Sermon Short for March 24th, 2019

Oh crap!

Isaiah 55:1-9, Luke 13:1-9

A man has a fig tree in his vineyard and it just doesn’t give any produce. The logical thing to do is to cut it out. “Why should it be wasting the soil?” he asks. The gardener knows a bit about trees and agriculture and makes the plea that the tree be given another chance. But he doesn’t plan to leave things just as they are. He’s going to spread a little manure around the base of the tree and see if that doesn’t redeem the worthless thing.

In this way, I see the parable as another parable of grace, not of judgement. The unfruitful tree – us – by rights should be cut down, but someone – Christ – steps in and pleads on our behalf for another chance. Grace in the form of dung flinging.

How does an unproductive church or mission or program or task force or community or person get revitalized when they have become complacent, listless, unproductive?

Well, throw a little crap at them and see if that helps.