Restoration
Rev. Tim Wood, MDiv, LLP
406.402.0068
pastorTimWood@pm.me
Originally delivered 9/15/2024 to Stevensville United Methodist Church.
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WELCOME
No matter who you are and where you are on your journey, I welcome you to gather and worship with us in community.
One of the central messages of the Christian faith that is most often overlooked is that Christ is present in an
Summaries of Previous Weeks
S01
Series
- overall thematic arc of series: exploration of first fruits and fruitfulness – how good it is when human behaviors support the harmony of nature and the abundant creation God intends. Human, plant, and animal communities all flourish in that abundance. But, when disharmony comes, that abundance and so much more are threatened.
- overall thematic arc of series: exploration of first fruits and fruitfulness – how good it is when human behaviors support the harmony of nature and the abundant creation God intends. Human, plant, and animal communities all flourish in that abundance. But, when disharmony comes, that abundance and so much more are threatened.
- Bible offers many examples of times of peace and prosperity with a perspective on the people and the land. The Bible also offers lament and anger when the peace is broken and prosperity is threatened or lost.
- The first week we talked about how Jesus and those who wrote multiple parts of the Hebrew Bibleused figs as a metaphor for abundance. And it turns out that wisdom is pretty practical. For me, it spoke to how seven of us made it through five days backpacking by finding abundance in the little we carried in with us and the creation around us. Today, we’re going to build on that and the idea that figs also represented peace and prosperity. That even in a world of violence that we can not control, we can bring peace and find prosperity.
- Second week we again have texts that juxtapose peace and prosperity with suffering and strife. Through the story in Mark 11. The story gives us a metaphor for what is happening in Judea at the time and, spoiler alert, everything is out of whack
- Figs: peace & prosperity, good versus bad, intent to restablish connection to land and to lord. Repentance: call to embrace character of Gd, Open my eyes that I may see as personal prayer (method)
- Comedies are not my favorite type of movie but Ground Hog day is one that has continued to grow on me. At the heart is the story of a frustrated cynical man who thinks he’s figured it all out and is resigned to being stuck being sent to cover meaningless stories that perpetuate psuedo-science. Over the course of the move he changes. And he becomes this place of peace and finds a surprising prosperity thatchanges people around him.
- At the heart of it is a process of repentance, again and again turning, learning and being changed that reflects what we see reflected in Jeremiah and Luke.
- Accept others…. Learn… Be changed… Be curious and ask how can I?
Passage: Mark 11:12-14
12 The next day, after leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 From far away, he noticed a fig tree in leaf, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves, since it wasn’t the season for figs. 14 So he said to it, “No one will ever again eat your fruit!” His disciples heard this.
Passage: Micah 4:3-4
3 God will judge between the nations
and settle disputes of mighty nations,
which are far away.
They will beat their swords
into iron plows
and their spears
into pruning tools.
Nation will not take up sword
against nation;
they will no longer learn
how to make war.
4 All will sit underneath
their own grapevines,
under their own fig trees.
There will be no one to terrify them;
for the mouth of the LORD of
heavenly forces has spoken.
One time Ingrid and I visited the Netherlands, was for her parents celebratation of their anniversary. And –the reason why escapes me at this point– I decided to stand up and pretending to be Elvis saluting them on this great occasion. It fell… flat. Because humor is one of the hardest things to translate, often because of cultural differences.
Cultural differences are at the core of why Mark 11 is a classic stump the pastor verse. Jesus wants to stop for a snack of figs… but finds none and becomes really mad … even though it wasn’t “the season for figs”. It lands like he’s blaming the fig tree for not doing exactly what you expect it to not do.
Unpacking the fig tree
What’s going on with the Fig Tree
Once, I was used to the idea that famers planted in the spring and harvested in the fall. But, that’s not universal. The other time that we travelled to the Netherlands, the winter was so mild, fruit trees began blosoming for the second time. When we moved to Montana, we learned farmers in the state’s golden triangle produce two crops every year.
Now, Jesus, was used to something similar. Fig trees also produced two crops every year. The first fruit would begin to develop along with another set of leaves. Over time, the leaves would get large and full. By the time Jesus sees this particular tree, the fig trees are already in full leaf. Jesus, like any hungry traveler, would have been expecting a tree filled with first figs. Finding nothing was not what he expected
The world as alive and full of moral agency
It’s important to know that they viewed creation differently than we do. During seminary, I had a chance to talk to a visiting Professor and Rabbi about animals and creation. She pointed out that the rabinnical view of the world, a view Jesus would have shared, was that the world was alive and each part of that world… whether it was an animal, some stones, or a fig tree… had moral agency. Most of us today think humans (and maybe a limited number of animals) make moral choices in a world filled what amounts to biological machines driven by basic needs and desires. But, the traditional rabinical view saw the world as far more complicated with moral choices being made all around us, even by fig trees. [traffic lights]
Honor and Shame
So, let’s imagine this. Jesus is coming up to the tree, it’s been a long walk, and I imagine he can almost taste those figs. But, he gets to the tree and finds not a single fig. If the tree is also making moral choices, it is like this fig-tree has played a trick on him. In an honor and shame culture maybe he feels like he had a right to expect fruit and the tree had pulled a fast one on him. For Jesus, and those around him, this looks less like a personal disappointement but a very public insult.
