sermon - Barren Fig Tree

Luke 13:6-9

“Feeding Your Soul”

            Today, we have the barren fig tree, a tree that is known for its abundant harvest.  For some reason or another, this particular tree is not producing figs.  When I read this passage, I can’t help but think of the azaleas we had in our front yard.  Year after year, the neighborhood would burst forth in color as everyone’s azaleas showed their colorful glory, but not ours.  What was wrong with our plants?  I went to the local nursery and asked for advice.  I took home the specific fertilizer they recommended, and followed their directions completely.  A year passed.  I anxiously waited as spring unfolded.  Once again, the neighborhood burst forth in these amazing, vibrant colors from the variety of azaleas, but not ours.  Nothing.  Well, let’s just say this, we no longer have azaleas in our yard.  We gave them a chance, we went to a specialist, we invested in their future, but to no avail. 

            I also think about those movies about schools that have high drop out rates, where the students don’t seem to have any hope, or any desire to succeed and a teacher or principal comes in and shakes things up and suddenly the students are interested and learning and graduating.  Barren places given a second chance and miraculous results occur. 

            Or non-profit groups that take gang members off the street and teach them how to make pizza and give them purpose and skills and a sense of identity that is different than that of the streets. 

            The barren fig tree.  For three years, the owner of a vineyard comes to receive fruit from his fig tree and finds it barren.  Three years it has not produced fruit.  He is ready to cut it down, for it is wasting space and soil.  But the gardener comes to the tree’s defense and asks that he be allowed to spend time tilling the soil and giving special care to the tree.  Just give it one more year, if it produces no fruit after this additional care, then go ahead and cut it down. 

            Barren fig trees and the season of Lent.  This passage calls us to look within our own lives and the life of the greater congregation and ask ourselves, are we bearing fruit for God?  I used the passage from the Gospel of John as our call to worship, since it too is about bearing fruit.  If we find ourselves barren, how then do we till our soil, how then do we find the nutrients that will allow us to produce fruit?  Jesus proclaims:  I am the vine, abide in me.  If you abide in me, and I in you, you will produce fruit  Lent is just that time, it is time for us to deepen our faith, deepen our connection to God, to find ways to feed our soul. 

            The Psalm today gives the image of being in the wilderness, being in a place where there is little water, of being parched and dried out.  O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.  The seeds of faith are here, the psalmist knows he is dry and yet he wants more, he knows God is present in his life, but he has not found the spiritual spring, not yet.  And perhaps that is why the gardener insists that the fig tree be given one more year.  One more year to deepen its roots until it finds the waters of God’s love just waiting to be infused within the tree. 

            The barren fig tree is a metaphor for grace, an illustration of God not giving up on us, but allowing the gardener to do some work around us so that we will live into our true purpose. 

            So, who is the gardener, is it Jesus?  Is it the church?   Is it the scriptures?  Is it us?  Yes.  It can be all of the above.  As we think about the world around us, as we mature in our own faith, as we name how we are bearing fruit for God, perhaps we can see places either in our own lives or in the greater community that seem barren.  Where are the hurts?  Where might the soil of God’s love need to be tilled? 

            Within our presbytery, we can name a barrenness without our congregations.  No matter how much fruit we are producing for God, we still feel this loss within ourselves.  We say it to ourselves, where are the families and the younger generation?  How do we connect with them?  Why don’t they want to come to church?  We can either give up, or we can till the soil, find ways to connect, seek to change the nutrients of what we have been doing.  Give ourselves a year of newness, experiment with music, explore creative worship opportunities, lift up topics that the younger generation is concerned about, and explore how the scriptures, God and the church are relevant to today’s needs. 

            So, today we have a barren fig tree before us.  This particular tree is root bound, so first we will explore tilling the soil that the roots can expend.  And then as we continue to journey through Lent, we will name the ways we are bearing fruit for God and add fruit to our tree.  The barren fig tree is a story of God’s grace and love.  The tree is given another year, we are given another year, but there is work to be done.  Tilling the hard soil takes time, remembering to fertilize and provide the appropriate nutrients is time consuming.  We can’t just wish ourselves into a tree overflowing with figs, we must pray, study, build relationships, pray some more, and be willing to take some risks.  Amen. 

sermon - the Prodigal Son (God's Party Room)

Last week, we heard the parable of the barren fig tree.  For three years, the tree was not bearing any fruit and the owner of the vineyard was ready to cut it down.  But the gardener intervened and asked that the tree be given another year, a year with intentional work of tilling the soil and nutrients added to the soil.  The parable of the barren fig tree is a parable of grace, of mercy, and of second chances. 

