The following comes from Walt’s book, Lighting Your Way, With Love
Jesus tells a parable about an unfruitful tree (Luke 13:6-9.) The story goes like this: The owner of a vineyard plants a fig tree. For three years, each time he checks the tree, he encounters the same result—no figs! In his anger and frustration, he calls the gardener and demands that he cut down the tree. The gardener asks for the chance to further nurture the tree, and for more time. If after a year it still doesn't produce, the gardener reasons, then he’ll cut it down. Of course, we never find out what happens to the fig tree.
In classic parable style, we are left to wonder: Did the tree finally produce fruit? Did the gardener use his ax? Or did he go another round begging the owner to be patient? We will only know the answer if we continue the story in our imagination.
How patient are we with the unproductive fig trees in our own lives? Do we demand results or else? Do we follow our culture's impatience and quickly move on when something no longer suits our needs, taps our emotions, or increases our bank account?
How big is your discard pile? Were you to root through the things that you have chopped down and cut off, what would you find? Relationships. Dreams. Diets. Interests. God? Would your pile bear witness to patient restraint or insatiable consumption?
The size of our pile, its contents, and the rate at which we contribute to it all reveal something about our spiritual nature. Are we patient? Do we tolerate imperfection and work toward long-term growth? Or are we dismissive? Do we demand instant gratification?
Beyond such self-focused questions are those that point to our understanding of God. Is God patient? Does God tolerate our imperfection and lack of growth? Or is God ready to cut down, discard, and move elsewhere? Do we imagine God to be the impatient vineyard owner or the hopeful gardener?
Jesus tells this story in the context of his overall teaching about God's expansive love. God's heart, according to Jesus, beats fervently in the direction of a broken and hurting world. God seeks restoration and renewal of all life not by demanding it, but rather by inviting it. Instead of forcing change, Jesus encourages repentance (a turning toward God) and faith (a trusting in God) as a path toward abundance, joy, and life. The steadfast nature of both God's character and Jesus's approach is infinitely patient, long-suffering, and expectant.
From this perspective, I wonder if God isn't the ultimate and most hopeful of gardeners. Even though we don't produce any expected fruits, God refuses to employ an ax. In place of chopping, God gets down and works the dirt, adding additional fertilizer. Where there is life, there is still hope for growth and change. God does not assess worth on the basis of production but rather on the relationship that God established with all creation. In short, God remains faithful to us no matter what. God will keep on being patient and looking forward to future fruit.
What might it mean for us to think of God as a patient and expectant gardener? It certainly challenges the image of God as an angry, heavenly judge that is heartlessly waiting for us to mess up. Many people retain some version of this in their working theology, and it generates unhealthy, paralyzing guilt. Negative understandings of God fuel fear and, in the long term, cause us to turn away. To know, in our spirit, that God loves us and desires our growth is liberating. Love pushes fear and guilt to the sidelines, allowing each of us the freedom to become the person God created us to be in the first place.
It might also make us pause as we reach for our axes. Instead of cutting others to the quick, we can choose a different path. Like the God who created us, we can decide to be patient. Breathing in the grace of God, we can divert from our anger-laden responses that destroy relationships and future interactions. As we exercise restraint, we are moving in the direction of repentance. It is a conscious turn toward God and away from our base instincts. Although it may seem like more trouble for us in the short run, traveling in the path of Jesus always leads to life.
A PRAYER FOR YOU:
Gracious God, you continue to love a wayward creation obsessed with immediate results. Your patience with us, with me, is pure grace. Let me both dwell in this gift and let it slow me down as I respond to others. Fashion in me a patient spirit that seeks to nurture rather than destroy. Guide me to live in alignment with your constant love. Through Jesus Christ, amen.
Today’s reading comes from Walt’s first book, Lighting Your Way, With Love. He wrote it on the occasion of his son leaving for college. It is a devotional book about transitions, faith, and living as a child of God.
© 2019 Walt Lichtenberger. All rights reserved.