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Our gospel lesson from Luke 13 this morning has a
parable of Jesus that talks about the responsibilities of one more year.
A parable sweet in its simplicity yet powerful and profound.
Fig trees aren’t usually placed in vineyards. They
grow by the wayside. They grow on hard ground. They depend on the rain
that falls from the sky. But there is something special about this fig
tree for it has been planted in a vineyard. In the vineyard, the soil is
fertile. The ground has certain nutrients in it that causes the trees to
flourish and be fruitful.
In the vineyard, there was someone who cared for the trees and made sure
they had enough water and enough warmth. Someone who would trim the
leaves and dig up the soil and even fertilize the ground.
In short someone who provided for the trees every need.
I. It is a privilege to be a part of God’s
vineyard.
You see you and I here today are like that fig tree. God has taken us
from the wayside lives that we were in before. He has moved us from the
hard ground lives of darkness and despair and degradation and
disobedience. He has taken us from out of the wayside times of no hope,
no peace and no joy and He has planted us in His vineyard.
He has placed special blessings in our lives. I’m glad today to be a
part of God’s vineyard.. To be in the place where the blessings are
coming down and the praises going up.
To be in the vineyard where we are constantly fed by
the word of God and watered by the Spirit of God and warmed by the grace
of God.
To be in the place where we don’t have to worry about tomorrow for “my
God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.”
Friends it is a privilege to be a part of God’s vineyard. We know that
when we are burdened we can take it to God in prayer. We know that when
we are weak, He is strong. We know where our help comes from. It is a
blessing I say today to be a part of the vineyard.
But Luke tells us that one day the owner of the vineyard showed up.
He made his way past all the other plants, and headed for this fig tree.
I could imagine that on his way home he was probably getting excited
over the chance to finally eat from his tree. The Bible says, “He came
looking for fruit on it and found none.”
You must understand today church that this searching of the fig tree was
no simple, ordinary search. The word used in the Greek implies that it
was a careful examination of the tree. For you see from a distance, this
fig tree looked like it should have fruit on it.
As some of you may be aware, these fig trees spoken about in the Bible
would bear fruit first and then later on the leaves would come upon the
tree. Now when the leaves came they were so much bigger than the fruit
that they covered up the fruit. Therefore you had to lift up the leaves
to get the fruit from the tree. A fig tree full of leaves would usually
mean that there was some fruit on it. But not so with this one. No when
he checked all throughout this tree all He found was leaves.
II. Promising much but delivering
nothing.
I wonder if anyone of us is like this barren fig
tree. Promising much but delivering nothing. You see this fig tree to an
ordinary observer was doing all right. As far as the passers-by could
see it was doing well. But when it was examined closely it was found to
be fruitless.
How many of us in here are like that fig tree that looks good on the
outside? Looks good to those who hardly know us? Looks good from a far?
Looks good to those who see us once a week?
You see it is easy to be like that tree. We know how to put on that look
that says that everything is alright with us.
We know how to walk the right way
and talk the right way. We know how to greet everyone with a “Happy
smile,” and a warm hug. We know if we dress well enough and come early
enough that folks will believe that we are being fruitful.
We know if we show up enough times and give enough money that others
will think that everything is alright with us. If I pray and do things
in the church it looks like I’m bearing fruit.
But as the saying goes, you can fool some of the people all of the time
and all of the people some of the time but you can’t fool my God
anytime.
He knows the real you. The Bible says that man looks at the outward
appearance, the lack of jewelry or the ankle length dress or the black
suit and tie or the things we do when everyone is looking but God looks
at the heart.
He looks to see if the fruit of
love is present when we are home with our families. He looks to see
if we treat our family with
patience and affection when no one is around. He looks to see if we
will spend time
with our children and show
that they are important to us.
He looks to see if we love Him enough to wake up early in the morning
and spend time with Him in prayer.
He looks to see if you will love that man on the job
who gets on your last nerve. He knows if the good things we do are
because we want everyone to notice us. He looks at the heart.
Sisters and brothers the conversion heart should
precede all the other forms of outward show to others like the fruit
should precede the leaves.
But many times we put those things first and neglect to give our heart
to God for Him to clean us up.
For too long many Christians have lived with a once a week religion.
We put the mask on every Sunday. Week after week, month after month,
year after year. Engaging in the same sinful practices knowingly.
Watching what we want, saying what we want, eating what we want.
Giving God what we feel like instead of what He asks for. Refusing to
obey Him. Neglecting to spend time with Him daily. Hiding our
relationship with God from our friends and neighbors. Looking good to
those who see us from afar but if the truth were told we are barren
spiritually. We hardly read our Bibles, seldom have family worship,
don’t allow God to be the center of our lives.
