Will Jesus Find Fruit - 3/11/07

            Growing up, we had an apple tree in our back yard.  Unfortunately, it never gave us any good fruit.  The apples were always small and had worms in them.  Of course, we never sprayed it or did anything that would help the tree produce good apples.

            What could we have done?  Spraying, digging around the roots, fertilizing, pruning.  Imagine what these things would seem like from the tree’s perspective.  I don’t know about you but I’d think the tree would feel that all of these things were bad.  Having poison sprayed on you, having your surroundings all shaken up, manure put on you, having pieces cut off.  Certainly, these things must be bad.

Sometimes bad things happen to us.  We hear about tragedies every day in the news, and we wonder – why do these things happen?  Perhaps we feel that it is God’s anger or punishment.  This was a common attitude in Jesus’ time.

In the Scripture reading for today Jesus comments on two tragedies in his own day – Galileans killed while offering sacrifices and 18 who died when a tower fell on them.  Jesus says that these people who died were no worse than anyone else.  What happened was not because they were bad, or because God was punishing them.

 So why do these kinds of things happen?  There is no single, simple answer for every situation, but Jesus goes on to tell a parable which may help us understand some of the difficulties we encounter.  A vineyard owner sees one of his trees that is not producing fruit and so orders it to be cut down, but the man taking care of the vineyard asks to give it more time.  This parable gives us both warning and promise, calling us to repentance and fruitful lives.  Jesus is telling his hearers, and us, not to judge others but to look to ourselves.  If we are honest we can all admit that our lives are not as fruitful for God as they could be.

            God desires each of us to live in a way which is pleasing to God.  The vineyard owner expresses God’s judgment warning that time is running out.  The vineyard worker expresses God’s patience and mercy.  His plea to ‘leave it alone’ is a prayer for forgiveness.  He is asking God to forgive the tree for its unfruitfulness.  We see his actions as providing loving care for the unfruitful tree in the hopes that it will change and become fruitful. 

2 Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Consider what these actions are:

Dig around it – Stir things up, get us to change direction (repent)

Fertilize it – think about what was used for fertilizer.  It’s unpleasant but

necessary.

 So, when bad things happen to us it may be that God is allowing these things in order to help us grow, to produce fruit.

What fruit does God look for?

            Fruit of the Spirit – inward change making us more like Christ

Galatians 5: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Good works

Colossians 1: 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

The grace of God gives us second chances, gives us time.

What can we do?

            John 15: 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.