At
that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose
blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do
you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse
sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you
repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who
were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were
worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I
tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig
tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found
none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I
have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it
down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it
alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If
it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
Year C
Third Sunday in Lent
February 28, 2016
Cross~Wind
Title: Truth, Love, and Time
Introduction
I have a boyhood fascination with
outer space. It has stayed with me. I like the idea of exploring and finding
out new things. In this case, I learned that 40% of the attempts to have a Mars
mission have failed. A reporter asked one of the leaders of the Curiosity
mission what would happen if this mission failed. He said we would pick up
ourselves and explore again, for something in us accepts the challenge to
explore. We want to know our surroundings, understand what is out there, and
answer the question, Are we alone? Today, the challenge of exploring what is
out there still fascinates me. Back then, I suppose I wondered a bit more about
whether we might sometime find evidence of life out there.
Fortunately, the mission of
Curiosity did not fail. In the late summer of 2012, the Mars rover "Curiosity"
landed on the surface of the planet. It took just seven minutes for the rover
to enter the atmosphere and touch down successfully. Its pictures remind me of
parts of the American West.[1]
However, whom I am thinking about today
are the NASA staff. They had to wait a long time. Many people throughout the
world tuned in and took notice of this amazing feat. However, many likely did
not think of the engineers who spent roughly 8½ months simply waiting. They waited
and hoped they would not lose every dollar spent or crush the dream of Martian
discoveries. 8½ months is a long time to wait for a culture that has grown
accustomed to immediate gratification.
You could argue that waiting is a
lost art in our culture.
Would expectant moms want a way to
speed up the process?
We are all part of an impatient,
"now" culture. Our culture cannot fathom living in the days when
sending a letter from the East Coast to the West Coast took several months, and
the Pony Express, which guaranteed delivery from St. Louis to Sacramento in 10
days or less.
We want the laptop that boots the
fastest. AVG is a program I have that every once in while asks me if I noticed
that it helped me boot my computer a second or so faster.
Even hospitals are now posting the
turnaround times in their emergency rooms on highway billboards.
We are a people who increasingly
expect -- and demand -- a world without waiting, which can make being a
follower of Jesus Christ incredibly frustrating.
We want the moment when “rover has
landed” rather than the 8 ½ months of waiting.
Application
Luke 13:6-9 is a parable of the
patience of God. God us like the gardener, who nurtures the soil of a plant so
that it will produce fruit. The time in which we live is a time of mercy from
God and repentance and bearing fruit for us.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we
must be among the few who practice the lost art of waiting. We must wait so
that the trees -- the people we love or the church we love—we are not among
those who cut it down or abandon too early. We must learn to wait so that this
world, this nation, this church, and we as individuals, can be fruitful and
beautiful works of God.
Waiting is not an easy aspect of
discipleship. Scot McKnight in Chapter 7 of The
Jesus Creed remarks on the importance of hearing the truth. We need the
truth in order to repent. The truth opens the possibility of forgiveness.
Are you ready for some important
truth regarding repentance?
First, we must wait with the golden rule in mind.
Jesus tells us this:
"Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for
this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12).
The point here is to make us pause
before we judge others.
Scot McKnight (Day 11) uses this
verse to help us reflect on the importance of loving the face in the mirror. One
part of the Jesus Creed is to love the neighbor as we love ourselves. We feed
and clothe ourselves. We seek friendships. God made us in the image of God, so
we need to love ourselves properly. We love ourselves when we forgive
ourselves.
Now, let us turn such reflections
toward others. We may know the son who we wish would get his life together today;
the daughter who we wish respected us now; or the unbelieving spouse who we
wish were with us this morning. We have been praying for them, working on them,
being patient with them, and we long for something that would change them.
Maybe, we are angry that God has not finally "landed the rover" with
them. No, we need to do to them, as we would wish others did to us.
Second, we must wait with God's goodness in mind.
We may not understand how God could
wait one more minute.
The longer you are a part of God's
family, the more you begin to realize that God is not bound to our obsession
with “now” and instant gratification. Our Father who art in heaven, whose name
we hallow, and to whom we belong and by whom we are beloved through Jesus
Christ the Son, seems to have no trouble with things taking time.
This is especially true in the way
God chooses to deal with sinful, broken people.
Bishop Coyner at our Life Together
conference (2016) referred to the message on the grave marker for the wife of
Billy Graham, Ruth Graham: “Construction is complete … Thanks for your
patience.”
I think we need to hear some truth regarding forgiveness.
One of the problems many of us modern and post-modern folks have with
Lent is that it talks of divine forgiveness. Many of us no longer believe we
are sinners who even need forgiveness. After all, we make errors of judgment. We
live under the deprivations of heredity and environment. We do the best we can
under the circumstances. We do not really sin, and therefore have no real need
of forgiveness.
