“Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree…’”—Luke 13:6
My assistant coach (and best friend) and I were walking to our team’s final Little League baseball game of the season.
“I sure read a confusing parable in devotions this morning,” I was saying. “In it, the owner of a vineyard wants to cut down a certain tree because it never has any figs, but his gardener persuades him to let it stand one more year. But that’s it. Jesus doesn’t even explain why He told this parable.”
“That’s the one in Luke, right?” Dave said. “I think it means…”
“Hi, coaches!” one of our Little Leaguers yelled. “Time for batting practice?” It was.
By the time the game reached the last inning, the parable from morning devotions was the furthest thing from my mind. We had the bases loaded, two outs and trailed by one run. If we won, it meant a championship. If we lost, nothing.
I looked down the bench and groaned. There was the one youngster on our team who had not played in the game yet, and since the rules require that everyone have an opportunity to play, I’d have to put Chuck in as a pinch hitter in the crucial situation. And Chuck had struck out five straight times in previous games.
I leaned over to Dave. “We’ll lose if Chuck bats now. Shall we risk trying to tie the game with our scheduled hitter before letting Chuck bat?”
“You just found your answer to the parable of the fig tree,” Dave answered calmly. “If you’re tempted to give up on someone, give him another chance. Someone like Chuck!”
The fact that Chuck went up, somehow got his bat on the ball and drove in the winning run is exciting, but what I’ll really remember about that game is the fig tree lesson. Instead of giving up on someone, give him another chance. You never know what might happen.
