Suffering is not a sign of being punished by God. At the other end of the spectrum, keeping oneself free of all suffering is not a sign of pleasing God. The Galileans who suffered under the cruelty of Pilate, Jesus says, are no worse sinners than the rest of us. Suffering happens. Rain falls on both the evil and the just. Do not try to keep track of what shows up in our lives; watch out for what does not show up.*
Usually we worry more about what is in our lives than what is not. But Jesus says it is the absence of fruit that causes trouble for the tree. If a fig tree, year after year, does not bear fruit, the vineyard worker would expect to be told to cut it down. Only the most diligent and loving vine dresser would beg to give it another year so she could pour all her attention into it, dig around it and fertilize it and see if it might even yet bear fruit.
We are living now in that year of grace. Patient and industrious, ever hopeful, Jesus believes in us far more than we believe in ourselves, believes that even yet we can bring forth a harvest of fruit for the feeding of the world. Do we bear the fruits of peace, gentleness and mercy? In us, do others experience long suffering love? If not, then what will our future be? What will be forever missing from our lives if we are not able to let God bring it forth?
–Kayla McClurg, Passage By Passage (Year C)
- Do I find value in suffering or only in resisting it?
- What do I notice by its absence from my life?
- If I could see this as a year of grace, how would I respond?
