⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” Matthew 21:42-46

I read the Gospel text, and am reminded of one of my favorite hymns.

The Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord, She is His new creation
By water and the Word.  From heaven He came and sought her To be His holy bride; With His own blood He bought her And for her life He died.

She is from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth; Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy Name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued.

’Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore; Till, with the vision glorious, Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest.

O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly, On high may dwell with Thee: There, past the border mountains,
Where in sweet vales the Bride With Thee by living fountains Forever shall abide!

Pastor Dave

“Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. ²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. ²¹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:18-22

There are so many wonderful vineyard, fig tree, food stories and parables in the Gospels. My favorite is a different fig tree parable – one found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 13, verses 6 – 9. It is a wonderful story that truly defines G-d’s grace.

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

We are all fruitless at times, only worthy of being cut down. Yet, G-d’s grace allows us the opportunity to be fed, to receive additional nourishment at his table of Grace and in his Word and in our interactions with others. And then, full of G-d’s Grace, we go forward to feed others. When someone is hungry for the word, or just plain hungry, dare we become barren in our response?  Do we feed people who need to be fed? The good news is that, even if we fail to act in every circumstance, G-d’s Grace still saves us. Therefore, we always have a second chance to live into the joy of that Grace.

Pastor Dave