More Manure Than You Can Handle

This sermon was preached by Pastor Ted Carnahan for the Third Sunday of Lent, March 23, 2025.

Grace, mercy, and peace be with all of you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Never more than you can handle?

You ever seen one of those bumper stickers that says, "God will never give you more than you can handle?"

I hate that bumper sticker.

I do, I really do, because it is entirely too simplistic. If you have that bumper sticker on your car, I've got a bottle of acetone in my house, I will help you take it off after this service. That bumper sticker drives me nuts, because it is entirely too simple. It's entirely too simple, because people are taking something that we actually had in our readings today, and then they're twisting it and simplifying it into a pithy little slogan that ignores the fact that suffering is real and difficult.

The Misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13

Frankly, I've been in situations where I've wondered whether I could handle it at all. I say it's a bad paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which was part of our readings today, and I want to read this for you, but then I'm going to quibble with our translators a little bit.

Forgive me, I know that that sounds pretty geeky.

That's because I'm a geek.

But it's important, the distinction today, and I want to explain this.

"No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone." And then St. Paul says, "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength." Okay, you see where they got the slogan from. "But with the testing, he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it."

And the problem I have is with the word testing. I think that's the wrong word there, because the word there should mean "an attempt to learn the nature or the character of something," an attempt to determine what something is truly like down inside. And so a better word, honestly, than testing would be temptation. And if you read it in that context, it makes more sense anyway.

No temptation has overcome you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond your strength. But with the temptation, he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.

The Corinthians' Excuses

You see, the thing is that the Corinthians are trying to say, "Well, Paul, you just don't know what it's like. You don't know the kind of testing and temptation that we have been put through." Now, that's frank nonsense. Paul has been through terrible things, shipwrecked multiple times, beaten within an inch of his life on a handful of occasions. St. Paul has survived more than most of us will ever have to endure in our lives. And the Corinthians basically are saying, "Paul, you don't know what it's like to be me."

And of course, the problem here is temptation is common to everyone. You face temptation from the world, from your own flesh, and from the devil. These temptations are encouraging you to trust in your own righteousness and to disregard the righteousness of Christ, or to despair of God's ability to love and save you, so that you fall into sin and you never seek salvation.

Jesus and Temptation

But if we're talking about temptation, then we remember that Jesus faced every kind of temptation that you and I do, and yet endured and was without sin. In other words, St. Paul is saying clearly back to the church in Corinth, temptation comes, but sin is not necessary. Or to the extent that sin is necessary, that you will be given a way to endure.

Why Does 'Sin' Even Exist?

Which brings me to that question, and it's an age-old question. It's one that you probably have, and that I've had many times in my life: If God is so against sin, (God has decided of all the things, sin is bad, we shouldn't do that. In fact, he defines what sin is in his Word) then why does sin even exist at all? Couldn't God have created a universe in which sin was not a possibility?

Well, of course he could have, but you wouldn't be a part of it. Because sin is the necessary outcome of free will. Now, I don't want you to get too excited about free will. I'm not impressed with it, and you shouldn't be either. But free will at least does this. Free will is your opportunity to show character. So when you go through hard times, when you go through temptations and trials, your free will is what makes the way that you respond to that character, and not just programming.

Because if you don't have free will, if you're just going to do what you do, you're just a mindless robot, you respond to the inputs with certain outputs, you do what comes naturally, then you have no character. Your actions are not good or bad. To be in relationship with God is to accept that there must be free will. That you have to be able to make choices, and those choices at least matter in this world.

The Bondage of the Will

But I told you, don't get too impressed with yourself when it comes to free will, because your free will is not so free as you think it is. Choose the things of God. Which is why we have, in fact, the founder of the Lutheran Church, Martin Luther, wrote a whole pamphlet, it's a very important pamphlet, called "On the Bondage of the Will." Or today, sometimes we translate it "On the Captivity of the Will," because the word bondage means something else now.

You see, because our will is free with regards to the things of this earth. You can choose to do good, and not bad. Somebody insults you, you can choose to punch him in the face, or you can choose to turn the other cheek. You can choose to build an orphanage, or you can choose to keep all your money. You have choices to make, and those choices matter.

But when it comes to the things of God, you are in captivity. Your will is not as free as you think, but your free will is bound to sin. That's why, for example, it's possible to do righteous things on earth, but to not do them from faith, and it doesn't actually matter in the long run. For the purpose of salvation, your good works do nothing for you unless they are motivated out of faith in Jesus Christ. Because it's only faith which makes your righteous deeds righteous in God's eyes.

