The Manure Sermon: When Life is Messy | Trinity Sermons

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity

Sermons. This week we are continuing our sermon

series, Growing Season, where we are going back

to the farm to learn what the farm can teach

us about faith. And today we're talking about

the grossest part of the farm, the manure. But

what does manure have to do with faith? How can

God take the messy things and actually use them

for good? is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter

Luke 13:6–9

13, verses 6 to 9. And he told this parable.

A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,

and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.

And he said to the vinedresser, Look, for three

years now, I've come seeking fruit on this fig

tree, and I find none. Just cut it down. Why

should it use up the ground? And he answered

him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until

I dig around it and put on manure. Then, if it

should bear fruit next year, well and good. But

if not, you can cut it down. This is the word

of the Lord. Today is going to be a first. It's

definitely a first for me. It's probably a first

for you because you are going to hear a sermon

about manure or choose your favorite word, you

know, poo or cow pies or dung or meadow muffins

or whatever you call it, barnyard confetti or

whatever you call it. It's the stuff that every

farmer knows well and that every city slicker

complains about when they drive their car through

the countryside with the windows down. We're

in this teaching series that we're calling Growing

Season, and we're looking at what farming can

teach us about faith. And of course, you can't

go very far talking about farming without eventually

having to talk about manure. There's just no

way around it. And so, yes, this could be the

crappiest sermon you have ever heard. But we

need to talk about it because on a dairy farm,

it is actually just a fact of life, right? Cows

eat stuff. Cows... produce milk and they also

produce other stuff as well. And farmers know

that actually what comes out of a cow, whether

it's milk or muck. has a purpose. It has a purpose.

It all has a purpose. In fact, there is a saying

that sometimes goes around farming communities

that says the only profit is in the manure, which

is another way of saying it costs so much to

own a farm, to buy all the inputs, all the grain,

all the feed, all the labor, all the transport,

that by the time you're all done, even after

you've sold your meat or your milk, you don't

have much finances left. Except the manure. You

still have the manure, this high -grade fertilizer

that you can use the next year. And so while

we would kind of plug our nose when we smell

it and say, oh, that's gross, farmers, they smell

manure and they think money. They think something

valuable, something of worth. Nobody I know,

you know, walks into a porter potty and takes

a deep breath and says, oh, that's the smell

of money, you know, liquid gold or something

like that. But farmers actually are there to

teach us something that we have forgotten. And

that is that what smells like waste may still

have worth. That not everything that smells bad

is useless and not everything that is messy.

is meaningless that is one of the strange strange

lessons of the farm and so again while the rest

of us hold our noses and drive a little faster

farmers smell value they smell worth they smell

something that has a purpose but here's the thing

you cannot just let manure kind of just like

drop and you know in place and just leave it

there and say ah isn't that wonderful no in fact

actually one of the big problems with big commercial

feedlots and factory farming is they have so

much manure that they don't know where to put

it all becomes a real environmental hazard that's

not farming that's that's just a big big mess

but no in order for manure to be useful you've

got to Figure out what to do with it, right?

Yeah, farmer has to deal with it. The farmer

has to gather it. They have to store it. They

have to let it break down. They have to spread

it. And they can't spread it all in the same

place. They have to put it in the right places

at the right time. You can put too much manure

in the wrong place, could cause damage, right?

Fresh manure often will burn the soil. And runoff

from manure can pollute waterways and all that

stuff. So no, yes, manure is valuable. But it

has to be handled properly. It all depends on

what you do with the mess. And that is where

today's sermon really begins. Because we're not

really going to be talking about manure, of course.

