March 11, 2007

 

“Judgment & Fruit”

Luke 13:1-9

 

Luke 13:1-9

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.' "

*****************************************************

          This past week the news broke a story that saddened my heart, as I’m sure it did any who heard it. Midweek we heard of a tragic fire in New York City; a blazing house in the Bronx, home to four immigrant families from Mali, 22 relatives in all including 17 children. Babies were thrown through glass windows and caught by neighbors before adults jumped from the flames. But in spite of such drastic measures 8 children, including one less than a year old, and one adult (a mother of three) died. Four children ranging from 2-7 years old suffered smoke inhalation and burns. A 7 and a 5 year old remain in critical condition.

          Sadly, we can relate to this morning’s text from Luke 13. If Jesus were standing here today, we too would probably bring up this story to get his “take” on it. For we too, like those of Jesus’ day, know all too well the tragedies and the apparent unfairness of life in this world, and who better to go to than an insightful Rabbi; a person dedicated to helping us understand our world from God’s perspective.

          In Jesus’ day, the perspective of the Jews included an assumption that life’s tragedies reflected God’s judgment for sins committed. In short, if tragedy comes, responsibility lies with the person who experienced the tragedy.

          Now I am not saying that I agree with that assumption, or that Jesus’ agreed with it. But, it was a general-held assumption of Jesus’ day, and we too see it played out in our world, even in the public arena of TV where the sitcom “My Name is Earl” is based on “karma”; the Hindu & Buddhist philosophy of cause and effect. If you do good, good will follow. If you do bad, tragedy will follow you.

          So when someone from the crowd, who had been listening to Jesus’ teachings, about living one’s life with diligence and generosity, takes an opportunity to mention a recent local tragedy in order to spark a response from Jesus, we should not be surprised.

          Evidently, Pilate was at it again. Though most of us pick associate Pilate with the time of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, it is here that the scriptures first introduce him to us. And our first impression is probably an accurate one. For Pilate was a brutal enforcer. Perhaps like a modern-day hockey player known more for his savage checks against the boards than his ability to pass the puck or score a goal, Pilate’s brutality was well noted even by secular historians like Josephus. It is even believed that, shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion, Pilate was removed from his position by Rome because of his cruelty and excessive use of power; excessive even by the standards of the occupying Roman army!

          So the news comes to Jesus that 5 Galileans had been killed, but not only that; they had been killed while offering their sacrifices in the Temple; their blood had been ” mixed with their sacrifices”.

           What would Jesus say about these 5 who had died? How would Jesus use this question to teach us something important about God’s judgment?

 

1. Jesus corrects an assumption about tragedy and sin.

          Have you ever found yourself asking a similar question of Jesus? Have you ever, like those of Jesus’ day, assumed a causal relationship and wondered why something tragic happened to certain people? Perhaps if you heard about the New York fire story this week, you looked to God for answers, especially about the children’s deaths. Why did those so young and innocent die? Would you ask the same question of God if a drug dealer was shot in an alley way, or a terrorist bomber died while killing dozens of shoppers in an open market? Don’t we too have a assumption about tragedy and sin?

           Perhaps your most recent cries for God’s response were more on a personal note. Why did “this or that” happen to me God? What did I do to deserve this misfortune in my life? Have you ever concluded that you must be a bad person because bad things happen to you?

          Whenever we ask such questions or make such assumptions, we can certainly relate to the people of Jesus’ day, that somehow all affliction is ascribable to sin.

          To be honest, in a way, I want to make that assumption, because it gives me a measure of control in this world; because if somehow I can live a righteous life I will be spared tragedy. And yet, such an assumption fails to address the suffering that was experienced by Mother Theresa, or the Parkinson Disease that afflicts Billy Graham today.

          So where does that leave us in our understanding of tragedy and sin?

          As an early 20^th century Bible commentator, George Buttrick, once summarized so well:

All affliction is not due to wrongdoing,

but all wrongdoing brings affliction...”

Buttrick, George, The Parables of Jesus, Harper & Brothers, 1928, p. 107.

 

          I believe this is the one of the best summaries of our Lord’s teaching about tragedy and sin (affliction and wrongdoing). Because....

           First of all, do we not hear in this morning’s text Jesus’ challenge to the false assumption of the people around him?

 

"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no!

 

And then again as he recalls another contemporary tragedy; evidently a tower being built, perhaps as part of Pilate’s aqueduct project, fell down, burying and killing 18 workmen:

 

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!

 

Perhaps you also remember the time when Jesus healed a blind beggar, and His disciples asked him:

John 9:2b-3

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

(and Jesus said) "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," ..., "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

 

Jesus is teaching that we cannot claim that all affliction is due to wrongdoing.

 

Yet as George Buttrick also summarized:

“but all wrongdoing brings affliction...”

 

 We must never forget that “the wages of sin is death”. We must never forget that we not only negatively affect God’s creation with our wrongdoing, but we hurt one another; our families, our churches, our communities, our nation... in fact we have the potential to hurt all humanity because of our sin. I hear this truth echoed in Paul’s thoughts in Romans about Adam:

 

Romans 5:12-13

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men....

 

 

All affliction is not due to wrongdoing,

but all wrongdoing brings affliction...”

Buttrick, George, The Parables of Jesus, Harper & Brothers, 1928, p. 107.

 

 

So today’s Word corrects an assumption we often make, but that correction leaves us uneasy, doesn’t it? We feel more vulnerable living in this world, don’t we? We wonder if there is justice in the end.

 

Today’s Word reiterates what Jesus taught us in His Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:43-45

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

 

So If we can’t assume a direct “cause and effect”, what would Jesus have us focus upon when tragedy strikes in life? What would he want us to do in response to the tragedies of this world?