So yes, that means you could build 72 orphanages, and still not be righteous in God's sight, because it's only when that good deed comes from faith in Jesus Christ does that righteousness avail for eternal life. Which is why it is possible to do so much good according to the law, and still run into problems with God.

The Parable of the Sheep and Goats

Last week we talked about this, and we had that really difficult teaching of Jesus, where Jesus says, "There will be some who come to me, and they're going to come to the pearly gates, and they're going to knock on that door, and they're going to open up the peephole, and he's going to look at you, and he's going to say, 'I don't know where you come from. I never knew you,'" because you could have done a lot of good in your life, but did you know Christ?

This is how it's possible for us to do a lot of good, but if our hearts are not squarely in the Christian faith, we have a terrible risk of loss. So we do face hard times and temptations in this life, and the choices that we make with regards to these do in fact reveal our character. And those temptations that God allows us to face are his attempt to learn your nature or your character, and to grow who you are in this life.

And so we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. And sometimes we do get stuck. But that's not an excuse not to make a choice. Because in this life, character matters.

Sin Boldly, But Believe More Boldly Still

This is also why Luther says something that is actually the most often misquoted thing I think that Luther ever said. Two words, and it's been put on t-shirts, and it's been put on bumper stickers. "Sin boldly." And people have taken that and twisted it, and they've said, "Ah, you know what Lutherans are all about. Lutherans are about sinning boldly." What an awful thing to twist the words of Luther to say.

Dr. Luther said this, "Sin boldly, but believe in Christ more boldly still." You see, he had a friend who wrote him a letter and basically said, "Hey, I'm in one of those damned if I do, damned if I don't sort of situations. If I don't do anything, it's sinful. But if I do something, it's also sinful. What on earth do I do?" And he said, "Pick the least bad option, and then sin boldly, but believe in Christ more boldly still."

Because ultimately, it's not your righteousness which makes you right with God, not your good deeds which fix your sin problem in relationship to a holy and righteous God, but it is your faith in Christ. So do what you must do to do the right thing as best as you can in this world. But believe in Christ more boldly still. You have to trust in God's grace. There's no way around it. There's no way to be good enough to avoid all sin.

For you, with your will captive in bondage to sin where you cannot free yourself, and you sin against God and others in thought and word and deed by what you have done and by what you've left undone, the only thing you can do is turn back to God and Jesus Christ and say, "Oh Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner."

The Parable of the Fig Tree

God's grace in our gospel lesson today is found in the parable of the fig tree. And this parable is kind of an interesting one because people take this in a lot of different directions. What we do know about this fig tree is that it's been planted for the purpose of bearing figs. You wouldn't put a fig tree in a vineyard if you weren't expecting to get some fruit from it. It's purpose is to produce figs. And now it's been in the garden for three years and it hasn't produced figs.

Now there are some commentators who want to connect that story back to a passage in Leviticus chapter 19. And it's kind of an obscure law, but it matters here. This law that God gave the people of Israel. And the law is this. In the first three years that you plant a fruit tree, fig, apple, whatever, you aren't allowed to eat of the fruit. In year number four, you can pick the fruit, but you have to give it as an offering of praise to God. And then in year five and following, you're allowed to eat the tree's fruit.

And so they said, okay, in the first three years, there's no fruit. And now we have a new year coming and there's been no fruit so far. And now we can do something with that fruit. And what are we supposed to do with the fruit? We're supposed to give it as an offering of praise to God. But there's been no fruit. So if we look at the fruitfulness of this tree, which for three years was supposed to produce fruit and did not produce any, and now we come to the year in which it is holy, where it is set apart for God. And we've come to the point where we're saying, everything that this fruit tree produces next year is intended to be fruitful to God. But there's no fruit coming. Then what purpose does it have?

We weren't supposed to eat of the fruit if it existed in years one, two, and three. But now in year four, we're expecting to be able to give all of the fruit of this tree to the Lord. And yet it bears no fruit. What good is it? Why should it waste the soil? Now the farmers in the room are going to tell me there's a difference between soil and dirt. Soil is alive and dirt is dead. Soil is a valuable thing. We pay a lot of money for acres of soil. But on the other hand, this guy who owns this vineyard today, he's saying this tree, because it is fruitless, is a waste of dirt.

