In Luke 13.1-9, Pontius Pilate had just done the unthinkable. Apparently, his soldiers attacked worshippers in the temple while they performed their sacred rituals. One might expect heartfelt compassion from Jesus, but he doesn’t respond that way at all; rather he gives a warning of sorts. One that might lead the listener to think that maybe God was punishing people for their sins- you know, the sort of thing modern preachers do when a natural disaster causes the death of “sinful people.” Before the listeners can get their head around what Jesus is saying, he launches into a parable.
The parable is about a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit. And at the end, it sounds like the tired caricature of an angry axe-wielding God who wants to cut the whole thing down. But what if Jesus’ parable was intended to wake the listener up? And what about the gardener in the story who defends the tree? The one who wants to give it a whole year to tend to it, to see that it will bear fruit? Maybe this parable shows that bad things don’t happen because God is angry. For whatever reason they do happen, and they have a chance to wake us up. And when we do awake, maybe there is a gardener who wants to tend to us – so that we can bear the fruit we were made to bear.
Spiritual Formation Podcast: Advent 2020 – Week 1
November 15, 2020: Drunk, Naked and Passed Out – Michael Hidalgo
November 8, 2020: What the Hell? – Nick Elio
November 1, 2020: Set Apart for No Mercy – Michael Hidalgo
October 25, 2020: Does God's Blood Boil? – Amanda Lum
October 18, 2020: He's Really Nice, But. . . .– Michael Hidalgo
October 11, 2020: The More the Merrier – Michael Hidalgo
October 4, 2020: Never Stop Exploring – Bekah Stewart
September 27, 2020: What Did You Call Me? – Michael Hidalgo
September 20, 2020: The Divine in Flesh & Bone – Michael Hidalgo
September 13, 2020: The Scattered, Holy Stones – Del Phillips
September 6, 2020: The Good and the Hard – Michael Hidalgo
August 30, 2020: Prophets of Rage – Scott Oppliger
August 23, 2020: This Feels Impossible – Michael Hidalgo
August 16, 2020:Holding Back Tears – Michael Hidalgo
August 9, 2020: The Weightier Matter – Jasper Peters
August 2, 2020: Holding Steady – Scott Oppliger
Spiritual Formation Gathering – Confronting Systemic Injustice
July 26, 2020: Hungry for Joy – Bekah Stewart
July 19, 2020: Follow the Leader – Nick Elio
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