Compost Christianity

 

Compost Christianity

Compost Christianity - Audio/Visual

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)

Twin boys, aged six, had their parents really worried because they’d developed some pretty extreme personalities – one was a total pessimist while the other was an eternal optimist. So, the boys’ parents took them to be evaluated by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist decided to treat the pessimist first and, trying to brighten his outlook, took the boy to a room piled floor-to-ceiling with brand new toys. But instead of squealing with delight, the little boy burst into tears. “What’s the matter?” the psychiatrist asked. “Don’t you want to play with any of the toys?” “Yes,” the little boy bawled, “but if I did I’d only break them.” Confused, the psychiatrist’s attention then turned to the optimist and trying to dampen his outlook, took him to a room piled ceiling-high with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the six year old couldn’t curb his enthusiasm and scrambling to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees and began gleefully digging into the stuff. Horrified, the psychiatrist asked, “What do you think you’re doing?” Beaming, the little boy replied, “With all this manure, there’s gotta be a pony in here somewhere!”

Are you looking for a pony, or are you just stuck in a pile of … compost? And if life seems to stink all around you, do you sometimes wonder: “Is God mad at me, or something? Is he punishing me for something I did, or has he simply given up on me?” It’s like we’ve reduced God to some sort of mid-manager type with a clipboard who walks around his orchard, like in the parable, saying something like, “So, what have you done for me lately? What, no figs?! Let me grab my ax!?” If that’s what you’re thinking, or if that’s how you’re feeling, keep reading because this parable is for you.

Nearly every culture has parables. Søren Kierkegaard, an 1800’s Danish philosopher and Christian, had great insight into the Biblical parables. He said that parables kind of sneak up on you; they’re like ninja stories – you don’t see them coming. And that’s important because if we were actually confronted with the truth, we’d probably get our backs up and fight to defend ourselves. But a good story kind of sneaks up on us because we don’t see it coming. And then? Wham! The truth of the parable is in our face and, by then, it’s too late to avoid its implications, or its application.

Jesus’ parables were short – anywhere from one to twenty-two verses. Depending upon which scholar you believe, there are between thirty-five and sixty-seven parables in the Bible. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Synoptic Gospels, over a third of Jesus’ teachings are in the form of parables. The book of Luke is chock-full of them. In fact, two-thirds of all of Jesus’ parables are recounted by Luke. And of these, 18 are unique to Like’s book, and most of them are between chapters 10 and 20. And that’s where we find ourselves with this particular parable.

At this point in Jesus’ ministry, he had left the region of Galilee which was an area populated mostly by fishermen, rural folk and farmers. Jesus was on his way, over the course of the next several months, to Jerusalem where he’d ultimately suffer and die on the cross for our sins, and then rise from the dead as Savior and Lord. Between these two points, Jesus continued to heal and teach through parables. Parables don’t teach new doctrine; they’re just simple stories used to illustrate existing doctrine – like an extended analogy. Most include people, but most of the people have no names. In fact, with the exception of one parable in Luke 16, all of the parables have nothing but anonymous characters. They’re fictitious stories of fictitious people behaving in ways that mirror reality. In other words, we’re not trying to learn new doctrine. Instead, we’re trying to gain a fresh perspective on the truth that the Bible teaches elsewhere.

The question begged by this particular parable is: “Does God care about results?” And in a word, the answer is “Yes.” God cares about results. God cares about effectiveness. God cares about the fruitfulness of our lives like good works, obedience and a changed life. God cares about us living the kind of lives that make a difference – lives where we’re not just consumers but producers, too. Unfortunately, at least for some of us, that’s not what we’ve been taught. We’ve been told that we’re saved by our fruit. That we’re saved by our good works. That if we’re good and decent people then we’ll stand before God one day who’ll be grading us on a curve. But that’s not life; that’s religion.

It’s not just about belonging to Jesus and then going to heaven. It’s about belonging to Jesus, living a fruitful life, and then going to heaven for an eternal reward. You see, your life counts. Your life matters. God has fruit for you to bear. He has good works for you to do. He has things for you to accomplish. But not so that you can become a Christian – you already are, presumably. And not so that you’ll become pleasing in his sight – he thinks you’re pretty hot stuff already when seen through the lens of his son, Jesus. Ephesians 2:8–10 puts it this way: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” The verse goes on to say, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

In other words, we’re not saved by good works, or to use the parable, by our fruit. Instead, we’re saved to our good works, to our fruitfulness. Once we meet Jesus, we’re supposed to become increasingly fruitful and demonstrate God’s character, love, affection and generosity through our connection with Christ. Jesus said, “If you abide in me, I’ll abide in you and you’ll bear much fruit.” Fruit that lasts. (John 15:5)

The parable begins with a figless fig tree, and that’s not good. I’m no horticulturalist, but I’ve heard that fig trees are pretty easy to grow. In fact, at least in Israel, they just kind of show up – like the mustard plant on my property. Now no one in my family says that I’m a really good mustard plant grower, because all you have to do is ignore the lawn long enough and you’ll have plenty of it. It’s the same with figs. But the man in the parable just doesn’t own property and let nature take its course; he owns a vineyard and he’s apparently got all of his trees numbered. Being the good husbandman that he is, he keeps coming back, three years in a row, to the same tree and says, “That tree is three years fig-free. What a worthless tree.” Do you know anyone like that? Sitting in church, or sitting in religion for months, maybe even years, and no figs. Totally fig-free.

