"Then He told this parable: A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for the fruit on it, but did not find any. 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?'
'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'" (Luke 13:6-9)
Several years ago I was at a church youth event over the New Year's holiday, and during the event my team and I attended a church service on New Year's Eve. It had been a really rough December, and throughout the event I had been in a very heated conflict with an old friend (it was the first time I had seen them in months). As usual, my emotions were getting the better of me. I was angry, and stubborn, and after the weeks I'd had I wasn't in the most forgiving mood. I didn't see that any good could come from patching things up, and it was going to take a lot of effort. During the church service though, this parable was a part of the readings, and the pastor used it for his sermon. That night is one of the times I remember distinctly as an example of God speaking directly to my heart. The pastor spoke about our tendency to take an axe to things when we think they're more trouble than they're worth. He encouraged us to consider what might happen if we keep working just a little bit longer, maybe even giving it more attention and trying a different method. I cried as I sat in church hearing God telling me to try a little bit of gentleness and care.
I won't say that I'm now best friends with the person I was fighting with that New Year's Eve. But we did work things out in the hours following the church service, and it was an incredible way to start the year, having made peace in a long standing conflict. They stayed in my life in important ways that I would never have predicted, and I was always glad we could be on good terms. The point is, it's not always easy for us in our human short-sightedness to see why God may be calling us to dig and fertilize instead of tear down. In our hastiness we want to simply cut out the things in our lives that seem too complicated or pointless to deal with. I think as children of God we are called to try harder than the world thinks we should. Perhaps it won't work, or it won't make a very big difference, but the peace that comes from giving our best effort is priceless. Even if things don't turn around, you can live with the knowledge that you gave it another chance. God works with us, even in our sinfulness, and gives us endless chances to come back and receive mercy. As imitators of God, we should also endeavour to forgive and seek peace with our neighbors.
Living a life of forgiveness and grace might mean trying harder when we just want to give up. As with many things, it's not always easy, but it is always worth it.
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