If it bears fruit next year...fine

Luke 13:1–9 NIV

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 growing 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.’ ”

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

One doesn’t need to look too hard to find someone declaring the sins of the deceased as the cause of great natural disasters. Even human-caused destruction, like crime and war, is often declared an act of God. Every time a great calamity ensues, someone somewhere declares it judgment: that God is punish- ing people for their sins.

For example, after Hurricane Katrina, religious leaders declared that the sins of New Orleans were the reason for such destruction. It was declared an “immoral city,” and they claimed that God caused the hurricane in order to spark a revival in the area.

After the mass shooting in Las Vegas, people were quick to point out many of the same issues, declaring that lawlessness was an example of God’s second coming and the ways people were being judged for sin.

Apparently this response to both natural and human-created disaster is nothing new, since the text in Luke today points to two different events in which it seems people were looking to find the sins of the people. The first, Galileans who had been killed at Pilate’s hand. The second, eighteen who died when a tower fell on them.

The way Jesus talks about them seems to imply that others were talking about them, discussing them, probably in much the same way we discuss these issues today. Are these catastrophes due to sin the in the lives of the victims? Why would God allow such suffering to take place?

These are not new questions, and while some of us move into the realm of the wrath of God with surety, Jesus’s response is different. He declares with authority that it is not the fault of the victims and that they are not being punished for their sins. He then turns the question around. The question of calamity then becomes less about the victims and more about ourselves. Catastrophe happens, but we are the ones who are called to repentance. We are the ones who are called to be prepared in case of disaster. We are the ones who are called to bear fruit.

BODY

Disasters have always caused speculation

a. The text references two great disasters.

The first is the Galileans killed at the hands of Pilate.

-We don’t know much about this event because it isn’t recorded in secular history.

-We do know that Pilate was a Roman ruler placed in charge over Jerusalem to keep the

peace at the center of Jewish worship.

-We also know that there was an incident prior to Jesus, where Pilate sent soldiers out to kill

pilgrims coming to worship out of fear of insurrection.

-We also know that Jesus was a Galilean, so this news would be something he was probably

familiar with at the time.

-We can infer that, most likely, these Galileans were Jews who were coming to Jerusalem to worship, but Pilate thought they were insurrectionists there to stir up trouble, so he murdered them, thus mingling their blood with the blood of their sacrifices.

The second is the tower of Siloam falling and killing eighteen people.

-Unlike the first disaster, this seems to be purely accidental.

-Siloam was a neighborhood south of Jerusalem.

-There also is little known about this event other than what we read here in the text.

-We can infer, however, that—whether by earthquake, time, wind, or faulty building—a

tower fell, killing eighteen people in the collapse.

b. These great disasters seem to be referenced in very much the same way that we see disasters referenced today.

-They seem to be fairly common knowledge. These were probably events that people were talking about and speculating about among themselves.

The questions begin to arise. Why? Why did this happen? Did they deserve these horrors? What is the purpose of suffering and death?

These are not unlike the questions we ask when disaster happens.

Jesus looks for fruit among the living

a. He definitively declares that it is not the fault of the people killed. a.Though people were saying it was due to their sin, Jesus states definitively that it was not.

b.He does not blame the victims. b. He turns the questions around to those asking the questions.

a.Instead of focusing on the victims of the disasters, he focuses on the response of the people talking about the disasters.

b.He tells the people to repent. i. “Repent” often means to view things with new eyes, to have a new heart, to turn in a new

direction. ii. The focus, then, is not on what others had done but on what those who are talking are do-

ing. Are they people of repentance? c.He tells a parable.

The story about a fig tree focuses on the production of fruit. If a tree does not bear fruit, you do not just kill it; rather, you tend it and give it another opportunity to grow when given the right nutrients.

If the fig tree still doesn’t produce fruit, even with the right nutrients, then it is to be cut down.

iii.This is not a parable about the people who died; rather, it is a parable about the people who are listening. They are to bear fruit. They are to flourish in the ways of God.

Do we speculate or introspect?

a. When disaster happens, are we quick to blame victims?

Do we examine the sins of those who have died?

Do we ask why is this happening?

b. How often do we examine our own hearts?

The parable of the fig tree is a lesson for us; we are people who are supposed to bear fruit.

The fruit we are supposed to bear is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

If we are not bearing the fruit of the Spirit, what must we do to ensure that we are repenting and being fertilized for growth?

i. Maybe there are things in our lives that need to be pruned away. This is a key part of Lent,

stripping things away things that are keeping us from life with Jesus. ii. Maybe we need to add fertilizer, spending more time with the scriptures, in prayer, or in a small group. iii.Maybe we need to spend more time in self-reflection instead of focusing on what others are doing.

REPENT!

We often worry and fret over the lives of others without examining our own hearts. Jesus’s words are hard here, about how the focus should be less on what others have done and more on the type of people we are supposed to be. We are supposed to be people of repentance who bear fruit of love and grace to the world around us. A phrase uttered frequently to young children is “worry about yourself.” It would be good for us this Lenten season to do the same. To take time to repent of the things that are holding us back from a full relationship with Jesus and to grow the fruits of love, grace, and peace that God is asking us to grow.