Fig Tree as a metaphor for nation and its leaders
Now, what if that fig tree was a metaphor? It has been pulling in nourishment from the soil and sun and developed into a big gorgeous fig tree, almost showy with its large full spread of leaves but never produced any fruit. If fruitful fig trees were symbols of peace and prosperity… symbols of Israel and her leaders and their best, a fruitless fig tree, represented the very opposite. It could make a brilliant stand-in for leaders who paraded around in fine robes but who were not producing any fruit and failing the people.
Why was it not the time for figs?
Which leaves one thing hanging: “since it wasn’t the season for figs.” Unlike jokes and figs the problem is not cultural differences. Something has gotten lost in translation. The word translated season is Kairos. It just means time, a period of time. But, if we read on just a little farther, a word that means season is actually used. What’s getting lost in translation is that Jesus is speaking of failed leadership and a time that doesn’t produce fruit of so many different kinds. And he’s contrasting it with the coming season, the coming kingdom, a time that the leadership will be fruitful and the people will produce fruit.
Topics and Stories (application and vision)
From Mark (lookin back) to Micah (lookin forward)
Now we have a second passages. Where Mark speaks of warnings and the spiritual, political and economic corruption that people are enduring, Micah offers a vision a reconciled world where peace, prosperity and, restored fig trees are found. We, like those in Jesus time, look out and see conflict, division, terror, and war. But Micah envisions a world that has been transformed, where nations have given up war and terror is no longer used against people, so people no longer need to prepare for war. Mark gives us our starting place while Micah shows us our landing place.
Where last week spoke of recognizing the impact of our actions in the present –and changing what we are doing– Mark and Micah speak of Restoration.
Challenge 1: loss of natural places & crisis of biodiversity
Restoration.
What does that look like… not globally, but right here in the bitterroot valley?
After decades of letting brush and flammables accumulate on our forest floors, we now allow fires to take their natural course but it has coincided with longer, hotter summers resulting in far more wildfires that clog the air and destroy our forests. What if we again became stewards of that land? Ben and his family have hiked to the top of Saint Mary’s Peak many times. When Ingrid and I hiked it for the first time, we got to meet and talk with a volunteer with the Selway Bitteroot Frank Church foundation. She was welcoming people to the trail and helping people understand the basics of, as she put it, not overloving the forest. Where so many federal resources are consumed fighting fires, they have partnered with the Forest Service to be stewards of the forest. What if, instead of wondering when the forest will recover from the latest wildfires, you became a steward of the forest and help restore it?
Challenge 2: Restoring balance to our own churchyards
There are many reasons that I like to focus on our community. While we should not ignore problems outside our community, we as a church community can have far more impact right around us.
What about our church properties: the church, school and parsonage? How os our church property out of balance? We, fortunately, don’t have a parking lot that sits empty all week and we provide tables that welcome the community to share our space. But what about the rest of the property. Is it welcoming to pollinators? Could we use some of it to grow fruits and vegetables to help meet some of the food insecurity in our community? Are there other things we could do to be faithful stewards of what has been placed in our care and bring restoration?
What would it be like if
There’s this phrase in Micah: all will sit under their vines and fig trees. It shows up in several other old testament books, and it’s seen in Egyptian tomb paintings and Assyrian reliefs. It speaks to people controlling their own lives, without foreign domination, able to cultivate and care for the place where they live. This is not a vision that happens overnight. Growing things until they produce and provide shade takes time. But… the time comes… you begin to enjoy what you have poured so much work into.
Micah offers a vision… What if people no longer need to prepare for war? What would it be like to live in a world that is reconciled and restored. Where the energy we pour into fighting other nations, of living with terror, of being at odds with creation could be poured into our own lives and communities. Weapons become agricultural and gardening tools. People have the time to sit down in the shade of grapevines and fig trees.
Conclusion
The vision in Micah is not about what we wait for Gd to do. Gd is a god of peace and god makes a way where no way seems possible but Gd does impose his will on people. Gd calls us to join in the work. What would it look like if helped to make some of Micah’s vision real? What would it look like if we joined in the work of restoring creation beginning right here in the Bitterroot valley?
Benediction
THE Lord BLESS YOU
AND KEEP YOU;
THE Lord MAKE HIS FACE SHINE ON YOU AND BE GRACIOUS TO YOU;
THE Lord TURN HIS FACE TOWARD YOU
AND GIVE YOU PEACE