Sun. Mar. 7, 2010 (Janice Kreider)

One of our gentle gardeners, Janice Kreider, talked about sometimes removing trees from their yard and the unproductive fig tree which produced no fruit. The owner wanted it cut down. (Luke 13) The gardener was reluctant to cut it down a three year old tree and pleaded for one more year, saying he’d like to dig the soil and fertilize it. If after a year the tree produced no fruit, it could be cut down. Janice referred to the yeast parable in the same chapter a small amount of yeast produces unexpected results. Where is God in the fig tree story – the landowner or the gardener? The landowner might represent an impatient absentee landlord. Janice noted that this is an unfinished story, there’s no sequel from a year later to tell us how things turned out. It is story of hope, even if faint hope. It’s also a story of patience and tolerance; sometimes we’re restless and want results now, when a bit of nurturing might eventually produce fruit. (HN) Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Mar. 7th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.