Thanks in a Fruitless Year; Part 2

A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we're behind." 

"Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're discouraged." 

"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"

Source Unknown.

Luke 13 follow-up sermon

Luke 13:6-9 ⁶ He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. ⁷ Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? ⁸ And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: ⁹ And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

Well, last week we read and studied this same passage of Scripture under the title; “Things to be thankful for in a fruitless year.”  It was a Thanksgiving sermon.  But as I considered what I would preach on this week, my mind kept going back to this parable.  Because, truthfully, the reason I chose this parable for Thanksgiving week, wasn’t just because it was Thanksgiving.  The parable reminded me of where we are as a church.  Last week we had 50 here, and this week we have ____.

And this is not an uncommon position to be in any church.  I just read some survey statistics that indicate that in-person church attendance went down 60 percent at the low point of the Covid crisis.  Although those numbers are going up, I think churches like ours have been particularly effected, because we have an older congregation. 

Let’s do an informal survey here this morning.  If you are over 20 years of age today, please stand up.  That’s almost everyone.  Now, if you are over 30, remain standing.  Looks like we should have just jumped to 40.  If you are over 40, remain standing.  Let’s go to 50, if you are over 50 remain standing.  I’m making all these old people stand up.  If you are over 60, remain standing.  Some of you older people are thinking, when am I going to get to sit down?  Which may be a very relevant question.  If you are over 65 remain standing.  If you are 70 or older remain standing. 

Now you may be seated.  Let’s go back to the youngsters; if you are 65 or younger, please stand up. 

Well, what’s the point?  The point is that we are few, and we are long in the tooth.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I don’t believe that age or numbers limit God. 

Joshua 14: ⁶ Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.

⁷ Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

⁸ Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.

⁹ And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.

¹⁰ And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

¹¹ As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

¹² Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.

And remember the words of Jonathan the son of Saul when he faced superior numbers in battle.

1 Samuel 14: ⁶ And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.

God is not limited by age or numbers.  But that parable did make me think of a couple things; number one- we don’t have a lot happening that is resulting in fruit (new people receiving Christ and/or growing in Christ) and number two- it looks like our time is limited.  If things don’t change, like the tree, do we have 10 more years?  5 more years? 

But it is not my intent to dwell on that.  All churches have expiration dates.  Jesus sent messages to 7 churches in the book of Revelation calling on them to respond or face being extinguished as a church. 

I read an article about those 7 churches, entitled “What happened to the 7 churches of Revelation.”  This is what the author said,

The trip of a lifetime landed in my lap—visiting the Seven Churches of Revelation. Until recently, I didn’t even know all seven churches were located in modern-day Turkey. A friend and I flew to Izmir, Turkey, where we rented a car and drove to all seven churches in a quick, three-day trip.

In the end, we saw a lot of rocks.

Don’t get me wrong. They were beautiful rocks. But they were rocks, ruins of ancient cities once teeming with people long gone. In the apostle John’s vision of Revelation, Jesus spoke to the Christians in these cities, commending some but warning most. 

And now they are all gone.  They are gone for different reasons; sometimes simple things like a town shutting down caused it, some were driven out by persecution, some gave in to corrupt teaching and are no longer Bible-believing,  some just disappeared, one of the cities was destroyed by an earthquake.  Although most of these cities have few who call themselves Christian, some still have believers gathering, as a tribute to the history of the faith in that place. I’ll say it again, all churches have expiration dates.  But we don’t know when that is, anymore than we know our own individual expiration dates.

Today, I want to share with you 3 things we have to know about our church to prepare ourselves for God’s new work among us.

We have to know that growth is possible.  We have to know that it depends on God. We have to know our part.

Let us pray. 

I.                    We have to know that growth is possible.   

In last week’s message we read Jesus’ parable,

⁶ He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. ⁷ Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? ⁸ And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: ⁹ And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

And I shared with you 4 reasons to be thankful in a fruitless year; planted in a prize location, having past fruitfulness, and present grace, and the last point was that the tree has prospective growth.

I want to pick up with the last point today.  Prospective growth. 

In order to prepare ourselves for what God will do next with us, we have to know that growth is possible.  I want you to notice a couple of details in this parable.  1. The owner of the vineyard still sought fruit on that certain fig tree.  2. The vinedresser still had hope for fruit from that fig tree.

First; The owner of the vineyard still sought fruit on that certain fig tree. 

