Of Burning Bushes and Fig Trees

Text:  Exodus 3:1-15 & Luke 13:1-9

Theme:  “Of Burning Bushes and Fig Trees”

Third Sunday in Lent

February 28, 2016

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,

the name you shall call me

from generation to generation.

* * *

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

While not a huge fan of country music, I do enjoy an occasional song from Jerry Jeff Walker via my iTunes playlist!  One of my favorites is called “Gettin’ By”. 

Just gettin' by on gettin' bys my stock in trade, living it day to day

Pickin' up the pieces wherever they fall

Just letting it roll, letting the high times carry the low

Just living my life easy come, easy go

It’s a catchy, snappy tune, and it contains a philosophy of life, or outlook on life, that is very much in vogue.  Life has high times; life has low times.  Take it as it comes.  It’s easy come and easy go.  It’s about getting by.

The reason I’m on this earth is to “get by”.  You are on this earth to “get by”.  We are on this earth to “get by”.

How comfortable are you with this philosophy?  Are you okay with it?  I mean, it does tend to put things in perspective.  It takes into account that there will be low times, and, therefore, you don’t have to have some kind of cosmic meltdown when things don’t go your way.  It also encompasses the good times; you enjoy them for what they are.  You realize they won’t go on forever, and so you just take it all in stride. At the end of the day, it’s about gettin’ by.  You don’t ruffle anyone’s tailfeathers; you hope no one ruffles yours. You get by and you get along.  Simple.

If you wanted to make room for God or religion in this philosophy, I suppose you could but it’s not required.  God, religion, going to church, etc., could be good insofar as they assist you in getting by.  If not, then there’s no need for any of that.  No harm. No foul.

Long, long ago, there lived a man named Moses.   At first, his philosophy of life dealt primarily with emotions. The picture that emerges is that they (emotions) drove him. The emotion of anger prompted him to kill a man for beating one of his countrymen.  Then the emotion of fear prompted him to leave the land of Egypt and arrive at a place called Midian.  And there in Midian, tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro, he could live out his days under the rubric of “gettin’ by”.  No more anger.  No more fear.  Just end tend the flocks.  Get by on gettin’ by. 

But then something happened:  a burning bush happened.  God spoke from that bush.  The hearer was Moses.  “So go, now.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

“Who am I that I should go?” replies Moses.  It sounds just like what a guy would say whose philosophy is “gettin’ by”. “Who am I?  I’m no big deal. Surely there are people far more capable than me to accomplish this huge task.  I’m perfectly fine just tending the flocks here.” 

God said:  “I will be with you.”  In those moments, the philosophy of “gettin’ by” vanished from the life of Moses.  From that point on, his life would be one of faith in God and service to God’s people.  He did go with God, challenge Pharaoh, and lead His people to the promised land.

Many, many years later, Jesus, the Son of God made mention of another bush or tree.  He told a story, or parable, about a fig tree.    Now, the philosophy or purpose of a fig tree is not to simply “get by”.  A fig tree, in Jesus’ reckoning, isn’t there for looks or landscaping.   Given its name, the purpose of the fig tree, the reason for its existence, is to produce figs.  If it doesn’t produce, it has no purpose.  It might as well be cut down. 

The tree that Jesus spoke of was going through a three-year dry spell.  The owner of the tree kept coming back to the tree only to find no fruit, no figs.  What’s the point of the fig tree if there are no figs?

The person in charge of the vineyard made an appeal.  “Give me another year.  Let me water and fertilize it.”  In other words, let’s give it another chance. If it doesn’t work, cut it down.

Jesus employed this image of the fig tree in a conversation about repentance.  To repent means to change your mind, to do a complete 180 and go a different direction.  A non-repentant fig tree is a non-producing fig tree.  A repentant fig tree is a producing fig tree.  To repent, therefore, is to change course, change direction, and turn to or turn back to what God wants us to be.  No wonder John the Baptist, the cousin of our Lord, said “Bear fruit that befits repentance.” 

The story of the burning bush tells us that it is entirely possible for the philosophy of “gettin’ by”, so prevalent in our world today, to be replaced by something else:  faith in God and service to His people.  The story of the fig tree tells us that it is entirely possible to change your mind, to turn toward God or back to God and live a life of faith, love, and service.

Having heard of burning bushes and fig trees, it’s now time for a gut-check and some gut-level honesty.  I can almost hear someone thinking if not saying this:  “Pastor, I’ve tried and tried and tried.  I want to go with God, do what God wants me to do and serve His people, but sometimes I feel like I really don’t.  I mean, Christianity has become so political  -- both on the left and the right – and so judgmental too.   I’m conflicted about it.  I feel so old, incapable, so tossed around by this messed up world, so worn out.  I hear the nasty  discourses of candidates for elected office going on now, and it sickens me.  I hear of a 16 yr. old girl, a freshman in high school with her entire future ahead of her, and her life is snuffed out in a random, tragic, senseless accident. The world as it is overwhelms me, pastor.   My fightings and fears within and without nearly drive me insane, Rev. Dunklau.  About the best I can do is “get by”; it’s like I have no other choice.  Let the bush burn out.  And the fig tree?  Cut it down.

So what good are the burning bush and the fig tree if all they do is bring us back to square one?  Instead of a complete 180, it seems like a complete 360!  We’re back at where we started, gettin’ by on gettin’ by.

The good news I have for you, my friends, is that there is a third tree.  When a burning bush or fig tree is not enough, there will ALWAYS be the third tree. 

It wasn’t long after Jesus told the parable of the fig tree that some of His closest disciples were placed under arrest by the religious establishment.  They were ordered NOT to proclaim the gospel; they were not to share the good news that the death and resurrection of Jesus brought to people. 

In direct contradiction to that order of the religious establishment, the disciples said this:  “We must obey God rather than men!  The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead – whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted Him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins.

The burning bush tells us that faith in God and serving His people is possible.  The fig tree urges us to embrace that possibility ourselves.  The tree of the cross grants forgiveness for all the times we haven’t.

Today, I don’t want to get by.  Let that not be my stock in trade.  No, today I want to overcome the world and I want you to join me.    As the apostle John said so beautifully:  “Everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Amen.