Cultivate And Fertilize

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” And he told them this parable: 

“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 

He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:1-9)

We often forget that it is up to us to try and fix things, especially if the “fixing” is needed due to our neglect, such as a marriage that is failing.  Or, we pay little to no attention to our children, and they drift away from us to be victimized by our culture’s temptations including social media, drugs, and alcohol.  

Marriages and raising children resemble the planting of Jesus’ fig tree in the orchard.  Do they bear fruit?  If not, do we “cut them down?”  We may be exhausted by our struggles to save our marriage or our children, so we wonder if we should simply give up.   We may say, “It’s too darn hard!”

Jesus tells us to keep trying to resurrect that which is falling and failing.  He tells not to give up but to cultivate and fertilize.  In other words, work at it by paying attention and showing daily love, care, and compassion.

However, we must disagree with Jesus when he said, according to Luke, “If despite the cultivation and fertilization (i.e., love and attention), you can cut it down,”  That’s too destructive and final.  We must persevere and not let those relationships and children become firewood.

Deacon David Pierce