This is a sermon about things in our life that

we might consider as waste, as mess. Things that

we would like to hide or ignore or avoid. Now,

Jesus today, he tells... a parable. He tells

a parable about a tree, it's about a farmer,

and it's about manure. And normally, of course,

there's nothing funnier than telling a story

about poop. But when Jesus talks about it, it

is no laughing matter today. In fact, he is deadly

serious. He's talking about something so urgent

and important. So what I've done is I have broken

this sermon down into four movements. I love

it. I love it. And I've given you some sermon

notes to kind of follow along. Let's take a look

at the first movement, which is this, which is

this point I want to make. In the parable, fruit

matters. Fruit matters. Here is how Jesus begins

the parable. He says, a man had a fig tree planted

in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit

on it and found none. Now, You or I might read

that and you might say, well, that doesn't sound

all that shocking, right? Ooh, a tree without

fruit. I mean, what's the big deal? Maybe it

had a bad year. Maybe the weather didn't work

out. But Jesus says, no, no, this has been going

on for a while. This has been going on for three

years. Three years the farmer has been coming

to look for fruit and found nothing. And now

he's very frustrated. He's like, that's it. cut

it down. I don't want this tree wasting the precious

soil in my vineyard. Now, at first, that sounds

pretty harsh. Cut it down. I mean, couldn't he

just be a bit more understanding? Couldn't he

just give this tree a bit of a break? But actually,

the farmer has a really good point. He planted

a fig tree. The purpose of a fig tree is to produce

figs and if the fig tree is not producing fig

tree doesn't he have a right to do what he wants

with it i mean is he wrong to want figs from

his fig tree this is the story that jesus is

teaching us in this parable he's teaching us

that god actually has a right to expect fruit

Now that may be a hard sentence for us to hear

because we actually like to talk about how God

is just loving and God is patient and God is

kind and all that of course is true. But Jesus

here is actually saying, let me tell you something

else about God. He can look at your life. He

can look at my life and he has the right to look

into the lives of his people, the people that

he has planted and the people that he has tended

and say, okay, Herkmans, where's the fruit? Where's

the fruit in your life? On the one hand, this

is a story that if you read it in context, it's

about Israel, right? Because when God called

Israel, he called them for a specific purpose.

He planted them for a specific purpose. They

were supposed to be a blessing to all the nations

of the world. They were supposed to be a light

to the world. And now God is coming along to

Israel and looking for fruit. Okay, Israel, where's

the fruit? Where is it? Show me. Are you producing

what I planted you to produce? But on the other

hand, this is also a story about you, and it's

a story about me. Are we producing what God planted

us to produce? You know, this is not a sweet

little gardening story. The guy has an ax in

his hand, people. This story is a warning. In

fact, just before Jesus tells this parable, if

you flip back a page in your Bible, you would

see twice Jesus says these words, unless you

repent. You will all perish. Right? So here's

the deal. Here's the deal. God is the owner.

The fig tree is you or me. And God is looking

for fruit in our lives. Is there fruit in your

life? Right? Are you growing good things? Now,

we might say, well, I got so much fruit in my

life. Goodness, I am so busy. I am busy at work.

I'm busy with the family. You should see all

the stuff I'm doing in my workplace. I'm even

busy at church. I'm volunteering all the time.

It's go, go, go for me. I'm busy at camp. I'm

busy, whatever, right? But the fruit that God

is looking for is actually not just busyness.

He's looking for faithfulness. Fruit is not just,

I have a really full calendar. Fruit is not like

I have a really impressive resume or I'm just,

I'm really, really useful. No, the fruit God

is looking for is a fruit, is the fruit of a

life that is turned toward him. The fruit he

is looking for is love and joy and peace and

patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness

and gentleness and self -control. It's the fruit

of justice. It's the fruit of mercy. It's the

fruit of humility. It's the fruit of forgiveness.

It's the fruit of a changed heart. life is looking

more and more like the life of Jesus. That's

the fruit he's looking for. Is that fruit growing

in your life? The parable should make us all

actually really uncomfortable in a good way,

in a good way, because I think in all of our

lives, we have lots going on. There are places

where there's lots of leaves, but maybe actually

not much substance, not much fruit. We're alive.

but we're not fruitful. Or here's what I was

thinking. Like, we like to talk about honesty,

but then we cheat. We like to talk about faithfulness,

but then we sleep around. We like to talk about

forgiveness, but then we are greedy or we are

vengeful or whatever, right? We're angry people.

