Gardening

Luke 13:6-9

I am a terrible gardener. If I so much as look at a plant, it dies--probably from pure insult at being looked at by me! The fig tree in Jesus’ parable would not have stood a chance with me. I admire the gardener--he embodies grace for the little tree, sparing it through his tender care. With me, the tree would be a stick, dried and barren.

But grace is like that.

Grace is the assertion that there are no last chances, only next opportunities. 

A quick glance at the world as it is simply hammers home our desperate need for such grace. Nationally, we are in a muddle with leaders who somewhere lost the memo that debate is not standing on one side of an issue, screaming at those who disagree with you that they are nincompoops with no thought that debate means Point A engaging Point B in a conversation that results in Point C--a compromise wherein no one gets everything they want, but everyone gets what they need. On a more personal level, we confront the need for grace daily as we make the usual missteps and mistakes that require seeking forgiveness and asking for understanding. We do not need someone to just give up on us. 

In this parable, Christ assures us that God will never abandon us to ourselves. Instead, God meets us with grace that strives to nourish and nurture us into a place where we can be loved and love one another. God will not reject us. God will not turn his back on us. God is with us.

So, meet others as we are met.

Sometimes this step is nearly impossible for us to make. When we are hurt by someone, the pain is real. I do not mean the offense of the driver taking the parking space we had our heart set on, I mean the real hurt when someone says exactly the wrong thing, or ignores us completely, or dismisses our deep feelings as ridiculous, or tramples on our ideals, or leaves us out, or....well, the list grows and grows, becoming a spiritual kudzu vine that strangles all in its path. 

Christ calls us to meet the offended in grace. No, they bear no fruit; yes, they hurt us; but they remain a child of God. Digging a deeper chasm between us does not get us anywhere. We become like my trees--sticks stuck in the dirt, dry and barren. But there is another way. One of the Desert Fathers defined faith this way--”Take a dead stick, plant it in the desert, and water it until it blooms.”

Yes, that is faith.

That is how we learn to walk with one another. There are days when we need grace as its recipient to see us through to the next day. Sometimes, the kindest words we will ever hear are, “Tomorrow is another day.” There are other days when we need to offer grace to someone else. Forgive them. Meet them with compassion. Water them. 

God’s garden flourishes. Even the driest, deadest lumber springs into green. 

God waters us each day with grace.

Receive it.