Luke 13:1-9
Our Journey Through Lent—
It is a Journey of Repentance
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
A 28-year-old Alameda County Sheriff’s Office recruit was fatally shot while driving home on an Oakland freeway. Why?
A mother and her two children were killed by a Russian mortar as they were attempting to flee from war-torn Ukraine. Why?
A store owner in Benicia was killed by someone who was trying to rob his store. Why?
Three people were shot in a drive-by shooting outside East High School in Des Moines, Iowa. One victim died. The other two were hospitalized. Why?
A 40-year-old woman was pushed to her death in front of an oncoming train in New York City. Why?
A car speeding at 103 miles per house ran a red light in North Las Vegas. Eight people were killed. Six others were injured. Why?
A pickup truck being driven by a 13-year-old child crossed the center line on a highway in West Texas. It crashed head-on into a van carrying members of a university’s golf team and their coach who were on their way back to school after a day of competition. Nine people died. Why?
Hardly a day goes by when we do not see or read or hear about a tragedy which takes someone’s life. The question of why these tragedies take place, the question of why these people died so “unexpectedly” goes well beyond our limited understanding. Does that mean, however, that after we have shed a tear for the people who have died and after we have said a prayer for those who have lost a loved one that we should just “go on” with our life— unphased and unaffected by what we have seen and heard? Not at all!
Our text for this morning focuses our attention on yet another extremely important aspect of our Lenten journey. Today let’s see how this portion of God’s holy inspired Word reminds us that: Our Journey through Lent is a Journey of Repentance. There are two points I want to emphasize this morning. First, let’s see how our text urges us to listen to God’s call to repentance. Then let’s see how this text urges us to act on God’s call to repentance.
Luke begins our text for today in a way that is all too reminiscent of what you and I hear about on the news. He writes, “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” As shocking as it is to hear about people who lose their lives in an earthquake or an accident or a fire, you and I cannot imagine what it would be like to turn on the news this evening and find out that our own government burst into a church right here in our area and killed people while they were worshiping this morning. That, however, is exactly what Pontius Pilate had done. He sent soldiers into the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to kill some Galileans while they were offering their sacrifices to God.
Why did Pilate do this? We are not told. Why did these people feel compelled to bring this incident to Jesus’ attention? Again, we are not told. We do, however, get a hint of what their motivation may have been when we listen to Jesus’ response. We hear our Savior say to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them— do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
All too often our old sinful nature leads us to look at a tragedy or an accident and think that the people who died in that type of situation must have done something terrible in God’s eyes. Why do we do that? One of the reasons may be to make us feel better about ourselves. Either consciously or unconsciously our old sinful nature tries to lead us to the conclusion that says, “I may do some ‘bad’ things in my life— but at least I’m not as bad as they must have been!”
Whenever our old sinful nature starts to lead us down that road, my friends, we would do well to remember Jesus’ powerful pointed words here in our text. When people thought that the individuals who died in these tragedies were perhaps “more guilty” or “worse sinners” than others, Jesus says to them, “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” After we have shed a tear for the people who have died, after we have said a prayer for those who have lost a loved one, then we should stop and ask ourselves the question— What if that had been me? If I die unexpectedly, would I be ready to stand before the judgment throne of God? Would I be ready to give an account of my life to the One who has seen everything I have ever done, the One who has heard every word I have ever said, the One who knows every thought that has ever gone through my mind? (See Matthew 12:36-37; Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Yes, my friends, every time we hear about someone who lost their life in a tragedy, every time we hear about someone who died unexpectedly — if we listen closely we can indeed hear our God calling us to repentance. We would do well to listen to that call.
Listening to God’s call to repentance, however, entails more than just hearing the words and saying to ourselves, “Yes, I need to do that— someday.” Not only does our God want us to listen to His call to repentance, but He also wants us to act on His call to repentance. That is why Jesus says to us in the second half of our text, “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
These are some powerful words, my friends— especially when we realize that we are the “fig tree” that our heavenly Father has graciously planted in the “vineyard” of His church. With these words Jesus reminds us that our heavenly Father expects to see the “fruits of faith” in our life. Our heavenly Father expects that we will allow the faith which He has created in our heart to be open and evident in the way that we talk, in the way that we live and in the way that we treat the people around us. If we are not producing the “fruits of faith” in our life, then in His perfect justice our heavenly Father will indeed get to the point where He says concerning us, “Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?”
At the same time, this parable reminds us that Jesus is the “caretaker” of the Father’s “vineyard,” the church. Jesus loves us so very much that He is willing to “speak to the Father in our defense” (I John 2:1). In other words, Jesus loves us so very much that He is willing to go to the heavenly Father and say, “Father, give them just a little more time. Let me see what I can do.” Jesus loves us so very much that He carefully uses the power of the Law to “dig around” our hearts, to “dig around” our lives in an effort to get rid of the actions and the attitudes that are preventing us from producing the “fruits of faith.” Jesus loves us so very much that He uses His precious Means of Grace, the Gospel as it comes to us in Word and Sacrament, He uses His precious Means of Grace to “fertilize” our faith, to feed our faith, to nourish our faith so that we have the strength to produce the “fruits of faith” in our life. That’s how much Jesus loves us my friends! But, if we refuse, if we rebel, if we reject what Jesus does for us, then we need to remember what the Son of God says here in our text, “If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.” Just as God’s love is sincere, so also, God’s justice is certain.
As you and I continue our journey through the season of Lent, it is indeed good for us to remember that this is a journey of repentance. Every time you hear about a tragedy that has “unexpectedly” taken someone’s life, put your own life on “Pause” for just a moment so that you can listen. Listen to God’s call to repentance and then ask yourself, “Dear Lord, what if that had been me? Would I have been ready to stand before the judgment throne of God?” And then, before you hit “Play” once again, before you simply go on with your life, lift up your eyes to cross and ask your Savior who loves you this much (pointing to the cross) to give you the strength to act on His call to repentance, to strive with His help to produce the “fruits of faith” that the heavenly Father is expecting to see in both your heart and in your life.
To God be the glory!
Amen
