Reflection – Dr Nathan Leber

Where is God in the parable of the fig tree? Sometimes we see God as a grumpy landowner looking for repayment from his ungrateful fig trees. In Jesus’ time, this was a direct reference to the fruitlessness of the spiritual leadership he saw. However, for our time I see Jesus in the gentle gardener – the one seeking mercy for a disobedient fig tree….and you know then who this tree represents!

The idea of mercy can relate to the kindness shown towards those who have no claim to it and who do not expect it. Many times, we are unworthy of mercy from our Lord, but every time the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shows up and demonstrates to us His love and compassion. After all, God is pure existence – this is what He means by calling Himself ‘I am’. The French philosopher Descartes said, cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), but for God it reads sum ergo sum. God’s words in Exodus, rendered in to Latin, often read ego sum qui est – ‘I am the one who is’. This means that from God’s existence comes all existence and all the gifts which He has given to us.

We, and in fact all creation, are like the burning bush – enflamed by the spirit of the Lord without being consumed. He hears your cries (like those of the Israelites), and He wants to lead you out of your personal slaveries and exiles. However, He also wants you to honour the covenant made with Abraham and completed through Jesus – for us to be His people and for Him to be our God.

The Second Reading directs us towards recognition of and gratitude for our gifts from God. The ingratitude and disobedience of even God chosen people, the same people He had heard the cries of and delivered out of slavery and exile through some spectacular supernatural events, are cited as a dire warning to us all. There is obviously no pleasing some people. Jesus tells us that we must repent, we must turn back to God. After all, bad things don’t just happen to the worst sinners.

So, if God has given you one more year to be fruitful, what are you going to put into your soil to be worthy of his mercy? Don’t waste it trying to redirect the attention onto others whom you judge to be worse sinners than you. Don’t look at all those things you think God hasn’t done for you. I guarantee He has provided more than you can ever imagine or need. There is no excuse to sit in pity, bitterness and regret and do nothing. Instead, fill your soil (and the soil of others) with all the good things that come from the Lord and look for the Lord in your daily life. You will not be disappointed. A bumper crop is coming!

Dr Nathan Leber