Parable of the Fig Tree: Luke 13: 6-9

301st Edition August 2024

Each day I get my “steps in” by walking through our Dominican University campus. Fragrant rose gardens, abundant blackberry bushes, stately palm and redwood trees and my ever-favorite fig trees line my pathways. Fig trees loom large in California as they do in the Middle East. They hold a special place in my “memory box.” When I was growing up, we had a huge fig tree in our backyard that my father tended with care. My father was a farmer at heart. In fact, we had a family ranch in the Mother Lode area of California where our family nurtured seventy-five acres of chestnut trees. Each year, one of our pre-Thanksgiving rituals was to pick, size, and sack chestnuts to sell in the North Beach Italian section of San Francisco.

Fond memories for sure, but also learnings. Nature can teach us a lot about God: God’s subtle and often not-so-subtle presence in our lives. No doubt that is why Jesus’ parables are filled with images from the natural world that surrounded him. Even though we might not have a fig tree or any tree in our backyards, we all understand the importance of tending flowers, vegetable gardens and orchards.

In the parable of the fig tree Jesus tells of a man who owns a vineyard. In the vineyard, the man had planted a fig tree which was customary so the workers could be shaded from the hot sun. But for three years this fig tree had not produced fruit. The owner tells the vinedresser to cut it down. But the vinedresser pleads with the owner for another year and promises to tend the tree and fertilize it. There’s an urgency in the owner’s voice, but we also hear the vinedresser’s voice. He asks for time and promises to nurture the tree so it can grow and mature into a fruit-bearing tree.

This wise gardener’s voice we know. It is the voice of our faithful farmer God of whom Psalm 80 speaks, “There was a vine; you uprooted it out of Egypt; to plant it…you cleared a space where it could grow.” It’s the voice of the husband God who celebrates family unity and blessings symbolized by a loving wife and children sitting around a dinner table “like shoots around an olive tree” (Ps 128:3). It’s the voice in today’s parable of the vinedresser God who replies, “Sir, leave it another year while I hoe around it and manure it.”
Nature and domestic life are the usual backdrops for Jesus’ parables. He uses them not because he lacks imagination, but because these images point us to God’s presence in the daily “stuff” of our lives. God lives in the ordinary parts of our lives. It’s in the “ordinary” that grace is present. In this parable, we have time – time to grow, time to mature. We also have a vinedresser who knows how to nurture us so that we will respond fully to our call to discipleship.

Jesus could have spoken concise Aramaic and given us five more commandments in addition to the Ten Commandments. But he knows the path to deeper faith and love is more than just obeying a list of rules. So, he tells stories, gives creative examples and parables that surprise us and stir our imaginations. The prodigal son is met with open arms; the ninety-nine sheep are safe even though the shepherd is off searching for the lost one; a woman sweeps the house all day for a penny and then throws a lavish party for her neighbors so all can rejoice with her. Crazy stories? Not really. Religious riddles to ponder and wisdom stories that help us imagine a Good God who will never allow us to be lost.

Some parables encourage us to examine our lives, but this and other parables also offer a promise. They remind us that we are not on our own. The vinedresser knows how to help us. Because of that we have the courage to face the areas of our lives that need pruning, nurturing and growth. This grace, the awareness of God’s presence, comes to us through the voices of counselors, spiritual directors, friends, neighbors and co-workers. We hear God’s voice in silence, scripture, poetry, music – all can be prayer. As we listen and pray, we sometimes feel our hearts moved by the Holy Spirit who affirms our goodness and directs our choices. If we are consistent and pay attention, we will experience the fruits of these “listenings.”

This parable is not a lesson in horticulture. Jesus is not reminding us how important fertilizer is if we want a crop of figs this summer. Rather he is inviting us into a world where God desires to help us grow and mature so that every part of our lives will bear fruit. For sure there will be a reckoning some time, but our vinedresser God is not in a hurry. God is patient. We have more than the world’s usual grace period of ninety days. Each day is filled with grace. Oh, and one more thing. God does not demand a bumper crop. One fig at a time is enough. Each fig proves the vinedresser’s care – choice of soil, adequate watering and insightful pruning. All of these eventually lead us to delight. To paraphrase our dear friend, Meister Eckhart:
What God plants and nurtures in the soil of contemplation,
we shall reap in the harvest of Love.