March 23, 2025:  Our gospel this morning is Luke 13:1-9.
"This morning, we hear Jesus' parable of the fig tree, telling us to repent and bear good fruit.  We know what the Christian life requires of us and yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we also know how far short we fall.  So the question that confronts us this morning is:  'Yes, but how?'"
...
"Remember Jesus is not demanding anything that we cannot produce.  He doesn't ask the fig tree to produce bananas.  He doesn't expect the fig tree to grow tall as an oak or be fragrant as a cedar.  He is only asking it to be what it is, to do what it ought:  produce figs.  You and I have differing gifts.  Some have wonderful singing voices.  Others have graceful bodies.  Some are artists, others are good with numbers, and others still are good with people.  Each of us has our own unique gifts.  And the miracle that happens is that through repentance and forgiveness, those gifts are released for the good of God and others around us."  Lee Griess, "God Doesn't Ask a Fig Tree to Produce Bananas," Taking the Risk Out of Dying, CSS Publishing Company.

Thanks be to God!