It says that he came to the vineyard, went up to that fig tree, he “sought fruit thereon.” 

And the vinedresser still had hope for fruit from that fig tree.

The vinedresser said, let me put some more effort into that tree.  He had hope that it might yet be fruitful.

The tree still has the potential for growth.  The owner and the vinedresser wouldn’t have bothered with the tree if there was no hope of fruit in the future.  They would have just said, “Yep, that’s a dead tree.  Let’s get out the chainsaw.”

Remember that in this parable, God the Father is the owner, and Jesus, God the Son is the vinedresser. 

Now, as I thought about that tree as emblematic of our church, I got excited here.  Just as God, when Jesus told this parable was still looking to Israel for fruit, so He is looking in our church.

Can you imagine this picture?  The owner walking up to this tree, looking it over.  Searching its branches for any bud that He can find. 

That’s what God does to our church.  He is seeking fruit.  He is looking over our Bible studies.  He is looking at our worship services, and times of fellowship.  He is watching our responses to His calls to repentance and obedience.   He is watching to see if we carry His gospel outside these walls. He is searching hearts for evidence that this place is producing fruit. 

This was encouraging to me.  God is still expecting fruit from us.  We still have a prospective growth.  There is always hope for the future if we respond to God’s call. 

And the vinedresser looks over the tree, and even though it is currently fruitless, He knows that with some cultivating effort, there is potential for fruit.

The Lord Jesus Christ sees potential in this church, and let’s get personal, He sees potential in you.

Isn’t that encouraging?

We don’t know what the future will look like.  But there is still a field white for harvest here in southwest Wichita.  This church needs to be here.  So, it is incumbent on us to continue being faithful, and asking the Lord’s direction for the future. 

None of the churches in Revelation are still around.  But if you read those messages to those churches, in none of them does Jesus say, “You’re through.”  “You’re done.”  Lock the doors.  Send your offerings to a missionary, find a new church to attend.  No, the message to even the worst of those churches was, “Repent.”  “Get it right.”  There’s still hope for you.  There are still a few more years possible for you.

I believe the Word that says, Jeremiah 29:11 ¹¹ For I know the plans that I ^[a]have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for ^[b]prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

If we are going to be prepared for what God has planned for us, we have to know that there is a prospective fruitfulness.  But we also have to know something else. 

2. We have to know that it depends on God.  Look at the passage again.

 ⁶ And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. ⁷ And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree ^[d]without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; ⁹ and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Most of you all know that I am a list maker.  If I get an idea in my head of something I want to accomplish, the first thing I do is sit down and make a list.  If we were to conclude this parable with a to-do list, what everyone needed to do, what would be on the tree’s list?  We have three characters in this parable, the owner-God, the vinedresser-Jesus, and the tree.  If the vinedresser and the owner want to see fruit on the fig tree next year, we know the owner has to refrain from having it cut down, the vinedresser has to break up the ground and fertilize it, but what does the fig tree have to do? 

Nothing.  Well, there is something.  But the vinedresser is not going to tell the tree, “Come on tree, produce something this year, or we’re going to have to cut you down.”  No.  All the actions that will lead to the fruitfulness of the tree are on the part of the owner and vinedresser.  The owner gives the vinedresser one more year to dig around it and fertilize it.  The tree does nothing. 

And if we are going to be ready for what God wants to do next, number one, we have to know that there is still possible fruit here, and we have to know that God the Father and the Son, are the ones who will make us productive. 

You say, “are you saying that we do nothing?  We’ve been doing that already.”  No, it isn’t that we do nothing.  But before we do something, we have to know that we can do nothing.  Let me share a passage of Scripture.

John 15:4-6  Remain in Me, ^[a]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit ^[b]of itself ^[c]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him ^[d]bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

You see, I’m not saying that we do nothing as a church.  I’m saying that we can do nothing to make ourselves Spiritually fruitful.  Too many churches have been built on lots and lots of activity that has little to do with God.

Last week we had a dinner after Sunday morning worship.  We had a good-sized group of people.  My plans are to continue with those kinds of fellowships in order to encourage worship attendance.  But we must take a warning, fellowship meals do not equate with Spiritual fruit.  Jesus feed thousands twice, but those people ended up calling for His crucifixion. 

We have to always approach our future fruitfulness with the awareness, the humility, that it’s not by might, not by power, but by the Lord’s Spirit, that we produce fruit.