Is there a part of your life where God is saying,

listen, I am being patient with you. It has been

three years. I've been waiting for some change.

Here is the warning. God is still looking for

the fruit. And the ax is in his hand and he is

serious about this. The barren tree has no defense.

It has no argument here. But that's just the

first movement. Because just then, someone else

shows up. And who is it? It's the gardener. The

gardener. Right? The gardener in this parable,

I want to tell you, is meant to be Jesus himself.

And it's interesting that actually on the day

that Jesus rose from the dead, the very first

people who saw him mistook him for the gardener.

Anyway, it is just as the owner is sharpening

his axe and I got to take this tree down. The

gardener speaks and says, sir, just wait, wait,

leave it alone for one more year. The owner says.

Cut it down. The gardener says, give it more

time. The owner says, why should it be wasting

the soil? The gardener says, just let me work

with it a bit. Now, it's very interesting because

the gardener does not deny that there's a problem.

He doesn't say, oh, no, no, you're overreacting,

Mr. Owner, sir. Look at all the fruit on this

tree. Actually, this tree is just fine. No, he

doesn't say that. He doesn't. Gardener actually

agrees. Something needs to change here. But he

steps in and says, let me see if I can do something.

about that so it's true that barren tree has

no defense it has no argument but it does have

an advocate And I don't know if you guys know

what an advocate is, but an advocate is someone

who speaks up on your behalf when you are not

able to. When you've run out of things to say

for yourself, when you've run out of your own

defense, the advocate steps in. And that is exactly

what happens here. The tree does not speak. The

tree cannot defend itself. So the gardener steps

in and speaks for the tree. The gardener intervenes.

Jesus himself is our gardener. Jesus is the one

who steps toward us. He sees the unfruitfulness

of our lives. Yes, he sees those wasted years.

He sees those wasted days. But he says, Father,

wait. I'm not finished with this one just yet,

right? And this is what Jesus does. He advocates

for us. He mediates for us. In Romans 8, we read,

Christ Jesus, who died, more than that, who was

raised to life, is at the right hand of God.

And what is he doing there? interceding for us.

Or 1 John says that if anyone sins, we have an

advocate with the Father. Who's our advocate?

Jesus Christ, the righteous. That means that

right now, is imagine this right now jesus the

risen jesus is at the right hand of god and he

is interceding for you he is mediating for you

when you don't know what to say he's speaking

for you when your prayers fall short he's like

father let me let me uh beseech you on behalf

of rob let me mediate between rob and and you

when you are in trouble Jesus is your advocate

to the Father. And Jesus knows exactly why you're

barren. He knows exactly what sins and shortcomings.

He knows exactly all of our mistakes. And he

knows where we fail to bear fruit. But he also

says, Father, this one belongs to me, right?

And he advocates for us. And he doesn't do it

just because of our goodness. No, he does it

because of his mercy. And that is why this parable

is not only a warning, it is hope. Because maybe

you've had seasons in your life and deep down

you know, oh my gosh, there is not much fruit

here. And maybe you look at your own anger, your

resentment, you've compromised in different ways,

your prayerlessness. Maybe you suffer from addiction

or you just... I don't know, broken relationships,

dishonesty, and maybe you've tried to defend

yourself, you've tried to blame other people,

you've blamed your family, you've blamed your

friends, you've blamed the church, you've blamed

God, whatever the case may be, but you've run

out of excuses, and you finally realize you've

got no defense. The good news is, you do have

a defense. You have an advocate, and his name

is Jesus, and he does not give up on a barren

tree so quickly. There is, in other words, a

second But that second chance isn't a pressure

on you to perform as if when the gardener says,

I'll give it one more year, you're like, oh,

I got one year to get my act together, or I got

one more year to prove that somehow I'm worth

something to God or worth keeping. That is not

what the gardener says, actually. The gardener

says, give it one more year and I will tend it.

