And so reflect this lent on your individual sin. Be mindful of the suffering that you may be bringing to others and take this chance that Jesus is offering you yet again to fix it. Spend Lent digging around your roots and adding manure grow and produce Holy fruit.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. Please sit.
There are two very interesting elements in today’s gospel, and it’s laid out first of all, here is the problem. And then Jesus gives us the solution. And as ever, he gives us the solution in a parable.
Now, in the first part of the Gospel, we hear of two incidents that we don’t have any more information in scripture, any more information about in Scripture, the Galileans who were killed whilst offering their sacrifice and the 18 who were killed in a tower collapse. Now, if we read other histories of the time, we discover the Pilate was building aqueducts across the region in order to improve the water supply in Jerusalem.
Fair enough. Who can possibly criticise Pilate for undertaking these words? Except, of course, Pilates being Pilate and the Roman Empire being Roman Empire. They weren’t paying for it themselves. They were instead taking the money to pay for it out of the temple.
And that was outrageous to the Jews in the same way as we would be outraged if the Council turned up and said, we’re putting a new water main in and it’s coming out of your pocket. St. Anselm. I can imagine the PCC’s reaction. There was much political unrest at the time, and the first group we hear about were actually cudgeled to death because they were essentially protesting against the use of temple money to build the aqueducts.
They very much saw it as an injustice. The second incident appears to be a simple accident. But the point being made is that the victims deserve this. They deserve this fate because they were working on building the new aqueduct and were therefore supportive of the Temple money being used for this project. The point that the people coming to Jesus are trying to make is that because these people were sinners, they suffered.
Sin equals suffering. If you sin you will be punished by God.
Now, we hear that in Christian circles sometimes, but this gospel, and across the gospel, Jesus thoroughly rejects this very cruel doctrine. As we know, some of our greatest Saints have suffered enormously. We know what suffering on a personal level.
We know what it is to live this earthly life. We do not suffer because we sin. We suffer because we are a fallen people. This connection to earthly sin, this earthly suffering runs contrary to all of Jesus teaching. And here we see him lay it out plain.
He does so with a fig tree. And a fig tree is a very good tree to grow in places where the soil is shallow and good, fertile ground is not something that was in ample supply. It has a better than average chance of success. A better than average chance of success. So a fig tree, given that better than average chance, is judged more harshly than a plant that doesn’t normally succeed.
The tree has been planted, but it is not producing fruit despite the chance that it is given. We’ll cut it down. This tree is take, take, take and no give. But then somebody says no, give it another chance. Let me dig around it.
Give it some manure and perhaps it will grow. And if it doesn’t, well, then cut it down. I often think that this is the encapsulation of Christian hope. It’s failed and failed and failed. But just give it one more chance and I hope that it will succeed.
Jesus is teaching us that we all have a better than average chance due to the gifts we have received. The gifts we receive in our baptism as members of his body here on Earth. We have a better than average chance of success. Not success in this earthly life. Not to avoid suffering, but a better than average success of entering those purley gates on our day of judgement.
We should deploy these gifts that we are given in the world and we should produce fruit.
But if we don’t or if we get it wrong if we sin, we don’t invite earthly suffering. No, we get another chance to get it right and another just ask Peter, Mark, and Paul.
God is infinitely kind to those who fall and rise again. It’s harder to succeed when you have to pick yourself up from getting it wrong. We have a whole earthly life to produce Holy fruit but ultimately there is a final chance.
And if we have turned our back or knowingly shut the door on God all our lives and from the lives of others, then we will face an eternal fate none of us would like. But that is our choice.
This then is a deliberate choice on our part to shut out God in the life eternal.
Individual sin does not invite individual suffering but it can bring suffering down on others, on innocent people.
And so reflect this lent on your individual sin. Be mindful of the suffering that you may be bringing to others and take this chance that Jesus is offering you yet again to fix it. Spend Lent digging around your roots and adding manure grow and produce Holy fruit.
Amen.