March 23 2025 Sermon
I was a good student, mostly following the rules, completing my assignments, getting good grades. But there was a mischievous part in me and I would occasionally act out, mostly to get a laugh. I’m channeling my mischievous student self as I entitle today’s sermon “Shit Happens”. Our gospel today features a lesser-known parable, just 3 verses long, in which a gardener cultivates the ground and spreads manure in an effort to coax a reluctant fig tree to bear fruit. But today’s gospel begins with two brief stories of events that Jesus uses to provoke some thinking about the question of why shit happens.
13:1 At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. There is no extra biblical evidence of this event so we don’t really know what happened or what provoked Pilate to kill some people who had come to the Jewish temple to offer sacrifice for their sins. But we can well imagine the event did happen as it is very much in character with the brutality of Pilate toward the oppressed people he governed. The event may have been presented to Jesus to provoke a showdown between Jesus and Pilate. But Jesus says nothing of Pilate’s culpability, instead he provokes the Galilean crowd to consider their own culpability. “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
The second story focuses on the misfortune of 18 people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. A tragic accident occurred and they were killed when a tower fell on them. Jesus doesn’t provide an answer to the vexing problem of why bad things happen to good people, nor does he commit to seeking that people who might have been responsible for this accident get what they have coming. Instead, Jesus calls the people around him to repentance. This call to repentance is very much in alignment with what we heard from Isaiah, “let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Jesus’ non-answer to their vexing questions about why shit happens, again echoes the prophet. God’s thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. In other words, the answer to these vexing questions, are beyond us.
So now let us turn to the parable of the barren fig tree and the gardener’s plan to dig-up and spread manure to prompt it to bear fruit. I know something of this practice as I grew up on a small family farm in Wisconsin. Over the winter when the ground was frozen and covered with snow, we would clean out the barn and pile up the manure in the barn yard. This time of year, after the snow melts, the ground firms up, I would help my dad load up the now very ripe manure into a manure spreader and he would spread it across the farm to enrich the soil to help produce a good crop. The smell was horrendous, but back in the day when it was largely farmers who lived in the country it was tolerated because we knew it help put food on the table. Today, people who live in the country but work in town are much less accepting of the practice, wondering why they have to tolerate the smell and the mess.
Manure, while seemingly unpleasant, is a rich source of nutrients that can revitalize a struggling plant. Just as manure enriches the soil, God’s mercy enriches our lives, providing the necessary sustenance for spiritual growth.
The gardener’s attempt to bring life to a tree that was destined to be cut down represents God’s work to bring life to those who are spiritually dead. The gardener invests time and resources in something that seems unproductive. God’s mercy is not passive; it involves active intervention and a persistent desire to see us flourish.
Let me repeat that. God’s mercy is not passive; it involves active intervention and a persistent desire to see us flourish. I repeated that because it is a good way to introduce a program that is beginning tomorrow evening in our large hall. Dismas Fellowship Niagara was ready to open its doors as a new Dismas Fellowship in the Spring of 2020. Unfortunately this coincided with the Covid 19 pandemic that shut everything down. It took a lot of time and prayer to finally find a pathway to begin again. With a resurgence of energy, some new volunteers (along with some originals) and a new meeting place (St. Barnabas Anglican Church) Dismas Niagara is finally emerging as a fully functioning Fellowship in 2025! Meetings are every 4th Monday of the month, with dinner being served at 6 pm followed by an inspiring program.
So what is a Dismas Fellowship? We are people from a variety of experiences who gather regularly: ex-prisoners and friends who celebrate the grace and mercy we have received in Jesus Christ. The Dismas Fellowship takes the name from the Good Thief on the cross. The one who by his own admission is deserving of death nonetheless receives the mercy of Jesus. The dream for the Dismas Fellowship is to create a safe and welcoming space where ex-prisoners and their friends can find community and follow our friend Jesus. Volunteers and ex-prisoners gather for a meal, listen to a short talk and then gather in a circle, where we listen to and pray for each other. Stephen Bedford and I have met a number of times with the Dismas team and will be participating in the Dismas Fellowship events. Please keep the Dismas Fellowship in your prayers as we start this new journey of hope. If you would like to attend a meeting, or perhaps help with the preparing of a meal, please let me or Stephen know.
As we continue in our service, I invite you to take note of the opportunities for repentance and the immediate response of God’s mercy. And please note that as we are dismissed at the end of the mass we hear an invitation to bear fruit as we go out into the world to love and serve the Lord.