Lent 3- Let's bear fruit... while we still have time- Luke 13v1-9
In our Gospel reading, someone starts speaking about something brutal that Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, did. Pilate was not a nice person, and his leadership used a heavy iron fist to remind the people that Rome was in charge. The event described seems to have been an attack by Pilate on some Galilean pilgrims. Galileans were known for being troublemakers and had participated in rebellions before. It sounds like while some of these pilgrims were offering sacrifices in the Temple, Pilate killed them, and their blood then mixed with the blood of their sacrificed animals.
It was a common belief in Jesus’ day that if something particularly awful happened to someone it was because they were particularly sinful. They had done something bad and they received a terrible punishment in return. … This is not unlike what you encounter in cultures that believe in karma. If something bad happens to them then they are, in a sense, getting what they deserve. … There is an element of truth in this idea. It is a Biblical principal that you will reap what you sow (e.g. Gal 6:7). The seeds you plant will indicate the kind of plant that will grow. There are consequences to our actions. If we don’t deal with our anger, or gossip, or our alcoholism, then we will probably deal with certain consequences. …
However, this is a general principal and can’t be applied in every case. The whole book of Job expresses this point- what happened to him was not because of sin in his life. …We see this in Jesus’ life- it was not his sin that resulted in him dying on the cross. Terrible tragedy doesn’t necessarily mean someone was being punished for a terrible sin. But, that was often the point of view in Jesus’ day.
At this point, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem with a number of Galilean pilgrims. Earlier in Luke the Pharisees warned Jesus that King Herod wants to kill him. And now they are talking about these Galileans that were killed in the Temple doing exactly what they were going to be doing there. Jesus says, don’t feel like you’re safe as if they were worse sinners than you and so deserved it.
He also refers to another tragedy that killed 18 people when a tower fell in Jerusalem. He makes the same point. They weren’t necessarily any worse than anyone else because this tragedy happened to them. It could have been one of them. Their life could be taken from them at any moment, just as it was taken from those on whom the tower fell. He’s saying that could have been any of them. There was nothing particularly sinful about them that made them more likely to be a victim of tragedy.
On one level Jesus might be making a very practical point here. If they are going to rebel against Rome in a violent uprising, regardless of how righteous they think their cause is, their fate may very well be like those who had their blood spilled, and who were crushed by falling buildings. … In fact, there was a violent uprising against Rome and Jerusalem was destroyed along with the temple in 70AD. It was a terrible massacre. Jesus may be saying that if you repent and adopt his ways of peace, you might avoid this coming destruction. Unless you repent, the same will happen to you. … So Jesus’ words might have a very real historical warning for his listeners, but there is also a deeper spiritual principal here that goes beyond the specific historical situation they were facing in Roman occupied Israel.
We are continuously warned about not being fruitful in the Bible. Jesus’ parable is another warning about not bearing fruit. The owner of the vineyard comes to check on his fig tree. The mature tree is supposed to produce figs each year, but it hasn’t produced figs for 3 years. The idea seems to be that the tree is living a selfish existence. It is using up the nutrients and water of the soil and not giving anything back. The owner wants to cut the tree down, but the gardener asks for one more year to give it one last chance. He will break up the soil around the roots and fertilize the tree, but if it still doesn’t produce figs then they plan to cut it down.
It is a parable about God’s patience with us. He is giving us chance after chance to amend our lives. I wonder if we sometimes presume too much on God’s mercy and forgiveness. Sometimes we could take our sin a bit more seriously than we do, but we don’t feel there is any immediate reason to. … Sometimes we know that there is good we could be doing, we might even have a sense that God is calling us to do that good thing, but we don’t do it. We don’t sense the immediacy of needing to do it. In procrastination, maybe we presume on God’s mercy and forgiveness. … Just because God is patient with us, doesn’t mean God doesn’t take sin seriously, or that there aren’t serious consequences to our sin- our bad things done, or good things left undone.
In our reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he is speaking about the ancient Hebrews who left slavery in Egypt and wandered through the wilderness. He is talking about them consuming spiritual food and drink. He might be relating the manna and water from the rock to the bread and wine of communion here- it is spiritual food and drink. He then speaks about the Hebrews as being examples for us. They received God’s leading and instruction. They were considered God’s people. They received God’s food and drink. They were sustained by him…. And yet, God was not pleased. The people continued to grumble, be disobedient, rebellious, and ungrateful. For that reason, many of them never made it out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.
