3.23.25 Haxtun

Tough Love

Luke 13:1–9 NRSV

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

A couple summers ago, my brother and I were tasked with rebuilding an entire fence line at our ranch north of Burlington. It was a satisfying job - tearing out the old decaying posts and wrapping up the rusty barbed wire. I mean, the fence was in tough shape: it had been used, abused, and repaired since the 80s, and at some points, you could see right through the center of the post - it was old.

Now, Austen and I like sharp corners and straight lines, like probably most of you here, and our new fences are no exception. We worked so hard to make sure that we corrected the old fence line to be one that resembled a laser beam. We were about halfway through putting the new posts in when Mom came and checked our progress.

Austen and I learned a very valuable lesson that day: when the fence line also serves as your property line, it tends to be best practice to follow that original fence and not amend it in any way, east or west, north or south.

That should have been common sense, I fear, and it does make sense. Austen and I blamed the heat, exhaustion, dehydration, perfectionism….and what did Mom say? Tough. No excuses. So we got back to work. And this time, it was much less satisfying: popping up those brand new fence posts and redirecting them to the right spot.

I told this story a couple weekends ago at the Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference, and Mom told me that I make her out as a really mean mom, and both Austen and I were like….uh, yeah! There are two things in life that we fear and that’s God and our mother - and maybe not even in that order!

We always say that in jest, but I do know that we’re better for the love and sometimes the tough love from our parents. And we’re especially better because of the thousands of second chances we’ve received to get things right again. Looking back, we are so grateful for Mom who caught our mistake before we had finished completely. Tough love is good.

We see some tough love in our scripture this morning, because really, that’s what Jesus is doing here with the disciples - there is a crowd gathered to seek Jesus’ opinion on current affairs, and Jesus places the local issue within a cosmic frame that yields a divine importance for all listening and today, all reading. We will dive into this scripture in two different phases: the tough section and the love section; the instruction and the parable. So join me in verse 1, chapter 13:

13 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 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? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’

I feel like these first few verses raise some questions: like first of all, what is Pilate doing here? And second, Jesus gets pretty fire and brimstone - repent or perish! What’s that all about?

Well, in order to answer those questions, we must first understand what’s going on in this time and place. And in order to do that, we must talk politics: politics of this time:

These Galileans, probably the followers of Judas of Galilee, who is different than Judas Iscariot - one of Jesus’ disciples. Judas of Galilee was a Jewish leader who led a revolt against Roman rule and, some 20 years before this, taught that Jews should not pay tribute to the Romans. He drew after him a multitude of followers, and encouraged them not to register and pay taxes.

By the way, happy tax season, everyone!

Well, about this time in scripture, the resistance would be at its height. And here Pilate enters the scene - and we know this guy, right? Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea, or the governor of Judea - he has a record of outrages against the Galileans, and here he is, killing a group of them while they’re performing rituals, and mixing their blood with the sacrifices.

So ya, tension was high.

Now, how is this supposed to affect Jesus? If the crowd is bringing it up to him for his input, why does it matter? Well, first, Jesus was a Galilean, having grown up in Nazareth, a village in the region of Galilee, which means that this violence impacted people from his neighborhood, people whom he could have known and grown up with.

Second, given Pilate’s track record for being a blood-thirsty, violent ruler, this scene epitomizes the fear-inducing brutality that the people of this time, like Jesus, daily experienced - directly or indirectly.

And third, the notion that Pilate mingled the Galileans blood with sacrifices insinuates that Pilate violated the Galileans’ ritual practices, most of whom were Jewish. This just added insult to injury.

So if I were Jesus, I would get pretty fired up, too! And he does! But not in the way the crowd things he would: Jesus doesn’t denounce what Pilate had done and dive into the politics of the time - no, Jesus gives a straight forward answer to the crowd’s implied question, which is: were their sins so bad that God was punishing them through the hands of Pilate?

And Jesus says, No. They were not killed because of their sin. They were brutally murdered by the Romans. And bad things sometimes happen, not as the result of human sin or God’s punishment.

For these people who lived in a culture that suffering of any kind was because of their sin, Jesus’ answer was vital for understanding their identity as Jewish people.

He simply points them to the practical view of the matter. Those Galileans were involved in pretty high stake stuff - resisting the Roman government and their taxes - and Pilate had them killed right in the temple courts where the sacrifices were going on. And with the death of the people at the tower of Siloam, Jesus helped them recognize that there is a randomness with death and evil that happens to people, and it’s not up to us to assign meaning to others’ misfortune.

Then he establishes a good checkpoint for each listener: repent or perish. There’s the tough love.

He prompts his audience to change what they can: Their mindset, to repent.

And how do they do that? We continue in verses 6-9.

6 Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig-tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 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?” 8 ‘ “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig round it and fertilise it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.” ’

Just when Jesus gets a bit of that fire and brimstone, he tells a parable - love that guy—the parable of the fig tree, and here in this parable, Jesus extends grace to the crowd.

Christ shares the story of a man who is disappointed. Three years after this man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, fully expecting that by now the tree would bear fruit, there were no figs in sight. Even after checking on it year, after year, after year. And being disappointed over, and over, and over again.

So in his frustration, he tells the gardener to cut the tree down. And the gardener begs for one more chance, one more year and the opportunity to dig around it and fertilize it - to nurture it.

Now, the fig tree was a common fruit tree in Palestine, and the fruits of the fig tree were used medicinally and pressed together to form a cake as a part of their diet.

It also served as a sign of peace and prosperity. The fig tree was often used as a metaphor for Israel and the Jewish nation, with the fruits being a nation of hearts turned toward God and bearing the fruits of righteousness, which is why Jesus shared this parable to the crowd.

My friends, Jesus’ message to the people gathered and to us is clear here: do not be like the fruitless tree. Rather than focus on the gravity of others’ sins, make sure you are repenting and turning your heart and mind toward God.

And if we don’t get it right the first time, that’s okay. We remember the words of the gardener: one. more. year. One more chance. Our God is the God of second chances, and at least in my life, third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and seventh chances - the chance to take that tough love and to look at my own fruit tree, see where I need to dig up and fertilize and try, try again to bear fruit for Jesus - the fruits of righteousness: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Our scripture this morning poses a couple big questions for each of us: what areas of our lives are not bearing fruit? Where do we need to repent? And like the fruit tree, what if we only had 1 more year…the gift of another year of life as an act of God’s mercy…How important that year would be! What would it look like? Where do we need some tough love?

Would it involve making amends with that certain person you don’t get along with? Giving up the harmful habit of policing others’ behavior? Finally forgiving yourself or others who have wronged you? Restoring a relationship with a distant family member? Apologizing for hurting someone? Spending more time in peace and silence with the Creator? Studying the Bible daily?

I’m sure there’s something that came to mind for each of us and in this season of lent, as we move closer to the heartache of the cross and the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, may we take that tough love - even if it means tearing out a whole new fence line to make it right - we must take action and repent. May we live each day as a gift from God.

Because our God is the God who gives even an unfruitful fig tree another chance.

Please pray with me:

Gracious God, we are reminded that even though our sins render us eligible for harsh punishment, you are at work in the world and in our lives, always extending to us the gift of grace. Like this tree, we are often given multiple opportunities to do better, to be better, or to do the right thing. The same grace that you extend to us we must also extend to one another. And by the grace given through the sacrifice of your son, Jesus, we are given another chance to be the people YOU are calling us to be. Thank you for that grace. Amen.

May the road rise to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sunshine warm your face

And rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.