Show Notes
In this third week of Lent, we are encouraged to set aside time to consider where and how we fall short of God’s holiness, and to seek His forgiveness and restoration.
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Episode Transcript
During Lent, we are encouraged to set aside time to consider where and how we fall short of God’s holiness, and to seek His forgiveness, restoration, and empowering to better reflect His nature. This introspection naturally leads us to examine where and how we might be failing to recognize others deserving of grace and another opportunity just as God extends them to us.
A reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 13, verses 1 through 9.
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
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. 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.’”
You never know what you’re going to end up eating at the restaurant of mistaken orders in Tokyo. Diners place their orders with the waitstaff as people do everywhere. The only difference is the servers all have dementia. So there’s no guarantee they will remember to bring you the plate you requested. You wouldn’t last long waiting on tables in any other restaurant if you messed up like that. So much of the business world is all about the bottom line. If an employee is not contributing, they’re going to be shown the door pretty quickly. And of course it’s important to be profitable. Businesses are not charities, but sometimes people need a little time and attention to become fruitful. In Jesus’ parable, the vineyard owner had decided that enough was enough for the fruitless fig tree. But the gardener still saw potential. He asked for one more year, during which time he committed to doing all that he could to ensure that the fig tree had the best opportunity to flourish. Note that this was a delay rather than a reprieve. There does come a time when it’s clear that despite our best efforts at helping someone, they are not going to make it. Letting them go is not only a wise and necessary business decision, but ultimately a kindness to the one who’s not making it. They need to find a place where they can thrive. But where is the sweet spot between being too hard nosed and too soft hearted? As Christians in the marketplace seeking to benefit our communities, we’re not called to shy away from making tough decisions. However, we should also remember that the benefit is not only to be found in the products and services we may provide, but in the lives of those who help to deliver them, just like the waiters and waitresses at the restaurant of mistaken orders.
A portion of the 63rd Psalm, a Psalm of David when he was in the desert of Judah.
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, give us wisdom and compassion as we seek to serve others in the marketplace. Help us to steward and shepherd our resources well, recognizing that you commend responsible handling of finances and that we have a responsibility to manage our affairs, which are ultimately your affairs, to handle them well. At the same time, may we never lose sight of the value and dignity of those who may be in our employ and recognize our responsibility to give them every opportunity to prosper. Guide us by your Holy spirit we pray. Amen.
And finally a reading from the third chapter of Exodus, verses 1-10.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