Our tendency can sometimes be to look down on them as if we know better. As if, if we were there, we wouldn’t be disobedient, and we wouldn’t grumble, or be ungrateful. Paul is telling us to be careful- “if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall” (1 Cor 10:12). He is wanting us to learn from them so we don’t fall into the same sins and endure the same consequences. We receive spiritual food and drink, but that does not except us from God’s expectation that we would bear fruit in keeping with being made to be the people of God. The Hebrews in the wilderness received spiritual food and drink as well, but they were not exempt from such expectations.
God’s patience is the difference between us and the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness who received the consequences of their sins. God’s patience won’t last forever. At some point we will run out of time. We should not delay. Now is the time to repent and produce fruit.
Paul’s point about our spiritual ancestors wandering in the wilderness is that we could have been them and could have received the same consequences. They likely made the same excuses. They looked to their neighbour for determining if they were doing okay or not, rather than to God’s instructions. So, we should be careful about looking down on them. Instead, we should learn from their mistakes. Take their example to heart. Lets not be people who consume spiritual things, but don’t bear spiritual fruit in keeping with being God’s people.
The question we are left with from Jesus’ parable is, “are we producing fruit for the kingdom of God?” How do our life and words show the goodness and beauty of God? How does our faith have an effect on the people around us? We should maybe look at this not just as individuals, but as a community. How does this speak to us as a church? Are we producing fruit for the kingdom by our life as a church- by our words and actions as a church? If we were the only Church someone ever walked into, what would they think of Christianity and Christians? As a church, are we benefiting others, or only ourselves?
Lent is a time to ask these hard, uncomfortable, evaluative questions. Lent is a time for us to submit ourselves to God’s light, as we ask God to show us our lives. We ask God to show us our thoughts, words, and deeds. We ask God to help us with our things done and things left undone. Is there anything I’m doing that I should stop doing? Is there anything I’m neglecting that I should be doing? … Is there any way in which is am just coasting, using up the nutrients of the soil, using up the spiritual food and drink, using up the grace of God’s sacraments, and not producing any fruit? … These are uncomfortable questions, but questions that needs to be asked. And we need to ask these as a church, not just as individuals. … Lord, have mercy. AMEN
It was a common belief in Jesus’ day that if something particularly awful happened to someone it was because they were particularly sinful. They had done something bad and they received a terrible punishment in return. … This is not unlike what you encounter in cultures that believe in karma. If something bad happens to them then they are, in a sense, getting what they deserve. … There is an element of truth in this idea. It is a Biblical principal that you will reap what you sow (e.g. Gal 6:7). The seeds you plant will indicate the kind of plant that will grow. There are consequences to our actions. If we don’t deal with our anger, or gossip, or our alcoholism, then we will probably deal with certain consequences. …
However, this is a general principal and can’t be applied in every case. The whole book of Job expresses this point- what happened to him was not because of sin in his life. …We see this in Jesus’ life- it was not his sin that resulted in him dying on the cross. Terrible tragedy doesn’t necessarily mean someone was being punished for a terrible sin. But, that was often the point of view in Jesus’ day.
At this point, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem with a number of Galilean pilgrims. Earlier in Luke the Pharisees warned Jesus that King Herod wants to kill him. And now they are talking about these Galileans that were killed in the Temple doing exactly what they were going to be doing there. Jesus says, don’t feel like you’re safe as if they were worse sinners than you and so deserved it.
He also refers to another tragedy that killed 18 people when a tower fell in Jerusalem. He makes the same point. They weren’t necessarily any worse than anyone else because this tragedy happened to them. It could have been one of them. Their life could be taken from them at any moment, just as it was taken from those on whom the tower fell. He’s saying that could have been any of them. There was nothing particularly sinful about them that made them more likely to be a victim of tragedy.
