Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture

Luke 13:

You may be seated.

This text takes the form of a parable.

A parable is a earthly story with a heavenly meaning or a spiritual truth.

It’s like using a metaphor or an analogy.

And when Jesus gives this parable, it is directed towards the Jewish nation.

It echoes an Old Testament passage found in , where the prophet Isaiah writes about his Beloved, who is God, that had vineyard (the children of Israel) that he planted on a rich and fertile hill.

He planted it with choice vines and cleared it of it’s stones.

He placed a watch tower in the midst of the vineyard to keep watch and protect it.

And because he did all of that, he expected the children of Israel to produce good grapes, but he got wild grapes.

Some of you parents been there before.

You tried to raise your child in a decent neighborhood.

You made sure they went to church and Bible study.

You protected them from hanging out with certain friends.

You sent them to good schools.

You did everything in your power in order for your child to come out good so you expected a good child, but you got a wild one.

Anybody been there before?

So this parable found in our text this morning serves as somewhat of a indictment on the Jewish nation because they have the law and they hold to a lot of religious practices and they have a lot of nice Annual Days on the calendar, but they’re not producing fruit.

They are unrepentant and unfaithful.

And so even though this parable was directed towards the Jewish nation, I believe it has something to say to us as individuals and us as a church.

And so I want us to read the parable two times, but in very specific ways.

In our first re-reading of, I want you substitute the man in the story for God, make the vinedresser, keeper, vineyard-keeper, gardener (depending on your translation)…make that Jesus, and substitute the fig tree with your name.

vinedresser, keeper, vineyard-keeper, gardener

It would read like this:

6 And He began telling this parable: “God had Brandon who had been planted in South Central Los Angeles; and God came looking for fruit on Brandon and did not find any.

7 “And God said to Jesus, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on Brandon without finding any.

Cut him down!

Why does Brandon even use up the ground?’ 8 “And Jesus answered and said to God, ‘Let Brandon alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around him and put in fertilizer; 9 and if Brandon bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut him down.’

”

Now that we have read it in a personal way, let’s read corporately.

So instead of substituting fig tree with your name, now substitute with Park Windsor.

It would read like this:

6 And He began telling this parable: “God had Park Windsor who had been planted on 108th and Manhattan Place; and God came looking for fruit on Park Windsor and did not find any.

7 “And God said to Jesus, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on Park Windsor without finding any.

Cut it down!

Why does Park Windsor even use up the ground?’ 8 “And Jesus answered and said to God, ‘Let Park Windsor alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if Park Windsor bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’

”

skapto - to turnover

Introduction

Today, I want to talk to you on the subject, “Leaves, But No Fruit.”

With a subtitle “You Were Planted to Produce Fruit”

I want you to imagine if you were planting some type of fruit tree.

You have paid for a gardener to upkeep it.

Your water bill has increased because of watering it.

You researched the proper placement so that it may grow well.

You spent time and energy trying to grow this fruit tree, but when it came time to collect, you found leaves, but no fruit.

So then you thought to yourself “Well maybe the tree has not grown enough yet to produce fruit.

So I’ll give the tree another year.”

So you give the tree another year of paying the gardener.

Another year of water bill payments.

Another year of your time and energy.

But when that year was up and it came time to collect, again you found leaves, but no fruit.

So again you thought to yourself “Well maybe the tree still has not grown enough yet to produce fruit.

So I’ll give the tree another year.”

So you give the tree another year of paying the gardener.

Another year of water bill payments.

Another year of your time and energy.

But when that third year was up and it came time to collect, again you found leaves, but no fruit.

In our text Jesus tells a parable.

A parable is a earthly story with a heavenly meaning or a spiritual truth.

The parable is about a man who has a fig tree in his vineyard that a gardener watches over.

For three years, the man continually goes to the fig tree looking for fruit, but every time he went, he found leaves, but no fruit.

So rightfully so, the man gets frustrated with the fruitless tree that he eventually tells his gardener to cut it down.

But then the gardener tells the man to give him one more year to dig around it and put in fertilizer.

And if at the end of that year the fig tree produces fruit then let it alone, but if it doesn’t, cut it down..

Let’s call the man God, the fig tree us, and the gardener/vineyard-keeper Jesus.

It would then read like this....

I want you to imagine if you were planting some type of fruit tree.

You have paid for a gardener to upkeep it.

Your water bill has increased because of watering it.

You researched the proper placement so that it may grow well.

You spent time and energy trying to grow this fruit tree, but when it came time to collect, you found leaves, but no fruit.

So then you thought to yourself “Well maybe the tree has not grown enough yet to produce fruit.

So I’ll give the tree another year.”

So you give the tree another year of paying the gardener.

Another year of water bill payments.

Another year of your time and energy.

But when that year was up and it came time to collect, again you found leaves, but no fruit.

So again you thought to yourself “Well maybe the tree still has not grown enough yet to produce fruit.

So I’ll give the tree another year.”

So you give the tree another year of paying the gardener.

Another year of water bill payments.

Another year of your time and energy.

But when that third year was up and it came time to collect, again you found leaves, but no fruit.

I’m sure you could appreciate how beautiful the tree still looks with how many green leaves that are on it, but I don’t know about you, but like God, I would be frustrated and disappointed.

Not because you have anything against leaves, but because when I planted the tree, I did not plant it just so that it can look leafy and pretty and take up space, but I planted to produce fruit.

I had plans to make some fruit pies, and some fruit cakes, and some fruit turnovers, and some peach cobblers and some banana pudding.

I had plans for the fruit that tree was supposed to have produced.

But each year when you went to go collect, I found leaves, but no fruit.

And what I’m trying to say to you is that God has plans for the fruit that is suppose to come out of your life and out of this church.

So when God planted you in Compton, or in Inglewood, or in LA, or in whatever city you live in.

…When God planted this church on 108th and Manhattan Place he did not plant you or us just so that we pretty and leafy and take up space, but he planted us to produce fruit.

Explaining “Leaves, But No Fruit”

I have entitled this message “Leaves, But No Fruit” because that’s exactly what you would see on a fruit tree with no fruit.

To illustrate, I have brought a leaf and a fruit.

Leaves

I am not an agriculturalist, but I have done some research.

And I found that fruit trees need leaves in order to produce fruit.

Leaves receive sunlight and are flat enough to catch water, and they use these things to help the tree go through a process called photosynthesis which creates the food and nourishment that the tree needs to produce fruit.

In other words, the leaves operate as receiving agents for the tree.

They help the tree to receive the sunlight and to receive the water, in order to produce fruit.