The Bible says that the owner of the vineyard came and examined some of
our lives. “He came looking for fruit on us, but found none.”
‘So he said to the gardener, see here! For three years I come looking
for fruit on this fig tree, and still I found none: cut it down! why
should it be wasting the soil?”
Church for three years the owner would go through the same routine.
He would come expecting fruit from this tree and for three years when it
should be bearing fruit he found none.
And so he says cut it down. Why should it waste the soil? The problem
with this tree, my brothers and sisters, was not that it only fruitless
but it also was making the ground useless. It was taking out the
nutrients from the soil. It was absorbing all the precious resources
from the earth and giving back nothing. This fig tree was robbing other
trees of the nutrients they would need if planted in this soil. When
other trees were planted in that same soil, it would not have any power
to make them grow.
You have to understand that unfruitful Christianity robs others who have
not had the opportunities that we’ve had. When God gives us, when we
hear His word each week and are touched by His Spirit, we are supposed
to bear fruit in our lives. We are supposed to tell others. They are
supposed to see changed lives.
But the problem when we profess Christianity, when we say we belong to
Jesus, and they see no difference in us we are making the word of God
powerless in their lives. We give them a false impression of God and a
false impression of His word when we live fruitless lives.
You see people judge God, people judge Christianity, people judge the
Bible by the way we as God’s people, we as Christians behave.
If we say we are in touch with God and still live like everyone else and
watch the same things as everyone else and curse like everyone else and
act like everyone else then others assume that our God has no power. We
are simply hardening the hearts of others to the working of God by our
unfruitfulness. We are wasting the soil.
III. Sir, Let it alone for one more year.
Not to worry, there is some good news. The gardener
speaks up and says, “Lord, let it
alone for one more year, till I shall dig around it, and put manure on
it:”
In effect he is saying to the owner, don’t look at this tree’s past.
Don’t look at the three unfruitful years. Don’t look at the many
failings and fallings. Don’t look at those three years but look at its
future.
Give it one more year.
I’m glad today that God is willing to look beyond our past mistakes, I’m
glad that He is willing to give us a new start. One more year.
You see you may not have been all God wanted you to be.
You may not have been all you wanted yourself to be. There’s no use
beating your self up about it. Confess it and move on into your future.
Now the gardener says that He would pay this unfruitful tree special
attention. You see the way the world works is that we invest time and
energy in those who are successful. No one buys stocks in companies that
they see losing money. People don’t want to hang around losers.
People don’t pay to see losing teams. But this worker said he would
invest time and energy in this fruitless tree.
That sounds like God to me. He doesn’t give up on us when we mess up but
He comes down and works with us. He labors long with us. He cries with
us over the pieces of our brokenness.
Jesus came down to earth and hung out with the rejects of society.
The prostitutes and the tax collectors and the thieves. God
invests special attention in unfruitful trees.
Now look at the text. It says that he would dig around it and put manure
around it. Now back in those days, one had to take their hands and get
the manure and put it into the hole made around the roots.
This gardener is saying I’m willing to get my hands in mess to save this
tree. You see it’s not easy work, it’s not going to be pretty but I’m
willing to get involved in some mess to save this fig tree.
Church I’m happy to inform you today that God will even get Himself
dirty to save us. He will come into the mess that we create and work
through it to make us what He wants us to be. He would even use bad
situations, trials and tribulations, heartaches and pain, persecution
and opposition, to make us into what we ought to be.
If you don’t know already one
day Jesus came down from glory.
Took off the pure spotless robe of divinity. Put on the stain colored
garment of humanity. Lived in our messed up world, became involved with
messed up people, handled messed up situations, took all the mess of our
sin to the cross to save us.
I’m glad today that God is still willing to get down and dirty to save
unfruitful trees like you and me.
God could have banished man into utter darkness and despair when sin
came. He could have closed the book on this miserable planet a long time
ago. When you look at our history, nothing but failure.
Even the good ones are bad. Noah – a drunkard. Abraham – a liar. Jacob –
a deceiver. David – an adulterer and a murderer. Samson – a fornicator.
Peter – a deserter.
When you look at our history nothing but failures.
But let me get closer to home. When you
look into our own individual histories, nothing but failures, nothing
but unfruitfulness.
Broken lives, broken homes, broken marriages, broken promises.
Liars, cheaters, thieves, adulterers, back-stabbers, deceivers,
gossipers.
God could have given up on us a long time ago.
But Jesus came down to earth. Linked His future with our future.
Linked Himself with fallen humanity. Made himself one of us. Pitched His
tent in the midst of our tents. Took a risk on humanity. Took a risk on
you with all your faults. Took a risk on me with all my failings.
Took a risk on us and declared, “Give them one more year.”
I’ll stand the cost. I’ll pay the price. “Give them one more year.”
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