Mark 11:12-14, 20-25  *  February 13, 2008  *  Midweek Lent 2  *  Rev. Paul Zell

 

“Faith in God shows itself!”

 

Mark 11:12-14, 20-25

 

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.  ….

 

20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

 

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

 

In Jesus’ name, dear brothers and sisters,

 

People have expectations, don’t they?  When you arrived at church this evening, you expected that the doors would be open, the lights would be on, and there would be a place for you in God’s house.  You expected for a worship service that there would be music, that Holy Scripture would be read aloud, and that there would be opportunities to pray.  You expected that someone would stand before you and preach the Word of God.  Each of those expectations is fair, and thankfully each is being met.

 

Our Lord also has expectations.  As we walk with Jesus on the road to the cross, you and I cannot help but notice that.  Jesus expected things from his enemies.  He expected things from himself.  And what’s especially apparent this evening is this:   Jesus has expectations of his disciples!  As you watch what Jesus did to a fig tree and hear what he said about that fig tree, here’s the lesson:  Jesus expects that FAITH IN GOD SHOWS ITSELF!

 

1)  In your praying; and

2)  In your forgiving.

 

Walk the “Crossroads” with Jesus and this becomes not only a good lesson learned but a godly life lived to his glory.

 

It was a Monday morning.  The previous day Jesus received the hero’s welcome to Jerusalem.  Palm branches laid on the road before him.  People shouting, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  That Palm Sunday evening Jesus had left the city.  He’d gone back to Bethany to stay with friends.  Now it was Monday morning.  Jesus and the disciples eager to get back into the city.  Here’s how St. Mark describes what happened:  “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.  Seeing in the distance a fig tree that had leaves, he went to find out if it had any fruit.  When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.  Then he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’  And his disciples were listening.”

 

So was it just a bad Monday morning?  Was Jesus a little testy, a little grouchy without his breakfast?  No, the Master Teacher was teaching.  You see, a fig tree is supposed to produce leaves and fruit on the same branches at the same time.  Fig trees near Jerusalem normally produce their first crop of figs and leaves around the end of June.  But this tree was full of leaves already in late March or early April.  From all appearances it was an extraordinary specimen.  Passersby would have been impressed.  What a tree!  But on closer inspection, a different story.  Plenty of leaves; no fruit.  Putting on a big show; no worthwhile product.  So to teach disciples like you and me something they will always remember, Jesus cursed that tree, with immediate results.  The next day, the Lord and the Twelve once again were walking this road from Bethany to Jerusalem.  St. Mark tells us, “They saw the fig tree withered from its roots.  Peter remembered and said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!’”

 

Most of us are well rehearsed in the routines of Lent.  During Lent you come to church more often  --  not just on Saturday evening or Sunday morning but on Wednesdays too.  With long Lenten readings from the lectern you spend more time quietly listening to Scripture.  You sing more hymns, including some that are rather somber.  The head is bowed more frequently; the hands folded more often.  Lent means more time spent at church for fellowship meals; maybe more time getting ready for the big events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday.  The temptation, of course, is that you and I are simply putting on a show.  The temptation not just of Lent but of our entire year is that you and I would do all the routines for an impressive Lutheran look  --  putting on a big show, but with no worthwhile product.  Plenty of leaves; no fruit.  That fruitless fig tree got a close inspection from Jesus’ himself; at his command it dried up and died.  So too the fruitless churchgoer.  If you’re merely putting out an impressive display, under Jesus’ close inspection you’ll be found out and so will I.  If we’re all leaves but no fruit, there’s no blessing.  Only an eternal curse!

 

(1)

 

It was Tuesday morning.  Jesus and the twelve were on the road again.  They were coming down the Mount of Olives and walking past that fig tree.  Peter noticed it looking pretty terrible and pointed it out.   But Jesus didn’t have to look.  He knew what the outcome of his curse would be.  Instead he turned to the Twelve and here’s what he said:  “Have faith in God!  … I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  The Mount of Olives is this steep ridge outside Jerusalem.  Looking to the west, the disciples had a glorious view of the temple and the city.  Look back to the east from the Mount of Olives, and there’s the Dead Sea 4000 feet below.  Jesus used that view to explain what it means to “have faith in God.”  Faith in God means trusting that God can do anything.  Faith in God means trusting that, if he wanted, God could throw the Mount of Olives with a mighty splash into the Dead Sea.  That’s how powerful God is. 

