Thy Kingdom Come
We are currently immersed in a world that is full of pain and conflict, and we live in a time of 24-hour news saturation, most of it biased and much of it inaccurate. We long for peace and justice in a world that offers neither. Today’s beautiful reading from the prophet Isaiah speaks to our deep longing for a decent world, a just world, a peaceable kingdom; in reality, the Kingdom of God. Isaiah reminds that what we most thirst for can only be given to us by God who in truth offers it freely and abundantly. This is echoed in Psalm 63, as the psalmist gives voice to the longings of the human heart, acknowledging that God alone can meet our deepest longings. The letter to the Corinthians reminds us that like the Israelites, we are in the wilderness and there are no easy answers, but God is faithfully leading us, even though we do not know where we are going.
The recounting of the deaths of several Galileans and Judeans followed by the parable of the fruitless fig tree begins a section of Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem that focuses on repentance. Interestingly, the section ends with last Sunday’s Gospel reading which contained the report of Herod’s intention to kill Jesus and Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem. The Gospels for last week and this week both began with a report detailing the hostility of a civil authority: both focus on the threat of imminent death, the number three and the city of Jerusalem.
The slaughter of the Galileans is only mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. We assume that the deaths happened in Jerusalem as they were killed while offering sacrifice and the only acceptable place for offering sacrifice was the temple in Jerusalem. It would seem that the Galileans were on a pilgrimage to the temple. Jesus too would suffer a similar fate at the end of his pilgrimage to the Holy City. As with the Galileans, Jesus too will meet his fate because of a decision made by Pilate.
Jesus is calling people to respond positively to his message before it is too late. He delivers this message through the parable of the fruitless fig tree. God’s mercy is an important motif in Luke’s Gospel, as revealed in this parable, calling us to metanoia, a faithful acceptance of God’s Kingdom in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
We are living in a time of turbulence and great uncertainly, not unlike that of the time that Jesus lived in. There is a lot of blaming going on for the ills of the world and a disturbing level of persecution. In the midst of the chaos, Jesus says “Hold on a minute, think about the homely fig tree. One that has not borne fruit in a long time. The farmer says “cut that tree down” but his head gardener says ‘first, let me aerate around it and dig some manure into the soil. After that, give the tree one more year, then if does not produce, chop it to the ground.”
St. Augustine was clear on the symbolic importance of manure! Describing it as a sign of humility. In the parable of the fig tree, we see this symbol as the essence of repentance. The faithful affirmation that while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. The manure around our roots is the blood of the one who pleads for our justification before God. Lent is the season of metanoia, but our acts of self-denial and penance mean nothing unless we are open to being transformed, not through our own actions but by the humility of Jesus himself who emptied himself, humbled himself, and became obedient even to death on a cross.
So just in case we should begin to get a sense of being too important or believing that it’s all up to us to solve the world’s problems, both as individuals and as a church, Jesus comes along and brings us down to earth and back to ourselves with talk of fertilizer and a scruffy tree. He says “ask yourself if you are like that fig tree. Are you bearing fruit or are you just taking up space?”…. ouch !!
We are reminded that God’s kingdom is not ours to figure out. Our task is to labor…. To run errands for God if you like! without having all the answers, to acknowledge the deep mystery of it all. The task of the disciple is to witness and then wait, to do what is within our capabilities and leave the rest to God. We labor now for a future we are not meant to control. After all, Jesus taught us to pray “Thy kingdom come” not “Our kingdom come”!
In the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero, champion of the poor in El Salvador:
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The reign of God is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the reign of God always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realising that.
This enables us to do something and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete but, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future as yet unknown.
Oscar Romero (late El Salvadoran Archbishop)