Repent or Perish

Repent or Perish Luke 13:1-9, Isaiah 55:1-9 In our reading from the beginning of chapter 13 of Luke's gospel some of those who are with Jesus come to him with a question that has been troubling them. It seems that there's recently been an incident in the temple where a group from Galilee, who were there offering their sacrifices, were attacked and killed on the orders of the Roman governor, Pilate. And what these people want to know from Jesus is: "does this mean that these men were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? Is this why they were particularly chosen to be killed like this? After all they must have done something very bad to deserve to die like that, so close to God's very presence. And after all God obviously allowed it to happen to them. So, what do you think Jesus?" Clearly those who put the question to Jesus are of the opinion that in life we get what we deserve. Such that, if we're good then good things happen to us, and if we're bad then bad things happen. And I suspect that this is the sort of thinking that at times prompts people to say of someone, most often a loved one who's just died, that "he or she was a good person, no-one ever had anything bad to say about them". It's almost as if they're saying: "They'll be ok, if there are any qualifications needed for getting into heaven, if it exists, then they've certainly passed". And with this there's also the suggestion, of course, that if the person concerned hadn't been such a good person, in their view, then they might have had problems when they got to those pearly gates. Actually, I guess that many people will have this sort of attitude. But then it's an attitude that can cause big problems when someone who's loved dies prematurely, because then the question arises: "why should someone so good die so young?" "It isn't fair, it doesn't make sense". And then, not surprisingly, such people, if they ever believed in God, begin to doubt his very existence. After all, they reason, how could a God who is all about love ever allow such an injustice to take place? So, what does Jesus have to say here to these questioners? Well he introduces a wholly different way of thinking to them, something that these people, who most certainly will have been Jews, haven't yet considered. You see, as far as they're concerned being Jews means that they themselves are automatically special in God's eyes and deemed by him to be Holy, and therefore acceptable, to Him. They believe that some people, because of the kind of person that they are, or because of the kind of things that they do, going to the Temple to worship the Lord and present their sacrifices to him for example, are God's sort of people, whilst others aren't. But Jesus says to them: "Whoever you are and whatever you might do, however you or others might rate you", (verse 3) "unless you repent, you too will all perish". What he's saying to these people is that they're trying to learn the wrong lesson from this terrible incident. They're asking themselves and him: "why did this happen, and what did it mean for those people who perished?" But they should be asking "what does this incident actually mean for me?" And then Jesus gives them an even clearer example of aa apparently totally unfair series of deaths, which he assumes they know about. Those resulting from when a tower just inside the wall of Jerusalem fell on and killed eighteen people ... "how were they more guilty than the rest of the people living in Jerusalem that this should have happened to them in particular?" Jesus asks. Well, the answer is obvious ... they weren't! However, they weren't less guilty either. The point is that everyone is guilty and in need of forgiveness in God's eyes. And if deaths such as this show us one thing it is that we all may die at any time. And so it follows that repentance, our acceptance of our failure and guilt before our holy creator God, and our desire and willingness to change our ways, must be our top priority before that time comes. And then Jesus goes on, with this in mind, to tell them a parable which highlights their situation; giving them, through it, words of hope but also of warning. He tells them the story of a fig-tree that a man planted in his vineyard. Obviously it was a tree that was very dear to him, because the soil in the vineyard would have been of a much better quality than that outside it, which was where fig trees were normally planted. And regularly the man would come to look for fruit on the tree; not a particularly large amount of fruit, any fruit would do. And after three years he'd have expected to have found some fruit, however, to his great disappointment, there was none. And so, the man said to his gardener: "get rid of it, it's taking up ground which some other tree, or vine, would benefit from". After all he'd given it the best chance, he'd been very patient with it, and it had simply failed to respond to all that he'd done, all the love and care that he'd shown. So why not get rid of it and give something else the chance that it had spurned? Well, this is what the owner thought but his gardener had other ideas. Let me try and help it, he said. Why not give it just one more chance, another year during which I'll work on it, digging round it and mixing plenty of fertiliser with the soil, giving its roots every chance to draw in the right balance of nutrients, water and air; and then let's see how it does. If it produces fruit next year then you'll have a fruiting tree! If it doesn't, well then you can cut it down. Now to those who had ears to hear and eyes to see that day the meaning of this parable would have been very clear. Because in the Old Testament the vineyard is often used to represent God's people, who're shown as those who the Lord lavishes great care and attention on, hoping that they'll respond by producing much fruit. And so here, in this parable of Jesus, we have a picture of God's people, as represented by the fig-tree in the vineyard, refusing to respond to his care, not bearing any fruit. And God's righteous judgement is: get rid of them, that's what they deserve after all. And yet, and yet, that isn't the end of the matter, because a champion now comes forward, one who's the close confident of the Lord, one chosen by the Lord to do just this, one who is actually Christ the Lord himself, the second person of the Trinity. And, much like the gardener in the story, he takes upon himself the redemption, and healing, and