Hear God's Call to Repent

I. In the Events of Our World

II. In the Words of Our Savior

(Luke 13:1-9)  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." {6} Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted 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.'"

            Tell me, have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, what is going on in our world these days?  I mean, you watch the news or read the headlines and it’s like one heart-rending tragedy after another.  First there’s this massive earthquake in Haiti that leaves over 200,000 people dead.  And then another earthquake in Chile that was 800 times stronger than the one in Haiti.  And you’re wondering, “Is this some kind of sign from God?”  Or how about that trainer at Sea World who was dragged to her death by a killer whale, or the luge sledder who slammed headfirst into a pole and was killed at the Olympics?  Why are these tragedies occurring?  Couldn’t God have prevented those things from happening?  Or did he want them to happen?

            My friends, if you’ve ever found yourself reading the headlines and wondering, “Why?  Why did this happen?” you’re not alone.  People have been asking those questions for thousands of years.  In fact, in God’s Word for our study today, we meet a group of people who were asking those very same questions of Jesus.  They were, in effect, tearing the headlines out of the Jerusalem Times and saying, “Jesus, what do you make of this?”  Jesus’ answer is probably not what then, or we, might have expected.  Jesus says that all these events are, at least in part, a call to repentance.  Today, Jesus invites us to:

Hear God’s Call to Repent

I. In the Events of Our World

II. In the Words of Our Savior

            Our text begins with the words, “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.”  What does that mean?  “Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.”  What does that mean?  Apparently, Pilate, the Roman governor, as he was sometimes wont to do, sent his soldiers into the Jewish temple area and they killed some people from Galilee, even as they were offering their sacrifices.  “They mixed their blood with their sacrifices.”  As you might expect, that created quite a uproar among the Jewish community, to have their temple desecrated like that.  Apparently, it also got the people wondering, “Why would God allow something like that to happen?  Could it be those Galileans had committed some terrible crime, that God was now punishing them for?”  And you can see why they might think that, don’t you?  You know the history of the Israelites.  You just heard what God did to the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord.  He had the earth open up and swallow them alive!  Maybe God was doing the same thing with these Galileans.  He was punishing them for their sins.  But what does Jesus say about that kind of thinking?  He says, "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.”

            Now, before we consider what Jesus meant by that, let’s look at the second headline that Jesus refers to.  He says, “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?”  Apparently, there was another tragedy that was on the minds of Jesus’ hearers.  A tower, probably built into the wall of the city had suddenly collapsed, leaving 18 people lying dead in the rubble.  The question on everyone’s mind:  Had those people lived lives that were worse than everyone else’s?  Jesus’ answer?  “I tell you, no!”  And then comes that same ominous phrase: “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

            So, why does Jesus say that?  What does he mean by those words?  I believe the message is threefold.  First, Jesus is warning us not to think that just because something bad happens to someone, that automatically means they have done something bad to deserve it.  That was the assumption that these Jews were making.  “Oh, those Galilean must have been really flagrant sinners for God to punish them like that.”  No rather—and this is Jesus’ second point—death is the consequence of anybody’s, and everybody’s sin.  Whenever somebody’s life comes to an end, whether it’s violently or peacefully, the fact is, it’s still a vivid reminder to all of us: “the wages of sin is death.”  Every obituary we read, every highway fatality we hear about, every death toll we count up—each one marks another human being suddenly forced to stand before God on his judgment seat.  

            And really, that’s Jesus’ third message, namely, “What about you, dear listeners? Where do you stand with God?”  In a sense, Jesus says, “Don’t worry about those people who are already dead.  Instead you’d better be concerned about you.  Unless you repent, Jesus says, you too will perish.  With those words, Jesus is saying that we all run the risk of a fate much worse than death.  We run the risk of “perishing,” that is, being separated from God forever in hell.  And what would cause a person to perish?  Jesus says, the sin of impenitence, that is, the sin of refusing to repent, the sin of clinging to our sins, trying to cover them up, explain them away. 

