Scripture

Scripture is the most important of the 4 sources for thinking theologically. (Remember that the 4 sources are Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience.) However, we never actually use Scripture by itself. Whenever we approach Scripture, we are already using Reason to read and interpret them, not to mention the kind of historical information that we now rely on in trying to understand Scripture. Our context (part of the general category of Experience) affects our interpretations of Scripture also. And the Christian Tradition, based in Scripture, provides a framework through which we approach Scripture too. The Basis of Union talks about the interaction of the theological sources in this way:

The Uniting Church acknowledges that God has never left the Church without faithful and scholarly interpreters of Scripture, or without those who have reflected deeply upon, and acted trustingly in obedience to, God’s living Word. In particular the Uniting Church enters into the inheritance of literary, historical and scientific enquiry which has characterised recent centuries, and gives thanks for the knowledge of God’s ways with humanity which are open to an informed faith. The Uniting Church lives within a world-wide fellowship of Churches in which it will learn to sharpen its understanding of the will and purpose of God by contact with contemporary thought. Within that fellowship the Uniting Church also stands in relation to contemporary societies in ways which will help it to understand its own nature and mission. The Uniting Church thanks God for the continuing witness and service of evangelist, of scholar, of prophet and of martyr. It prays that it may be ready when occasion demands to confess the Lord in fresh words and deeds (Para. 11).

God’s Word is God’s very action and presence in the world. Jesus is the very Word of God (see John 1). Through the Scriptures, we encounter God’s Word made known to us in Jesus. Through honest and authentic engagement with the Scriptures, we discover something of God’s Word for our lives today.

Though the fig tree does not...

Parables are stories with illusive meanings. They’re enigmatic, mystifying and… well… parabolic. It depends where you throw light on them from as to what they will reflect back to you. It depends how you look at them as to what reflection you will see.

And for that reason, we can come to the parables of Jesus thinking that we know what they’re all about and looking for simple messages. Parables are often treated as mere morality tales—stories that give clear directions as to what is right and what is wrong, but that is seldom the case, because parables are much deeper than simple morality tales. If they were just morality tales, they would be much easier to understand. But they’re not.

Parables are extended metaphors, indeed multi-faceted metaphors, narratives full of metaphors which are set in relationship to one another. And indeed, it does depend on how you enter into the parable, via which metaphor, what character, or aspect, as to what you gain from the interaction. And that makes them all the more intriguing because they are full of possibilities and potential.

Parables, by their very nature, have the capacity to ask deep questions of us, to open up unexpected issues, to set our minds thinking, our hearts feeling and our spirits searching for truth—truth that is beyond any one interpretation of the parable and certainly beyond any logical treatise or scientific treatise. Parables tell truth without ever nailing it down into single clauses or inflexible, rigid rules. They reflect the complex depth of real truth with all its mystery and puzzle.
So we come to our parable for today—the parable of the fig tree and the gardener who wins its reprieve. And if there ever was an enigmatic parable, it’s this one.

Someone had a fig tree growing in their vineyard and so naturally, they went looking for figs on it but there were none. So the owner of the vineyard says to a worker, "For three years, I have been coming here looking for figs from this fig-tree and I still haven't found any. Cut it down! It's only taking up space and using up the goodness of the soil!" But the worker says, "Just give it one more year. I will take care of it, working the soil and feeding it with fertilizer. If it bears figs in a year, so much the better and if it doesn't, then you can cut it down." (Luke 13:6-9 T.E.V. Adapted)

Now before we go any further let's take a little closer look. We have a fig tree but not in an orchard, in a vineyard, a place for growing grape vines, not for fig trees. The story does not say how it is that this fig tree has come there nor why it is that it was not pulled out when it first appeared except that the owner obviously hoped that it would bear fruit. But it sounds like the gardener hasn’t been paying it a lot of attention; and why would that gardener have done so, because it is a fig tree, not a grapevine.