So, the owner in the story comes along and says, “Cut it down!” Basically, “It’s worthless, so throw it in the fire,” and I’m a lot like that guy. I like results; that’s what people pay me to do in my day job: to get results. So, if the story would have read, “And the guy came and said, ‘Cut it down! Why should we let it waste a bunch of resources?’” I’d be like, “That’s a great story right there.” Thankfully, God’s not like me. Instead of, “Cut it down,” God says, “No, let’s give it some more time.” And that’s really good news because God wants you to hear the voice of Jesus saying, “No, we’re not going to cut that child down. I’m going to put a little more effort in.” God is so good. He looks at some of us who’ve been pretty fruitless and wants to encourage us. God wants to love you; God wants to serve you; God wants to help you.

Of course, this goes against prevailing business wisdom. Usually, it’s “Hey, if it’s not working, cut it. If it’s working, put more resources into it.” But the kingdom of God works in a kind of upside-down way. God says, “If they’re not working, let’s be more gracious to them; they’re going to need extra help, extra love, extra attention, extra affection and extra patience.” Fortunately, God has a long wick – he’s slow to anger. God’s heart is not to cut us down and throw us into the fire; God’s heart is to give us more time – to work on us; to work with us; to work through us, because he wants us to share in the joy of being fruitful.

So, how do we bear fruit? Well, first, we’ve got to learn to count figs. In the parable, the guy owned a vineyard, apparently had all of the trees numbered and kept an annual accounting of fig production. One day he went to tree number twenty-seven and said, “Tree number twenty-seven has had zero figs, three years running.” For some of us, our big problem is we don’t count our figs, much less plan. But growth, both spiritually and physically, has to be measured somehow and that’s where counting and planning comes into play. Take your finances, for example.

When it comes to financial planning, some of us complain, “I’ve exceeded my budget. I’m upside down. I’m in debt, and I can’t afford to be generous. I go to the ATM, push the button and out comes a receipt that mocks me with its grim reminder of my bank balance.” If that describes someone you know, then they may need some sort of accounting software and a budget because they’ve got to learn how to count their figs. “How many figs do I have coming in? How many figs do I have going out? How many figs go to God? How many figs go to the poor? How many figs go to Verizon?” You can’t make changes in your life unless you’re tracking your figs. And that’s the point of the parable. The owner’s got an idea of where his figs are coming from and where there’s fruitlessness. So, counting is good but you also have to make use of your compost because it takes manure to get a fig.

For many of us, manure is not very hard to find. Where’s yours? Is it in your relationships? “Yeah, my relationships are a pile. I’ve got a lot of manure there.” Maybe your finances? “Oh, yeah, my finances. I go to the ATM, and I hit the button and manure comes out instead of money.” How about your walk with God? “Yeah, there’s some there, too. This last year? Wow – a lot more manure than figs.” When we get a lot of manure in our lives like suffering, hardship, pain, loss, failure, trauma, even a death, it stinks. And a lot of us look at our lives and say, “You know what, God? How come you don’t love me? How come you’re not good to me? How come you don’t care about me? How come you’re not helping me out here? This part of my life … well … it’s just manure!” And God’s response? “I love you so much that I gave you that manure. And I’m digging around your roots and putting fertilizer on them because I have a whole lot of figs in your future.”

Whatever stinks the most in your life could very well be what God is using for an enormous harvest in the future. “But you have no idea how much manure I have!” Well then, you have no idea how many figs you’re going to produce. Apparently, God has a big harvest in store for you in fruitfulness and righteousness and ministry and testimony and service. He’s not angry and looking at you and saying, “You know what? You’re worthless. I’m cutting you down.” No, instead he’s here to say, “I have great hope for that little tree, and what stinks today will be fruitfulness tomorrow if my child will just use it.”

Maybe you’ve produced a lot of figs. Maybe not. But God has wonderful things in store for your future. So, don’t lose hope if you’ve not been fruitful in the past. Don’t lose hope if, right now, it just smells like manure on your roots. Maybe God’s tending his orchard and applying the fertilizer where it will help the most. Maybe what stinks right now will produce a bumper crop of figs next season. God knows his orchard, and he knows exactly what to do to get you to be the best you can be through his strength.

Whether you’re looking for a pony, or just stuck in a pile of pony byproduct, it’s all the same, isn’t it? So, maybe it’s not so much what you have, or even where you’re standing, but what you do with what you’ve got that makes all the difference since even the flowers still have their roots in earth and compost.

Grace,

Randy