Expectations: What a garden can teach us about what God wants to see.

My garden is well on its way. I can’t wait to see what will come. For me a garden is more about relaxation than vegetation. People get into gardening for all kinds of reasons. I heard tell of a man took up gardening after the loss of a close friend. To quote him; “I went down to the hardware store, and got all the necessary tools, and got to work immediately. And now that a few months have gone by, I can say with full confidence that no one is going to … find that body.” Some people get into gardening to conceal.

God, on the other hand, is into gardening to reveal.  He wants to teach us about expectations. A garden can show us about what He expects to see. In Isaiah 5:4, God revealed his disappointment with His people—Israel.

“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” Isa. 5:4

He had given them everything necessary to grow spiritually, yet they produced. How’s your garden? How are you growing as a person, a church and as a country? Are you meeting His expectations.

In Luke 13:6-9, God gives you a lesson in gardening to reveal how to meet His expectations. It can be summed up simply: God inspects what He expects—growth; not just any growth, but Miracle Growth that comes in two stages—expectation and inspection.

The first stage of “Miracle Growth” is expectation. God expects spiritual growth. We see it in the Parable of the Fig Tree. Jesus tells the story of a garden owner who expected figs on his fig tree. The owner came by this tree for three years expecting fruit. But there was none. So, he ordered the worker to cut it down. “It’s just taking up space,” the owner said.  But the worker interceded, “Give it one more year. Let me tend to it, get some weeds out of it, fertilize it.  All it needs is some time and some grace.

The owner in the parable is God. The worker is Christ. His spade is the cross. Christ is saying in this parable: Where there is time and grace, people can grow. Expect growth where there is grace.

When time and grace is worked into the life of a person there will be fruit—grace fruit—according to II Peter 3:18a which says, “Grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Expect growth in the opioid-addicted housewife. Don’t write her off, love her into sobriety. Expect growth in that prison inmate. Give grace and see rehabilitation grow. Expect growth in that single parent who made an unwise choice. Don’t judge. Join in ministry of mercy. 

God gave you grace. He expects grace from you. Not only does God expects, but He also inspects growth in what he expects.

God inspects what he expects from us in a final judgment to see if we have grown spiritually as a Christian, a country, and as a church.

At the conclusion of the parable of the fig tree, the Worker said to the owner, “If in a year there is fruit great. But if not—from your inspection—then cut it down.

There is a judgment day coming for us when God will inspect our final fruit to see if there was evidence of the residence of the Holy Spirit operating in our life—the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, gentleness. If so, then great. But if not, then cut it down. But thank God, God gives us time before that final time for our own introspection before final inspection.  Daniel of the Smoker’s-Patio Church inspected his fruit.

Church, if you want to pass God’s inspection, grow in your knowledge of Christ, in your relationship with Christ seen in how you treat your brothers and sisters in Christ. For that you need your own introspection, to look in the mirror. I don’t know a better mirror for the church than the communion table. “How does my table look?

 Does compassion still have a seat at the table?  Do you want for other people’s children what you want for your children and grandchildren? I am not for open borders, but neither am I not for closed hearts.    Does forgiveness still have a seat at the table? You only have two hands, one for the bread--the body—and one for the wine, the blood. To bring unforgiveness to the table, you’d have to set aside one of the two ELE. Without either, you have no communion. 

Does community still have a seat at the table? Or are you willing to exclude a seat at God’s table, for someone who doesn’t look like you, vote like you, aren’t like you? God is inspecting your table today for fruit.     

Gardens reveal. So, tend with grace. Expect fruit that will please you and God.