Date: March 17th & 20th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Isaiah 55:1-9
Psalmody: Psalm 63:1-8
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
When I lived in Cambodia I would do my own laundry by hand, washing it in a tub on the roof of the church hostel. I would put in the water, then my detergent, and then my clothes, scrubbing with my hands to get out the dirt, sand and sweat, and then drain the tub and rinse with clean water, hanging them to dry. This was a new experience for me, I was not used to washing my clothes by hands, and so although my clothes did not seem as clean as I thought they could be, I chalked this up to my inexperience of hand washing. This went on for some time, and it was not until I had some of my cohort members visiting one day that they pointed to my laundry supply shelf and asked me where I had gotten my fabric softener. It was then that I realized that I had not been using detergent this whole time, I had been using fabric softener. I had not cultivated the right conditions for my clothes to be properly cleaned, even if I was an experienced hand washer. My clothes needed more than just water, inexperienced scrubbing, and fabric softener to be properly clean. Environment and conditions can change the entire outcome of many things. This was true for my clothes, and it is true for our message from scripture today.
Jesus tells a parable in our Gospel today about a fig tree that has not yet produced fruit in its first three years, and that the owner of the land wants the fig tree removed. The gardener in the story steps in and asks for another year, one in which fertilizer can be added, and space for growth can be dug around it. Although the owner of the land has an expectation of what this tree must do in order for it to earn its existence, the gardener knows that the tree’s ability to thrive is impacted by the conditions and environment in which it grows.
I looked up a bit about fig trees, and they start to produce fruit within 3-5 years of being planted, and that is when they are in proper conditions. No drought, no excess water or flooding, no bug problems, no abundant wind, ground that is full of needed nutrients, and space enough to form strong roots. If this is the case, then the reality that this tree would have already produced fruit is very unlikely. The gardener knows this to an extent, and so helps provide more time for the tree, and also finds ways to better the conditions that make it possible for the tree to grow and produce fruit.
Since the owner of the land only sees what this fig tree can do for him, he does not pay attention to the ways he has not cultivated the right environment for this fig tree to thrive. When the conditions are not right for something or someone to live and thrive, any assumption that places blame on the thing or person rather than on the conditions is unjust. I expected my clothes to be clean, but wasn’t using detergent, the landowner expected fruit, before the tree was able to naturally provide it. Conditions and environment make a huge difference in how we are able to live in society.
This week for our Lent Lord’s Prayer theme we are focusing on the petition, “Give us today our daily bread.” We pray this petition because we recognize that there are things in our lives that we need to not only survive, but to thrive. First, there are basic needs: food, water, shelter, clothing, healthcare, rest, and socialization. We have these basic needs so that we might simply live in the world. But we have a God that wants more than for us to just live, we have a God who wants us all to thrive. And so then asking for our daily bread also takes into account the things in life that allow us to thrive. Recreation, faith practices, time with creation, serving our community, moments of joy and laughter, support from friends and family. These are a few examples, but we all have things that allow us to not only survive, not only live, but to thrive. But here is the tricky part, we cannot only focus on our own conditions and expect everyone to thrive.
Much like we start the Lord’s Prayer with a collective, “Our Father,” we ask for the Lord to “give us today OUR daily bread.” There is a recognition of our neighbor in this prayer that we must follow-through with. Last week when we discussed praying that God’s kingdom come on Earth, we reflected that this means that we also follow God into the reality of this prayer through our actions. This petition is similar in that when we pray for all people to receive their daily bread, we are also praying that God will lead us to create environments and establish conditions in our world so that everyone DOES receive their daily bread. Not just the literal bread of food, but all the things that give us life, the things that sustain us, the things that allow us to thrive.
When we see our neighbor struggling from societal conditions that create unfair wages, housing and food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, or many forms of discrimination, we are called to accompany that neighbor both with immediate support, and until the environment is no longer harmful. It is about providing a community food pantry now and creating systems that would make the food pantry unnecessary long-term. Asking God to give us our daily bread can seem like an individual petition but, in reality, we are asking for God’s guidance as we establish systems where all receive their daily bread, their daily needs. And with God’s blessing, we find environments and conditions that allow everything to properly grow in its time. My clothes in Cambodia were not getting truly clean because I created improper conditions for them to be able to be clean. The fig tree did not produce fruit because it did not have the time and environment it needed to produce fruit. People in our society often do not receive their daily needs because the way society is built around them does not allow them to. And so, we pray, “Lord, give us today our daily bread,” hoping that God can show us how to make the conditions right for all people to receive their daily bread and thrive. Thanks be to God.