restoration, of God's own beloved people. A most wonderful message, a most wonderful opportunity for all people, the message that Jesus has been proclaiming constantly since, having returned from his great tempting in the desert, he read from the book of Isaiah chapter 61 those prophetic words of which he was the fulfilment, saying: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." (Luke chapter 4 from verse 18). And in fact it's the same message that we find further back in the book of Isaiah; in chapter 55 which we read earlier. There we see the Lord crying out to the fruitless tree, to the one under condemnation: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; ..." In the Revised Standard Version, and other versions of the Bible too, it has "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; ..." and of this "Ho" Charles Spurgeon tells us: "This is the gospel note; a short, significant appeal, urging you to be wise enough to attend to your own interests. Oh, the condescension of God!" he says, "That he should, as it were, become a beggar to his own creature, and stoop from the magnificence of his glory to cry, 'Ho!' to foolish and ungrateful men!" This is a message, then, which God urges upon us all, this call to repentance. Just as Jesus was doing now in Luke chapter 13 as he slowly made his way to Jerusalem where he would allow himself to be used and abused, so as to make it all possible. A message of free salvation ... "come to the waters ... you who have no money ... come buy wine and milk without money and without cost". Free salvation from first to last because there'll never be a time when we're asked to pay for it, to earn it ourselves by our deeds. No, water, wine and milk, all are ours for free, given to us through the wonderful grace of God. After all, says Isaiah, where have all these things got you in the past ... your money, and your labours? Nowhere! You've accumulated possessions, you've lived a comfortable lifestyle and eaten of the finest foods, you've been able to afford exotic holidays and have had many exciting experiences, but where have all these things got you in the end, what real long-term good have they done you? But listen, just come as you are with nothing, empty handed, and the Lord will give you that which satisfies you fully. Will give you that which will finally well up to eternal life. And this message is for everyone, for everyone who is thirsty, with the promise that their thirst will be quenched by the living waters of which Jesus tells the woman at the well in John chapter 4 and verse 10. However, the sad truth of the matter is that not everyone is thirsty. And only those who are thirsty, and know to come, will come. And, what's more, not everyone is aware of their thirst, putting their feelings of unease with what life has to offer down to a need for some other form of satisfaction. You see many are too caught up in the world with its opportunities and difficulties. They throw themselves in to life to get as much as they can out of it, and they struggle to deal with the problems and concerns that come their way whilst spending all their money and their strength in the process. But never are they prepared to stop and consider, to ask the question which those questioners of Jesus failed to ask: "What does it all mean, for me"? To wonder whether there might not be a deeper truth and reality behind it all. It's a message then for the thirsty to come. But not only to come, no we're also asked to listen. "Give ear and come to me" says the Lord through Isaiah (verse 3 of chapter 55) "hear me, that your soul may live". God is speaking, he cries out to us all the time, but too many people stop their ears to his voice, preferring to hear other voices which seem more attractive to them. And too, once we've come, we're told to be "a witness to the peoples" (verse 4). We're to go to the thirsty and point them to the water, the wine and the milk. Pointing them to the rich fare, the everlasting relationship of love that God offers to us. We're to go too to those who aren't thirsty and convince them of the reality of their situation, that they're actually dying of thirst. And also, we're always to continue in seeking the Lord, calling on him, turning away from wickedness and towards him, so that we can continually receive his mercy and his love. In other words, we're to bear fruit for the Lord; and for the one who's said to the Father: "Give me time with them, let me tend them and nurture them. And when they come to me, let me place my Holy Spirit within them, to teach, correct, direct and mould them so that they'll produce much fruit". So then, on this third Sunday in Lent as we once again approach Easter time, the time when we remember just how immense was and is the grace, the condescension of God shown to foolish and ungrateful humanity, let's stop awhile in our still too often busy schedules when we still struggle with the issues and concerns of life whilst asking the question, "why?" Let's stop awhile to look at ourselves in the light of God's word, to examine where we are, and to test the genuineness of the fruit that we're bearing. Let's stop awhile to ask ourselves: are we still coming to the Lord as we ought to do in these strange days, or is it perhaps the case that even now our time, resources and energy are being used in ways that lead us away from him? Are we listening to him, do we feed on the wonderful bounty of wisdom that he has for us, or are other voices filling our ears and our thoughts? Are we persisting in continuing to eat of those things that will never satisfy us? Do we see it as being our God given duty to reach out with the gospel message that changed our life to those who haven't yet heard it, or who continue to reject it? Or do we see it simply as our own personal possession to be enjoyed and got fat on? One more thought. There's a final sobering warning in Jesus's parable of the fig-tree. The patience of the gardener isn't inexhaustible. There will come a time when the tree that fails to bear fruit will be given over to the owner's wrath. Which will be a time of utter rejection for those who never came but also, surely, a time of deep shame for those who did but who still failed to respond as their loving Father and Lord would have wished them to. May we each, by God's grace, ever come to him with repentant hearts and then, through and by his grace alone, bear such wonderful fruit such that all the glory might be given to him. Amen