Visiting Minister
“Everything in Between: Fill Our Plans with Purpose”
Luke 13: 6-9
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Prepared for speaking so grammar and punctuation is not accurate for reading…
Blessing for Deep Tiredness by Kate Bowler
Or
Prayer: Loving God, May the word and of mouth and mediations of all our hearts and minds be touched by your loving Spirit. Amen.
I notice when I talk to people in the church about Lent, they often tell me, they have negative experiences of Lent if they grew up the church. It was a time of giving things up that felt more like a punishment than a turning towards God.
Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter starting at Ash Wednesday not counting the Sundays. The real meaning and purpose of “giving something up” for Lent is not a punishment but rather a means to making some new space in our (spiritual) lives for some “in between” time. Time and space that leaves a crack in a busy and full world for some new light…new grace, new acceptance of who you are as person just the way you are…that’s the “in between time” of Lent…you don’t have to produce anything.
Lent is a time for some empty space for new light and new grace that meets us in this “everything in between” place with a rest that causes us to grow. Causes our roots in God’s love to deepen and feeds us to grow to be light and love in the world. Doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbling with our God.
Last Sunday we got to hear Amanda Burrows from First United in Down Town East Side talk about her ministry/work. Parable of Mary and Martha…rest/contemplation and active work/social justice…and our need to discern which we need at a given time. Not either/or… but rather… both/and. We continue today in a series of parables that Jesus tells his followers on his journey to Jerusalem. The parable of the Fig Tree.
I think before we dive into the fig tree it’s helpful to know what came just before it in the writing of Luke. Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree in response to a question posed to him.
The disciple ask Jesus “why do people suffer, why some bad events just happened.” (Pilate killed some Galileans and a tower fell over, 18 people died). It reminds me of the book “When Bad Things happen to Good People?” by Harold Kushner. Jesus answers by saying it was not because of their sins (that they were bad people). Jesus says, they were not worse citizens than most people. Jesus makes it clear that the suffering the people experienced was not a punishment by God.
However, Jesus does say they still need to repent… turn towards God. How do we do that? How do you turn towards God/Spirit? Well Jesus answers that question with the parable of the fig tree. Like other parables: the good Samaritan, Mary & Martha, lost sheep (next week) Jesus makes his listeners think and ponder. He doesn’t answer in simple bullet form list of what to do. He invites us to let the parable to speak to us today.
The man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. It had not produced fruit for 3 years so he told his gardener to chop it down. It was wasting space and wasting soil.
The gardener pleaded, leave it for one more year. I will dig around, feed it, and put manure on it. I will look after it, nurture the little tree. If it bears fruit next year, that’s good. If not you can cut it down.
Thanks to the gardener this fig tree is getting a whole year of Space – Gap time – to not produce – no expectations to produce.
Give the fig tree one more year
Give the fig tree time – Space – Gap
Let it rest and produce nothing
So it can become what it is
This idea…a whole year with not expectations to produce…but only to get stronger and healthy…takes time…
I had a period in my life (over 10 years ago) of disabling depression/anxiety. I had been functioning very well…until I wasn’t. I was not able to work…and had to take time off. I went on the United Church Restorative Leave (sick leave) plan which was needed as it helped to support my time to recover and hold my job so I could return. I ended up being off work for whole year, then part time and thankfully was able to return to work fulltime. Being unable to “produce” due to illness is very difficult in our culture that rewards hard work and accomplishment.
As I think back… (And I have not spoken publically about this) it was like a very long Lent. Due to depression…I was forced, so to speak, to give up so much. Working, having energy, sleeping well, eating well, wanting to be with people, having joy and hope. That’s a lot to give up.
But somehow I knew the message in my bones…I was not being punished…I was not an awful person…and I did turn towards God. I really couldn’t turn very much…but I could turn enough in my exhaustion to begin to notice light, love and hope over time. There were “gardeners” in my life helping me. Tilling the soil around me. My doctor, counsellor, husband, congregation, family and friends. But when you’re in that place…you don’t know what’s coming around the corner. You don’t when you will bear fruit again.
