Lent 3 C + Roots + 3.23.25
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(Exodus 3:1–15; Ps. 63:1–8; 1 Corinthians 10:1–13; Luke 13:1–9)
Anyone who has driven on the freeways of Southern California
for any length of time knows that we are a bunch of looky-loos sometimes.
Sometimes traffic is moving along great and then it just slows almost to a
stop, and you crawl up to find that the road has been cleared but everyone is
just trying to get a glimpse at the accident that has occurred and the result
of which has moved to the side of the road. When something bad happens, it
seems to be human nature to be drawn to the mayhem.
I don’t know all of the details of the events being referred
to here in today’s gospel but it seems clear that something terrible has
happened in Galilee and with the Tower of Siloam’s collapse. Just like today
when terrible things happen, there are always those who may be tempted to see
it as God’s judgment on one group. And Jesus is quick to point out that human
minds go there, but God’s doesn’t. We are all in need of God’s mercy and grace,
and none of us is immune from the effects of living in a fallen world.
The amazing thing is that God stays with us, fickle creatures
that we are, and allows us to grow and make mistakes until we bear fruit. But
we are also allowed to have fallow times, times when we don’t bear fruit and we
just need to allow nutrients to sink into our soil.
One friend shared this week a quote: “Repentance is not a
fruit problem; it is a root problem.”[1]
But I must admit I think it is both. Because Jesus is looking for the fruit,
which is a changed life, a life that reflects being a follower of Jesus, but
sometimes to get that fruit, we must dig down into our roots.
At the last Welcome Table I shared a song called “Grassroots”
(2019) by Abraham Jam, an interfaith band out of North Carolina. Part of it
goes like this:
“Well, the roots of the grass go down, down
Dig into the dirty, gritty ground, ground
While the world goes whirling round, round
The grass roots keep it all together!”
I see this passage from Luke as reminding us not to look at
others and judge them, but instead as an invitation to dig down into our roots.
Our roots, if grounded, if watered by grace and if nourished (meaning if we
keep reading our Bible, praying, and meeting and sharing the sacraments here in
community) will be supported, allowing us to bear good fruit. Lent is an ideal
time to dig deep, to find the connections in God that we need in order to
really get grounded. Now this is not just for us, but we are reminded that “the
grass roots keep it all together!” If we get grounded, we ground and support
others. If we are not centered and just focused on looking at and judging
others, we edify no one.
Another piece of good news here is that God is a God of first,
second and third and more chances! Notice that the fig tree doesn’t get put
aside after one season of not bearing fruit, but in fact it gets more attention
and love and that is what helps it to get to the point of thriving. One hopes.
We don’t see it here, but for me I think- someone is caring for it. It will
bear fruit, unless there are too many other factors working against it.
But that is another part of the good news: the epistle
message for today, which says “God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way
out so that you may be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13).” Now this verse is
often shared too glibly. But I think that it is true. When in the context of
Christian community, which was always the context in which Paul wrote, we may
suffer. We may go through many hardships because of this life we live and the
nature of the world in which we live, but God will give us the strength with
those around us to overcome that suffering, even if it is hard. So even the fig
trees with a lot of factors stacked against them can thrive within a community.
Which makes sense with the little I know about fig trees and
trees in general. Fig trees take time to mature- they don’t produce fruit right
away but there are several seasons before they bear fruit, at least according
to a friend who had fig trees at her home.
Additionally, I learned from the book Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (2016)
that trees communicate with each other deep underground through the roots. So
if we are like trees, all this root work we do is not just for ourselves, but
it is helping to communicate God’s love to each other. That, I think, is why
Christian community is so important. It is not just about great sermons or sublime
music, although we hope to have some of that. But it is also about rooting
ourselves in God and helping connect via our roots to each other.
Speaking of roots, today we go back to the roots of the
Israelites with the story of the call of Moses. Moses’ call reminds us that God
deeply wants to interact with us and help us as God’s beloved creation, but
that we also must do our part. Moses is unsure at first, and through community
God helps him to lead God’s people out of captivity in Egypt, through the
desert, a time which Karl Sandin has pointed out in the Lenten Series, may have
been an identity development time for the nation of Israel as it was then, to the
border of the Promised Land. Moses never got to go in, but he got a glimpse and
then the others went in to Canaan.
But they would have not done any of that without feeling
rooted in a strong faith in a God who would carry them through. So take heart
today. God sees the struggles you are facing, and God cares. God wants to help
you. And you must do your part also. As I heard from activist Fannie Lou Hamer
this week, “Pray, but do something. God’s not going to put it in your lap.”[2]
Amen. We must always be in the balance of prayer and action. But if we are in a
fallow period, and we don’t feel we are bearing much fruit, stay strong. God
has got you. Re-root and find some fertilizing agent- something that will
nourish you even if it seems stinky to others! Allow the divine vinedresser to
work on your roots. Ask for that in faith. It will be granted. It may mean
being willing to break up some of your presuppositions and it may mean some
changes are afoot. But dig down deep. And trust, the fruit will come!
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