Christmas Fruit

Mark 12:12-25

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.
15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; ¹⁶and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’
¹⁸And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. ¹⁹And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples^* went out of the city.
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ ²²Jesus answered them, ‘Have^* faith in God. ²³Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. ²⁴So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received^* it, and it will be yours.
25 ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.'

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Many people are familiar with the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple...overturning tables and berating the business of money-changing and sacrifice-purchasing in the Temple's outer courts. What many people often miss is the story of the fig tree that surrounds the Temple story and gives greater context to it. The author of Mark often uses these "aside" stories immediately before stories of significance in order to demonstrate the larger meaning of specific historical events.

The story about the fig tree is a bit odd: Jesus is hungry when He notices a fig tree in the distance. The fig tree looks green and healthy from a distance, so He rides over to the tree in order to pick some fruit. When He arrives at the tree, though, there is no fruit to be had. The tree looked healthy enough from a distance; but, bore no fruit. Jesus makes a quick judgment on the tree and curses it. After Jesus cleans the Temple, the disciples notice (a day after they had seen Jesus curse the healthy-looking tree) that the tree has died.

Of course, it is easy to compare the story of the fig tree to the story of the Temple cleansing. Much like the fig tree, the Temple appeared vibrant and alive from a distance. The entire country came through the gates of the Temple, and the outer courts were brisk with activity. People came from miles around to offer sacrifices to God and participate in prayers. Of course, also like the fig tree, Jesus found that, up close, all the activity of the Temple was bearing no fruit. The hustle and bustle of Temple activity was not bringing people closer to God or their neighbors...in fact, people were getting cheated in the very Temple itself. So, like the fig tree, Jesus curses the Temple. It only took a day for the fig tree to be destroyed...it would take about 40 years longer for the Temple to meet that same conclusion.

Around our home, a whole lot of holiday activity is going on. We sent out a boatload of Christmas cards, my wife is singing in the Christmas Eve service, I'm getting things together for a new small group, decorations are all over the place, and we just finished shoveling out of the 2nd largest snow storm in Philadelphia's recorded history. To put it bluntly, Christmas is a busy time.

All of the activities I mentioned are good activities and/or necessary ones...there is nothing wrong with them and, quite the contrary, there can be so much that is beneficial from them. As we know, though, it is very easy to allow the activity to go on and leave the heart behind. When we do all of the various things around the house, I am trying to be intentional about finding the fruit in the activities. Are we reaching out to people and caring for them? Is the message of Christmas being spread? Have we become like that little fig tree that looks so alive, yet is really dead to all good purposes?

I think we are doing o.k. in this regard; certainly not perfect, we always can do better. We need to keep focus on the fruits of the activities we are taking place in...regardless of the beauty of our lives to passer-bys, we are only truly alive is we are fruitful to the world around us.

I hope the peace and mercy of the Christmas season is upon you, and that your lives are truly fruitful!

New Skins

Mark 2:21-22

21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins."


I'm living the saga of the twenty-year-old house. Apparently, at twenty-years-old, many pieces of a house that you never think about start becoming worn and need to be replaced. A few months ago, I replaced the water pressure reduction valve; the laundry sink was next to go, followed by nearly every window in the house. Little changes can make a big difference, and the house is a more comfortable place with all of these adjustments.

Sometimes, though, you have to know when the little adjustments aren't making life any better, whatsoever. My wife's car has been a solid family auto for nine years. It still looks pretty good, and drives to my wife's place of employment safely. That said, we are starting to see the tell-tale signs that its time of service is coming to an end. The maintainence trips to the mechanic are becoming much more frequent, and the oil leaks are starting to grow. Any expense we would spend to try and correct the real problem of the car (age) would overspend the usefulness of the endeavor. It simply is time to retire the car for a new one...if we wait much longer, we won't get a good trade and the safety issue will begin to be a factor.

The Pharisees lived by tradition. Their role in Jewish society was guide, teacher, and attorney...showing the population how individual actions in life could be done within the context and guidelines of the Law. The full execution of the Law had become fairly complex, so, much like our own legal code, normal people needed expert guidance in order to navigate its waters.

We can imagine, therefore, why the Pharisees were so troubled by the parable of the wine skins. In the midst of discussions about Christ's obedience to the Law, He explains to the Pharisees that the old system of obedience, from which they drew so much of their prestige and importance to society, needed to be discarded in order to make way for a new Covenant. Christ was not discarding the Law; rather, He was dismissing the man-made complications and confusion which had been added by the lawyers and scribes. Instead of trying to repair these legal codes, Christ decides that they must be wiped away. His new wine will not fit in the old wineskins (a very clear metaphor...as new wine in old wineskins would simply explode); new wineskins must be brought to use.

The Pharisees' reaction is not unpredictable. Much like accountants learning that the nation is going to a flat tax, they see their livelihood and control fading into peril. Control can be gained over people if you subject them to a complicated system that only you understand (or, at the very least, that you understand much more than they do). In the end, this regard for "the way things are" can be perverted into a lust for control.

Mature Christians need to pay heed to the dangers of lording ritual and routine over the unchurched. Having respect for the Word of God can be perverted into exclusionary tactics. Do the least of these feel welcomed and loved? Do we have a caste system of piety in our congregations? How simple is our message of grace and faith to those who need it?

We may need to check our wineskins.....

The Holy Spirit and the Blocked Path

Acts 16:6-10
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

You hear a lot about the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows some men to preach great sermons, others to cast out demons, many to make it through terrible tragedy. It provided the power needed to start the church and send the Apostles to the ends of the Earth, and it allowed those same Apostles to heal in Christ's name.

What you don't hear a lot about is the obstructionist quality of the Holy Spirit; the Spirit that forbids you from preaching well, that stops particular endeavors, and that sets us off on a path entirely not of our choosing.

In the beginning of Paul's ministry, he received many lessons in both sides of the Spirit's power. Blinded by the power of the Spirit, healed by the power of the Spirit, launched into the ministry by the Spirit, and blockaded by the same Spirit.

Paul's original destination was set to be India, perhaps to the Jewish diaspora community that would later be journeyed to by the Apostle Thomas. Paul, as we well know, was a determined, resourceful man who was willing to overcome obstacles in order to achieve the goals of the ministry. Yet, in a very matter-of-fact way, we are told that the Holy Spirit blocked this path and, much like with Jonah in the Old Testament, kept closing down options until Paul reached the place he was supposed to be.

Paul found his direction in the Spirit through trial and error. Convinced of the certainty of one path, he trudged forward only to be blocked. Instead of trying to force the issue, he reassessed his mission, went forward again, and then adjusted with the next block.

A number of churches in Midian have great trouble with the obstructionist Spirit. Huge building campaigns go awry, ministries fail to start, desired populations fail to come to church, and through all of this the belief is that the Holy Spirit must be waiting on the proper show of faith before He grants the desires of the church leadership. In some cases, faith like this is rewarded, in many other cases, true faithfulness is understanding that the power of the Holy Spirit frustrates as many desires as it fulfills, and is very much in the business of changing human direction.

Pauls inconvenience led to the conversion of the Gentile world, and the eventual conversion of the Roman Empire. His realization of the Spirit's will led to the accomplishment of great feats, even amongst his own personal frustration. When we face an obstacle in Midian, we need to keep in mind that the Spirit does not always light the path He wishes us to take; sometimes He darkens all the other paths in contention.