As our temperatures are slowly climbing back into comfortable territory, I can’t help but find myself reminiscing on some of the past plants and gardening I did when I was younger. There was a lot of joy in gardening, but there was also a lot of work. In particular, I remember the ambition I had to grow strawberry plants. I always have loved fresh strawberries- so what could beat an endless supply of them, right in the backyard? So I ordered plants, they arrived, and I put them in a bed of their own, and realized quickly something I hadn’t anticipated: it was going to take work. There were weeds to be pulled, water needed to be put on every so often, and they needed fertilized to grow well. It was an almost endless cycle- but eventually, they did start to produce fruit!
In this life, we have two fundamental choices that we can make, in the eyes of God: we can either choose to be a fruit bearing plant, or we can choose not to be one. We certainly know with clarity what God would like from us as was laid out for us in the Gospel just a few moments ago- but do we understand the full magnitude of what it is to bear fruit? Do we see what God is trying to evoke within us when He cultivates us, and desires that we bear fruit- whether we choose to or not?
The first reading came to us from the book of Exodus, and this is actually taken from the time prior to the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt. At this moment, we are hearing about how Moses was called up from the ranks, so to speak. Up to this point, Moses had eluded Pharaoh’s evil- first in the killing of so many infants, and then when he sought his life after an incident involving Moses killing a slave driver. So, he had run away from Pharaoh, and was out in the desert, tending the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro. Yet, even as he had gone out to the desert, he was not out of reach of God, as we hear in this account of the Burning Bush. He sees this strange sight of a bush burning but not being consumed- and he wants to get closer. As he does, the Lord calls out from the bush- and tells him to come no closer, and to remove his sandals because this is sacred ground. Then the Lord introduces who He is- the God of Moses’s fathers, and then, after realizing this, Moses hides his face. After the introduction, God tells a story- He has heard the cries of His people and witnessed their affliction, and He knows well what they are suffering. Now, He has decided to do something about it- and so He is coming to rescue them from the Egyptians- and will lead them to a new land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses asks a question- who am I to tell them sent me? He wants more than to say “the God of your fathers.” So, God gives him just a little more- tell them “I AM” sent me to you. This makes sense because He is the Lord- He is all being, and all of creation. He, in fact, is! He instructs Moses to tell them that this is what He is- and this is how He wishes to be introduced. Moses is the first to hear the story of how the Lord is “kind and merciful” as the Psalms remind us.
The second reading comes from St. Paul’s first letter to the congregation in Corinth, and this one, while many parts of his letters are pleasant to hear- is not so easy or gentle. He tells them that he wishes them not to be unaware- as so many were. Then he lists off several illustrations of what he means. Several were under the cloud, passed through the sea, ate the spiritual food, drank the spiritual drink, and thus encountered the rock, who was Christ. Yet… there is a harsh reality: God struck most of them down in the desert. They saw the Lord’s work so many times, and yet, never lived as if to say they believed in Him as a result. Paul reminds them (and us) that these things were done as an example, and are a warning to us- who have seen Christ has come. This last line is perhaps the most convicting: “therefore whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.” The one who thinks he is without sin must be sure and certain that he is without- because the people who lived in the exodus thought the same thing- and they still perished in the desert. They had no excuse, and yet, they perished anyways.
The Gospel too can seem a bit uncomfortable when we first hear it. The crowds are telling Jesus about the mingling of the blood of the Galileans with their sacrifices. There is an underlying assumption in their tone, as Jesus draws out in His response: do you think this is because they were greater sinners? Absolutely not. But, if you do not repent, you’ll suffer the same fate. Or, when that tower fell in Siloam- were they more guilty than the others? Absolutely not- by no means. But, if you do not repent, you will suffer the same fate- and perish like they did.
All of this has been very strong language, but Jesus is not done. He illustrates his point with a further parable- and tells them of a fig tree. The tree was producing no fruit, and so the owner of the orchard tells his gardener- I’ve looked for fruit for three years now- but haven’t found any. Cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil by it’s lack of fruit?
The gardener is a little different minded than the owner, because he wants to take a little more risk. “Let me leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground and fertilize it. If it doesn’t produce at this point, then yes, we can cut it down.” To make a long story short, what is Jesus saying? You best start producing fruit- because you don’t know when the owner of the vineyard is going to come looking for it!
Now, when it comes to the more difficult passages of scripture, we often get very uneasy, and perhaps we like to try to excuse ourselves from them and write these passages off. Let’s stick to the ones that tickle our fancy! However, there is a need for us to visit these readings too, or we may find that, at the end of time, we are not producing fruit.
So, what do all of these things mean?
First, that our God does indeed love us. He has created us, and has done great things for us. Look at the time of Moses- He heard their cries, and then to help them, He came down and released them from captivity. He didn’t want them living in slavery to the Egyptians any longer. The same happens when Christ dies on the Cross- He comes down in this fire- which is not a fire of fury but of love- to save us on the Cross. This is something that may seem like a point we all understand- but we are about to understand it even more deeply. Love is not this vague concept, but it is in fact when our God works for our fulfillment- and for us to produce fruit. So, this is where love moves to encouragement- and even to conviction.
This is the second point. Our actions have consequences. We may not think it so, but they do. In the second reading, that was made quite clear. Notice, there were so many people that saw great and ponderous signs that their God was doing! They passed through the sea! They saw God leading them by a column. They ate food and drank from God’s miraculous providence. And what happened? They chose poorly. They decided not to choose in concert with what they had seen, so they perished out in the desert. They had chosen evil, and the evil overtook them, and they died. We need to understand this brothers and sisters. If we choose to do good- there are good consequences to that. If we choose to do bad or evil? There are consequences to that as well. When we choose to say that evil thing. When we choose to live by the desires of the flesh. When we miss Mass deliberately by our own design- that will bear a consequence! We need to hear this, my brothers and sisters! This is why we need mercy- because God hates sin so, so much. He does not hate us sinners, but He hates the action of sin- and that is why we need to separate ourselves from every single one of these things while we have time in this life! We need to take them all out. Every. Last. One. Don’t say sin doesn’t matter. It most certainly does- and you don’t want to suffer because you excused yourself and let sin flourish in your life as if it didn’t matter. Oh, it very much does.
This brings us to the third point then- are we going to take action? Are we going to repent- and not do it later, when we get to it perhaps- but right here and right now? Jesus makes it very clear- we are operating on borrowed time, and we don’t know when the “next year” is going to be up. He as the gardener has begged for time to till the ground with His Cross and to fertilize the ground with His Blood- but He isn’t going to force us to bear fruit. He isn’t going to force you to accept the grace that comes to you through Reconciliation and the Eucharist, and through spending time with you. He will not force your hand- He will respect your choices. Yes, maybe it would be easier for us to produce fruit if God forced us to- but that wouldn’t be love. That would be a program- and those are only good for computers- not living and breathing Christians.
Further, time is running short! We can’t make excuses about how we are going to take things seriously later. We cannot just tell ourselves that these things are too small. No, we have to throw them all out- NOW. Not later. God’s patience is only directed at our salvation- not our complacency or laziness. We cannot, and must not make excuses for ourselves! This salvation thing? It is going to take some work. But if we produce fruit- we will reap good consequences and not bad! That is why God gives us these powerful warnings! He doesn’t want us to slip and stumble because we are unaware. Rather, He wants us to see clearly the work that is before us- so that we can choose well, and live with Him forever.
Strawberries do take a little work. But so does salvation. Take advantage of the time given to us now, brothers and sisters, to work on your salvation- so that when the Lord comes- He will find you producing good fruit, as He desires, and has worked for us to be able to do.
