23 March 2025
Bible readings for today
Liturgical colour: VIOLET |
CollectE te Atua atawhai me te pai,
e mōhio ana koe i tō mātou ngoikoretanga e ngaro ai mātou; meinga mātou kia ū atu ki raro i āu manaakitanga, ā, arahina mātou ki ngā rawa katoa e ora ai mātou; ko Īhu Karaiti tō mātou Ariki. Āmine. God of grace and goodness, you know that by reason of our frailty we cannot but fail; keep us always under your protection and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |
The Fig Tree (Luke 13:1-9)
Leader's Input
Visio Lectio
A beautiful image from the Visio Lectio project, created by the Anglican Diocese of Auckland. © Sarah West. All Rights reserved, shared with permission. Download Terms of Use Quotes to get you thinking
"So many of the judgement sayings of Jesus are depictions of tree chopping and wood-burning, hell fires and, taken out of context, eternal torment. This passage is about what we might call ‘fate’ (as long as we don’t start thinking of ‘fate’ as bigger than God), the age old observation that the rains falls on the just and the unjust alike. Faith in Jesus is not a barrier against the sticky facts of living with mortality. In the second paragraph Jesus turns to focus on readiness, forbearance, patience – the context suggests patience in prayer, and the longing for God’s explanation that all that does not seem right. We have, sometimes against all odds, to hold to the belief that, as Julian of Norwich put it, all shall be well." - Archdeacon Michael Godfrey "Like many of Jesus’ parables, this one gets pretty puzzling once you look closely. But still, stories are usually the way I like to go. And I think it needs to stay a bit ambiguous. The point of puzzling parables surely can’t be to reach perfect clarity. If Jesus wanted us to have perfect clarity he wouldn’t have made them so confusing. I think the point is to chew on them, live with them, wonder about them." - Gary Neal Hansen
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Gospel Reflections 2025: This is a slightly odd little gospel section, plucked out of the larger narrative and given to us to consider as we continue our Lenten journey. Why do tragedies happen? What can we learn from a parable about the one-year's-grace given to a fig tree? John Goodwin, Mark Wilson and Anne van Gend join Michael to see what we can make of it!
Note that the poems quoted or referred to are David Whyte's "Waiting to go on" and Mary Oliver's "The Summer Day". Gospel Conversations 2022: Gillian Townsley, Trish Franklin and Anne van Gend have a thoroughly enjoyable time talking with Archdeacon Michael Godfrey about repentance, second chances, and the love of God.
Anglican Movement Series Lent 3 2025: Jethro Day discusses Luke 13:1-9, emphasizing Jesus' message of repentance. He explains repentance as turning towards God and aligning with His agenda, essential for life and goodness. Jesus uses the metaphor of fruitful trees to illustrate spiritual growth and contrasts it with barren, prickly ones. Day suggests four practices for spiritual fertilization during Lent: fasting, prayer, generosity, and scripture reading. He highlights the importance of being relationally connected to God and living a fruitful, giving life, while acknowledging God's compassion and grace.
Anglican Movement Series Lent 3 2022: Rev. Chris Darnell presents the third in Anglican Movement's Lenten Sermon Series.
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Kids TalksFinding sweetness (Sermonwriter.com) - short and simple
Grace and fruitful living (Ministry to children) How does God feel about us? (Gary Neal Hansen) A second chance I once heard the story of a fighter pilot during World War II. It seems that one day, the mechanic who was responsible for putting petrol in the airplane made a mistake. You see, airplanes don't take the same kind of petrol that our cars do. This mechanic was supposed to mix the fuel just right. It wasn't an easy thing and the man made a mistake. The fuel was the wrong kind. When the pilot was up in the air, the wrong kind of fuel was going through his engine. Pretty soon the engine started sputtering and it seemed like the engine was going to conk out completely! The pilot was a very good pilot and he was able to land the plane, but the landing was rough and the plane was badly damaged. The mechanic came running out to to the damaged plane and the pilot, who was, thankfully, unhurt. The mechanic had tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'm so so sorry", he sobbed. "As soon as you took off, I knew that I'd made a mistake. You could have been killed, and it's all my fault." The pilot looked at the mechanic who had been working on his planes. Then he said, "I know how sorry you must be and to show you that I trust that you'll never make this mistake again, I want you to service my plane tomorrow!" What an amazing example of giving someone another chance and trusting that they'll do better. Our story today is a little bit like that. The owner of the land is fed up with this one particular fig tree that wasn't bearing any fruit. Figs are delicious and every year the owner would come to this tree hoping to find some yummy figs waiting to be eaten. Three years and nothing! The owner was so fed up he wanted the tree chopped down to make room for something else. Sometimes we can be like that tree. We're supposed to give a certain kind of fruit-- love, peace, kindness, helpfulness, honesty and more, but sometimes we don't. We all make mistakes, we might be mean to someone, refuse to help out when we need to or even lie. But God doesn't give up on us. He's like the gardener that wants to give us another chance. He wants to give us good healthy food, speak to us through his word, fill us with his holy spirit so that we can be the kind and loving people that he wants us to be. No matter how many times we disappoint God by not bearing good fruit, he always gives us another chance to do the right things. Games / Activities
Questions to think about
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Pray it!Why not create a prayer tree for kids (and adults to add their prayers to). This is a lovely way to pray that can be adapted for lots of different themes. This week prayers could be thank-yous (for God giving us what we need) or requests (asking for help to grow 'fruit' in a particular part of our lives). Check out these examples for inspiration.
Preschool FunHere are some ways you can invite your preschoolers to play their way into the bible story and spending time with God.
Garden walk - if you have a suitable space, take the children for a wander around the church garden. Make sure to stop and smell, touch, look at all the amazing things growing. Things to chat about: Who has a garden at home? What grows? What do plants need to grow? What do people need to grow? Small world / sensory play - grab an underbed storage container or large tray with sides and fill it with sand or soil. Try adding some of the following:
Things to chat about: the story and what happened in it. SAFETY NOTE - make sure the plants you use are safe and not poisonous. Don't use fresh potting mix as this can have bacteria in it. Art in LentIf you want to mark Lent in a simple rich way, how about creating a space where your kids can spend some time with Jesus-related art. Try these questions or make up your own. Think about offering resources for kids to make art too.
Artist: Clara Velásquez
An adaptation of Carl Bloch’s “Sermon on the Mount" |
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Isaiah 55:1-9
Intergenerational WorshipA collection of resources and ideas, written and compiled by Beth Nicholls for Intergen Australia. Bible references: Isaiah.
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Kids TalksCome and get it... for free! (Ministry to children)
Eat what is good (Sermonwriter.com) - very short and simple Higher than Everest (Ministry to children) - focus on Isaiah 55:6-9 |