            Today, we hear another parable, a very different parable, but once again, a parable of grace, of mercy, and of second chances.  This parable is probably best known as the parable of the Prodigal Son, but for some, the name has been changed to the parable of the Prodigal Father, or the parable of the older brother. 

            In a quick summary, this parable is about a father and two sons.  The younger son asks his father for his share of the inheritance.  This is unheard of, one does not receive their inheritance until after the father dies.  So, basically the younger son is saying, dad – you are dead to me, and I want my share of the family estate.  For some reason, the father gives him his share and off the son goes to live his life the way he wants to. Although I don’t watch reality TV – my best guess is – he is off to be a part of the caste of Jersey Shore.  He can stay up as late as he wants, eat and drink whatever he pleases, and he no longer has to get up early and help do chores on the family farm.  He can sleep in, hang out with his new friends, relax and do whatever he wants to do. 

            Well, that is, until the money runs out.  And the money does run out.  So, he goes back to the trade that he knows, farming – and seeks a job in order to survive.  As he is feeding the pigs their slop, he has an awakening, he sees that the pigs are eating better than he is, and he remembers how well his father treated their hired help back at the family farm.  Hmmmm.  Well, if I have to work, maybe good ol’ dad will hire me to work, and then I will at least have better food than what I have here. 

            So, out of survival, he heads home, and practices what he will say to his father.  But while he was still far off, his father sees him and runs to him, filled with compassion.  And here is where the story is filled with grace and mercy and compassion.  There is no lecture, there is no I told you so, there is no yelling and calling of names.  The father does not send his hired help out along the road to tell the son he is no longer welcomed.  The father, himself, runs to meet the son, along the way.  And as he does so, he already begins the preparation for a celebration party. 

            What?  A party?  But he took his share of the family inheritance and squandered it.  What, he turned his back on his own family and treated them like they were dead to him.  What?  A party?  Shouldn’t there be judgement?  Shouldn’t there be consequences?  Shouldn’t he at least be grounded for a year?  What kind of parenting is this?  This child is spoiled, spoiled, spoiled.  How is he ever going to learn to be a mature adult?  But the father runs to meet him, gives him the best robe, places a ring on his finger and makes sure that he has sandals for his feet. 

            Let’s celebrate, let’s have a party.  Today is a day to remember because this son was lost and now he is found.  This son was dead and now he is alive.  Let’s have a party.  This is the third parable in a series of things that are lost and then found.  There is the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the 99 to go out and find the one.  There is the lost coin, where the women turns her house upside down to find it.  In the first two, the lost thing is found because the one responsible for it goes and looks for it.  But in this third parable, no one goes to look for the son.  He is out there on his own, doing his thing, and it is not until he decides that he needs to come home, not until he is already on his way, that he is met on the road and brought back to the family estate. 

            Jesus uses a variety of examples to teach the same lesson.  God does not let us get lost without a fight.  Whether we have just wandered off, whether we have misplaced our lives, or whether we have intentionally squandered our inheritance, God’s grace and mercy are there.  And as we are found, Whether someone comes and gets us, or our hearts feel the tug, the pull to be in God’s presence, there is rejoicing in heaven. 

            I wish we could just stop and listen.  Listen to choir of angels singing in heaven.  I wish we could listen, listen to the place in which there is no judgement only compassion.  As Jesus uses parables to teach, he tells these stories to help us understand what it is to truly be in God’s presence.  As the father rejoices, we don’t know how the son is feeling.  Perhaps he is so hungry he is only focused on the enjoying the fatted calf.  Perhaps he is still stuck on his sinful life and is wondering when the real punishment is going to come.  We no longer know how the younger son feels, all we know is that the father is celebrating, he has his son back. 

            Worship, celebrating, embracing our true purpose in life, living out a life that reflects God’s grace and love.  What does it mean to worship?  What does it mean to acknowledge that as we gather together, there is no judgement there is only love?  And yet, and yet our silly humanness often gets in the way.  As a youth pastor in Charlotte, NC – I heard constant criticism of what the youth were wearing to church.  And my response was – let’s celebrate that they are here.  At another church, we had a beautiful tea, and yet, and yet there was criticism, well – they really should have used the real silverware instead of plastic.  Everyone has an opinion, but in this parable – we see that with God there is no judgement.  Celebrate the hard work of others in putting together an event.  Celebrate the time and effort of people as we seek to explore what worship is.  But there will always be the older brother, the one that just doesn’t get it, that is filled with resentment, anger, and has a hardened heart.  The older brother is like our root bound fig tree, holding it back from producing fruit.  I get it, I would be angry and resentful too.  What do you mean you are having a party for that person?  He cut himself out of the family, didn’t even send a postcard, and left me to do all the work.  And you are celebrating him.  There is no room in God’s kingdom for judgement or resentment and yet, we know it is scattered throughout our lives.  And so we come, we come to worship, we come to a place where we seek to hear God’s word for us in our lives and to be renewed, or restored, or even transformed.  

