3rd Sunday of Lent

So here is a question for you and I am going to invite you to unmute yourself if you have the answer.
As geese and ducks have begun their spring migration back to the frozen north, we see them flying in their renowned V formation.  Why is one side of the V-Formation always longer than the other?
There are more birds on that side!
Humor has a way of carrying a message and I think that is precisely what is happening in our Gospel today….
The questions asked of Jesus and the answers given by Jesus are quite obvious—similar to the birds in the joke.
When Jesus is confronted with the gossip of the early community, and the judgement of those who were spreading the gossip, he answers the question with an obvious answer…who is the greater sinner?   The one who is calling the other a sinner!
And in case we made the mistake of thinking that Jesus is referring to himself as the vineyard owner in the story of the Fig tree, we would be incorrect, Jesus sees himself and God as the Vine Dresser…who begs for another opportunity to help the fig tree to bear fruit. 
These chapters of Luke are filled with parables, that are meant to carry a lesson in their hearing…to make us stop and think…about ourselves and about our relationships with each other and our God.
If there is a lesson to learn from our Gospel pericope tonight, it may be this:  how we speak about others, has power and the speaker can build up, or tear down. 
Proverbs 12:18 says…”Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.”
It seems often in life that we always want to find someone that we can point to that is worse than we are.  Someone we can blame for the shortcomings we find, but usually those shortcomings are things we recognize because they are a part of our lives as well.
In my work and in my life I have come to see and to firmly believe that no one is beyond redemption.  Absolutely no one….I had to spend 10 years in prison to learn that. 
There is no fig tree that if it is fed and nurtured and cared for that does not contain within itself the potential to bear fruit.  But it must be cared for…so too must we.
One of the holiest men I know, is a man I met in Prison, who at 17 murdered his dad, Mom, brother and sister.  Most would say, lock him up, throw away the key and never let him see the light of day. 
And yet that man, has been the source of healing, transformation, forgiveness, accountability, hope, and compassion beyond any I have ever seen.  I was talking with him yesterday, and we were sharing our faith journey with each other.  At one point we came to the mutual conclusion, that in order to reach compassion, we must be aware of our own brokenness.  We truly are wounded healers.
Like the V formation, sometimes the obvious is so obvious that we miss it. 
We each have a unique purpose, in this time and this space.  We each have been planted like the fig tree in the garden, and yet we need a vinedresser who believes in us enough to nurture and coax out our holiness.
I believe God is our vinedresser.  And every day, is an opportunity to coax holiness from someone else.  We are more than our mistakes, and more than our sin.  We, each and every one of us, are children of God, the great “I AM” who invites us every day to the burning bush and to remove our sandals, for all of the ground on which we stand is holy. 
I wonder what kind of fruit are we bearing for the world?