Homily March 11, 2007

H= omily March 11, 2007

Exodus 3:1-15, Psalm = 103, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9

Master Gardener

Lord, as you plant th= e seeds today, nurture us into fruitful lives, for your name’s sake, A-men

Have you ever held a sun-warmed fig, just plucked, at the precise right time, from the tree R= 11; and tasted its sweet ripeness? I was lucky enough to have a father who gard= ened – flowers and trees surrounded our house, and one bore figs. In south= ern California the t= ree flourished, and though it was small, in season you could usually find that special taste.

It’s no wonder = that Jesus, in that warm land he walked, treasured the taste of figs. He could n= ot pick an olive from a tree he passed and have the same delight! I know, I tried that as a child. Thus he used the fig tree in parables to teach of the people and the church called to bear fruit for God= .

In the Old Testament = the fig fruit is spoken of as being the people of <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Israel. Jeremiah and Hosea us= e the metaphor, and in Micah, chapter 7, the prophet laments: “Woe is me…There is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger, the faithful have disappeared from the land, and there is no one left who is upright…”

Matthew and Mark both= speak of the fig tree that was withered by Jesus when found to bear no fruit. It = is a passage that we studied in our Lenten series a few weeks ago. The fig tree there stood for the temple that Jesus found terribly wanting in Jerusalem. Again, no fruit.

The spared fig tree i= n our reading today is a reminder of God’s grace and mercy towards us. Jesu= s has warned of the need of individual repentance, to be met in this parable by God’s second chance at bearing fruit. And God, the gardener, does not just stand back and watch critically for the “one more season”,= but tends to the tree most carefully, enriching and loosening the soil which the owner felt was being wasted by its very presence, allowing roots to spread = and nutrients to rise, buds to appear and bloom, and blooms to develop into fru= it – as we finish the parable with hope in our own hearts.

Don Armentrout has wr= itten:

“God is the ever patie= nt gardener of our lives. Though we more often live for ourselves and do not produce the desired fruits of justice and love, God offers a new beginning, another year of grace.”

I read a story in Epi= scopal Life this week that taught me something of repentance, seeing it as a sudden realization that one is in the wrong – the wrong place, the wrong act= ion, the wrong time – despite not always meaning it as something wrong. I retell the story here:

There was a recital o= ne evening by the great, elderly pianist Paderewski, and a mother took her you= ng son, a budding piano player, to hear the master. Seeing a friend down the a= isle that she needed to speak to, she settled her boy in his seat and left for a moment. Being a little boy, he felt the need to explore this place, and see what lay beyond a closed door.

The lights dimmed as = the mother returned, and found him missing, and the curtain opened. A familiar = tune met her ear. She turned and there was her son, sitting at the Steinway, pla= ying carefully his newest piece, “Twinkle, twinkle little star”. Bef= ore she could react, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to= the piano and whispered in the little boy’s ear “Don’t quit. = Keep playing”. Paderewski re= ached down with his left hand and filled in a bass part, and then reached around = with his right and added a running obligato. Together the old master and the you= ng novice transformed an awkward situation into a moment of creativity. The audience, and his mother, silently listened, transfixed b= y the beautiful sound. I would suspect that the remembrance of this classi= cal concert for all of them was not the Schubert or Mozart that followed, but “Twinkle, twinkle little star”. The small boy’s moment of repentance was in a blink of an eye answered by the master’s encourag= ing voice and transforming action.

Armentrout continues:=

“Lent is the yea= rly reminder that repentance is a way of life. Conversion is not a one-time eve= nt; it is lifelong. Just as when we rise each mornin= g, we return to our baptism, during Lent we do the hard work of looking honestly = at our selfishness and sin. Left by ourselves we would wither and die. As the earth turns toward the sun with spring approaching, we turn towards Christ,= our sun, the source of healing and forgiveness.”

“If we were judged only by the visible results of our faith, we might not have much fru= it to show. Yet God continues to plant in us the seed of the Word, water us wi= th the grace of our baptism, and provide all that we need at the table of the Lord. God’s compassion and patience are beyond our understanding, and= it is precisely this steadfast love that reveals a God who sees in us not the results of what we have done or become, but our potential for growth and be= aring fruit.”

I resisted the urge t= o hand out Fig Newtons today – the taste just doesn’t quite compare. B= ut I do urge you to find, this Lent, what tune you play that the Lord can transf= orm, and to bring your unique offering of the fruits of justice and love into the world to bring his kingdom a step closer to us all.

A-men