The story doesn’t say how long the fig tree had been there, just that the owner had been looking for fruit on it for three years. They story doesn’t say whether the fig tree is mature enough to bear fruit or whether it still needs that year that the gardener gains for it. We have some very sketchy details—and perhaps that makes interpreting the parable all the more fun.

We do know that the story is told in a context. There has been some discussion about acts of terror and disaster and the possibility that they are punishments for wrongdoing. And, in that discussion, Jesus has reminded his conversation partners that it is not anyone else’s repentance that they should be concerned with, but they’re own. As they have looked to blame others, they should be wary of their own responsibility.

And then we have the parable of the fig tree…

Now the key to interpreting parables may often be to ask questions of the story and particularly questions about the characters and who or what they represent. And since these stories are about theological truth, some good questions to ask of parables are questions like: “Who in this parable is like God?” “Who is like Jesus?” “Who are we like?” But be careful, there’s often more than one answer; and no one answer will exhaust the truth that the parable has to teach us. It is not only the story’s context, but our context that will govern what the parable has to say to us at any particular point in time. And no particular interpretation at any particular time will be definitive, be complete, be unable to be extended by other readings at other times.

We haven’t quite got to that parable of the fig tree yet, but we’re going to look at it now. So let’s ask some of our questions and test out some different ways of reading this peculiar parable today.

Traditionally, in this story, God would have been seen as the vineyard owner, the one who seeks fruit from the fig tree but does not find it. That seems to fit in perfectly with the context of the story and the discussion with those seeking to cast blame. In this reading, the parable may be a warning about a God who only has so much patience for the waywardness of a sinful people. Turn from you sins or else! Or else I will have you cut down! If God is the vineyard owner, then the fig tree is perhaps a sinful humanity who will not bear fruit and the gardener, the Christ, who intercedes on behalf of the people and gains their reprieve. In this reading, the parable reminds us not to blame others, or to think that we can earn mercy for ourselves; but to trust in the work of Christ and allow ourselves to bear fruit. And that is a good and orthodox Christian interpretation, but it is not the only way of approaching the parable; and that that’s the beauty of parables. So let’s try some other readings out too.

Let’s approach the story by reversing the characters. What happens if we reverse the characters and think about not the vineyard owner, but the fig tree as God; and as humanity as the vineyard owner. The very human vineyard owner does not understand the ways of the ways of the fig tree; indeed, would prefer that the fig tree was cut down if it does not perform to expectations. It sounds an awful lot like the way we humans approach God—do this or else; this is what we expect and if you don’t come up with the goods, then we won’t believe in you.

In this reading the story, Christ is still the vineyard worker—the one who pleads with the vineyard owner to understand the ways of the fig tree and to offer it that which is due (the necessary care and protection that it requires; the necessary worship that is due to God). This reading too fits with the context of the passage and the conversation between Jesus and the people who do not understand the ways of God and who make judgements on their brothers and sisters as to their faith or lack of it.

And still we have not exhausted all the possible ways of reading the story. This time suppose we try looking at the parable thinking about the fig tree as Christ. The fig tree is planted in a place where it seems out of place. It’s been around for three years and still it has not borne the fruit which it will bear. God the gardener knows that the tree is not yet ready to bear that fruit, and pleads with the master of the place (humanity) to give the tree and little more time so that its purpose might be revealed. The gardener sustains and support the fig tree, Christ, as the time to bear fruit comes closer. Again, this reading fits the context of the passage. When the fig tree bears fruit, God's understanding of the world will be revealed to a people who now persist in concerning themselves with the adequacies and inadequacies of their brothers and sisters.

And still we have not exhausted the possible readings. Both the vineyard owner and the gardener may be seen as two different sides of God. The fig tree is humanity and the story becomes one of God struggling within God's self over the fate of a people are unable to cope with their situation in the middle of the vineyard. And it is God’s mercy that wins out. And yet again, this reading fits with the context of the passage where people have been struggling to find meaning in their existence and answers to their questions about the relevance of religious rituals and sacrifices, and the reason for terror and disaster.