Give it one more year and I will work with it.

And that is what repentance is. Repentance is

not just me trying harder. Repentance is not

me just trying to be a better person. It's turning

toward the gardener and letting Jesus tend the

places that we cannot heal ourselves. So the

act is real. The warning is real. The call to

repent is real, but so is the advocate. So is

the mercy of Jesus. The gardener. has asked for

more time. That's good news. But what is the

gardener going to do with that extra time? Well,

that brings us to the third movement. Jesus,

the gardener, actually tells us exactly what

his plan is. It's twofold. I will dig around

it and put manure. Now, that's not so glamorous.

It doesn't sound all that exciting. Maybe if

I were writing this parable, I would say, oh,

give it one more year, and I will water it with

fresh spring water, and I will plant daisies

around it, and I will play soft music near the

branches, and I will whisper daily affirmations

over top of it. But Jesus says, no, I'll dig

around it and put rotted crap on it. In other

words, The work that Jesus is going to do in

that one more year in this tree's life is going

to be uncomfortable. It is going to get underneath

the surface, and it's going to involve some things

that maybe we would rather keep out of sight.

Two parts to the gardener's method. The first

is he digs, right? If a tree is going to be unfruitful,

the work is going to be fruitful. The work's

got to go all the way down to the roots. And

again, we might prefer some version of repentance

that somehow stays above the surface, that is,

you know, quick and private and easy and painless.

But the gardener digs, and digging is disruptive.

It loosens what's become hard. It exposes what's

been buried. You know, sometimes Jesus does that

in our lives. He convicts us. He convicts us.

And not just generally, Jesus doesn't come and

say, Rob, you need to be a better person. No,

specifically, he says, Rob, you've got to be

more truthful. You've got to tell the truth more.

Or Rob, you've got to stop making excuses. Or

Rob, you need to ask for help. Or Rob, you need

to deal with this pattern, deal with this problem,

right? You need to let God do the disrupting

to unearth those things that we are keeping buried.

And sometimes that disruption comes through reading

the scripture. Maybe it's hearing a sermon. Maybe

it's even like hearing a sermon like you're hearing

right now or a friend or a spouse or a parent

or some consequence happens in your life as a

result of the mess. And when that happens, we're

real, everything's disrupted and we might want

to resist it. But remember that digging isn't

necessarily cruelty. It's actually God's mercy.

He's working on you. Because grace has got to

get underneath the surface and go to the roots

of your life. And then secondly, the gardener

needs to put manure on it, right? Now, again,

what is manure? Manure is the stuff we like to

keep hidden. Yet in the hands of the farmer Jesus,

manure can become fertilizer because he knows

how to use it. I don't know. What is the manure?

Is it the mess you've made of your life? Is it

the sin we've excused? Is it the shame that we've

buried? Is it the regret that we actually just

don't know what to do with? The gardener doesn't

call all that muck good. Like, oh, this is all

good stuff. No, it is not good stuff. But the

muck of our lives is never wasted in his hands.

The thing you're hiding may stink, but change

happens. When we stop hiding it and let the gardener

use it. It's like I said earlier, hidden manure,

manure left in a barn to pile up doesn't make

the field fruitful. It just gets toxic. And eventually

it starts leaking everywhere. And some of us

know exactly what that is. You've got some stuff

in your life that you should have dealt with.

And now it's leaking in your marriage. It's leaking

into your family life. It's leaking into your

workplace. It's leaking into your mental health.

