The Necessity of the Unsavory

"You Are Worthy" by the Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman of A Sanctified Art, LLC

This weekend, we are continuing on in our foray into Jesus's somewhat confusing sayings from the time leading up to Calvary.

He begins by responding to a question about when bad things happen in the world. In this case, human sacrifice and buildings falling and crushing people to death. But we can easily insert any disaster we see, both manmade and natural - floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes, war and genocide.

The question is always: did those who suffer do something to deserve it?

Jesus responds, of course not.

Life sometimes just happens. God is not punishing us for some unseen iniquity. Instead, Christ suggests that hard and challenging things will always happen in life. The real question is whether you have turned your heart to God (and yes, he says "you").

He then goes on to talk about one of the necessary tools of the vineyard: the fig tree. They would often be planted among the grapes to keep the birds away. (And having owned a fig tree during my life, I can tell you that they are absolutely irresistable to those birds.) But, in this story, the owner finds that it is not growing fruit properly and tells his worker to rip it out. Rather than merely following orders, the hand reminds the owner that if he takes some time to care for it properly - including with manure - then it will likely bear fruit.

I think Jesus is trying to draw our attention to how easily we throw necessary parts of our life away. How distracted we can become and demanding and indignant. But God instead invites us to ensure we have those things around us that we truly need. Even the ones that the world tells us are useless.

Rest. Fun, Re-creation. Care. Compassion. Joy.

And yes, of course, Love.

In a world that teaches us to work until we drop and use our resources until they are gone, God's invitation is to a different way of life in which we surround ourselves with all that is truly necessary. Then we can hear God speak. Then we can bear the fruit of God's work in our lives through service to the marginalized and oppressed.

But if we cut ourselves off from what is necessary, we will find that when the hard things happen, they cause us to implode.

See you this weekend!

Blessings,

Rev. Janie