 

Fellow believers, FAITH IN GOD SHOWS ITSELF with that fruit in your praying.  Still does.  When it comes to prayer, Jesus actually expects very little when it comes to an outward routine.  Hands folded; head bowed; eyes closed or not closed; lips moving or ears merely listening.  Those might or might not be the look and the actions of your praying, but they matter very little to your Savior.  What Jesus expects instead is a heart that is absolutely convinced that God is all-powerful.  The fruit that he looks for is the confidence that God will hear your prayers but will act in mighty ways.  Pray with the unwavering certainty God can do everything he promises.  Pray that he will heal and help even where healing and helping seem impossible.  Pray that he will comfort and correct even when those who need the comforting and correcting seem out of touch with him.  Pray that he will keep his promise and rule people’s lives by grace, crush his enemies and lead many to repent.  Pray that he will keep his promise and work in everything that happens for your eternal good.  Jesus looks for that fruit in your praying and is so pleased when he sees it.

 

When I read Jesus’ words here, I’m glad for the season of Lent.  You see, my tree doesn’t always show that fruit of confidence in prayer.  My prayers tend to be feeble and faltering.  My confidence in mighty God can easily be weakened by my own worrying.  But I’m glad for the season of Lent, and you can be too, because during Lent we’re watching our Substitute in action, and we see him pray perfect prayers in our place.  In the Upper Room, we hear Jesus praying for himself and for his whole church on earth, for all time, asking that the heavenly Father would bless his church in mighty ways.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see Jesus praying urgently, his sweat falling from his face like drops of blood.  He prays unselfishly that God’s will be done no matter what.  At the cross we hear more of our Lord’s prayers.  He counts on the heavenly Father’s forgiveness for others  --  even for his enemies.  He counts on the heavenly Father receiving his spirit in death.  There’s our Substitute.  There’s our Savior, his holy prayers credited to my prayer life and yours.  That’s the Christian faith.  That’s the FAITH that SHOWS ITSELF also in your praying and in mine as we count on God’s amazing grace and mighty strength at all times.

 

(2)

 

Jesus looks for the fruit of prayer.  He invites it.  He welcomes it.  He is honored to hear it.  “And when you stand praying,” Jesus says, remember this:  “If you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  FAITH IN GOD produces a forgiving spirit.  That’s quite a connection, isn’t it?  Just think it through.  If you or I refuse to forgive someone, we are saying that someone else has to suffer the consequences of his or her wrong doing.  Right?  They have to make up for it.  They treated us so badly, they have to pay a price for their sins.  But if that’s the case, what are we telling God?  We’re telling him not to forgive us either.  We’re telling him, “I need to make right for my sins too.  I need to pay.”  But that’s not FAITH IN GOD.  That is not trusting in God to do what he promises.  That’s trusting in ourselves to make things right with God.  On the other  hand, the fruit of forgiving even those who have hurt you badly  --  that shows what grace is all about.  That shows that you appreciate how your Father for Jesus’ sake has also forgiven you.  Yes, FAITH IN GOD SHOWS ITSELF in your forgiving.

 

Isn’t it true that Jesus Christ demonstrated that kind of forgiving again and again?

 

§                                             The spokesman for his disciples, Peter himself, had plenty to say about Jesus when they asked him questions in the chilly air of the Jerusalem.  Peter cursed and he swore and he insisted that he did not know Jesus Christ.  Within days Jesus spoke to Peter privately.  He forgave Peter, and he reinstated Peter as one of his apostles.

 

§                                             Roman soldiers on the order of Pontius Pilate pounded nails into Jesus’ hands and feet.  They lifted him up on his cross, ignoring his pain, mocking him.  “Father, forgive them,” Jesus prayed, “for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

§                                             A criminal hung on a cross near Jesus’ cross.  At one moment he was hurling insults at Jesus.  Yet later we hear he changed his mind, and Jesus forgive him his sin.  “Today,” Jesus said, “you will be with me in paradise.”

 

§                                             Then the Lord died on that cross.  The innocent Son of God laid down his life and purchased the forgiveness of all sins for all sinners everywhere. 

 

When you were baptized, you were baptized into Jesus’ death.  You died to sin that day  --  to all its consequences and to all its wicked ways.  When you were baptized, you were given FAITH IN GOD and in God’s forgiving you all your sins and giving you eternal life.  FAITH IN GOD finds peace in that forgiveness.  FAITH IN GOD finds hope and joy in that forgiveness.  FAITH IN GOD SHOWS ITSELF in your forgiving everyone who sins against you.

 

Walk the road past a fig tree, and you and I learn that Jesus Christ is not impressed with a big show of leaves.   Jesus expects fruit.  But he hasn’t left us high and dried out, cursed because of our failures.  He completed walking the road of a holy life in our place.  He laid down that life on the tree of the cross.  Such love compels your FAITH IN GOD.  Mine too.  It absolutely compels FAITH THAT SHOWS ITSELF in our praying and in our forgiving  --  in the very fruit that our Savior expects.  Amen.