2. Jesus wants us to acknowledge our responsibility and take full advantage of God’s grace.

         

          Did you hear the words of Jesus; the ones repeated twice? They’re important! Each time after shattering people’s assumptions about sin & tragedy, He warns:

 But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

 

These are words of judgment, are they not?

But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

 

Jesus is stating the obvious... all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All people need to repent.. they need to go in a different direction... or they will parish!

 

Jesus is not speaking about a hypothetical situation. He is not thinking of God the Father just waiting in heaven to catch people committing a sin worthy of death. No, Jesus is saying that all humanity is already there. Like the people living in Noah’s time we all deserve death already, and need to repent, because the waters are coming.

 

And then, once establishing this powerful truth of judgment, with the same breath Jesus gives us a blessed gift, a parable announcing the grace of God.

....: "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.' "

 

          As Jesus wanted to correct an assumption about tragedy and sin, He also wants us to acknowledge our responsibility and take full advantage of God’s grace.

 

Jesus’ hearers would have understood that the “fig tree” symbolized their nation; a people set apart by God and blessed by God to be a blessing to others. But Jesus is talking about a barren fig tree, a nation.. a people who have failed to live up to their potential and God’s expectations. They were the people who had been blessed by God through Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, John the Baptist and now Jesus.

          But “For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any” says the owner of the vineyard.

          What I find interesting here, though I have yet to read any commentary on this observation, is that Jesus ministry lasted three years. Could it be that these are the three years spoken of in the parable? The very Word of God has walked among His people, but what has it yielded? It’s it  time to cut down the tree?

          But despite a just judgment, that this fig tree had failed to do what it had been planted to do, the grace of God fills the situation. Another year, a little more time and some TLC from the gardener. Let’s give it a chance to do what it is capable of doing.

 

Don’t you find it interesting that from an initial discussion of personal sin and life’s tragedies, Jesus would turn our judging eyes to our own lives, then call us to a responsibility made alive again by God’s grace?

 

Today I am wondering if we see ourselves as the fig tree in Jesus’ parable; for we too have been grafted into God’s family, we too are his blessed children called to live up to our potential an dour responsibilities.

          Now perhaps you say “Okay.... I’ll be a fig tree for God”.

-         I’ll bless the world with my beauty,

-         I’ll bless all living things by converting carbon dioxide into healthy oxygen,

-         I’ll even provide shade for sun-weary travelers.

But the owner of the vineyard is not looking for beauty or oxygen or shade, He is looking for fruit. The judgment against God’s people was that they failed to bare fruit. So what is fruit? What is God looking for among his children, in this season of grace?

 

We’re familiar with the fruit of the Spirit:

......  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. – Galatians 5:22-23

          >>> You might think of this an “internal fruit”... it is the product of you working with the Holy Spirit to change you from the inside out. Bearing this fruit will cause you to better reflect our Lord Jesus in this world.

When the owner of the vineyard looks at you, does He see fruit?

 

But “fruit” is also what is produced when we, like our Lord Jesus, live obediently to God’s will. And what does God require, the Prophet Micah asks, what is the “fruit of obedience”?

 

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
       And what does the LORD require of you?
       To act justly and to love mercy
       and to walk humbly with your God.

 

Jesus summarized it all when He commanded us to love God and neighbor.

 

When the owner of the vineyard looks at you, does He see fruit?

 

Finally, we cannot ignore the obvious, for in purely a biological sense, fruit is produced by a plant for one reason, and one reason only; to reproduce itself. For as delicious as figs and dates and apples and pomegranates are to human beings and animals, their whole purpose is to reproduce themselves.

          And we too, like the nation of Israel, called to be a people blessed by God to be a blessing for other peoples, are called to bear fruit that reproduces.

-         We are called to share God’s Word, our lives, our faith and our God-experiences, so that others will discover the God of grace who has saved us in Jesus Christ.

-         We are called to share our church; our building, our worship, our hospitality so that as we grow strong in the Lord we will also grow in numbers, and perhaps even produce seeds to plant a whole new congregation of blessed children of God!

    

           When the owner of the vineyard looks at us, does He see fruit?

 

     Well, the good news is that God’s grace has given us a chance. He has looked down upon us and has given us time and a whole lot of TLC. But now is the time to live up to the potential given us by God, and bear the fruit of His Kingdom.

 

     This morning as I call upon you to allow God’s Holy Spirit to continue His working within you to produce the fruits of the Spirit, and as I encourage us to begin talking about ways we can promote justice and increase our acts of mercy, and encourage each other to walk in the ways of God.... let me also call us, to begin producing the fruit of reproduction.  Let me ask you;

“Who are you willing to pray for in the coming year, asking God’s Spirit to draw them into His wonderful salvation?”

 

We begin with pray because God is always the initiator, and faith is a gift from God’s Spirit. But as you state your willingness to pray for a specific person or two, remember that prayer often calls for your participation. If that happens, are you willing to walk through the doors God’s Spirit will open for you to talk with this friend, or relative or neighbor or coworker; whose name you write down today?         Perhaps you will be called to touch this person through acts of mercy. Perhaps you will be prompted to invite him or her to meet some of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Are you willing to go there?

 

     This morning will you open your “Bringing My World to Christ” pamphlet found in your bulletin, and begin to produce this fruit of God’s children?

 

This morning, if you have heard God’s Word, and want to be what He has fully designed you to be, would you write the first name of the person or persons you will pray for in the coming year on both sides of the inside columns.

     Let’s take a moment to do so if you are willing....

 

Now, in a few minutes, as we take our offering, tear off the right quarter-sheet, and place it in the plate as your special gift to God... a statement that you desire to bear fruit for Him.            

 

 

Before we respond to God’s Word through that offering, I invite you to pray with me....

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (r).                                                                                                                 Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.                                                                                            Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.