            Let’s face it.  That’s a very real risk for each one of us.  To get just a little too comfortable with a particular sin, to the point that it really doesn’t bother us.  We’re not really sorry for it; we’ve grown accustomed to it.  What is that sin for you?  Is it the sin of discontent?  Not being satisfied with what God has given you in life.  Always seeing the glass as happy empty, rather than half full.  Complaining about how other people are mistreating you or how life isn’t fair.  Maybe the sin you’ve grown accustomed to is, pride.  Life is all about you—what you think, what you do, what you want.  Everyone else is down here somewhere.  Maybe it’s lust that you’ve grown all too comfortable with.  Can’t hurt to let your eyes wander a little bit, can it?  Everybody else is doing it.  It’s a natural human emotion, right?  Yes, and one which will still separate you and me from God.  My friends, the more closely we examine the nooks and crannies of our hearts, the more dirt we find there.  And conversely, the more pride we take in all the good things we are doing, the bigger hypocrites we prove ourselves to be.

            I mean, really, who of us feels comfortable with the idea of standing before a God who judges the very thoughts and attitudes of our heart?  When you hear about how God dealt with people in the Old Testament, when they tested him, or grumbled or engaged in sexual immorality—what did he do?  He killed 23,000 in one day, or he sent his destroying angel against them, or had the earth open up and swallow them.  Is there a single one of us who could say, “Well, God would never have a reason to do that to me”?  No!  If we’re honest, those kinds of deaths—and worse—are exactly what we’ve earned from God.  What does the Bible say?  (Gal 3:10) "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (James 2:10)  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  (Ezek 18:4)  The soul who sins is the one who will die.”

            My friends, don’t those words give you a little different perspective on the headlines of late?  Every death you read about in the paper is a stark reminder:  That’s what I deserve from God.  And in fact, if I die while still clinging to my sins, my fate will be far worse than mere physical death.  It will be eternal torment.  That’s why Jesus says to you and me, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

            But now, maybe we’d better define what Jesus means by the word, “repent.”  True repentance involves more than simply being sorry for my sins, wishing I hadn’t disobeyed God.  It means more than just feeling guilty about my sins.  Actually, that feeling is called “remorse.”  That’s what Judas felt after betraying Jesus.  He felt the weight of his sins; he knew he deserved to be punished and so in the end, he turned away from God by taking his own life.

            True repentance, on the other hand, involves not only turning away from sin, but it also involves a turning toward God.  You realize, that’s something we can’t do by nature.  It’s something that doesn’t come naturally.  When we know we’ve sinned against God, we don’t want to come toward God.  We want to run the other way.  Think of Adam and Eve.  After they ate the forbidden fruit, did they go off looking for God?  No, just the opposite.  They hid from him.  Their sins separated them from God.

            The same thing is true of you and me.  When we know we’ve disobeyed God, when we feel guilt about what we’ve done, the natural thing is to stay away from God, not think about God, not pray to him.  That’s often why people stop coming to church—because they know there are things in their life that are not right!  They feel guilty, ashamed, even hypocritical.  By nature their sins cause them to turn away from God.

            But that, my friends, is why they—yes, it’s why we—need to hear the Gospel.  For you see, only the gospel has the ability to turn our thinking around.  For that’s what the Greek word for repent means.  It means to turn around, to change our minds, to have a change of heart.  Only the gospel has the ability to turn us around—to turn us away from sin and despair and instead turn us back to God, to his forgiveness, his love and the new life that goes with it.  And God effects that change in us by calling us to repentance.  Today God invites us to hear his call to repent, not only in the events of our world, but more importantly, II. In the Words of Our Savior, that is, in the words of the Gospel.

            Now I have to admit that right here in the words of our text, the words of the gospel are a little faint.  It’s easy to seethe law here, especially in this parable of the fig tree, where this land owner planted a fig tree and for three years he continue to look for good fruit on it.  But the tree produced none.  So what did the landowner decide?  “Cut it down, why should I waste my time and land on this worthless tree?” Hmm.  Sound familiar?  Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 3:8,10?  “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”  Obviously, it’s not hard to hear the law there.  God demands that we produce fruits in our lives.

            So where’s the gospel here?  Ah, isn’t it in the words of the gardener?  The man who is charged with taking care of the tree, in effect, intercedes for the tree.  He recognizes that the tree has been fruitless, but pleads on behalf of the tree.  He begs the landowner for more time.  He promises to feed the tree and care for it.  He promises to invest himself in the tree—in the hope that it would begin to bear the good fruit the landowner is looking for. 

            My friends, you know who that gardener is, don’t you.  That’s Jesus, the one who has invested his life in you.  The one who has spilled his blood, sweat and tears for you on the cross.  The one who continues to intercede for you before the throne of God.  He’s patiently waiting for you to bear fruit, fruit pleasing to God.