sermon - Lent week 1

Fast and Feast

            Today, we enter the Lenten season with the traditional reading of Jesus going into the wilderness, fasting for forty days and then facing three temptations.  Lent was not really something I practiced as a child.  My friends did, and I remember the things they gave up during this season, mostly it was chocolate or soda.  I was curious as to why my friends did this practice, and in the basic understanding of a middle school youth, my best friend explained, well – Jesus made a sacrifice by giving his life for us, so we give up something that reminds us of this sacrifice.  As I’ve grown older, I have grown to know and understand Lent more of the fast before the feast.  Easter and Christmas are the two big feasts of the church and so each are marked by special times prior for the fast. 

            Giving something up for Lent is more a practice of fasting before the feast.  Jesus was baptized by John, filled with the Holy Spirit and then went into the wilderness for forty days where he fasted.  Why does Jesus fast for forty days?  Whenever we see the number forty in our scriptures, God is working with God’s people to transform them and reshape them.  For forty days, Jesus fasts prior to starting his earthly ministry.  Even the Messiah, even Emmanuel God with us, centers himself for forty days so that he is ready to enter into his calling, his true purpose of speaking God’s word to others. 

            If we chose to give something up for Lent, if we choose to enter into the fast, it should be done not just as the practice of giving something up, but rather, as a spiritual practice, as a way to reconnect with God in a deeper way.  I for one, have never been very good at fasting before the feast.  I think, on the other hand, that I have been good at fasting after the feast, and this has been far from a spiritual practice.  I remember when I was first starting in ministry, as I began purchasing furniture for my condo, I found myself overspending a bit, I put myself on restriction, no extras until I paid off my credit card.  Instead of saving up first, and being able to pay for things up front, I fell into the pattern of using my credit card and spending first, then paying things off.  First the feast, then the fast.  Credit cards make it very easy to do this.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to change my spending habits and start saving first, then purchasing the item that I need.   But we do live in a culture of debt, and that can have a spiritual impact on people. 

            Fasting and feasting, I think we get the feasting really well.  We jump from feast to feast to feast, whether they are religious or just celebrations.  I think I might still have some Halloween candy floating around my house.  I usually cleanse it all out before Easter, when once again, our house seems to refill itself with candy.  Today is another one of those days, Valentine’s day, where we indulge in chocolate and other treats. 

            Jesus fasts for forty days, he sets aside a specific amount of time to center himself in the sacred.  I’ve been leaning more and more towards the practice of adding something into our lives during Lent.  Adding a spiritual practice, adding more time of prayer, or study, finding a book with religious overtones, something that gives this period of time meaning and purpose as we move towards Easter.  One year, I taught myself to knit and did prayer shawls for the Lenten season.  Last year, I joined an online study group where we worked through a book on using art as a religious practice.  I’m thinking about redoing this study this year, since I found it very meaningful and deeply spiritual. 

            On Wednesday night, I shared a devotion I came across, that shared deep within human rituals is a yearning for the sacred.  If you choose to participate in a Lenten feast, or a Lenten spiritual practice, don’t do it just to do it, but ask yourself what is the deeper underlying connection that it is calling you to.  For some, the deeper meaning of Lent is a focus on Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  For other’s it is a calling to grow more spiritually connected to God.  For others, it is a time to ponder our mortality, and the gift of eternal life given to us through the resurrection.  For others, it is an understanding of God’s deep love for us, and making an effort as a person, to participate in that love.  For the early church, Lent was the time set aside for new Christians to learn about the faith and to be prepared for their baptism on Easter Sunday.  I like the understanding that Lent is a spiritual spring, a renewing of our faith, of our connection to the divine.  The art practice that I used last year, helps identify the places in our lives where we might feel stuck, and opens us up to God’s creativity and how God places creativity within us.  In and through creativity, we can break out of old patterns and move ourselves into new places. 

            Deep in every human heart is longing for relationship with the eternal. Deep in every human ritual is the expression of that longing. Connect to the longing of your people, the ways in which longing is expressed, and the worship rituals of your community.  In this season of Lent, what longing is there within you and within this faith community and can we use this time to name that longing, to pray for God’s participation within it, and move ourselves into God’s future.      

(Excerpts from Marjorie Thompson's book:  Soul Feast - chapter on Fasting)

  

Sermon - The Sacred Space of Football

“The Sacred Space of Football”

            Whether you are a sports fan or not, you probably know by now that today is the Super Bowl.  There is so much hype around this day, from parties, to products, to the half time show, to – oh yeah, the teams that are actually playing.  Advertisers have grabbed this game by the horns and spend their budgets marketing their products. 

