Looking into the lectionary - Creating conditions for growth

March 23, 2025 Third Sunday in Lent Luke 13:1-9 As an online college instructor, I would hear from students daily, sometimes hourly, with requests for in-person consultations and immediate feedback. In response, I came up with an idea to meet students’ needs in a way that didn’t completely take over my schedule. I would hold “online office hours” and offer immediate e-mail feedback during a specific time. When the time came, I poured my afternoon coffee and sat at my desk imagining students diligently crafting their final essays. I smiled, imagining their gratitude as their attentive instructor immediately responded to any questions they had. I could almost hear the deluge of alerts: *Ding* New message from a student! *Ding* Response from the instructor! I wondered if I would need to extend these hours to accommodate the demand. I drank coffee and I waited. 30 minutes passed: no messages. I checked my internet connection. An hour passed: no messages. I turned up my computer volume to make sure I would hear the first *Ding*. I finished my coffee. More time passed. I was playing a game on my phone when online office hours ended with a grand total of zero e-mails. You could say that the fig tree of my “online office hours” bore no fruit. Rather than cut the fig tree down, I was determined! I dug around and fertilized it and would come back to it! I sent a course-wide email explaining the benefits of utilizing this opportunity and offered online office hours again before the final exam. Again, no one showed, and there was not a single *Ding*. I decided that the next semester, I would not offer this opportunity. I cut down the fig tree and sought better use for the soil. Many of us have had our own fruitless fig trees — good ideas that we imagined would do great good but, for one reason or another, failed to yield fruit. Someone may have even suggested that our fig tree was wasting the soil. Nevertheless, we were driven by hope to “let it alone for one more year,” to dig and fertilize, and give the tree one last chance. Eventually, though, we had to use the land, the time, and the energy for something else. Jesus’ parable of the barren fig tree in Luke 13 comes after a much more serious discussion of repentance and perishing. ... Thank you to this week's guest writer Thomas J. Carrico. Read the rest of the commentary on the website. Order of worship — March 23, 2025, by Thomas J. Carrico Queer Christian groups oppose Trump orders in Ash Wednesday statement by Kathryn Post A sweet aroma (March 23, 2025) by Mary Kate Sykes Our Instagram is back — but we’re still leaving. Here’s why. by Teri McDowell Ott  Want the worship resources for March 16, 2025? You can find them here. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Boycotts accompany prayer as faith leaders prepare for a Lent of protest The Rev. Jamal Bryant said he hopes 100,000 ‘conscientious Christians’ will have signed up by March 5 to mark the ‘season of denial’ by fasting from shopping at Target. — Adelle M. Banks Lessons from the viral anglerfish video A tiny creature's journey from darkness to light – and the world's reaction to it – causes Brendan McLean to reflect on hope. Five months after Hurricane Helene, Black Mountain Presbyterian Church continues providing recovery and relief The church continues to answer its mission statement: ‘Has everyone been fed?’ — Layton Williams Berkes The gift of active listening Shani McIlwain reflects on the power of active listening in coaching, fostering curiosity, empathy, and understanding to build stronger relationships. Curiosity and the power of the prophetic imagination We have always had prophets who have used their creative witness to leave this world better than they found it. — Winterbourne Harrison-Jones The Rev. Jihyun Oh announces an interim leadership team for the Interim Unified Agency The team includes people already in senior leadership as well as those serving public-facing ministries in the IUA. —  Rick Jones and Mike Ferguson Jesus’ call to curiosity: Detaching from what we think we know Being curious takes vulnerability and courage, writes Teri McDowell Ott, but this is the soft, fertile soil from which spring flowers bloom. Curiosity: An innate gift and a lifelong pursuit What if Eve's story gives us permission to tap into our own curiosity? — Kerra Becker English Grief touches every corner of our lives — not just in moments of death but in quiet farewells, conflict, and lost health. Presbyterian Outlook's latest devotion invites you to embrace the wilderness of loss and rediscover the horizon of hope offered by Christ’s resurrection.