The Invitation to Keep Going

Today’s readings are in danger of seeming a bit random and disjointed. We have a burning bush and Moses being reluctant, Paul writing about temptation and warnings, and Jesus debunking retribution theology and telling a parable about a non-fruitful fig tree. It was one of those weeks when I scanned over the readings on Monday and thought, ‘oh dear’.

However, there are a couple of points to address just because they are bothersome.

First, the idea that bad things happen to other people in order to be examples or warnings or punishments for us. In the reading from 1st Corinthians Paul seems to be saying that all the hardships and suffering that the Israelites went through, on their exodus from Egypt and time in the wilderness, was in order to be a warning for early Christians thousands of years later. A cautionary tale to take note of.

However, Jesus is consistently clear, in today’s gospel reading and in several other places, that God absolutely does not dole out suffering for these purposes. Bad things just happen, with no divine retribution causing them. Paul decides to utilise the Exodus from Egypt history in order to make his own point of warning the Corinthians to get their act together, but while we certainly can learn from the past, we shouldn’t take this as proof that history has been arranged as a series of Aesop's fables for our benefit.

Second, we have the problematic ending to the 1 Corinthians reading (basically Paul is just causing trouble today!). That verse keeps cropping up in our language and culture, this assurance that God will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear, and that there will always be a way out.

Now, I think we can all agree that on the surface we know this isn’t really true. There is great suffering in the world, many people who cannot bear what they are going through, and there often seems to be no way out.

But Paul is not really talking about disasters or unexpected life events, but is instead talking about a very particular kind of ‘testing’, meaning a strain on your relationship with God. Paul does not mean that if someone succumbs to hardship, it is evidence of poor faith or an unloving God. Instead I think he’s looking at the much bigger picture. Paul is referencing the fact that God provided a way for resurrection from any trial, through Christ’s love and God’s justice.

If we take the long view, we are all assured of the most joyful of happy endings - being embraced in God’s love for eternity, and if we can hold onto that faith perspective, it will hopefully bring relief. Added to that, God is faithful no matter what temptations or trials we undergo, always holding out life even in darkness.

So an overarching theme you can find in all today’s readings is that of reliance on God. When things are going well, when we pat ourselves on the back, and perhaps feel like ‘we’ve got this’, the temptation to rely on self rather than God tends to sneak in. Paul challenges us to reject that way of thinking, and Jesus highlights the importance of repentance.

The parable of the unfruitful fig tree is a prompt for us to focus on ourselves. Rather than speculating about the lives of others (are they sinful? Did they do something wrong? Are they worse than me?), the correct attitude is to assess our own spiritual productivity. Are WE bearing the fruit that we are supposed to? The fig tree is given a year of grace in this scenario, but ultimately it is expected to do what it’s supposed to. So for us, if we claim to be Christian but do not live into that in a tangible way, we are useless as people of faith. So it’s an invitation, really. An invitation to self-reflection and growth through action.

Sounds pretty easy, don’t you think? Just be a good person, and make sure you do something church-related now and then? Not rocket science is it?! But then we are back to Paul’s warning not to rely on yourself, and Jesus’ invitation to continue to bear good fruit. Unfortunately for us, this Christian life isn’t a one and done undertaking.

It’s not like in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, where all Scrooge needs is one night of ghostly visitations to become a completely reformed man. Imagine if people were that easy to change! Instead we have to be more like Samwise Gamgee, as he determinedly follows Frodo into the heart of Mount Doom. The journey is full of exhaustion, confusion, hunger, betrayal, and nowhere near enough food, but Sam keeps going because he knows it’s important, and it’s worth it. His love for Frodo causes him to bear the fruit of faithfulness.

Now, good news for us: we don’t have to journey to Mount Doom. But we do have to navigate our lives in the midst of our modern whirlwind of opinions, assumptions, judgements, pigeonholing and dissatisfaction. To be faithful in focusing on our own fruit-bearing in these circumstances is no small feat. But this is the response Jesus asks for. To always be growing. To abide in God, to rely on God, to allow ourselves to be nurtured by the Holy Spirit.

It’s the point of Lent, to remind ourselves that yes, we will make mistakes, but we can repent, return, and try again, over and over and over, until the journey ends. It’s a path that God walks alongside us, inviting us to hold his hand and rest under her wings.

The joy is that Sam never gave up, and God never gives up on us either. So Paul’s problematic reminder that we are not alone is, in the end, appropriate - God is faithful. Whatever trials or apathies we face, or however far we wander, God’s presence, strength, and love abide. And when we abide in God, when we root ourselves in our faith, we will bear fruit, thanks to God’s own faithfulness.

Amen.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13;  Luke 13:1-9