            I am not a big tv sports fan, but I absolutely love being at the game.  There is just something in the air when you attend a sporting event, there is energy, excitement, enthusiasm, it is what anthropologists call:  collective effervescents.  When a crowd of people gather together they behave differently than they do on their own.  They get caught up in this energy of the greater whole.  Sometimes this can be a positive thing and sometimes it can be negative, that whole concept of peer pressure.  What ever it is, true sports fanatics consider this experience as sacred and holy. 

            Today, I want to examine the sacred space of football as a metaphor to how we can carve out sacred space in our own lives.  In just about any sport, there is the sacred space of what is in and out of bounds.  For football, there is a playing field of one hundred yards laid out in a rectangular grid with white lines every ten yards down to the end zone.  And then the game is divided into the sacred time of four fifteen minute quarters.  Now, anyone who has ever watched a football game, you know that the game lasts longer than an hour.  Those fifteen minutes have their own time within their own space of the game. 

One also has to learn the language of the game:  downs, blitz, field goal range.  And then there are the rules.  So, as the players move down the field, one play at a time, one down at a time, trying to make ten yards within four downs, the clock starts and stops and the referees make calls as to whether or not the players stayed within the rules of the game and within the boundaries of the field.  The game could not be without its rules and boundaries and regulations.  It is riddles with sacred time and space. 

            In the book:  The Godbearing Life:  Ron Foster writes:  “At my house growing up, first base was the spindly birch tree that adorned our front lawn.  A Frisbee became second base, and third base was the corner of a garden bed marked by a coil hose.  The fourth square of our front walkway served as home plate.  The grassy area on the other side of the street was the outfield wall, and the US mailbox on the corner was our build-in foul pole.  This area was sacred space for our endless rounds of neighborhood pick-up games of whiffle ball. 

            Our front yard had nothing particularly sacred about it.  In fact, it bore only the vaguest resemblance to Camden Yards or Yankee Stadium with their manicured outfields and precision-marked baselines.  The players framed the field using ordinary stuff – a tree, a Frisbee, a hose, a mailbox, to set apart the space for special purposes.  So it is with the sacred spaces of our lives that refresh our souls.” 

            We have sacred space all around us.  We mark and define ordinary things and set them aside for special purposes.  Sacred space, how do we mark those areas in our spiritual lives?  We do it so well with our games, using very well marked or not so well marked playing fields.  How do you define the sacred space in your own life?

For many, Sacred space, is mark by a church building: we set aside this space, the sanctuary, for worship and prayer.  Within this space we have specific items that we use for sacred purposes: a baptism font, a communion table, a pulpit.  And we even have rules about who can do what within this sacred space and during this sacred time. 

Today is communion Sunday, and within this space, set aside for God’s purpose, we have rules for how this sacrament is prepared and served.  We celebrate this sacrament on the first Sunday of the month.  It is prepared by our deacons, blessed and broken by the pastor, served by our elders.  We have set aside ordinary bread and juice for God’s special purpose and invite all to participate in this spiritual feast.  This is all just ordinary stuff, but because we have set it aside for God’s holy purpose it is sacred because it is a part of this sacred time. 

Sacred Space, let the energy of the Holy Spirit be upon you.  While we may not be cheering for a touchdown, we sure can cheer that together we are God’s team, strengthen through the prayers of each other and feed and nourished by the gift of communion.  

            Sacred space manifests itself throughout the Old and New Testaments as the people of God journey with God through the wilderness and then formally build the Temple.  Sacred space is a burial site and a well, it is a mountain top and a town.  In the New Testament, in the life of Jesus, we learn that the sacred space of God’s work is not limited to a specific location.   God establishes boundaries through the Ten Commandments.  Ways to live within this sacred life we live dedicated to our creator. 

            What space in your life do you consider sacred?  For some it is going away from the ordinary, setting aside intentional time to encounter God can create sacred space.  That is why people of faith love retreat centers:  Camp Johnsonburg or Stoneypoint, Montreat or Kirkridge.  Getting out of the clutter of the everyday and being present to God in silence can be so sacred.  We  need sacred space to renew us, re-energize us, refresh us to go back out into the world to do the work of the everyday and to do the work of God. 

            Where do you find your sacred space?  Is it here in this place?  Or do you have a place within the everyday of your life?  Do you have an intentional place where you are comfortable praying to God?  Growing up, I had a place back in the woods where I would just go and sit.  That was my sacred space.  For others, it is their garden, or the beach, or the view from a mountain top.  Where do you find God, and more importantly where do you find the place  for the renewal of your soul?