Lent 3: The Patient Gardener's Gift

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This Week in The Way of Grace: Bible Stories for Lent

We're in Week 3: Finding Grace in Life's Hard Places, page 33 in The Way of Grace. In this lesson, Jesus reminds his disciples, and us, that bad things can happen to good people through no fault of their own. It's not too late to get your own book to carry you through Lent to the glory of Easter. Note: After Easter we anticipate a price increase.

Whether you have a book or not, here's a look at all four lectionary readings this week, which offer us...

An Invitation to Grace – Isaiah 55:1-9 NIV

There are moments in life when we receive a gift so generous, so unexpected, that we are overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness. A moment like that still lingers in my memory. In 2019, Debbie and I marked a decade-and-a-half of service at Chatham Baptist Church. Those fifteen years made my pastorate the second-longest in the church’s history.

Of course, this significant milestone in the church’s history, and our lives, called for a celebration. At a Sunday luncheon in our honor, the church recognized our years of service together and surprised us with an all-expense paid vacation to a South Carolina beach resort. To say we were surprised is an understatement, but mostly we felt deep gratitude for their generosity and love.

This week the prophet Isaiah speaks of a generous, loving God who offers an invitation to those who need it most – the thirsty, the hungry, the weary:

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." – from Isaiah 55:1-9 NIV

It is an image of extravagant grace. No cost. No barriers. Only the open arms of a generous God, calling us to a feast we could never afford on our own. It is the invitation and gift of a lifetime – one that echoes through the whole of Scripture, including, as we shall see, a psalmist’s longing for God, Paul’s warning against complacency, and Jesus’ parable of the fig tree.

At the heart of this gift is not just the promise of abundance but the challenge of response.

Isaiah doesn’t only say, Come! He also says, Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. 

There is an urgency here. Grace is freely given, but it is not meant to be wasted. The feast is prepared, but we must show up to receive its benefit.

A Soul That Longs for More – Psalm 63:1-8 NIV

This week’s reading from Psalm 63 gives voice to the deep longing that Isaiah’s invitation is meant to satisfy. The psalmist, desperately wandering in a dry and worn-out land, cries:

"O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." - from Psalm 63

This is a thirst that goes beyond physical need. It is the ache of the human soul, longing for something real, something lasting. We were made for communion with God, and when we stray too far, something within us knows it.

But here is the tragedy: instead of running to the waters God offers, we often try to quench our thirst elsewhere. We chase distractions. We numb our restlessness. We lose the wonder that first drew us to faith and settle into comfortable complacency.

The late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel warns about losing the wonder. He writes that the greatest spiritual danger is not rebellion but indifference. What once filled us with awe becomes routine. We stop expecting new discoveries and fresh encounters with God. Instead of responding to the divine call with open hearts, we assume we already know what grace looks like. And we begin to take its gift for granted.

Complacency and the Warning of History – I Corinthians 10:1-13 NIV

But there’s another caution in this week’s readings. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, reminds them, and us, of a hard truth: Israel had once received God’s blessings in abundance – manna in the wilderness, water from the rock, divine guidance by fire and cloud. And yet, many fell away. Not because they didn’t believe in God, but because they stopped being alert to the presence of God. They grew complacent.

They assumed grace was a given rather than a gift.

Paul’s words are a warning: we too can be surrounded by divine goodness and still miss it. We can hear about the feast and yet still remain hungry.

But if Isaiah’s call is an invitation, and Paul’s warning is a wake-up call, then Jesus’ parable of the fig tree is a word of hope.

The Gardener’s Patience – Luke 13:1-9 NIV

Jesus tells the story of a barren fig – one that by all rights should have been cut down. It had three years to produce a harvest of figs and for whatever reason had not. Understandably, the owner of the vineyard was ready to remove it and plant something more productive in its place.

But the gardener, who tends the soil and knows the tree, intercedes.

"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; but if not, you can cut it down."

The gardener does not deny the tree’s barrenness, but neither does he discard it. Instead, he offers it intentional care – cultivating, digging, loosening the hardened soil, feeding it for growth. He gives it another season, another chance to flourish.

This is the heart of grace: not just a one-time invitation, but an ongoing commitment to what is best for us. God does not just call us once and walk away. God cultivates us. When we have gone dry, when our roots have stopped reaching for living water, when we have become accustomed to barrenness – God does not give up, nor cut us down. Instead, God tends us patiently.

And yet, there is an urgency. The tree is given another season, but not an unlimited number of seasons.

This is not a warning, just an effort to create awareness in us. We must recognize that grace is calling now. Today. Its invitation is to growth, and to remind us we were meant to flourish.

The Response That Leads to Life

The invitation of Isaiah, the longing of the psalmist, the warning of Paul, and the grace of the gardener all converge in this moment: 

What will we do with the gift we have been offered?

Are we still thirsty for God, or have we settled for something less? Do we assume we already understand grace, or are we still awake to the wonder of it? Are we bearing fruit, or are we standing stagnant, assuming we’ll always have more time?

The good news is that the gardener has not given up on us. There is still time. The soil can still be tilled. The water is still offered freely.

"Come, all who are thirsty." The invitation stands. The gift is waiting. This is our season to flourish.

Prayer: God of the Garden, cultivate in our lives a new attention to your presence, an appreciation for your gifts, and a response to your patient grace. Amen.