God is in the Recycling Business

I attend National Community Church (theaterchurch.com) in Washington DC every Sunday. The pastor there is Mark Battereson, and for the last couple of weeks he has been on his "Figuratively Speaking" series. Each week Pastor Mark takes a critical look at one of Jesus' many parables. This week he was in Luke 13 for the Parable of the Fig Tree. He brought up many interesting points that drove the parable right home. For today's blog I want to focus on one particular part of the Parable that really stood out in my heart, "God is in the Recycling Business." If we take a look at verses 7-9 and pay particularly close attention to verse 8 we get a very interesting and enlightening picture of most of our lives. The King James version goes like this:

7Then 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?
8And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. (emphasis added)

The King James version was used in this illustration because it is not very often that you see the word "dung" in a biblical context? That word alone brings about very pleasant imagery, does it not? So what basically has happened here is, the owner of this vineyard where the fig tree is located has become very frustrated. He has passed by this fig tree for three years now and each year the fig tree has not produced any fruit. This is where most messages on this parable take root (pun intended). We use this parable to illustrate that a Christian who is just planted at a church and is not bearing any fruit is pretty much a waste of space, "why cumbereth it the ground" (v 7). That is a very valid and important truth to come away with from this parable, but look at what the dresser of the vineyard says in verse 8. "Lord, let it alone this year also, till i shall dig about it, and dung it." What does verse 8 mean today, right now as you are sitting at your computer? It means that If you want to be spiritually fertile, some smelly, messy and dungish circumstances are needed to help you produce that fruit. Those of us who desire and sincerely ask God to produce spiritual fruit in our lives are indirectly asking God to "Dig around us and cover us with fertilizer."

In order for God to perfect that spiritual fruit of patience within us, we may find ourselves covered in smelly and messy circumstances that produce that very fruit.

In order for God to perfect that spiritual fruit of love within us, we may be forced to dig through a dirty and filthy mound of lust, pornography and sexual sins that has prevented us from experiencing true spiritual love and intimacy.

In order for God to perfect that spiritual fruit of self-control within us we may have to spend a few weeks, months or years enduring the God "flush" of material things from our lives.

In order for God to perfect the spiritual fruit of_________within us we may have to grow our way through the "crap" that God has strategically allowed in our lives so that we can bear that wonderful and sweet spiritual fruit.

Here is where the "God is in the recycling Business" tag line comes in. It doesn't matter what your current situation is. It doesn't matter how rusty you have allowed your spiritual engine to get. It doesn't matter how much "dung" you have allowed to dirty up your house and family. It doesn't matter that you may have given up all hope of turning your life around on your own (this is the preferred spiritual condition, maybe we will tackle that at another time). Non of that stuff matters. GOD can recycle anything in your life and use it for his purpose! All we need to do is recognize that we have become that barren fig tree, and allow God to "Dig about it, and dung it."