTER IN TO OUR MASTER'S JOY; BUT WE ARE ALSO THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD, NOT REALLY ABLE TO SEE WHAT GOD IS PLANNING, BUT QUICK TO JUDGE AND QUICK TO CONDEMN. AND ALL THE WHILE THE GARDENER IS AT WORK, BRINGING GOOD OUT OF EVIL, BRINGING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING, CONSTANTLY DOING EVERYTHING HE CAN TO HELP US ACHIEVE OUR DESTINY AND OUR HEART'S DESIRE.
COULD GOD KEEP MANURE FROM HAPPENING? COULD HE PREVENT THE DEATHS OF THE TOWER BUILDERS AND THE SLAUGHTERED GALILEANS? HE COULD. BUT ONLY AT THE COST OF FREEDOM, ONLY AT THE COST OF DESTROYING WITHIN THEM THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD. BECAUSE GOD MADE US LIKE HIMSELF, FREE, ABLE TO CHOOSE, BUT OF NECESSITY, IF WE CHOOSE, WE EXPERIENCE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICE. WHEN WE ARE MORTAL, THAT MEANS SUFFERING AND DEATH; AND THE CHOICES OF OTHERS AFFECT US AS WELL. BUT GOD GIVES US FREEDOM, FREEDOM TO CHOOSE LIFE OR CHOOSE DEATH. AND SINCE FREEDOM IS WHAT MAKES US LIKE GOD, WE SHOULD NEVER GET UPSET WITH GOD BECAUSE MANURE HAPPENS. WHEN MANURE HAPPENS, WE CAN ONLY TELL OURSELVES THAT IT WAS NOT GOD'S INTENTION TO HARM US, BUT RATHER, THE CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN FREEDOM. BUT WHEN MANURE HAPPENS, GOD WILL IN SOME WAY BRING GOOD OUT OF IT. AND THAT'S A PROMISE, THAT IS A GUARANTEE, AND ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS LOOK TO THAT BODY HANGING LIFELESS ON THE CROSS, AND FLASH FORWARD TO THAT GLORIOUS DAY OF RESURRECTION.