And Jesus says, let me work with that. Let me

handle what you don't know how to handle. Let

me begin to turn even this into something that

can produce life in you. That's what repentance

is. Repentance is not just, oh, I feel bad. Repentance

is not, I got caught. It's not promising I'll

never do it again, but repentance is bringing

the truth of our lives into the hands of Jesus,

and it's letting the gardener deal with the roots

and letting him handle the mess. If we let him,

you know, Jesus can take even the ugliest and

the smelliest and the most embarrassing parts

of our lives and begin to turn them into soil

where something new can grow. And that brings

us to the fourth movement. One more movement.

And that is that grace gives time to change.

Listen to the gardener's final words. If it bears

fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you

can cut it down. What is that extra year all

about? The extra year is not him saying to the

tree, hey, listen, don't worry about that owner.

He's always overreacting, right? You can stay

exactly how you are forever. No, this extra year

is grace, but it is grace with a purpose. In

Romans 2, 4, we read that God's kindness is meant

to lead you to repentance. Sometimes we misunderstand

the kindness of God. We think, oh, well, if God's

been patient with me this long, why not another

day? Why not another week? Why not another year?

He hasn't dealt with my mess yet. Maybe he's

okay with my mess. I can just carry on the way

that I am. Paul says, don't misunderstand the

kindness of God. God's kindness is meant to lead

you to repentance. God gives time so you can

turn. God gives a chance so you can change. God

gives patience so that fruit can grow in your

life. So God, yes, gives us time, but we do not

have time to waste. That is the warning of this

parable. It's actually also the hope of this

parable. The owner says, cut it down, and that's

his right. The gardener says, not yet, and that

is grace. But that grace does not keep giving

us time to make excuses. It gives us time to

turn, time to be honest, time to let the gardener

do his thing and dig, and time to become fruitful.

Going back to the original context, remember

that, you know, God had given Israel time. God

had sent prophets and he had sent promises and

he had sent warnings for years and generations

and generations and generations. And Jesus was

kind of showing up on the scene and saying, okay,

listen, time is short, guys. One more year. It's

time to become who you were meant to be. Don't

waste the grace of God. And friends, I think

that is definitely the word for us. as well the

most dangerous thing we can do with this sermon

is say oh yeah i'll get around to doing what

rob was saying or i'll get around to what the

scriptures were saying or actually maybe one

of the most dangerous things we can do with a

sermon like this is assume it's talking about

someone else you know i really hope so and so

was listening oh it's too bad my spouse wasn't

here they could really have used a message like

this or i hope my teenager is paying attention

But no, this parable comes for you first. It

comes for me first. Where is Jesus calling you

to turn? Where is he looking for fruit? Where

has he been patient? Where does he need to do

that work in you? Let me close with this last

idea. In this story, Jesus is more than just

the gardener. Jesus is also the tree. Because

you see, the Bible tells us that ultimately,

Jesus is the one who got cut down. Jesus was

arrested, taken outside the city, forced to climb

up a hill, lifted up on a tree or a cross, but

the Bible sometimes uses the word tree, and the

axe that should have fallen on us fell on him.

And all the waste of the world, all the garbage,

all the refuse, all the violence and shame and

sin of the world was taken by Jesus. And you

want to talk about waste. What a waste, a wasted

Messiah, a wasted life, a wasted hope. But then

on Easter, on Easter morning, the one who was

cut down was raised up. Oh, look, it's the gardener,

Mary said. The place that looked like total waste

became the place where new creation began. That

is why we can bring him the mess. That is why

we can stop hiding because he knows all about

it and he knows just what to do with sin and

shame. Remember, manure does not become fruitful.

Just by staying hidden in the barn. It's got

to be brought out. It's got to be handled by

someone who knows what to do with it. So bring

him the mess. Bring him the sin. Bring him the

shame. Bring him the regret. The gardener is

here. The judgment is real. The acts is real.

But the mercy is real too. Grace gives us time.

But not time to waste. So turn to Jesus. And

let him dig and let him tend and let him handle

the muck. And what looks like waste will bear

fruit once again. Thanks be to God. Amen. Amen.

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of

Trinity Sermons. This sermon was recorded at

Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario

on July 5th, 2026.