Loading...I know you’ve heard and even uttered the question:
“why do bad things happen to good people?”
You may have even asked the related question:
“why do good things happen to bad people?”
You are not alone in asking those questions.
Many words have been spoken, and much ink has been spilled in an attempt to answer them.
It kind of seems as though Jesus has been asked this question of why bad things happen to good people in our Gospel story for today. The question is not there directly, but it is implied.
The people tell Jesus about the governor Pilate who kills some Galileans while they’re offering a sacrifice, and then mingles their blood with the blood of the animals they’re sacrificing. It’s a current event and probably on their minds and a topic of intense conversation. So they pose the problem to Jesus:
Why do the Powers That Be, in this case the Roman governor Pilate,
have so much power of people like the Galileans
(country folks who’d just come to the big city of Jerusalem
for worship at the Temple),
the power, in fact, to kill them
and then desecrate their bodies and their offering
in this barbaric act mean to terrorize people?
In our world, several years ago, you might remember the civil rights marches and movement
when dogs, fire hoses, and police with truncheons –
the tools of those in power –
were turned on those who had little power
to hurt, batter, and even kill
in acts meant to terrorize the people.
Or now, people who are caught in the midst of civil war or civil disturbance in Syria, South Sudan, or northern Nigeria
where those with power use weapons and violence
to hurt, batter, and kill in acts meant to terrorize.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jesus is also asked about an event that we might call a “natural disaster”, or, in insurance lingo, an “act of God” – a tower toppled over and killed 18 folks who just happened to be in the shadow of the tower.
So, the crowd asks, was it?
Was this an “act of God”? Did God cause it to happen?
No, Jesus answered. It just happened.
Just like an earthquake in Haiti, or in Iran, or in Mexico just happens.
And, tornadoes or hurricanes just happen.
(Granted, the power of those storms may be exacerbated by human influence, or the earthquakes cause a greater loss of human lives because of bad building construction practices, but the storms and the earthquakes would still happen.)
Jesus’s answer the question of why do bad things happen to good people is
•not easy
•not brushed aside or ignored
•not about an uncaring God
•not caused by God
•not even “allowed” by God.
Rather, Jesus lets us know that God is not absent in the midst of tragedy,
God is not punishing;
but, that God is aware of tragedy, present to those caught up in it, and caring about those who suffer.
Listen to the promise of God in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“Ho, everyone who thirsts come to the waters;
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price...
“Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for [my people]....”
“Seek the Lord while me have be found,
call upon him while he is near.” Isaiah 55: 1, 3, 6
Hear Isaiah’s invitation to you:
All you who worry and fear,
come to the waters;
and you who are overcome with anxiety and fear,
come to the Table.
God is here with you in this place and in your daily life.
God is present with protesters standing up for human rights.
God is with those who experience violence
in their homes and neighborhoods
in their streets and cities
from enemies or from those thought to be friends.
The promise you and I have –
given in creation, renewed in baptism,
repeated in every prayer and at the Table –
is that we are not forgotten, we are not abandoned,
we are not put aside in judgment or punishment.
Even if, like the fig tree, nothing much seems to be going on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m guessing that some of y’all are gardeners.
You know about preparing the soil –
mixing in loam, potting soil, compost, or manure so that you end up with dirt that is full of nutrients and food to nourish plants.
And you also know that you can’t just plant something and walk away (OK, with some plants you can.... weeds, for example).
Most plants need care and tending.
The end result of the planting and the tending is something:
flower, fruit, vegetable, a healthy plant.
So you, especially you who garden, can imagine the frustration of the vineyard owner who also has a fig tree. (Not unusual, especially in that area and climate, to have fig trees scattered amongst the vines):
the tree’s been in the ground for 3 years, and still not fruit!
this from a tree that is supposed to bear fruit twice a year!
Not surprisingly, the man wants to get rid of this fruitless tree.
But, the gardener pleads for another year.
The gardener has a plan, an idea: manure.
Then, we’ll see.
~~~~~~~~~
As you may know with the parables of Jesus, they’re not really about what the story tells.
Jesus is not giving his disciples a gardening lesson about figs!
Parables always point to something beyond themselves using everyday objects or work as a jumping off point, a conversation starter.
But, we want to make sure that we don’t go too far the other way,
of making the parables of Jesus merely an allegory where each character/object corresponds directly with our lives:
God = the owner
Jesus = the gardener
we = the fig tree
Yet, Jesus is clearly inviting his disciples to hear something about God’s work in our lives,
he wants us to hear something about what it means to follow The Way.
Jesus wants us to make experience God’s work
in new and surprising ways.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve served in many congregations as an interim pastor –
with churches in transition because a pastor’s just retired, resigned, or moved to a new call.
Sometimes I come into a congregation that feels
stuck, lost, and even – shall we say? – fruitless.
There has even been a sense of despondency or despair.
In congregations, in neighborhoods, and in your own life,
you may feel so broken and useless
that you wonder if it’s worth even trying to continue as a group,
as a community.
You may wonder (aloud or in your own head):
maybe it’s better to just throw in the towel now....
But, the gardener does not give up,
even though the fig tree sure does seem broken.
He knows that there is life,
there is hope,
there is possibility,
there is growth.
He digs up around the roots to loosen things up
(which, let’s be honest, can be somewhat uncomfortable and push us out of our comfort zone).
He puts manure around the tree
(and no, that’s not just a load of crap that gets dumped on us,
but manure as a source of nourishment and nutrients!)
And, the gardener waits.
~~~~~~~~~~
God does not give up.
God does not abandon.
God does not destroy.
Rather, God is here with a promise.
God is here with change and with a loosening up of our roots.
God is here with nutrients and nourishment.
God is here with patience.
As Isaiah might say to us:
All you who worry and fear,
come to the waters;
and you who are overcome with anxiety,
or who are worried you are fruitless,
come to the Table.
God is here with you in this place
and in your daily life.
God is present with those who feel broken or lost,
and who wonder if there will be new life again.
God is here with the promise:
the promise given in creation,
the promise renewed in baptism,
the promise repeated in prayer and at the Table,
the promise that you are not forgotten,
you are not abandoned,
you are not put aside in judgment or punishment.
You and your tree will not be cut down,
but instead will be given life and hope again.
And, in that promise, you will flourish. You will live. Amen.
