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December 31, 2004
New Year's Eve
Luke 13:6-9
Pastor Robert Raasch

The Parable of the Fig Tree

(Be Fruitful or Be Cut Down)

1. The Owner Expects Fruit from the Tree
2. The Caretaker Intercedes on behalf of the Tree

Have you ever been on the receiving end of an ultimatum? Webster defines the word ultimatum as "The final offer or demand, the rejection of which usually leads to a break in relations and unilateral action by the party issuing the ultimatum." For example, maybe your boss says, "If you don't have that report on my desk by 8 a.m. Monday morning, you're fired!" Or maybe you coach says, "If you miss one more practice, you might as well empty your locker, because you'll be off the team." Or maybe your parents tell you, "If you're not home on time, you'll be grounded for a week." In each case, what do those ultimatums represent? They represent a threat. They are a way of letting you know, "Listen, your back is against the wall. You had better conform or you'll face some serious consequences."

Sometimes ultimatums are a necessary tool to get a person to produce the intended result. It's critical for people to see the consequences of their actions. To let them know that it's either this or this. If you don't do this, then this will be the result. In our text for today we hear just such an ultimatum issued. Only in this case, it's not spoken to a person. It's spoken about a tree. In this case, a fig tree. The basic ultimatum is: Be fruitful or be cut down. But because these words are a part of a parable spoken by Jesus, they really apply to more than just a tree. They also apply to people like you and me. And so, on this New Year's Eve, let's turn our attention to what has been called:

The Parable of the Fig Tree

This parable is divided into two main parts:

1. The Owner Expects Fruit from the Tree
2. The Caretaker Intercedes on behalf of the Tree

Our text begins with the words, "Then he (namely, Jesus) told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'"" You could hardly blame the man for feeling the way he did, right? I mean, for three years he's had this fig tree growing within the confines of his vineyard. It's drawing water and nutrients from the soil of the vineyard. He's given it every advantage. And yet for three years straight, it's yielded no fruit. The man has looked for fruit. He's expected fruit. But the tree has produced no fruit. Is it any wonder that the man says, "This tree is good for nothing. It's just taking up space. Cut the tree down!"?

Now, I think you realize that a parable like this one is not intended to simply be a make-believe story about a man and his tree. Like all of Jesus' parables, there is a deeper, a spiritual message attached to this man and his tree. The question is, whom do the man and his tree represent? Who are they in real life? Well, in Jesus day, the fig tree likely represented the Jewish nation, or more specifically, the people living in Jerusalem. The Jews were God's chosen nation. For centuries, God had given them every advantage. He sent one prophet after another to them. He used the Old Testament Law to build a hedge around them to protect them from the pagan beliefs and practices of the heathen nations around them. He established the temple in their midst. In light of all that divine attention, is it any wonder that he looked for some God-pleasing behavior from them? Is it too much for God to ask that they follow his commandments or that they acknowledge Jesus to be the promised Messiah? Is it any wonder that, by means of this parable, God issues the ultimatum that they had better start producing fruit or they're going to be cut down?

But now, tell me, does that ultimatum apply only to the Jews back in Jesus' day? Or could it be that this parable also finds an application in our lives? Could you or I be like the fig tree planted in the vineyard? Certainly God has given us a number of advantages. He has planted us in a congregation of believers. He has brought us into contact with the spiritual nourishment of God's Word and Sacrament. He has set us apart for his purpose. Is it any wonder that he would now expect some good fruits in our lives?

The question is, "Has God found in us the good fruit he's looking for? Galatians 5:22 lists the fruit of the Spirit as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Take any one of those words and ask yourself, "Is my life characterized by, for example, kindness?" Do I go out of my way to do nice things for other people, especially people who can do nothing to repay me? Am I regarded by other people as someone who is unmistakably tender and giving to friend and stranger alike? Am I faithful-faithful to the tasks that God has given to me as a parent or a student, or single person? Have I faithfully managed my time and talents in a way that serves the eternal welfare of my fellowman?

My friends, if we're honest with ourselves, if we judge ourselves not by the standards of "how's everyone else doing," but rather, by the standards of "what does God demand?' then I think we'll have to admit that we've not produced the abundance of good fruit that God expects of us. In many ways, we're just like this fig tree in our text. We may look good from a distance. At first glance we may appear to be very healthy. But when God inspects us more closely, he finds that we are sadly lacking good fruit. And that means that God has every right and every reason to say, "Cut them down! Why should they use up the soil? They are wasting all the benefits I've given to them."

