OCTOBER 24, 2026 BISHOP ROBERT KASUN
Don’t you just love the parable of the barren fig tree? It has been a favourite of mine for many years. And I think it is beautiful, especially because it speaks to us powerfully and beautifully about the tender love of God in Jesus for us.
The story consists of three figures, one is the owner of the vineyard. And in his vineyard there is a fig tree. The second character is the gardener. And he is the one who is anxious to keep the fig tree alive. And the third character, although not a person, is the fig tree. And the fig tree is you and me. And the fig tree represents, in some ways, our own life. When we are not bearing fruit as we can and as we should. We are not bringing forth the good that has been made possible for us to bring forth for, perhaps, a variety of different reasons of which one reason might be our own sinfulness or our selfishness.
So, the gardener, or the owner of the vineyard, says, “I’ve looked for fruit on this tree for three years, I’ve had it with this tree. Cut it down! It’s taking up good soil.”
But then, notice the gardener, how beautifully and how tenderly the gardener speaks. “Sir, let it alone for one more year until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good.”
That, dear brothers and sisters, is how our Lord loves us and pursues us. God, in Jesus, is the one who wishes us to change, to repent, to turn around in our life, to turn away from sin toward the values of Jesus and the gospel while He, that is the Lord, cultivates around us and offers fertilizer so that we may be able to grow and bear the kind of fruit that He wishes us to bear. That is the kind of love with which Jesus loves us. How beautiful and how tender it is. And we can be extremely grateful for that kind of love.
However, there is also a caveat at the end of the reading, one that is realistic. Where the gardener says to the owner of the fig tree, “But if the tree does not bear fruit after one more year, then you can cut it down.” And this is the line that brings us into the reality of our life.
We believe, of course, in the God of second chances and thirds chances, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and on and on. But, sooner or later, the day of judgement comes. Part of our Lord’s love for us is that we will change, that we will turn away from sin and put on, for others to see, the love of Christ radiant in our world.
So, today, may each one of us recollect in what ways we may need to change, to turn away from sin so that we may be bearers of good fruit.
