The Fig Tree
Notes
Transcript
You know we are people who like control don’t we?
and when we do not have control it drives us crazy.
This past week actually Arika and I got back from staying a few nights at the campground that our church connected too.
And we had a great time and the speakers and worship were great!
But when we got home we were exhausted.
So we decided we were going out to eat for a nice dinner (we thought we had control, but if you have toddlers you know your life is controled by them right?)
and we are getting ready to go into the restaurant and all of the sudden both boys decided they were going to explode.
If you are a parent you know what I mean.
And so we we go to grab the diaper bags and we have no diapers.
And so I get ready to go and grab Liam to give to Arika to go to the store and realize that Liam did not just explode, but he exploded all over the car.
And so I clean up everything, run to the store, meanwhile Arika is waiting at a table for me.
And I finally sit down and Liam is acting a little crazy and not just that he swats a plate of the floor shattering it into pieces
And so our plan for a relaxing dinner got altered a little bit.
But I am sure you can relate to this on some level, because we are people who like control over our lives, but when we do not get it sometimes we get really frustrated.
In fact in todays passage Jesus is teaching and really their are two situations that show often times our life is out of our control, but Jesus tells us one thing we can have control of.
So turn with me to Luke 13:1-9 and just like this week we are going to divide this passage into two parts:
Because we will be looking at the context for what is happening
And then Jesus tells a story and we will be diving into that.
So we are starting in Luke 13:1-5 and it says this:
1 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.”
So Jesus is teaching when there were people present who asked Jesus about a situation that occured.
And to be honest this is a heart breaking situation, because what was common during this time is the Romans were so cruel that their would be stories of massacures they would commit.
And these people are coming to Jesus with this story of a group of Galileans who were worshiping through sacrifices when they were murdered by piolate.
And we can tell by Jesus’s response in verse two that they are wondering what did they do to deserve what happened to them?
Why did such a terrible thing happen?
I mean have you ever caught yourself asking a question like that?
Why did such an awful thing happen?
Why did 9/11 happen?
Why did Covid happen this past year
Why did this tragedy happen in my family?
And Jesus says it is nothing they did, and he even brings up another tragedy where a building collapsed killing 18 people.
And Jesus tells them that these people did not do anything to cause these tragedies, but they happened.
and to be honest when a tragedy occurs God is never the one that causes the tragedy, but the reason for it goes back to Genesis where sin enters the world, and because of that we live in a broken world where things are not how they should be.
Thats why we have disease
Thats why we have tradgadies
That is why we have death
None of those things were in God’s original plan,
And I want you to catch what Jesus says here in the last verse of this section, because He tells them “look unless you repent, you will parish.”
And Jesus is not saying repent or you will die like these people,
But what he is saying is actually everyone is going to die.
We talked about this last week. There will be a day where everyone of us passes away.
And a lot of times like the events in this passage it is not planned. We do not wake up going today’s the day.
But Jesus is saying these events should remind us how important it is to turn to God, (in fact repentance is: to turn away from what you sin and turn to God)
because without God we cannot be made clean of our sin,
And this is where Jesus actually tells a story to to explain this more: look at verses 6-9 and this is one of the shortest parables Jesus tells, It says this:
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 around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”
So look whats happening because there is a Fig tree in a vineyard and it is producing barely any fruit and we can guess that this fig tree is probably 6 years old,
because fig trees take at least 3 years to grow fruit and so around that time would be when they would check the tree for fruit and we see this guy has been checking it for three years.
And what is really interesting is a lot of scholars believe Jesus’s public ministry has been occuring for about three years at this point
So this parable while it could have a few meanings most people believe that it is referring to the Jewish people who have seen Jesus’s ministry for 3 years now,
They have seen him work miracles, they have heard Him teach,
But for some reason they still have not turned to Him, they have not repented where they have came to Christ.
and this is a place that a lot of people are in America and really there may be some of us in this room who have landed in this place.
We have heard about Jesus, we have seen how he has moved in others lives, but if you were to ask us where we are in our walk with Him
There is something holding us back
Some of us we might say well how do I know that He is the true God- and that is holding us back
Some of us might say I got hurt by a church and I have a hard time turning to Him
But there is something there that is holding us back.
Its almost like skydiving
People describe it as this amazing experianance, they say it is beautiful, people who have done it will often say it is one of the best things they have ever done.
And I always think it would be amazing to do it.
But here is the thing I have made a firm descion not to skydive.
Want to know why? I cannot bring myself to trust the parachute
But really thats how our walk with God is, because Jesus has shown us this amazing way we can live, we have seen what He has done in others lives, but for some reason we have this thing where we are saying I do not know if I can trust Him.
And look at this next part of the story because the vineyard owner comes and says I have been coming here for three years and it still is not bearing fruit cut it down!
Thats really how the story should have ended
Because the tree should have been cut down, if somthing is not producing fruit why keep it,
But I love this next part because while this tree should be cut down, the man who cares for the vineyard gives a solution:
And listen to what he says because He says “Sir, give me one more year, I am going to dig around the tree and fertilize it”
Can I just pause here because there are three parts to this first off it shows how merciful God is where He is still extending grace even when we have rejected Him with no fruit to bear
But then second off, Church this shows us what our church should look like.
It shows that we should be creating an enviroment, for people to thrive in their walk with God.
notice this parable does not say the guy caring for the vineyard hit it with a stick hoping it will produce fruit.
Because doing that would probably do nothing or make the tree worse.
But you know my fear is that in the church we are people that instead of fertalizing just loving on them how Christ has called us to that to often we hit them with a stick.
We shout them down, we tell them they are messed up and broken, we tell them that they are telling them they are a terrible influnce on our children
And somewhere along the road we forget to tell the about our God and the love He has for them.
And hitting someone with a stick rarely will help someone change, but when we know Jesus it changes everything.
What would it look like instead of hitting someone with a stick we loved them how Christ loved us.
And I want you to get this last part, because you might identify as the fig tree in this story
And I am glad you are here, I was assigned a role as a tree in a middle school play, we are tree brothers… or sisters…
But on a serious note I am glad you are here, because I do not know what is holding you back, but God really does have something amazing in store for you.
And it would be amazing to accept him and step into that today, but I also realize you might not be there, and If thats you I want you to make a commitment.
keep coming and not only that but dive deep
And I am not telling you this because it makes our numbers look good or anything like that.
But I am telling you this because there is a God who loves you, who has died for you and when you are coming you are placing yourself in fertile soil where you can begin to understand that love He has for you.
It might not be this week, it might not be this month, if you are hardheaded like me it might not even be this year, but I truly believe God is seeking you and if you begin to seek Him then He will meet you.
And somthing amazing and life changing will occur in your life.
But I need to give a warning because you probably noticed that this passage ended by saying if nothing happens after a year the tree will get cut down.
And that sounds harsh but what Jesus is saying is there is also some urgency here:
Because like these events where people lives were lost suddenly and tragically, things can happen in our life.
And I am not saying this to be a fire and brimstone preacher (I think most of us can agree I am not)
Really Jesus is saying there is a day where judgement will occur, and we have to stand before a merciful and just God
And we have to ask am I ready for that day.
Because for some of us it could be 70 years from not, for others it could be a year away.
But until that day God is persuing you and waiting for you to turn to Him.
Will you pray with me?