Sermon: Fill the Whole World with Fruit, or Else

Texts: Daniel 4:4-5, 10-15; Isaiah 27:2-6; Matthew 3:8-10

Date: April 10, 2005

Does a plum tree with no fruit have Buddha Nature? Whack!!

I plucked that sentence off the internet while scrolling through Michael Garofalo’s compendium of pithy garden sayings entitled Pulling Onions.[1] I’m not 100% sure I get it, not being a student of Buddhist thought—but his Zen-like zinger certainly left me smiling. Further, having spent hours ruminating on roots and branches texts in the Bible, I have concluded that Garofalo’s one-liner is a fair summary of what I’ve come to think of as the scary roots and branches verses in the Bible. Listen to it again: “Does a plum tree with no fruit have Buddha Nature? Whack!!”

When we chose the “Deeper Roots, Stronger Branches” theme for our capital campaign I thought of it as evocative but entirely benign. What’s not to love about the image of a tree with its roots sunk deep into the land, deep into the underground stream of Living Water, deep into history? What’s not to love about the image of a tree that branches out, providing shade, shelter, oxygen and food to earth dwellers? When I decided to focus on the roots and branches theme for this month of Sundays, I looked up all the roots and branches texts with the help of my concordance.

It was unnerving to discover that quite a few of them were rather threatening. It was tempting to ignore all of the scary verses, assuming that few, if any, of you have undertaken a similar roots and branches Bible study and you’d be none the wiser. Then we could keep our focus during this home stretch of the campaign all happy-happy-joy-joy, building a sense of positive self-esteem which would in turn liberate the generous spirit in one and all, Amen. But that lacks integrity, and it does seem apparent to me after years of fumbling Christian practice that sometimes the gospel sounds like bad news before it is revealed as good news.

I found two general themes of the scary roots and branches texts: First, God the Gardener does not have endless patience with trees or vineyards that bear no fruit. Second, although the image of a tree inspires a feeling of confidence in its longevity and durability, God is entirely capable of uprooting the mightiest tree if it is not serving God’s purposes. Does the plum tree that bears no fruit have Buddha Nature? Whack!! The emphasis in the scary roots and branches texts is on the Whack!! The God of Love is also the God of Whack!!

Isn’t that a bummer? To be honest, I’d rather have a God that is all Love and no Whack. All watering can and no axe. All tall deer-proof fence and no roto-tiller. All fertilizer and no pruning. Wouldn’t you? But that’s not the God we’re apparently dealing with.

Let’s zoom in on the evidence in the texts we heard this morning. The reading from Isaiah, which is actually not all that scary, is a sequel to a scarier parable told in Isaiah 5. In that text, spoken by the prophet just before Israel was overrun by the invasion of a neighbor, a picture is painted of a gorgeous vineyard that had been planted by a careful gardener. The gardener planted it with choice vines and built a watchtower in it and surrounded it with a wall or a hedge to keep marauders out. The owner expected it to yield the high quality grapes that had been planted, but instead it yielded wild grapes. What’s a vineyard owner to do? The judgment is announced: the hedge or wall will be removed and the vineyard trampled. There will be no more pruning or hoeing; the vineyard will go to briars and thorns. Even rain will be withheld. Whack!!

In Isaiah 27 the prophet promises that the fortunes of the vineyard—God’s chosen people—will be restored. Once again God is promising care and protection, on the other side of the punishment of exile. “In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.” [Is. 27:6] But there’s still the warning: “If it gives me thorns and briers, I will march to battle against it, I will burn it up. Or else let it cling to me for protection, let it make peace with me, let it make peace with me.” [Is. 27:4-5] The fruitfulness of the vineyard is totally dependent on a right relationship with God. God doesn’t hold a grudge—“I have no wrath”—but even after restoration faithfulness is expected. “Let it make peace with me, let it make peace with me.” I hear in that line both a pleading and a caution. God’s people cannot expect God’s continuing care and nurture if all they ever yield is wild grapes, thorns and briers.

What would qualify as yielding “wild grapes,” or briers and thorns? Isaiah and all the prophets had a lot to say about social sin and corruption. The first chapter of Isaiah bemoans the state of the Holy City: “How the faithful city has become a whore! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her—but now murderers! Your silver has become dross, your wine is mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan and the widow’s cause does not come before them.” [Isaiah 1:21-23] In other words, the powerful are running roughshod over the powerless, and God is mighty unhappy about it. Briers and thorns have a community aspect, and there is also a personal dimension. In Galatians, Paul offers a list of the “obvious works of the flesh” that might serve as a description of wild grapes: “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” [Galatians 5:19-21] By contrast, he writes, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” [Galatians 5:22-23] Isaiah’s summary of God’s hopes for the society is, “cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” [Is. 1:17] That’s what God planted in us and hopes to see us yield. And it appears that, much as we might wish it, God is not prepared to wait around forever to see this beautiful harvest. “Even now,” Matthew’s gospel warns, “the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Whack!!