Matthew 16:18

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Psalm 127: Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

What’s the third thing

3. We have to know what we have to do.

We have to know that future fruitfulness is possible, we have to know that our fruitfulness depends on God, and we have to know what we have to do. 

Hold it, I thought you said that we don’t do anything.  Well technically, the tree does do something.  The vinedresser, Jesus, says that He is going to do two things to encourage the fruitfulness of the tree.  He is going to “dig around it” and “dung it.”  The tree does nothing.  But if we were talking about a big boulder on the ground, it wouldn’t matter how much you dug around it and fertilized the ground around it, a boulder is never going to produce figs.  But before we get to what the tree does, as a part of its growth, let’s consider what the vinedresser does.  He digs around the tree, and fertilizes it.

What does it mean to “dig around it?”  Well, it means to break up the soil around the tree.  The ground around a plant or tree can become so packed, that water and nutrients are washed away before they can soak into the earth, and into the roots of the tree.  There may be plenty of rainfall to produce fruit, but it’s just not making it to the roots of the tree.  So, He breaks up the soil around the tree so that it can absorb what it needs.

He also says that He is going to “dung it,” or fertilize it.  Once the ground around the tree is broken up, it allows moisture and nutrients to get to the tree.  Prior to that, the tree may have had just enough nutrients to produce leaves, but not enough to produce fruit.  Breaking up the ground and fertilizing provides that extra needed for the tree to be fruitfully productive. 

What does that mean in terms of our lives, and the church?  We need the applied water of life, and the applied nutrients of the Word to produce fruit.  

Isaiah 55: ¹⁰ For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

¹¹ So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

John 4:14

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

What does “Breaking up of the soil,” “receiving water” and “fertilizer” mean spiritually?  Well, this whole parable keeps reminding me of another parable Jesus told; the parable of the sower and the seed.  You remember that in that parable, the sower was sowing seed, and some of the seed fell by the wayside; packed down pathways through the fields, some fell on stony places; where the shallow soil hid an underlayer of rock, and some fell among thorns. 

Those types of soils were analogies for three types of hearts that hear the gospel, but aren’t saved.  But, to a lesser degree, the same conditions are reasons why a tree, representing a Christian, or a church, might not be receptive, might not receive the water and fertilizer.

The soil is hard, or mixed with stone, or with some weeds.  So, the vinedresser has to start digging up the soil, to loosen it, remove the stones, pull out the weeds and thorns.  That leaves the soil, aerated and free of any obstructive to passing along what the tree needs to grow.

What does that mean for the Christian or church? 

The soil by the wayside  that needs to be broken up are those well-traveled packed down hard places in our lives, or the life of the church.  The stony places are that hardness, but it has under the surface.  On the surface, the Christian or church appears healthy and receptive, but there is trouble with what lies beneath.  The thorns are obvious, they are the “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.”

In other words, it is all sin that the believer or church holds on to, that they have not allowed the Lord to dig up or weed out in the past.  So, there are three areas that we need to look at; our hard places, our shallow places, and our weedy places.

Hard places; willingness to be broken up

The hard places are the pathways through the fields that have become packed down through the years, and cannot receive anything unless they are broken up.  For an unbeliever, they are incapable of even receiving the Word of salvation before Satan distracts them from even considering it. 

Ezekial 11: ¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

36:²⁶ A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Zechariah 7: ¹¹ But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. ¹² Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

But I believe that Christians and churches can develop hardened areas, or blind spots in terms of their Spiritual growth.  Our lives and the life of the church has become so routine, and well-traveled, that we no longer do a deep search of our hearts when we are presented with the Word.  We have become hardened in certain areas, unable to even see our error.  What do you do in that case?  We have to ask the Lord to break up that ground. 

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. We have to do that for our church as well.  Are we willing to say to God, “show us what needs to be broken up, or torn down in our church?  What are our sacred cows?  We have to pray, “Father, what are our hard places, our blind spots.  Do you want to know what your hard places are? Remember the story of the rich young ruler?  He came to Jesus saying, “What must I do to inherit the Kingdom.  Jesus said to him, “Don’t kill, steal, honor father and mother.”  He said, “I’ve been doing all of that since I was a child.” So, Jesus says, “One more thing, sell all you have and give it to the poor.”

