Sunday: 24th March, 2019
Reference text: Luke 13:1-9
Luke 13:7 Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
Sometimes when people keep on trying their hands at something they have gained no success with even after multiple attempts, it isn’t because they have nothing else to do, there may be other factors at play. Hence, there is an interesting turn of events in today’s Gospel when the owner of the vineyard goes complaining to his gardener about the fruitlessness of the fig tree.
Funny enough, we are informed that it was the third time he had done so and on each occasion prior to today, he had left the fig tree for one more year. So for three consecutive years, this was his routine: ‘complain to the gardener – be convinced – leave – return to complain a year later’.
However displeased we are of his routine, it is an undeniable truth that to tend his vineyard, he had hired a gardener. This was someone experienced and trustworthy who successfully convinced him on four different occasions to give the fig tree more time. Yet, the owner also behaved like some ‘typical owners’ do: expecting fruits without doing anything about how it happens.
As he boasted of having had patience for a long time, we also often think showing a single virtue is enough to get all the results we need. However, his actions give us reason to wonder if his patience, coupled with the annual complaining was really all he could do. Was he just uninterested in the life of the vineyard but the fruits only? Together with the gardener, could he not offer any input at all or explored alternative avenues to aid the growth of his own fig trees? Simply put: ‘Could the owner have done more?’
Beloved, sometimes, there is a tendency
to think we have done enough, but there is often more we can do besides complaining – so get praying and start exploring avenues.
#sly
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