Grace and Peace to you from the Holy Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit When I was thirteen years old I lost the hearing in my left ear. 

Since then I have always held out hope that somehow or someway my hearing would return in that ear. 

I am still waiting, but I don’t spend much idle time waiting for that to happen. 

The type of hearing loss is one that a hearing aid or cochlear implant would not repair. 

After many visits to doctors and specialists it was determined that a brain virus, sounds really grim, destroyed my auditory nerve. 

I went through many emotions and stages of grief. 

While I was never told or made to feel guilty I couldn’t escape the feeling that somehow I had caused this. 

Maybe I was being punished for something that I had done? 

In biblical times it was theologically accepted that God was punishing a person in the form of a physical ailment or condition. 

We are no longer in those times and the advent of medical knowledge and theological insight doesn’t accept illness or suffering as punishment by God. 

I felt somewhat responsible for my hearing loss in one ear since I did go to a hard rock concert without hearing protection, even though that wasn’t the cause. 

If doctors and technology couldn’t help me, I attempted to cure myself. 

I prayed, I cursed at God, I tried to be really really good, and even became a pastor- but none of that has returned my hearing.

Rather than to continue to blame I have made my peace and I am thankful for the abundant gifts that I have. 

The best thing I have done is continue to try to be the best person God has made me to be and live with joy. 

Joy to know that I can turn to God at any time, comforted and protected under God’s wings. 

Repentance turned me back to God, away from shame and blaming others. God did not punish me for anything that I did to result in my hearing loss. 

Trying to understand the mystery of God’s love for me is written in Isaiah 55, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” 

God is working through creation that is abundant with patience and mercy. Psalm 63 reveals our turn to God, a repentance, to eagerly seek God. 

Our God who created us and walked us through the desert, out of enslavement and into the wilderness. 

A wilderness journey to the promised land with the chosen people. People who are our brothers and sisters. 

All called to love each other with compassion. 

Yet too often I find myself slipping into comparison. 

Comparing what I have to the other, feeling that I have been shorted or worse yet cheated on purpose. 

Comparison fuels the engines of competition.

Fostering an attitude of me first, while ignoring Jesus warning that the first shall be last. 

Comparison creates the haves and the have nots. 

Comparison judges winners and losers and nobody cares about second place. Turn to for Jesus and his teaching of love and practice of compassion. 

When Jesus hears the news of the Galileans whose blood was mingled with the sacrifice it wasn’t because they did anything wrong or were being punished. 

They are no different than the other Galileans, no different than you and I. 

When 18 were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them neither were they deserving or worse offenders than the others in Jerusalem. 

Jesus urgently tells us to all repent, turn to God, turn away from sin. 

God’s love is certain and calls us to be generous towards those trapped under the weight of poverty, the weakness of hunger, and the chill of homelessness. 

You cannot pick yourself up by your bootstraps if you don’t have shoes. When we all have what we need we are that much closer to heaven. 

The power of compassion and love has been turned into weakness by the forces of comparison and competition. 

Who have you crushed or destroyed to get to where you are today? Can you think of anyone who has? 

How do we show love to them, ourselves? 

Suffering isn’t evidence of a person’s sin.

My hearing loss is not the result of sin, it was a virus. 

All of us have the freewill to choose to repent and turn to God. When we are all chosen, and we are, are you bearing fruit? 

Can you think of anyone who is also chosen, but rather than bearing fruit has sunk in deep roots and only drinks water without ever sharing their bounty? 

Jesus gives us a parable about compassion for a fig tree. 

I learned fig trees are very prevalent and productive in the mid-east. Healthy trees can produce three crops a year. 

Ideally the trees require minimal water and care, surprisingly offering fruit with little to no other work than harvesting. 

When our vineyard owner looks at this tree again without fruit after three years and nine potential harvests it is no wonder he can’t see the value in keeping it. 

Taking up valuable space and water, I’ve heard human beings, our brothers and sisters described this way by those who compare in an endless cost benefit slash and burn mentality. 

The gardener pleads with the owner to let him tend to the tree, loosen the soil around its roots and fertilize it. 

The owner relents and gives one more year for the tree to bear fruit. Sometimes trees under stress don’t bear fruit. 

Equally important is the compassion that we all can bear fruit. God sees us, hears us, and nourishes us to bear fruit. 

Yet some have the resources withheld from them to grow.

Jesus gave his life so that all may have eternal life. 

An abundant life with overflowing resources so that all have enough. 

Giving everyone the same opportunity is a goal that takes the patience that God gives to us. 

Ignoring people at the margins is no different than cutting down a barren fig tree without giving it a chance. 

Patience and mercy tend to God's creation with steadfast love. Hate exists when comparisons are made without compassion. Only God knows what God has planned for us. 

We are all given the choice to nurture our life, through the living water of Christ and bear fruit for one another. 

Fruit to share while it is ripe. 

Love is the fruit that is always in season. 

For this we can say, Thanks be to God. Amen