In all of these readings, the mercy of God comes to the fore; and the blame game of humanity is shown to be the empty ritual that it is. In all of these readings, humanity is asked to change its mind, to repent, to turn around, and to discover the things of God—love and mercy, hope, new life, and a continuing second chance for all.

On Being Fruitful

In the Gospel reading for Lent 3 this year (Luke 13:1-9), Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree that has not borne fruit. The message of the parable is about the mercy of God even when that mercy is not deserved. Nevertheless, the parable raises the question about whether or not we are bearing fruit in our lives as followers of Jesus. In what ways does our lifestyle and practice embody Christ? When we fail in our efforts, are we ready to cut the tree down or do we find that God’s mercy is for us as well as for others?

The first paragraph of the Basis of Union reminds us that the churches which entered into the Uniting Church were “seeking to bear witness to that unity which is both Christ’s gift and will for the Church”. It acknowledges “God’s gifts of grace to each of them in years past” and the fact “that none of them has responded to God’s love with a full obedience”. Nevertheless, in entering into union, they looked “for a continuing renewal in which God will use their common worship, witness and service to set forth the word of salvation for all people”.

Christian people usually work hard to worship, witness to and serve God; but sometimes, the work gets in the way. All too readily our human limitations send us to recriminations and self-loathing. Recognising our humanity before God is not about telling ourselves our bad we are; but about reminding ourselves how good and gracious God is.

Para. 1 of the Basis of Union ends:

To this end they declare their readiness to go forward together in sole loyalty to Christ the living Head of the Church; they remain open to constant reform under his Word; and they seek a wider unity in the power of the Holy Spirit. In this union these Churches commit their members to acknowledge one another in love and joy as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, to hear anew the commission of the Risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, and daily to seek to obey his will. In entering into this union the Churches concerned are mindful that the Church of God is committed to serve the world for which Christ died, and that it awaits with hope the day of the Lord Jesus Christ on which it will be clear that the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of the Christ, who shall reign for ever and ever.

Despite and because of who we are, we are called to be the people of God where we are—sinking down roots and stretching our branches to the sky in preparation for the fruit which will come in God’s good time.

Pilgrim People

A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us,we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Deuteronomy 26:5-9 NRSV)

It was their story. It told them who they where and where they had come from. It reminded them that, as a people, they had come on a journey, a long journey far from their origins. It reminded them that the journey had been a difficult one. They had travelled a long way and endured much. It told a tale of going down and coming up; of being strangers in foreign lands; of suffering and promise; of affliction and hope. And of how, through it all, God had been with them. And here on the threshold of the promised land, they must prepare to honour God appropriately once the promises are fulfilled. They must prepare to give the first fruits of the first harvest in the promised land to God.

But this story was really being recalled by a people who were in a different predicament, a different foreign land, preparing for new entry into the land. They were in exile from the land that they believed that they had been promised. And this story was reminding them of what they owed God whether they were in the land or out it. They owed God the very best, the first fruits; because what they had received from God was far more. No matter how much suffering they had endured; no matter how long the journey had been, God had brought them through and they were still a great nation.

The Basis of Union tells a story too: one that we like to repeat often. It tells of another pilgrim people—the church; and of a different wanderer—not an Aramaen, but one whose journey also built a new people—the body of Christ. It reminds us that we are a people on a journey towards a different type of promised goal; and it reminds us that our journey is that of Christ.

A wanderer was our ancestor, our forebear, the firstborn of the new creation; and he went down from his home into a strange land where he was an alien. And he dwelt among us and lived as one of us. He lived our life and died and our death, and that we may might live no longer for ourselves, but for the one who came to us and for us, he showed that the power of death and all that is death-dealing could not hold him, and cannot hold us when we are enfolded in him.

