When Jesus Gets Hungry

“On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it. (Mark 11:12-14 ESV)”

Here we find Jesus, in the final week before His crucifixion, travelling from Bethany to Jerusalem, about a two mile hike, and he wants breakfast. He looks ahead and sees a fig tree in the distance that is covered in lush leaves, promising sustenance. There’s only one problem; upon closer inspection, Jesus finds no figs. The tree’s appearance of fruitfulness could not satisfy Jesus’ desire for figs because “…it was not the season for figs.”

Many times we as Christians are satisfied with the appearance of fruitfulness. We say and do the “right” things in order to maintain the beauty of our leaves. We are faithful church members and good neighbors who are involved in all the right political causes. The problem is there is no real fruit in our lives; not the kind that satisfies the Lord at least. Paul called that fruit ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:22-24). That fruit is the product of a life crucified to self, and surrendered to the operation of the Holy Spirit.

Instead of bearing fruit, we are satisfied with a moralistic code or religious reformation instead of a truly spiritual transformation. While you might go far in life by playing nice in the sandbox and not cheating on your taxes, forcing these or any other disciplines upon yourself will never produce the Spirit’s fruit in our life. We must abandon the rot of self-righteousness and rely on God to do in us what we can never do on our own.     

Let me further demonstrate with another story you’re probably familiar with…

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:6-7 ESV)”

From the very beginning of humanity’s unending dance with sin, we have sought to make coverings for ourselves; coverings that from the start have proven to be ineffective. Our first parent’s response to their newly discovered awareness of nakedness and the subsequent shame was to immediately cover it up. The problem was that they weren’t very good at it!

You see, Adam and Eve’s fig leaves would eventually wither; and I assure you, modern man’s “fig leaves” are no better suited to cover our shame. Things like blame, excuses, boasting, pride, piety, and false humility are all fig leaves that will eventually wither and fall off, revealing the shame that is universal to mankind.

However, just like the Father shed blood to cover the sin and shame of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21), Jesus died to clothe us in His own righteousness (Isaiah 61:10)! The problem is that instead of receiving His covering (His blood that alone makes us righteous), and fully trusting in what he has already done, we try to “beef up” our covering to impress others, and allay our guilty consciences. This is never O.K. with Jesus.

What He is looking for is fruit. John chapter 15 tells us exactly what Jesus' idea of a successful Christian life is…the abiding that produces fruit.

What is the main purpose of fruit? “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:8 ESV)”. So many have approached the Christian life with the consumerist idea of “What’s in it for me?”; but have you ever thought, “What’s in it for God?” The fruit produced by our lives is for the satisfaction (glory) of God. As we are the branches of the Vine, any fruit produced belongs to the Master of the Vineyard!

He tells us in John 15 that our fruit is for His glory. Psalms 2 tells us that “the nations” (that’s you and I) are His inheritance . I remember hearing stories of Moravian missionaries sailing to preach to slave colonies, never to be heard from again, shouting “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!” Did you catch that? HIS glory, HIS inheritance, HIS reward! Christianity focused on us is ALWAYS the weakest, most useless form there is; not a whit better in any way than Islam or Mormonism. We need to be practitioners of Christocentric Christianity where Jesus is the entire point, not mansions in the sweet by and by, or moral societies in the sour now.

One last note…you may think you’re “off the hook” because it’s just not your “season” for fruit; you’re waiting until you’re older in Christ or have conquered that one pesky sin, etc., but since fruitfulness comes to those who abide, and not those who labor, true disciples are always in season (2 Timothy 4:2, John 15:16). 

Is Jesus finding anything that will “satisfy His hunger” in your life or mine? Let’s stop playing “dress up” in the leaf pile and abide in His love so that He will find what He’s looking for.      

Misplaced Desire?