In the Daniel text, King Nebuchadnezzar confides a frightening dream to Daniel, who has a gift for dream interpretation. In it he describes a tree at the center of the earth, great and strong, with beautiful foliage and abundant fruit, providing food and shelter for many creatures. There is an image of the Tree of Life in many ancient mythologies that this dream draws upon. According to Daniel’s interpretation later in the chapter, it is King Nebuchadnezzar himself, leader and symbol of his mighty empire, who is the tree. The lyric dream of the mighty tree turns into a nightmare after a “holy watcher” descending from heaven orders the tree to be cut down to a stump. Similar language is used elsewhere in the Bible [e.g. Ezekial 31:3-14] to herald the end of other empires or institutions. Israel is addressed in one prophecy as a vine that will be uprooted and replanted in the wilderness. The point of these chopping down/rooting up texts is a reminder that God’s power is the force to be reckoned with in the universe. Empires, leaders, nations, and institutions need to guard against getting too big for their britches or getting too complacent in their ability to do whatever they please, or they may find themselves on the receiving end of a Whack!! Ultimate power—Holy power—demands that every lesser power and principality pay attention to their earth-bound limits. An empire or institution may think it can go on forever, or may think it can do whatever it wants if there are guns enough or money enough or influence enough to insist on its own way, but the image of the mighty tree crashing down sends a message from God who says, “Think again.”

Let me highlight three words from Matthew’s gospel that are the crux of the matter: “Do not presume.” John the Baptist, addressing the religious leaders in power in his day, says, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” One biblical scholar points out that the Christian-era equivalent is to say, “We have Christ as our Savior.” A contemporary prophet might warn, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Christ as our Savior’; for I tell you, God is able from these rocks to raise up followers of Jesus.” The acceptance of Christ as Savior is the first fruit of salvation, not the last.

I think at this crossroads of the church’s life it’s a healthy thing to recall those words, “Do not presume,” and ponder what they might mean for us. We cannot, for instance, presume that EHCC will be a vital part of the community forever. Our church’s long history does not guarantee another century or more stretching ahead of us. We cannot presume that our church’s reputation for honorable service in the past will mean diddly squat to people who need a dynamic community of Christ in the present. We cannot presume that all traditions and practices forged in the past will be serviceable for the church of today and tomorrow.

We cannot presume that our church will live regardless of whether we bear any fruit. It’s not that we are expected to be perfect. But I think the scripture is abundantly clear that we are expected to produce. Produce something, imperfectly, fumblingly, with God’s help and encouragement. Even though we are, as a church, a speck on the face of the earth, I think it really matters to God what kind of fruit we produce. We can humbly draw on God’s power to bear fruit in this neighborhood; isn’t it a marvel and a mystery that God would be involved in our little lives? Galileo is credited with this observation: “The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” Even with everything else God plans to accomplish, God will ripen the fruits of love we offer with strong, bright light as if there were nothing in the universe more important.

The desire to be fruitful followers is half the battle. The will to produce ministry, not just consume ministry, is crucial for the individual members and friends of the church as well as the church as a whole. I get this “thought for the day” email which included this quote from the Construction Digest a few months ago: “The sermon will be better if you listen as a Christian rather than as a critic.” I’m not mentioning that because I think you listen to me critically—by and large, you are extremely gracious to me as a preacher. But I think there is some truth there worth noting—that all of our ministry as a church, and the variety of gifts offered by our members trying to be fruitful, will look better if we examine them as Christians rather than as critics. It’s tough for fruitful ministry to flourish under the withering gaze of a fellowship as apt to be critical as not. We can encourage excellence in ministry and at the same time be gracious about experimentation and occasional failure. We can cultivate a covenantal spirit that says we will hang in there with each other even if we are not pleased with every little thing all the time. That kind of generous ambiance will encourage the fruit of the spirit to thrive even more than it does now. The garden quotation web site I quoted earlier also included this bit of wisdom: “Every thought is a seed. If you plant Crab Apples don’t plan on harvesting Golden Delicious.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Thought is the blossom, language the bud, action the fruit behind.” Where is the evidence of fruitful Christians in a fruitful church? It is not in wishful wishing or talky talk. It is in tears dried, mouths fed, calls dialed, hands held, bread baked, letters written, hugs rendered, money channeled, laughter shared, confidences kept, ears unstopped, bodies clothed, justice sought, doors opened, fences mended, seniors visited, babies cuddled, evil confronted, wisdom studied, minds awakened, help given, friendship cultivated, peace waged, fear calmed, promises kept, failures forgiven, hearts healed.

God, help us live out Isaiah’s hope, that in days to come this people of God shall take root, blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.

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[1] http://www.gardendigest.com/laws.htm