Rest & Growth

Well Rich did a great job in his timing of putting out fig tree cuttings this year because the week he did, is also the week we hear the parable of the fig tree. I know that each year he puts out cuttings from fig trees and lets people take them home. I’ve been looking into fig trees: 1. because I like figs; but more importantly 2. I wanted to make sure that I could grow one in a pot. We don’t have much space that’s ground space in our property so a pot was necessary. And since this whole parable is about the ability of the fig tree to produce fruit is central, I already knew that it takes fig trees about 4 years to produce fruit, but I wanted to know if that changed if it came from a cutting not from seed. According to the wonderful world of the internet it does seem that due to the fact that a fig cutting has a lot of the ‘data’ of a mature tree stored in it, it has a good chance of producing fruit much sooner than from seed.

It makes sense though, that any fruit tree would need several years of rest before it began to produce. Now the reason I used the word rest is because of our theme this week for Everything in Between of Rest and Growth, and while a tree in the literal sense needs to grow into a fully grown tree, the rest period would be the gathering of nutrients, establishing roots, etc. and the growth period would be the production of fruit. But it also makes sense to talk about it in that way because the fig tree and many other fruit trees lose their leaves after the fruiting season and go into a dormant or period of rest to be able to have the strength to enter the new season of putting out leaves and producing good fruit.

And if we take a look at the parable Jesus tells we see that according to this man who owns the vineyard this fig tree has had three years of rest to be able to produce fruit and it hasn’t done it. Now there is some debate on the age of the fig tree. There is the possibility that this fig tree was newly planted the man who owns it doesn’t fully understand the growth period of a fig tree. Or maybe This particular fig tree was taking the longer side of it’s initial growing up time to get to the point of maturity to produce fruit. So if it is a new tree we could argue that this owner is being a bit impatient and unfair to the fig tree. Another option is that it isn’t a new fig tree, that this tree has produced fruit in the past and for some reason it hasn’t produced fruit for the last three years. If that’s the case then I guess you could say the frustration of the owner is a bit more justified.

However, I would argue that this happens all the time. I grew up in Escondido on 3/4 of an acre and we had a variety of orange trees, lemons, limes, grapefruit, etc. and there were years we had a huge amount of harvest and there were years where we didn’t. That includes from individual trees. Sure it was disappointing, especially when it came to the Blood Oranges for me, but honestly that was how life went. And I think it really does go back to the idea that we are looking at today and that is rest and growth. Not only do trees need that rest period from season to season to produce fruit, but perhaps those trees or certain ones need a season off from producing fruit. Maybe more rest is needed because they are an older tree. Maybe the nutrients in the soil changed and they didn’t get what they needed. There are so many factors that could contribute to the trees inability to properly rest to be able to move into the growth season to produce fruit.

Now let’s take all those ideas as a metaphor for us and our faith life and see how we can apply it to ourselves. If we are constantly working at growing in our faith we can see that as a good thing. We’re always digging deeper into the Bible and in our relationship with God. We’re producing good fruit through the ministries that we participate in and we can see how much it helps us. So growth is good; searching and digging is good.

But what happens when we spend so much time growing that we forget to rest? What happens then? Burnout is definitely a possibility. You spend so much time doing and growing that you eventually get overwhelmed and consumed by it that it becomes more of a chore and obligation than it does a joy. When that happens people pull back from doing anything for their faith or their faith community or they leave the faith community all together thinking that either they failed them or the community didn’t do enough for them, support them enough or appreciate them enough. In those cases they either search out a new church and start growing all over, but the new environment is exciting so the burnout goes to the back burner for a time, or they leave the church and decide it’s no longer for them. Constant growth doesn’t allow for a time of rest.

Rest. Rest allows us to avoid burnout. Rest allows our roots to grow deep. Rest allows us to truly absorb and let sink in all the things that we have learned and done when we were growing. How does someone fully incorporate all the things they are learning and doing if they never stop to think about it? If they never let it really sink in? Rest is important. Rest doesn’t mean rejection or avoidance of being a part of the faith community or your own personal relationship with God, but it does mean knowing that stepping back for a time, for a season is important. We all need times in our lives when we give ourselves and others permission to step back and rest so that we can both absorb everything and be ready and excited for the next growing season.

So maybe the fig tree hasn’t matured enough, or maybe it’s an older tree and needs a longer period of rest. Either way the gardener has the right response. Let’s nurture the tree in it’s time of rest. Let’s give it the things it needs to be strengthened for the next time it’s ready to grow. Are you in a time of rest, a time of growth? Do you need to transition from one area to the next? I hope you know that whatever part of your faith journey you are in that each of us is here for you, we’re here to support you as you grow, we’re here to support you in your rest, and we’re here to remind you that God is with you every step of the way. Amen.