 ”The same people who want sixty-minute worship services rent two-hour videos and watch NBA and NFL games that run even longer. The issue is not length, but appetite. Why the misplaced desire?” Jim Cymbala from Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

After reading that quote you may be concerned that I am about to transform into “the grumpy old man” and jump up on the nearest soap-box and proclaim, “When I was your age, church services went for eight hours AND WE LOVED IT!” On the contrary, I have been in many lengthy services that left me feeling that the time would have been better spent ANYWHERE else. I have also been in services that lasted an hour or less that left me longing for more, and disappointed that it was time to go. I don’t want to address how long your worship service should be, but rather to address the question posed here by Pastor Cymbala. ”Why the misplaced desire?”

“The issue is not length, but appetite.”  Let’s be real careful to understand exactly the issue we’re discussing. The issue is not denominational creed, but appetite.  The issue is not musical preference, but appetite. The issue is not the time constraints of my personal schedule, but appetite. The issue is not the pastor’s lack (or abundance) of education, but appetite. The issue is not the building program, but appetite. The issue is not Brother or Sister So-and-So, but appetite, etc., etc., etc.

With the list I have constructed in the paragraph above, you could easily and mistakenly assume that I am speaking of corporate worship alone, as if I am proposing that we become people who hide ourselves in the church, away from the world; or that we never take the time to enjoy the life God has given us. Am I saying we should never enjoy hobbies, engage in business, or spend time with our friends?  To be clear, let me say on the flip-side, the issue is not the NFL, the NBA, movies, TV, reading, social networking, music, quilting, board games, fishing, cooking, Sunday School, auto repair, your kids or grandkids, political activism, etc., …the issue is appetite. What do I desire?     

 In our naturally sinful state (without Jesus) we have only one way to relate to the bigger moral questions of life, and that is through religion, with all of its rules and regulations. We do this because we mistakenly believe it puts us in control of both ourselves and others. We feel that if we can live within the “thou shalts” and the “thou shalt nots” that we will be pleasing to God and free from sin’s grip on our lives. We replace the need for healthy appetites with a strict and oppressive diet of pre-packaged morality.

Jesus, however, was far less concerned about our rule-keeping and boiled everything down to getting our desire (appetites) pointed in the right direction.

 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all  your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31 ESV

“Love” is the greatest expression of desire. Jesus left no room for competing loyalties: “all your heart” (my emotions), “all your soul” (my will), “all your mind” (my thoughts), “all your strength” (the activities of my physical body). Because God loves others, they become part of the deal for us as well, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Instead of making the issue about whether it’s O.K. to do this or that, or whether we should have longer church services or bigger offerings or more mission trips, we should spend our time and energy on one question, “What do I desire?”, or rather, “Whom do I desire?” If I would do this habitually, all other issues concerning the vibrancy of my worship, my entertainment choices, and my service to my fellow man would be resolved; swept away in a new wave of passionate love for the One who first loved me.

Who and what we desire is a major thing with God. God describes Himself in the Old Testament as a “jealous God” (Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 4:24; 5:9; 6:15, Joshua 24:19). Many of His judgments against the nation of Israel were for their “adultery” (see Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea for starters). Has this changed in the New Covenant? Consider James 4:4-5 (ESV) “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’.”

In the 1970’s, the late Keith Green caused quite a stir among the religious with his song, To Obey is Better than Sacrifice. In the lyrics he states, speaking in the first person as the Father:

To obey is better than sacrifice. I want more than Sundays and Wednesday nights. ‘Cause if you can’t come to me every day, then don’t bother coming at all.

Ouch! It may sound harsh, but I believe that God’s standard throughout scripture is crystal clear. He has no interest in being an accessory…a mere piece of jewelry that we wear to make us feel important or impress our snobby, religious friends. No. He is worthy of my longing, my desire, my hunger.

The good news is that God wants to help us in our weakness. Ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart. Boldly ask him to show you where you have desired other things, perhaps even set up idols (these can be anything that demands more of your attention than you devote to the Father. We all have them at one time or another) and He will do it. Most of all, stop rationalizing your idolatry and adultery! It’s time to kick the lovers named “Stuff” and “Status” out of our beds! If we will determine to do this, God will help us.  In fact, the Holy Spirit is our only hope. If we have any chance of seeing our lives transformed, swept clean and idol-free, it is only through His illumination and assistance…

 …but be ready to get honest, because if you ask, he WILL show you what stands in the way and expect you to remove it.