But I know that this place of space / Gap / nothing…sometimes this emptiness is the place where unexpected life saving Grace finds us. Maybe that’s our biggest turning towards God when we barely have the energy to turn…and yet we can turn just a little bit…that’s all it takes… being like the fig tree…not producing…no pressure to produce…and yet to learn we are most loved and valued simply for our being.
The story of the fig tree says, yes, sometimes we need to rest. That is ok. It’s more that ok…rest and growth go together. God meets us where we are. By resting we can restore ourselves, even metabolize “the manure” of life and be productive again.
I choose to talk about this personal experience (of being the fig tree) today for 3 reasons:
Firstly, I think talking about mental health, (illnesses, challenges, treatment and recovery) helps reduce sigma about mental illness.
Secondly, I choose to talk about my own mental health today because it is nothing to be ashamed of. We all live with a range of mental wellness in our lives. We can get help, seek support and learn to make our mental health a priority especially if we are prone to mental health challenges.
Thirdly, by talking about mental health it points to need for a strong social safety net: health care systems and income support systems to help people get better. I was fortunate I had a good Family doctor who knows me well. Everyone has a right to a Family doctor. I was fortunate I worked for the United Church with the benefit of a paid Restorative Leave. Everyone needs access to unemployment Insurance and disability benefits for those who need it. I was fortunate my husband’s extended care benefits paid for counselling. We need access to counselling through our health systems for all people when they need it. These are social justice issues we need to work at. All these supports is like the gardener tilling the soil, looking after the fig tree, nurturing it back to health.
There are some good examples of United Churches helping with Mental Health. Here at Mount Seymour United and also at Trinity United Port Coquitlam there are Mental Health programs to apply for money to fund counselling for a private counselors. Inlet United Church in Port Moody partners with the Canadian Mental Health Association to offer an 8 week educational program call “Living Life to the Full.” Some churches offer program called Sanctuary Mental Health (check name).
These programs can be a great help to a strong safety net that provides medical care and finical assistance.
Jesus said come to me all who are weary and I will give your rest.
Think about where you are in your life at this time. Do you need some “Gap time?” Time “in between” what was and what might be coming next?
I think we all need regular healthy “in between time.” Hopefully not taking a whole year due to illness…but a little bit of “in between” time every day. Quiet time to walk or pray or journal…whatever works for you to have some intentional empty space, a gap, time for nothing. Maybe just 20 minutes a day…no tv or phone or outside stimulation.
Our Christian tradition teaches us to have some Sabbath time once a week. Even if we can’t practice Sabbath for a whole day…we can plan some smaller chunks of time in our week. This rest time is when we grow…When our roots deepen…when we turn to God…or maybe God turns to us…
Think about where you are in your life at this time…plan for this rest time…Gap time.
Or maybe it’s also time for you to be the gardener in the parable of the fig tree. Maybe you have the experience and energy to be helping to till the soil around someone. Offering some help that allows them much needed rest in order that they can grow and become what they are meant to be.
There is lots of things in this world that can easily prevent us from taking this rest time/ Gap time… or from preventing us from noticing someone in need of support…this is why we have parables…to help us notice and wonder and think about how can we turn towards to God…especially in the times of “in between”…when we don’t the outcome…this is where live is lived.
This is what the season of Lent is about. Space for not filling every moment, not knowing all the answers, not solving all the problems…we can be the gardener that says…wait, let’s give this some more time…and trust in deep growth that comes from rest.
Finnish with a poem: “The Gap” by Julie Lebrun
Give the fig tree one more year
Give the fig tree time Space Gap
Let it rest and do nothing
So it can become what it is
In a world of
words and images
Space / Gap / Nothing
In a world of
wanting and seeking
Space / Gap / Nothing
In a world of
expectations and demands
Space / Gap / Nothing
In a world of
efficiencies and productivity
Space / Gap / Nothing
In a world of
triggers and memories (exhale – breath)
Space / Gap / Nothing
In this Space
a Gap
beautiful, gentle Nothingness
quiet acceptance
gentle with myself
and others
just be
is enough
is nothing and everything
I am safe in this Space
I am safe
The Gap
where new music springs from
where poems are conceived
where unexpected Grace finds us
we just need to stop, pause, and do nothing
spend time in the Gap
Give the fig tree one more year
Give the fig tree time Space Gap
Let it rest and do nothing
So it can become what it is.
May it be so, Amen