Wasted Soil,

the Global Church

and Being Held Hostage

I went to this great workshop today where I experienced the Spirit of God moving through a group spiritual discipline of reading (lectio divina style) a parable teaching of Jesus recorded and passed on in Luke 13:6-9. I was struck by the power of this teaching and what it says for our life. If you've never done Lectio Divina reading before...check out this past blog article on it HERE.

Here's some of my thought and wonders in asking about
1. The word/phrase/image that struck me.
2. Where the story touches my/our life today.

The parable is actually a judgement statement of Jesus who says to the relgious leaders and people of his day: Make a choice! Either get with God's program, or God will get with someone else.

The tree belongs to someone.
The soil is old, empty, stripped of nutrients, so the tree only can produce badly nourished leaves and immature buds.
It would take something radically new for the tree to bear fruit.
Every tree counts in this orchard (even if the others are mentioned) and they all are planted to bear fruit not just to make shade.
One more year is given.
If there's no production, the tree is history so that a new tree can be planted.
The owner cares enough to come and check for fruit himself.
To get fruit, you gotta first shovel the shit.

So what does it mean for us? How does it touch our life today? How is God inviting us to change/become/act through this story?

I found myself thinking about the church (the church community I'm a part of as well as the larger church). God loves us. God cares enough to ensure that we're holding up our part of the bargain, living up to our calling - to bear fruit. If we aren't producing, God will plant, or call someone else to do so. We have to make a jump, a radical shift, not just a tweak-ing in order to bear fruit, to move from bareness (if that's where we are) to fruitfulness.

Several people shared in this group exercise about how their faith communities are stuck, like the tree in need of manure:
The complainers control things.
They're afraid of change.
They're afraid of losing what they already have.
The older folks want things to remain how they've always remained...even if it means we don't make space (physical and invitaitonal) for new folks to enter into and participate in the life of our faith community.

Got me thinking....Are we held hostage by our elders?

In some cultures my question is sacrilege. In Africa and Asia elder respect is key and king. I'm a Western Anglo-American does that mean I'm culturally insensitive for asking the question? Or maybe there's something deeper.
Can we get rid of the older folks who complain, block things, and tyrannize others by and through their fear?
Or do we let them create an impasse, stopping any sort of freeing and creative momevement or energy, ideas, passion and relational synergy, in order to be "polite" and "respectful"?

I'm not advocating for elder abuse here...it's just an image/metaphor for the ways in which we're blocked and sometimes even stalin-esquely held hostage by others or other forces that are afraid of the future, of change, or being lost.

What is that in your life? - the state of our government? The War in Iraq? The state of the schools in Oakland? A relationship? How you're treated at work? Your own faith community?

How do we respond?
It's tough where is the line between respect and choosing blindness? Are we willing to let the church (in my case - or whatever it is for you) let us or others down in order to keep the peace? In our journey from the wilderness to the promised land, are we willing to settle for almost made it but not quite? Are we willing to settle for living in wasted soil instead of picking up our shovels in order to redistribute the shit so that we can be fruitful?