Maybe one of the most powerful
statements we need to ponder during Lent would be this: "For me Christ
died." We need to let that sink in today. We are the types of people for
whom the Son of God needed to die in order for us receive new life. We are
dust, but God has already blessed immensely and immeasurably, no matter how
long we wait.
Lastly, we must wait with an end in mind.
Here is uncomfortable truth.
Notice the vinedresser asked for a
year, but he did not demand forever. Jesus' point in the parable was that
eventually time would run out for the unfruitful trees, the unrepentant Israel,
and God would prune them -- judge them -- accordingly. Eventually something will
happen. The rover will land. God will act, often in unexpected ways we do not
understand.
By the way, this parable can help
us in dealing with sick and destructive relationships. Of course, relationships
are often difficult and require work. We also need to have proper boundaries
that can give us some guidance in discerning how long we should stay in certain
relationships. We may need to learn that it is time to let go. We cannot wait
forever. It may well be OK to wish them well, pray for them, and move forward
with our life. The important point here is that the relationship ought not to
be a prison.
Conclusion
Above all, trust in
the slow work of God. We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach
the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages, we are
impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet, it
is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of
instability and that it may take a very long time.[2]
Waiting is inevitable. Sure, we
boot our computers and share our data faster. However, babies still take nine
months, Mars is still 350 million miles away, and God is still giving broken
people bountiful amounts of truth, love and time. For everything that happens
right now something else remains a "not yet." Our existence on this
planet involves waiting. This means that if you have not learned to wait, you
have not learned how to live.
May we be a people who afford
others the same luxuries and patience we have received from the Lord. May we
hold on to divine goodness even when God seems to wait too long. May we trust
that though we tap our toes impatiently, eventually a good and gracious end
will come. Until then we wait. Amen.
Luke 13:1-9 is a
pronouncement story concerning repentance. The source is unique to Luke.
For the Jesus Seminar, Luke creates the story in order to introduce Pilate and
foreshadow the destruction of Jerusalem. In
context, this section (12:1-13:9) began with Jesus speaking about judgment in
12:1-3, 13-21, end-time events in 12:4-12, 35-48, 54-56, and end-time divisions
in 12:49-53. In these discourses, Jesus emphasizes the importance of discerning
the times. If one can see what time it is, then one knows the importance of not
being a hypocrite in 12:1, of not being worried when brought before rulers in
12:8-12, and of being continually watchful in 12:35-48. In 12:56, Jesus says
that the crowd can interpret the earth and sky, but not the present time. They
need to understand in what time they live. Judgment comes unexpectedly, so the
right time to repent is now.
At that very time there
were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had
mingled with their sacrifices.[So
far, this is the only ancient text to refer to this incident. However, the
incident is typical of the bloody, brutish reputation Pontius Pilate had
cultivated during his reign. It may be that when Pilate siphoned money away
from the temple treasury for an aqueduct project he wanted, he created this
fiasco. However, scholars remain puzzled as to why some in the crowd inform
Jesus of this event. Are the informers attempting to trick Jesus into saying
something judgmental about Pilate in order to bring a charge against him later?
Are they attempting to provide Jesus with a real-life example of the type of readiness
to suffer about which he spoke at the beginning of Chapter 12?[4]
He urges his disciples not to be fearful of authorities who can kill the body.]
2
He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in
this way they were worse sinners than [the comparative “para” underscores
the belief that those killed were more sinful and deserving of death] all other Galileans?[Regardless of why they brought forth the
incident, Jesus relates it to the theme of the unexpected time of judgment. It appears
that those who come to him have some knowledge that leads them to think that the
Galileans were culpable for their own fate and, therefore, worthy of the judgment
of death. The belief that one's sins cause one's suffering and death
appears in various places in Jewish literature (cf. Exodus 20:5; Job 4:7; 8:4,
20; 22:5; cf. John 9:2-3). The response
of Jesus, however, suggests he rejects such a claim. Among the many problems of
this idea is that suffering is so widespread among other living things in the
prehumen world and cannot result from human sin.[5] The Galileans' status as
sinners has nothing to do with their fate.] 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent [the word metanoew occurs in the second person plural,
demonstrating the communal nature of repentance], you will all perish as they did. [It seems strange that Jesus does not condemn Pilate for engaging in
such behavior. Many of us as readers might prefer Jesus had done that. However,
he focuses upon the condition of those whose blood Pilate mingled with animal
sacrifice. Were they aware of close their end was? Are you aware of how close
judgment is for you? This event foreshadows judgment that will happen at the
end of time. Yet, Jesus undercuts the thinking of those who think that one can
assign judgment to one group or the other based on the degree of sinfulness. In
12:56, the point is to be aware of the times in which they live in which
judgment is coming and therefore repent. The focus shifts from why this
happened to the Galileans to the repentance necessary to prevent a similar
event from occurring to his audience. Jesus has reversed the issue by saying
that his hearers are similar sinners to those killed. Therefore, all will
receive judgment at the end of time. Therefore, all need to repent.] 4 Or those eighteen who were
killed when the tower of Siloam [the name of a reservoir close to the southeast corner of the walls
of Jerusalem, although a tower or its fall there has no confirmation in
other sources.[6] Perhaps, these people lost
their lives while trying to strengthen the Jerusalem water supply. [7]]
fell on them—do you think that they were
worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I
tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” [Jesus draws the same conclusion from this
event as he does the first event. Those who died in this accident were no more
sinful than any others living in Jerusalem were. The degree of sinfulness is
not the criterion upon which to judge these incidents. Trying to outguess God's
divine time lines of life and death for each of us is not a human
capability. Nevertheless, men and women
are capable of making sure they stand before God repentant and trusting in
divine love and mercy.]