What was the point?  The point was not that being rich keeps you out of the Kingdom, or that you have to amass some large amount of goodness to get in.  The point was that this guy’s riches were his hard ground.  He had been unwilling to go there throughout his short life.  When the rabbi’s taught about charity, he was checking his phone for messages.  When the offering plate was passed to help out an indigent brother, he tossed in his change.  His wealth was a testimony to what he was unwilling to change.

We all have stony places.  Our church has stony places.  We have things we are unwilling to change.

We not only have to deal with hard places, we must deal with shallow places as well.

shallow places

In the parable, the shallow places were areas where just under the surface of the soil, there was bedrock.  On the surface it looked like the place was suitable for planting, but the soil didn’t allow a deep root system. 

For the non-Christian it symbolizes a false shallow faith.  A faith that will not continue standing when adversity comes. 

Matthew 7: ²⁶ And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

James 1: ¹⁰ But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. ¹¹ For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

But, I believe that believers and churches can have very shallow soil, that severely restricts the development of a deep root system.  Now, in this type of soil, it is again necessary for the soil to be broken up, and the stones removed.  That can be a long arduous painful, process.  But there is something fascinating to me about certain plants and trees, etc.  Some types of plants and trees have an extreme desire to live.  Have you read about dessert plants whose roots continue going down deeper and deeper until they find water?  Or whose root system continues burrowing through rock and even concrete until it finds the moisture it desires?

And for the church, and the Christian, even as the Lord continues with the work of removing the stones from our soil, we are to continue seeking, and desiring the Word, and the refreshing water of life that comes by the Holy Spirit. 

Psalm 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

Psalm 63:1-2 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

² To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

The part of the plant is to continue seeking the water.  To seek to grow deeper.  To know God better.  To walk with Him closer.

Shallow places are overcome by the desire and actions necessary to deepen your understanding.

We often will not take the time for this kind of introspection.  We are satisfied with the status quo. 

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jer 33:3)

If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. (Pr 1:23)

Proverbs 2:1-11 tells us that the knowledge of God must be diligently sought after, to “search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God” (vv 4-5 NKJV).

We all have shallow places.  It is saddening that there are people who profess Christ, but whose understanding of Scripture is elementary.  I really appreciate this church.  There is hardly a topic in Scripture that I feel I can’t preach on.  I can preach about tongues, the role of women, marriage, homosexuality, election, the end times.  If I were to do that in some churches, they’d run me out on a rail.  It’s because many of you have waters that run very deep.

What else do we have to be willing for the Lord to deal with?

Weedy places

From the beginning of creation, thorns have represented the curse of sin in this world.  Thorns and weeds suck up the nutrients and water so that the tree or plant doesn’t have the necessary things to produce fruit. 

In the parable of the soils, the seed choked by thorns represents a non-believer who cannot let go of the world in order to follow Christ. 

But many Christians, and churches have also been unwilling for the Lord to remove all worldliness from their hearts.  Some churches have even been built on worldly, rather than Spiritual principles. 

Numbers 33:55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

Our weedy places are like the strangers in the land in the promised land.  Remember how the children of Israel conquered the promised land, but they didn’t totally clear the land of foreigners?  God told them initially that they needed to get them all out, lest they be tempted to learn their ways and follow their gods.  But the children of Israel didn’t, and eventually they fell to temptation.

What if the vinedresser does all that soil preparation and nothing happens?  What if He breaks up the ground, and fertilizes, but there still is no fruit? 

Everything was done for the tree to facilitate the growth of fruit.  But there is something that the tree has to do.  It has to receive.  It has to receive the water and the nutrients.

Well, won’t it do that naturally?  Yes, if it is a healthy tree.  But not all trees are healthy.  Now, I’m no tree or gardening professional, but I was just curious if there was disease possible in a tree, that would prevent the tree from receiving the help of watering and fertilizer.  And I found one example.

https://www.gardenguides.com › 130955-cedar-root-rot.html

As roots decay and take on a red/brown hue, the disease works its way through the entire tree, causing branch death in individual limbs, according to the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service website. Once roots rot, your cedar is incapable of receiving the water and nutrients essential for life.

Fascinating, it is possible for a tree to be too far gone to be helped, just as it is possible for a church, or a person, humanly speaking to be too far gone.  In that case, the time for that tree is over.  And the Lord decides to remove it, and plant something new. 

So, what is our part? What do we have to do?  We have to be receptive to the breaking up of the soil, we have to be receptive to the water, and the fertilizer.  We have to be receptive to whatever our Lord would do with us, and among us.