Have you ever met somebody that you were pretty sure was a waste of dirt? Maybe that's you. Now there also might be a connection between the three years of the ministry of Jesus and the lack of repentance from most of Israel. And now in the fourth year, maybe he's looking ahead to the cross. Either way, the tree has a purpose. The tree's purpose in its life in the vineyard is to bear fruit. Your purpose as a person on this earth is to bear the fruits of repentance and faith. So either way, the tree has a purpose. You have a purpose. And yet there is no fruit. And if there's no fruit, then you're taking up space and you will be cut down.

The Gardener's Mercy

But the gardener is merciful. Very merciful. The owner would cut it down after year three of no fruit. But the gardener says, "Give it one more year." And now here we come into the renewal of this tree. Because what's he going to do? First of all, he's going to dig around it. He's going to loosen up the soil so that the water can penetrate down to the roots. So that the nutrients can get down in there. The oxygen can get down in there. All the good stuff is going to get down there to the roots. I'm not a farmer. I don't know anything about fruit trees. You know what I'm talking about. But you've got to loosen up that soil because the hard soil is likely keeping this tree from receiving the nourishment that it needs to bear fruit and be righteous.

And then the other thing the gardener is going to do is dump a bunch of manure on it.

You ever feel like God's dumped a bunch of manure on you?

God is giving you more than you can handle. You know, that big manure truck of life just backed up. Beep, beep, beep. And the gate flips open and it starts to dump. And here comes the dump. And pretty soon, you're up to your ears in doo-doo.

I think there's something intentional there in Jesus' gardener here saying that he's going to dig around it and dump manure on it. Because manure doesn't smell good. But it's great for growing plants. Fantastic for making things fruitful. And so Jesus is giving us a prescription here for what it means for you and me to bear fruit in the world. And what he's saying is, first of all, the hard soil around your roots needs to be loosened up.

Breaking Up the Hard Soil

People of God, if you feel spiritually stagnant or aloof, or adrift and directionless, maybe the first thing that needs to happen is a little bit of gardening.

Maybe you need to get out the hoe and start scratching at the hard soil of your heart. Perhaps the best way to break up the hard ground around your heart is to pray and fast. To open up and aerate so that the good things that God provides for you in word and sacrament can sink down deep. And then when the hard times come, they can do some good for you. They can produce the character that God is looking for from you in this life. So that you become resilient. And that you can live a life of hope.

And then when that fertilizer comes, be it Miracle-Gro or manure, it can sink in deeply. And God is working hard to provide you with opportunities through which you can learn to be a man or woman after his own heart.

I once had a mentor say to me, "What is it that you think that God, that you should be praying for, for God to make different in your life?" And I said, "Well, God, I think I need to learn to be more patient." And I didn't say, "Well, God, I said, I think I need to ask God to make me more patient." And he said, "For heaven's sake, don't pray for that." And I was taken aback. Like, why on earth would I not pray for that? Why not pray for being patient? Patience is a virtue. Patience is a good thing. Patience is a mark of a person with good character. And he says, "Yes, but if you are going to learn patience, God is going to put you in situations where you have to be patient." It's still a good thing to pray for patience. But sometimes those situations look like manure.

Then you need fertilizer as the soil around your heart is loosened up and you begin to want to actually produce fruit. You need to dump in the good stuff. Yes, the life experiences that make you who you are, that grow and shape your character, but you can't just leave it at that because you need a balanced breakfast, a complete diet. You need all the things that make you who God is calling you to be. And so you need to be reading God's word and you need to be worshiping him regularly. And you need to receive the holy sacrament of the altar, holy communion, and these are all ways in which God feeds us to make us fruitful. And then we can trust that God will do the work and the spirit of God will transform our hearts.

Conclusion

So if you've ever felt like there's been a load of manure dumped on you, maybe it's God giving you what you need to become the person that God is calling you to be. Or maybe it's God making an effort to shake you out of your complacency and to remind you of your dependence on God.

But either way, the best thing to do with a big pile of doo-doo is to start digging.

Because what you need is to not just shake your fist at the sky, but to find a way to learn and grow in the middle of the muck. That growth means bearing fruit. That fruit for you and me is repentance of our sin and faith in Jesus Christ. That will change your life. It will direct your heart and will towards him. And it will make all the difference.

May you know the peace in the middle of the storm, the safety that comes from trusting in our Lord Jesus Christ. And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds strong in Christ Jesus our Lord to life everlasting. Amen.