Nov 29, 2020
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know summer is near..."
This is the weary, weighty world of the early Christians to whom Mark wrote. Look to the fig tree for summer is near and keep alert for as Jesus just said right before this in chapter 13, “do you see these great buildings, not one stone will remain” Look for the fig tree. Dreamers keep awake.
Beloved, the message for the day is no matter the weary, weightiness of the world, we Christians remain people of hope. The early Christians of Mark’s community knew what it was like to live in a volatile and uncertain world of rubble and put all their dreams on the faithfulness of God in Jesus Christ. They knew what it was like to sit in the generative darkness with only one candle: hope.
In the time of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in which we live, my prayer is that we too look for the fig tree. Even when our world is full of rubble there is still signs of new life of tender branches that will put leaves. Keep awake and alert to the signs of God’s presence that are all around us. Where do you see them?