Luke 13:6-9
is a parable concerning the barren fig tree. The source is material unique to
Luke. Luke now adds the voice of mercy.
Some scholars think of it as another version of the cursing of the fig tree in
Mark 11:12-14, 20-22 = Matthew 21:19-22. However, more than likely, the two
stories are not the same.[8]
In the context of Luke, the Galileans
died by malice, the people of Jerusalem by chance, and the fig tree by being
unproductive. It correlates to the call for repentance in 13:1-5 and that we
hear throughout Chapter 12.
6 Then he
told this parable: “A man had a fig tree [an important food source in
ancient Israel and a familiar metaphor of the spiritual condition of Israel] planted in his vineyard; [the owner
visits his fields to survey their fruitfulness] and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. [Jeremiah 8:13 has no figs on the fig tree
as a sign of judgment from the Lord. Isaiah 5 is about the vineyard of grapes
that the Lord tended but bore no fruit, a sign of the disobedience of Israel.] 7 So he said to the gardener,
‘See here! For three years [indicating
the patience of the owner] I have
come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down!
Why should it be wasting the soil?’ [The
patience of the owner (God) is ending imminently in judgment.] 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone
for one more year, [stressing the imminent nature of the judgment] until I dig around it and put manure on it.[The solution of the gardener is to offer
the fig tree both the grace of more time and the goodness of a richer
environment. It implies hope. The fig tree will receive grace. In the same way,
human beings have a short period of grace until divine judgment. 9 If it bears fruit next year, [judgment is still coming soon, so the time
to repent is always now] well and
good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ” [We should note that the parable ends without the reader knowing
if the owner will extend the time or if the extension of time and enriched soil
actually worked. The mercy of the gardener and the owner is a great gift. It
will not last forever. The parable takes on the nuance of the human life marked
by unproductivity. The focus of the
parable is still repentance, the same as 13:1-5. Those who need to repent (bear
fruit) have a time-frame within which to do so, another sobering indication
about the shortness of the time at hand. The connection between fruit and
repentance echoes the call of John the Baptist in Luke 3:8-9, who calls upon
his audience to bear fruits worthy of repentance and that a tree that does not
bear fruit is thrown into the fire. The parable reiterates the call of John the
Baptist. The additional year allowed by
the owner highlights the owner's merciful response and, by extension, God's
willingness to be gracious. As Pannenberg puts it, the restraining of divine
wrath is a sign of divine patience that has conversion as its goal. With the
themes of time, repentance and mercy, this parable provides an apt summary of
Jesus' discourse on judgment up to this point.[9] What time is it? The
question arises from this parable. The time is at hand for repentance and
judgment.
"The fate of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled
with that of their sacrifices, like that of those who perished in the fall of
the tower of Siloam, becomes a symbol for the coming fate of all who will not
repent. The fig-tree parable identifies Jesus' hearers as being in the last
season of opportunity to change their ways."[10]]
[1] You can have a panoramic
view of Mars from Curiosity.
[2] --Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Making of a Mind:
Letters From a Soldier-Priest, 1914-1919 (London: Collins, 1965), 57.
[4](Laurence E. Porter, New International Bible
Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1979], 1210); Joel
B. Green, "The gospel according Luke," NRSV, ed. Harold Attridge [San
Francisco: HarperCollins]1880).
[5] Pannenberg, Systematic
Theology, Volume II, 165.
[6] (John Nolland, "Luke," Word Biblical
Commentary, Vol. 35b [Dallas: Word Books, 1993], 718)
[7] (Laurence E. Porter, New International Bible
Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce [Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan, 1979], 1210.)
[8] (Laurence E. Porter, New International Bible
Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce [Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan, 1979], 1210)
[9] Systematic
Theology, Volume I, 440.
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