The Third Sunday in Lent

“Grace Is The Word”

Luke 13:1-9

Rev. Dr. R. Tim Meadows

Listen To This Sermon!

I do not know about you, but I often find when I read biblical stories like the one

in our New Testament reading for today, I yearn for “the rest of the story”. I imagine as the story concludes the voice of Paul Harvey intoning those familiar words “and know for the rest of the story”. I mean don’t you want to know what ultimately happened to the fig tree? Did it bear fruit? Was it cut down? If so, what was planted in its place? This story, like so many others of Jesus, just leaves us hanging.

Jesus, it seems, has more in common with one of my favorite modern writers, John Grisham, than he does with Paul Harvey, at least when it comes to telling a story. How many times have you gotten to the end of a Grisham novel, and wanted more? I often feel as if he must have had to rush the final installment to the publisher, so he just ended it where he was, and left the reader hanging. A few years ago, at a conference I attended Grisham addressed this issue. He insisted that all of his endings are deliberately designed to leave the reader wanting more, puzzling over the details, wondering what happened. He says that readers have often advised him of the need for and plot of numerous sequels, but he refuses to write them, believing instead that readers are better left to sort out these details on their own. To use their imaginations!

I think Jesus does much the same thing, especially with today’s parable. He does not tell “the rest of the story”, but he does give us an important clue, which seems to capture the point of the story anyway. The clue comes from what New Testament interpreters call “the rule of end stress”, a rule, which says that Jesus’ parables are best interpreted by the last point they emphasize. The last point of this parable centers around the attentive gardener who pleads for a little more time to attend to the fig tree to give it a chance to be productive. The gardener is pleading for a “grace period” before the master’s desire to eliminate the tree is carried out. Despite the seeming focus of this parable on judgment, and the tendency of many to interpret it as a parable of Jesus about judgment, I believe that the end stress of this parable suggests, “Grace is the word”.

After all, the significance of Jesus’ ministry was not the work of judgment that was a work well under way by others. Rather, the significance of Jesus’ ministry was the work of grace that overcomes judgment.

So what is Jesus saying in this enigmatic parable about grace? The parable tells us at least the following about how grace operates in our world:

I. Grace Is Always Present When Jesus Discusses Judgment: This is an essential to understanding the ministry of Jesus. John tells us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to redeem the world. Think of the ways in which grace moderates judgment. In grace, judgment looks not to the offender but to their source of forgiveness. In grace, judgment is not anxious to act swiftly, but to allow time for redemption. In grace, judgment allows for the continued value of the individual, who though guilty, is still seen as a creature of God created in the image of Christ Jesus. Jesus ALWAYS included grace in any discussion of judgment.

II. Grace Allows More Time Before Judgment: As I mentioned earlier when grace is factored into judgment it always slows the process. This slowing of the process of judgment allows for several things to happen. With the additional time that grace provides before judgment, the offender can grapple with the issues of repentance. With the additional time that grace provides before judgment, the offended parties can process their hurt and seek to begin the needed forgiveness toward the offender. With the additional time that grace provides before judgment, the work of God can be manifested to all involved and draw them closer to God’s presence. So, yes, as much as we are a people who believe in swift and certain judgment, we can be thankful that when grace enters the process, it creates times for all kinds of healing actions which may not prevent judgment, but may make it sound.

III. Grace Is Often The Result Of Special Attention: How many times have you been like the fig tree in our parable, one who received grace only because someone else took an interest in sharing such? What might have been the result in your life without that person or persons? Like the fig, you potentially could have been the recipient of some of life’s swiftest judgment. Your case heard and your verdict quickly rendered! Aren’t you glad that someone was willing to stand for you, to invest in you, to plead for one more opportunity for you to demonstrate that you were worthy of a future other than swift and condemning judgment? The challenge with receiving grace in this way is to in turn become a dispenser of that grace to others. Into whose life do you pour grace like this caring gardener? If others were to place you into a role in this parable, would it be that of the caring gardener or the demanding property owner? The real question is whether your life is marked by grace or by judgment?

So, what is the rest of the story? Well, it seems at least to be that with Jesus grace entered into the process of judgment, and when that happens, it can only improve the ultimate outcome, whatever that is. That’s why for me “Grace is the word”! The word of the Lord, and hopefully, the word of our lives in the world.