This is our story. It tells us who we are and where we come from. It remind us that, as a people, we are on a journey; that we have been enfolded into the journey of the one who came to and for us. And it is into this journey that we have been enfolded in our baptism, when we went down under the waters and came up as the new people of God. But the land we live in is an ambiguous one—it is God’s good creation; yet it is marred by much human destruction—and we are called to be both resident aliens and native rebels in this land. It is a difficult journey to which we are called—the temptations are many; and the chances for losing our way are many. But we have been promised the gift of the Spirit in order that we may not lose our way. And our story reminds us of who we are and whose we are. We have been drawn up and together as the people of God. And here on the threshold of the promised realm of God, we must be prepared to honour God appropriately for the promises at once fulfilled and to which we are travelling. We must be prepared to offer our first fruits, our very selves, in thanksgiving for God’s providence, God’s care, God’s solidarity with us on our journey; and for being drawn into the journey of the Christ who wandered far, endured much and called the people of God home.

The wandering child of God is our ancestor… and Christ’s journey is the one we are called to follow and enfolded into as the people of God.

Lent

The season of Lent is a classic time for self-examination within the church’s year.

Based on the story of Jesus’ extended period of temptation in the desert, the image is one of retreat from our everyday preoccupations to take stock of the direction of our lives (Janet Morley, Bread of Tomorrow, p. 61).

But our faith has never just been about personal piety and individual lives. It has always been about God’s realm and that means justice not just us. So what if we understand Lent to be:

an opportunity to explore what is the nature of the promised Kingdom of God on earth that we long for; and to try and discern, amid various tempting strategies, how we are called to work for it (Bread of Tomorrow, p. 61).

Then we will be “contemplatives” not as “a retreat from the desperately disturbing challenges of the world into some private piety” but as an entry into God’s mission seeking to “see the world as it is”; acknowledge our part in “what is continuingly evil”; and enact the hope to which we are called through Jesus (BoT, p. 61)

May it come soon
to the hungry
to the weeping
to those who thirst for your justice,
to those who are waited centuries
for a truly human life.
Grant us the patience
to smooth the way
on which your Kingdom comes to us.
Grant us hope,
that we may not weary
in proclaiming and working for it,
despite so many conflicts,
threats and shortcomings.
Grant us a clear vision
that in this hour of our history
we may see the horizon,
and know the way
on which your Kingdom comes to us.
(From Nicaragua YMCA 1989, BoT, p. 63)

Creeds

What does the Uniting Church believe? Some people think that we don’t have any “doctrine” (agreed teaching), but that is certainly not the case. The Uniting Church has a number of significant doctrinal documents that help us to understand who we are and who God is for us. The Basis of Union is perhaps the most significant of these documents. It is the theological statement that helped the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches to agree that they could unite.

The Basis of Union points to other important documents that we share with other Christians. For example, as part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, we are committed to the historical ecumenical creeds (the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds). Paragraph 9 of the Basis of Union says:

The Uniting Church enters into unity with the Church throughout the ages by its use of the confessions known as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. The Uniting Church receives these as authoritative statements of the Catholic Faith, framed in the language of their day and used by Christians in many days, to declare and to guard the right understanding of that faith. The Uniting Church commits its ministers and instructors to careful study of these creeds and to the discipline of interpreting their teaching in a later age. It commends to ministers and congregations their use for instruction in the faith, and their use in worship as acts of allegiance to the Holy Trinity.

These creeds provide a framework for doing theology in a Christian way. They provide an outline for the “system” of Christian theology by defining basic Christian beliefs and showing us how different theological topics are connected to each other (e.g. the relationships between the 3 “persons” of the Trinity). When we are thinking theologically about a new topic or situation, the “systematic” theology outline must be kept in mind. It is part of the “Tradition” that keeps us within the Christian tradition. Tradition is one of the 4 sources for doing Christian theology. (The other 3 sources are Scripture, Context and Reason; but I’ll talk about those another time.)

By the grace of God...

“There but for the grace of God go I. There but for the grace of God go I.” You’ve heard it said. I’ve heard it said. You’ve probably said it yourself. I know I have. And you know most of the time, I have to confess that what I’ve been talking about has had nothing to do with God’s grace at all—not a jot, not a scintilla, not an iota.