On one level Jesus might be making a very practical point here. If they are going to rebel against Rome in a violent uprising, regardless of how righteous they think their cause is, their fate may very well be like those who had their blood spilled, and who were crushed by falling buildings. … In fact, there was a violent uprising against Rome and Jerusalem was destroyed along with the temple in 70AD. It was a terrible massacre. Jesus may be saying that if you repent and adopt his ways of peace, you might avoid this coming destruction. Unless you repent, the same will happen to you. … So Jesus’ words might have a very real historical warning for his listeners, but there is also a deeper spiritual principal here that goes beyond the specific historical situation they were facing in Roman occupied Israel.
We are continuously warned about not being fruitful in the Bible. Jesus’ parable is another warning about not bearing fruit. The owner of the vineyard comes to check on his fig tree. The mature tree is supposed to produce figs each year, but it hasn’t produced figs for 3 years. The idea seems to be that the tree is living a selfish existence. It is using up the nutrients and water of the soil and not giving anything back. The owner wants to cut the tree down, but the gardener asks for one more year to give it one last chance. He will break up the soil around the roots and fertilize the tree, but if it still doesn’t produce figs then they plan to cut it down.
It is a parable about God’s patience with us. He is giving us chance after chance to amend our lives. I wonder if we sometimes presume too much on God’s mercy and forgiveness. Sometimes we could take our sin a bit more seriously than we do, but we don’t feel there is any immediate reason to. … Sometimes we know that there is good we could be doing, we might even have a sense that God is calling us to do that good thing, but we don’t do it. We don’t sense the immediacy of needing to do it. In procrastination, maybe we presume on God’s mercy and forgiveness. … Just because God is patient with us, doesn’t mean God doesn’t take sin seriously, or that there aren’t serious consequences to our sin- our bad things done, or good things left undone.
In our reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he is speaking about the ancient Hebrews who left slavery in Egypt and wandered through the wilderness. He is talking about them consuming spiritual food and drink. He might be relating the manna and water from the rock to the bread and wine of communion here- it is spiritual food and drink. He then speaks about the Hebrews as being examples for us. They received God’s leading and instruction. They were considered God’s people. They received God’s food and drink. They were sustained by him…. And yet, God was not pleased. The people continued to grumble, be disobedient, rebellious, and ungrateful. For that reason, many of them never made it out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.
Our tendency can sometimes be to look down on them as if we know better. As if, if we were there, we wouldn’t be disobedient, and we wouldn’t grumble, or be ungrateful. Paul is telling us to be careful- “if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall” (1 Cor 10:12). He is wanting us to learn from them so we don’t fall into the same sins and endure the same consequences. We receive spiritual food and drink, but that does not except us from God’s expectation that we would bear fruit in keeping with being made to be the people of God. The Hebrews in the wilderness received spiritual food and drink as well, but they were not exempt from such expectations.
God’s patience is the difference between us and the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness who received the consequences of their sins. God’s patience won’t last forever. At some point we will run out of time. We should not delay. Now is the time to repent and produce fruit.
Paul’s point about our spiritual ancestors wandering in the wilderness is that we could have been them and could have received the same consequences. They likely made the same excuses. They looked to their neighbour for determining if they were doing okay or not, rather than to God’s instructions. So, we should be careful about looking down on them. Instead, we should learn from their mistakes. Take their example to heart. Lets not be people who consume spiritual things, but don’t bear spiritual fruit in keeping with being God’s people.
The question we are left with from Jesus’ parable is, “are we producing fruit for the kingdom of God?” How do our life and words show the goodness and beauty of God? How does our faith have an effect on the people around us? We should maybe look at this not just as individuals, but as a community. How does this speak to us as a church? Are we producing fruit for the kingdom by our life as a church- by our words and actions as a church? If we were the only Church someone ever walked into, what would they think of Christianity and Christians? As a church, are we benefiting others, or only ourselves?
Lent is a time to ask these hard, uncomfortable, evaluative questions. Lent is a time for us to submit ourselves to God’s light, as we ask God to show us our lives. We ask God to show us our thoughts, words, and deeds. We ask God to help us with our things done and things left undone. Is there anything I’m doing that I should stop doing? Is there anything I’m neglecting that I should be doing? … Is there any way in which is am just coasting, using up the nutrients of the soil, using up the spiritual food and drink, using up the grace of God’s sacraments, and not producing any fruit? … These are uncomfortable questions, but questions that needs to be asked. And we need to ask these as a church, not just as individuals. … Lord, have mercy. AMEN
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