Take a Leap (of Faith)

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, March 23rd, 2025:
Third Sunday of Lent

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Luke
13.1-9

​Jesus was teaching the crowds; some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

Jesus asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them — do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’

“The gardener replied, ‘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.’”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

The classic parental challenge comes to mind: “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?” We all know this illustrative reminder that we need to think for ourselves, not just follow the crowd. As a young person, while I believe that I understood this exaggerated warning, there are plenty of other scenarios and worldviews into which I found myself led, and I accepted them because they were what “everyone else is doing.” Sadly, I can see now that I missed a lot of the wisdom in the old bridge-jumping question, perhaps because of the pure ridiculousness of that example. The truth is, as a teen and young adult, I was not really interested in going against the grain, and so I didn’t always put a lot of thought into my inclinations or decisions.  

When I began attending church, I railed against the idea of repentance because, like most people I knew, I believed myself to possess a relative goodness upon which I rested. Sure, I failed sometimes to be patient, or selfless, or generous, but so did everyone else, and I often saw others fail more than I did! So by comparison, I was doing all right. My conscience was not formed in relation to God, but to the sinners around me. Essentially, everyone else was jumping off bridges, and I ran after them, yelling “wait for me!”, and went into a free fall.

Deep down, I knew there was some serious repentance required, but I tried to avoid it by minimizing my faults and failures and excusing myself because I knew my intentions, and therefore all was well. When I (slowly) came to the realization that God simply loves me and wants me to bear fruit in the name of Love, I took a huge leap of faith and decided to trust what He says throughout Scripture, and notably in this Gospel reading.  

I believe that if I were to have died after having jumped off all those proverbial bridges, without reaching the realization that I had a lot to reconcile with God, it would have been a far less peaceful death than the one I will die having understood His role in my life and having made amends for my transgressions… and thankfully, He is so merciful that He will wait for me, and for all of us to do this work. He is a patient, skilled gardener to the fig tree that is my soul, the one that maybe just needs another year and a bit of fertilizer. 




​Lindsay Elford

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