Has it got anything to do with the grace of God that others fall when I do not? Has it got anything to do with the grace of God when others find themselves caught up in messes when I do not? Has it got anything to do with the grace of God when others suffer misfortune and I do not? And equally vice versa, has it got anything to do with the grace of God if others do not fall while I do; if others do not get caught up in messes while I do; if others do not suffer misfortune, while I do?

No, the grace of God has never been about being richer or healthier or more fortunate than someone else. That’s just not what grace is all about. And if it were, we’d know that we’d been graced by God if we were millionaires and lived exceedingly long and pain-free lives, and never, ever discovered that life had dealt us anything but the soft and comfortable options. But that is not what grace is all about. And we know it, or at least sometimes we do. A lot of the time we can get things quite mixed up.

And, you know, I’m not sure that Paul helps us out too much in chapter 15 of first Corinthians. Because it sounds pretty much like he’s saying that being able to work hard is what grace is all about (at least that’s what verse 10 sounds like); but if that were true, you and I wouldn’t be slowing down as we age, or feeling the creaks in our bones and aches in our muscles, if we were graced by God. Indeed, if that was what grace was all about, we’d be wondering why the life we have is the life we have, and not some life of privilege and success, if we really believed that we were the recipients of God’s grace. But the grace of God is not about being able to work hard, just as it is not about being rich and healthy and fortunate.

No, if we really want to focus in on what grace is all about, we have to look to the first part of the passage we’ve read from Corinthians today. We need to put aside our fascination with Paul’s apologetic for himself and his work as the “least of the apostles”; and look at his account of the apostolic message—the message which he received and is passing on.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (verses 3-9).

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…For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle…” God’s grace to Paul is not that he has been able to work hard, not what he has been able to do, but that he has been included in what God has done in Christ. And this is surely God’s grace to us also.

It is not being successful at fishing that witnesses to the grace of God in the lives of the fisherman on Lake Gennesaret, but being caught up into the mission of God and the ministry of Christ, the power of the Spirit—God’s activity, God’s accomplishment, God’s doing. And it is not that Isaiah is a great speaker or will be an important prophet, but that he too is caught up into God’s work for God’s people—caught up into the praise and worship of God in his vision of God’s temple.

It’s a fine line; and we cross it so easily. We say so often, “Because of this or that, God must be with us”; but the truth is that this or that will never assure us of God’s grace. Fortune and health and wealth and the fruit of hard work are too easily lost in the vagaries of the world in which we live. We will never discover God’s grace or even its assurance in any of these fleeting things.

God’s grace is only fully discovered, it is only fully made known, only truly revealed, only completely recognised, in the coming of Jesus Christ into our world—in the gift of God entering God’s creation—in the demonstration of God’s utter love for that creation, by being willing to give up everything for its sake, for our sake and for the sake of the world in which we live.

And God’s grace does not come to us as the most important, the most significant, the most powerful, the richest, the most hard-working, the healthiest people to be called to follow. It comes to us as the least of God’s creation, the least of God’s creatures, the least of Jesus’ disciples, the least of Christ’s apostles, those who need it most and neglect it best.

It is not when we can say, “We can do it!”, but when we know that we can’t do it, and could never do it in a million years or a thousand worlds, that God says, “I am with you!” And even better, “You are with me!” and I will use you as my witness, my prophet, my apostle.” And I have some hard work for you to do.

Not “There but for the grace of God go I”, but “Here in the grace of God, we find ourselves together”; and if it is God’s grace, that we have recognised, that we have discovered, that has been revealed to us, our only response will be: “Here we are God, send us!”

“Here we are God, send us, even though we are weak, even though we will get it wrong, even though when we try our best, we’ll mess things up, even though we will never, ever be able to do enough. Because we have caught just a glimpse of what it is that you have done for us, and how much it is that you care for us, and just what you are prepared to do to get your message across. And, in the face of this glimpse of your unfathomable grace, we can do nothing else, but respond, but leave our nets, and follow.”