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Realignment and Fruitfulness Luke 13: 1 – 9 |
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Summary
Realignment and Fruitfulness If you have lived long, you’ve either experienced human tragedy personally or heard countless reports of it. 9/11. Earthquakes. War. Fires. Tsunamis. Hurricanes. Airline crashes. Murderous rampages. Tragedies create moments of reflection on the question of “Why?” These events jar us into contemplation of our own finitude. We humans readily obsess over cause and effect in the wake of troubling times. We long for some tangible answer to make sense of the tragic circumstances. Inevitably, someone, often a religious person, announces that the latest catastrophe is a sign of God’s judgment. Moreover, we are told that the pain and suffering is the direct result of personal or national sin. Such answers are only comforting for insiders who are confident of their own standing with God and intent on pointing the finger at others for the sake of self-justification. In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus is confronted by a group looking for easy answers to a horrific event in which some Galileans had been killed by Pontius Pilate while worshiping in Jerusalem. This unsettling state-sanctioned murder had led unnamed persons to carry the gory details to Jesus. As was his usual modus operandi, Jesus turned this encounter on its head. The inquisitors were likely looking for self-justification in the face of unspeakable horror. They wanted a simple answer, but Jesus would have none of this. He turns the conversation into a call for repentance as the only ground for hope and standing in the face of God’s judgment. Repentance In response to the crowd, Jesus asks a question that surely was on the minds of all in his presence, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?” Moreover he cites the deaths of 18 people due to the collapse of the tower of Siloam as a second example and asks, “Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?” The persons in the presence of Jesus surely wanted the answer to be “Yes.” Such a response is in keeping with the popular theology of Jesus’ day and our own. We unwittingly suppose that life would be less messy if we could explain every tragedy based on the victim’s sin. This was the approach of Job’s friends in that great Old Testament dialogue over the suffering in Job’s life. But life isn’t that simple. God’s creation is not so mechanical that every good experience is the result of an individual’s righteous actions and every bad experience the result of sin. So Jesus will have none of this popular theologizing. He presses the issue more deeply. Were the people who died worse sinners than others? Absolutely not. This claim is unsettling and raises the question, “How should we then understand this tragic incident and how should we order our own lives?” Jesus interprets the event as a warning: “… unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Jesus suggests that the ugliness of life should propel us to God rather than send us into a posture of self-justification. Tragedy can strike us at any moment. The only sure way through this world is the way of repentance. Don’t miss the tone of Jesus’ words. He is not talking about a one-time “I repented back in 1995” act of penitence. Jesus is calling on his hearers to adopt a lifestyle of repentance. There is a profound difference between a one-time repentance and an ongoing response of repentance to God. The first assumes a static approach to life; the other is dynamic. During a trip to Port Canaveral beach on Florida’s space coast, a family was enjoying a walk along the coastline. The waves gently splashed ashore. The sun was warm and the ocean was teeming with activity. Pelicans glided over the surface looking for fish. A pod of dolphins swam a dozen or so yards off shore. It was a perfect day. As they walked northward, the family spied an odd-looking bluish object protruding from the sand about 50 yards down the beach. As they drew near, the identity of the mysterious object came into focus. It was an old 10-gallon plastic gas can that had washed ashore and was now firmly stuck in the wet sand. The children began squealing with delight as they discovered living creatures attached to the can. Barnacles were all over it. The girls begged their father to rescue the helpless barnacles from certain death from the sun or the sea gulls, which were encircling the area. The dad attempted to pull the can loose from the sand, but it was held fast by the vacuum force of the wet sand. Next he tried to pry the barnacles off by hand. All this accomplished was the crushing of several barnacles. The family walked away sad that day. The barnacles would not survive the day. They had made a decision at some moment in the past to attach to the gas can. It had likely been a good decision at the time, but now this past decision and the barnacles’ inability to change had sealed their fate. When Jesus talks about repentance here, he is offering a warning. Repentance is not merely a one-time change. It must be an ongoing way of life in our walk with God. Past decisions must lead to present and future acts of repentance. Think of Jesus’ call to repentance as an internal GPS navigational device. As we follow Jesus into the world, we will be confronted by new situations and challenges. Our GPS device continually recalculates our route and calls us to realign ourselves with where God is moving. This is the essence of the dynamic life of repentance. It is a key marker of a vital, moment-by-moment relationship with God. Rather than offering an easy answer, Jesus uses the question about a tragic event as a teaching moment to call his inquisitors to a deeper relationship with God. That will come for them by their committing to a lifestyle of continual realignment of their lives with God. But this is not the end of the story. Fruitfulness Jesus concludes his exchange by offering a parable. He tells the story of a fig tree that does not bear figs. The landowner has patiently been awaiting the arrival of figs. After three years of waiting, he orders his gardener to cut down the tree. The gardener responds by pleading for patience and asks that the landowner give the tree one more year to produce fruit. This story represents the chief take-away of our passage. The goal of our life with God is not merely repentance or realignment as an end in itself. God desires something more. Jesus’ parable suggests that the purpose of repentance is fruitfulness. As fig trees were created to produce figs, God’s people exist to produce the fruit that God desires. In the two biblical books written by Luke, Luke and Acts, this fruit is understood in terms of God’s mission in Jesus. God’s people serve as witnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The risen Jesus has unleashed and sent out his people to serve as witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection and as heralds of God’s salvation to all nations. Realigning and following Jesus involves serving as witnesses of the Gospel to those around us. This represents a life of fruitfulness. Jesus understands this as the natural result of being God’s people. Just as a fig tree exists to produce figs, the people of God exist to bear witness to God. We are to serve as clues to the mysteries of God. But what happens when a fig tree does not bear figs? It is likely to be cut down so that its place in the garden may be occupied by another. Don’t miss the warning in Jesus’ words. He is calling his hearers to examine themselves on the question of their fruitfulness. Jesus is looking for persons committed to an ongoing relationship with him. It is not about asking, “Am I less of a sinner than another?” But rather it is about asking, “Am I committed to realigning with God daily as a means to living faithfully and producing fruit for God’s kingdom?” Conclusion The good news of this text is its testimony to the patience of God. The warning here is deadly serious: It is a call to repentance and fruitfulness. But overall our text paints the picture of a generous God who desires his best for his people. Jesus calls us to a moment-by-moment realignment with his work in the world. This way of life unleashes us to live fully as God’s people. How will we respond to the gospel lesson? Will we heed Jesus’ teaching as a means to living the lives that God created us to live? May we do so. |
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