Last summer, the Mars rover named "Curiosity" landed on the surface of the distinctly colored red planet. It took just seven minutes for the rover to enter the atmosphere and touch down successfully --- less time than a walk through the crowded Alamo to see the letter from Travis. And, while many of us took notice of this amazing landing, how many of us overlooked the fact that it was a long time coming --- a very long time in fact. NASA spent roughly 8½ months simply waiting.
NASA had no choice. In between the lift off and the plunge toward the surface of Mars, NASA had to wait for Curiosity to travel the millions of miles between this planet and Mars. There was certainly monitoring to be done and planning for the landing. However, the primary task of every person involved in the project was simply this: to wait and hope that every dollar spent building it and the dreams of epic discoveries hinging on it would not be lost.
I don't know about you but we could all be wondering if waiting is a lost art in today's world. Why is that? Well we are all part and party to an impatient "now" world with a microwave as our main cooking instrument. We are a people who increasingly expect --- and downright demand --- a world without waiting, which can make for those who have not noticed being a follower of Jesus Christ incredibly frustrating.
The longer we are a part of God's family, the more we begin to realize that God is not beholden to our obsession with efficiency or competition with others or our prompt desire for justice to improve turnaround. Our God who art in heaven, whose name we hallow, and to whom we belong and by whom we are beloved through Jesus Christ, is not troubled with things taking time.
This is especially true, and most vividly illustrated, in how God chooses to deal with people. You know --- the sister-in-law who we wish would get her act together today, the son who we wish respected us now or the government officials who we wish would simply vote as they should. We have been praying for them, working on them, being patient with them, and we just wish something would change with them. Truth-be-told, I think many of us become unhappy that God has not finally "landed the rover" with them.
That is one reason why today's gospel is a good reminder. Jesus is in the middle of a discussion on repentance and in doing so he relays a parable about an unfruitful fig tree, a tree that in the estimation of its owner has been given more than enough time. Yet, rather than cut it down, Jesus tells us of a gracious gardener who intercedes for the tree saying, "Let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it."
It may seem insignificant but this one sentence from Jesus is an essential reminder to how God does God's most important. When examining these words, most people immediately jump to the verbs, to the action. The vinedresser --- the gardener --- who we can assume is Jesus who wants to dig and fertilize. Certainly that is true, God brings about change, God tills the soil of our hearts and minds with truth --- ripping out the weeds if you will, of lies and the old roots and making way for good things to be planted. The gardener then adds in the fertilizer, or in real terms love, the truth of the gospel and the promise of God's unrelenting compassion, which serves to enrich our soil, begins to take root and spurs on new growth. Life change takes truth and love.
But let us not neglect or forget what is said first. "Let it alone for one more year." There is a third component to life change. It does not only take truth. It does not only take love. It takes time. Truth, love, and time. A lot of time. Think about it; tilling soil around a single tree does not take forever. Adding fertilizer could be done in a day. Yet the gardener asks for an entire year for new growth to occur. Clearly this is an essential, irreplaceable part of the process.
This is a helpful reminder that as members of God's family, we must not only learn how to wield truth and comfort, but we must be among the few who practice and perfect the art of waiting. In other words we could say we are to wait so that the trees --- the people we love for example --- do not get cut down too soon or abandoned early.
Waiting, however is not an easy aspect of our discipleship to live out in this day and age, yet the good news is that God's living Word is packed with insights and encouragement on how we can faithfully wait on God's work.
I can think of three. First, we are to wait with what is termed the "golden rule" in mind. In Matthew 7, Jesus tells us this: "Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." We are constantly to keep in mind not simply the level of patience God's requiring us to have with others as God does God's work, but we are to have the same level of patience God has had with us. We are each beneficiaries of God's incredible patience and are quick to ask for more as we slip and stumble in this world. When we are tempted to rail that God is taking too long to fix others, let us remember how long God has worked on us and aim to afford others the same luxury.
Second, we are to wait with God's goodness in mind. It is tempting to think that what we are waiting on for God to accomplish is the most pressing of issues. We cannot quite understand how a truly good God could fail to grant it or linger one minute. But for us to do so is to downplay what is described in this old Jewish proverb that suggests every believer should carry two pieces of paper at all times --- one in each pocket. The one in the left should say, "I am dust and ashes." And the one in the right should read, "For me the world was created." The goal of one is to keep us grounded, to remind us that the trouble we are facing --- although the center of our world --- may not be the same for others and that we might not be as important and deserving of God's action as we think we are.
The other note is to remind us that at the very same time, everyone one of us is loved, everyone one of us are valued, and we -- believe it or not – are not forgotten. "For you the world was created" or as Christians would write, "For me Christ died." We are dust, but we are already immensely, immeasurably blessed, no matter how long what we are waiting to come through.
Third, we are to wait with an end in mind. Now I say that, knowing full well that we live in the same city where dissecting the book of Revelation with bad theology to support such things like the state of Israel and the building of walls is preached, nevertheless, the gardener suggests a year --- did not demand forever. Jesus' point in the parable was that eventually time would run out, and God would prune --- judge them if you will --- accordingly.
In the time being, we must wait knowing that we will not sit with our noses to the screens waiting forever for the rover to land. Eventually something will happen. God will act, either in ways that make us cheer or in ways that make us wonder, but always in ways that are ultimately, according to God, good, just and wise.
Waiting is inevitable. Sure, we share our data faster. But Mars is still 350 million miles away, and God is still giving broken people bountiful amounts of truth, love and time; for everything that comes to pass right now there is something else that remains a "not yet."
Our existence on this planet includes many things including as followers of Christ, one of waiting, but it is not necessarily without hope. In Stephen Spielberg's 1989 film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones finds the treasure he has been seeking: the Holy Grail. Having located the ancient Temple, and having successfully navigated a string of deadly booby traps inside, he arrives at the treasure-room. Jones is amazed to discover an aged knight clad in rusted chain mail that has been faithfully guarding the grail for centuries. This crusader has stayed alive by drinking regularly from the grail.
Just at that moment, the Nazi's who have been chasing Jones burst in. Eager to drink from the grail because they have heard it bestows the gift of youth, they demand that the knight turn this precious treasure over to them. The knight unfazed indicates a glittering array of dozens of ancient cups and chalices, of all shapes and sizes. They must choose, he tells them.
The officer quickly reaches for a jeweled, golden chalice, one of the most beautiful, scoops up some water and drinks. Instantly he begins to age, crumbling eventually into dust. "He has chosen poorly," says the knight.
Now it's Jones' turn. Indiana Jones is far more deliberate, taking his time to make his decision. Finally, he picks up an insignificant clay cup, explaining that this is the sort of cup a Galilean peasant like Jesus would likely have used. He fills it with water and drinks. "You have chosen well," says the knight. Jones was wise enough to know he had to wait long enough for the grail itself to call out to him: an insight the knight well understood, after all those centuries of waiting.
This Lent let us be reminded once again that we are to be a people who afford others the same luxuries and patience we have received from God. May we trust that though we tap our toes impatiently, eventually a good and gracious end will come because God's cup of grace will appear for all who seek the living water. Amen.
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