You realize that that's very easily where the story could end. We've failed to produce the fruit that God was looking for-and he deservedly cut us down. But that's not where the story ends, is it? In this parable, Jesus introduces us to a caretaker, II. A Caretaker who Intercedes on behalf of the Tree.

Here in our text, the man who has the responsibility of caring for the vineyard makes this plea on behalf of the fig tree. He says to the owner, "Sir, leave (the tree) alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down." Just for a moment, I want you to think about what this man was promising to do. He was promising to invest his personal time and energy into a tree that up until this point had been completely fruitless. He was not saying, "Let's just wait around for a year and hope for the best." He was saying, "This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to get out the hoe and cultivate around the tree. I'm going to get out the manure and work it into the ground. In Jesus' day, that often meant working it in with your hands! And all this work-all this care and attention-was going to be directed toward a tree that had a terrible track record. Remember, this is not a tree that had kind of an off year last season. This was a tree that for three years straight had never produced any fruit. This tree was the L.A. Clippers of the fig tree world. It was a loser! It had nothing going for it. It deserved to be cut down.

Wait a minute. I guess I shouldn't say that it had nothing going for it. It did have one thing going for it. It has someone who cared enough for it to plead its case. In fact, cared enough for it to do more than say, "C'mon, give it a break." But rather, cared enough to say, "Here's what I'll do for it. I'll toil and sweat and get my hands dirty in the hope that some day this tree will bear fruit."

My friends, do you see the real life meaning that this half of the parable has for your life and mine? Even though we've been like the fig tree that has repeatedly not produced the fruit that God is looking for, even though we deserve to be cut down and burned in eternal fire, still there has been someone who has stepped in and pleaded our case. Someone who has done more than wished us well, or hoped for the best, but rather, someone who has gone to work on our behalf. That someone is Jesus. Jesus chose to invest his time and energy in you. He took off his royal robe and got dirty for you. Only it was not manure that was smeared on his hands. It was blood-his holy, precious blood, spilled on a cross for your sins. And now blood that is offered here in his supper for your forgiveness.

And remember, Jesus has done all these things not for a tree that was perfectly fruitful, but rather for a tree that was repeatedly fruitless. Jesus went to work for a tree that by all human standards was a loser. Think of Jesus' earthly ministry. While he was on earth, Jesus spent time with the tax collectors and prostitutes, liars and thieves, people who were regarded as losers. And you know something? Jesus is still working with those same kinds of people today. I don't know about you, but as I look back on my life in 2004, I see a year of promises I've broken, commandments I've disobeyed, opportunities I've missed and people I've ignored. With the track record that I've laid down this past year, or for that matter for the track record I've laid down for the past 45 years, Jesus could have easily given up on me. He could have said, "Father, you're right. This guy is fruitless. Cut him down."

But you know, Jesus has not given up on me or you. Instead, Jesus pleads our case before the throne of God. He has given us his holiness in return for our sins. On Calvary he gave his life for ours. You might say that he went out on a limb for us. And why has he done all that for fruitless trees like us? Because he knows that as we come to grips with what he has done for us. When we believe that he's turned sinners into saints, purely by grace. When we realize that we are the holy, forgiven children of God, then and only then, will it begin to show in our lives. In Christ, we can't help but bring forth the fruits of peace and joy and gentleness and self-control. The Bible says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come."

My friends, as we stand on the threshold of a new year, doesn't this parable give you a little different perspective on the coming year? 2005 is not just another year in a whole line of years. No, in a sense 2005 is the one more year that Jesus speaks of in our text. It's the one more year that Jesus has asked for on our behalf. 2005 is a year for Jesus to dig around us, cultivate us, and feed us with his Word and Sacrament, and yes, maybe even prune us through various trials and tribulations. But as he does that, 2005 will also become a year for us to bring for the fruits of faith that are so pleasing to God. A year to rededicate ourselves to acts of Christian love and services to our families, our church, our community and our world. That's what the caretaker wanted for the fig tree and that's what Jesus desperately wants for you and me.

One more thing. Did you notice that in this parable Jesus doesn't say what happened to the fig tree, does he? Did the tree bear the fruit the owner is looking for? Or did the day come when it is finally cut down? The caretaker acknowledges that that is still a very real possibility. He says, "If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down."

My friends, make no mistake about it. There will come a time when even Jesus' patience will end. And justice will be served on all who refuse to bear fruit. That's the sad reality. But it's not what motivates our lives. It's not God's threats that compel us to action. Rather, it's our Savior's love. Jesus has taken broken, fruitless people and made us whole again. He's taken dead branches and made us alive. And by giving us another year of his grace, he's given you and me another reason to say, "Thank you, Jesus." In his name. Amen.