This morning we’ve heard the prophet known as Second Isaiah invite us to “seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.” As we seek the Lord, Isaiah calls on us to forsake wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts and return to God who will have mercy on us (Isa. 55:6-7).
This word from Second Isaiah is an appropriate one for today because the Lenten season invites us to look inward so we can discern where we fall short of God’s expectations for our lives. You might call this a time of testing that involves repentance and an offer of divine pardon.
The reading from Second Isaiah goes well with the reading from the Gospel of Luke, which also speaks of sin and repentance. Here in Luke’s Gospel Jesus responds to news that Pontius Pilate had a group of Galilean pilgrims murdered who had gone to the Temple to offer sacrifices. Jesus asked the people who brought this news whether this group of Galileans were greater sinners than other Galileans. It’s worth noting that Jesus himself was Galilean as were most of his closest followers. Jesus answered his own question by telling the audience that the murdered Galileans weren’t any worse sinners than any other Galileans, but if the people in the crowd didn’t repent of their sins they too would perish. Just so he was clear about things, Jesus asked a rhetorical question about the eighteen people in Jerusalem who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them. Once again, Jesus declared that they weren’t any worse sinners than anyone else, but unless people in general repent of their sins, they will also perish.
Now, I’m not a fire and brimstone preacher. I believe God’s grace and love are sufficient to cover our sins. However, passages like this do raise questions about divine judgment. The Gospels are clear that at some point we will all face the judgment seat of God. There is no better illustration of this than the parable of judgment in Matthew 25, where Jesus speaks of God separating the sheep from the goats on the basis of how they treated the “least of these.”
This passage also raises questions about the connection between tragedy and disaster on one hand and divine judgment on the other. You may have heard someone, probably a TV preacher, suggest that a hurricane or earthquake or some other tragic event is a sign of divine judgment. I remember back in the 1990s, after the Northridge Earthquake, hearing TV preachers like Pat Robertson suggest that the earthquake was a sign of God’s judgment on the San Fernando Valley, because it was home to numerous pornography studios. The problem with this assessment is that the studios didn’t suffer any damage, but the same couldn’t be said for churches and schools. So maybe we shouldn’t read divine judgment into tragic events.
While Luke’s Jesus doesn’t provide a clear answer to the question of why bad things happen to people, he does invite us to consider where we stand when it comes to God’s expectations for our lives. If we do this, then we can repent by turning around and head in the right direction.
While talk of sin and repentance may seem discouraging it’s worth remembering that Jews and early Christians believed that repentance was a good thing. Repentance, as the reading from Isaiah reminds us, involves seeking after the ways of God. In Luke, we hear Jesus connect repentance with bearing fruit that reflects our relationship with God.
Repentance is the key to restoring broken relationships, whether it’s our relationship with God or our neighbors. If we look at what’s going on in our world today, there are a lot of broken relationships that need to be restored. Friendships have been frayed by political differences. Nations that have been allies for decades are at odds with each other. There is a lot happening that is simply out of our control, but we can address the brokenness that’s taking place close to home. That’s where Jesus’ parable about the fig tree comes into play.
Repentance involves returning to the path God sets before us, which in turn allows God to heal the brokenness we experience in life. The baseline for walking God’s path involves following the two great commandments. These commandments involve loving God with our entire being and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. As Jesus declares in Matthew’s Gospel, the entire message of the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. That is, if you fulfill these two commandments you fulfill all the commandments (Matt. 22:34-40) starting with the Ten Commandments everyone is talking about these days. This particular collection of commandments speaks of how we relate to God and our neighbors. When it comes to defining the neighbor’s identity, Jesus offers a rather expansive definition in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
When it comes to defining sin, Scripture focuses on the systemic kinds of activities that infiltrate our world and influence the way we relate to each other. That’s why the Ephesian letter speaks of our struggle against the “cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). This is also why we’re encouraged to put on the whole armor of God, so we can, with God’s empowerment, overcome these cosmic powers that seek to lead us away from God’s purposes. But, if we seek God while God may be found, then we can join with God in helping to heal the brokenness due to the cosmic forces at work in our world.
This is where the parable of the fig tree comes into play. According to Jesus’ parable, a man planted a fig tree in his vineyard. Unfortunately, even after three years, it didn’t bear any fruit. So, the owner of the vineyard decided to cut it down because it was wasting good soil. However, when the vineyard owner told his gardener to cut down the tree so they could start over with a new tree, the gardener resisted. He simply asked for more time to see if he could nurture the tree so it might bear fruit.
Here is where grace steps in. The gardener offers to nurture the tree so it might fulfill its purpose by digging around it and fertilizing it with manure. If it didn’t respond, then he would cut it down and start over. With that, the parable ends.
Jesus doesn’t tell us whether the tree actually responded to the gardener’s efforts. He left it open so we could ponder what might happen to a tree that is nurtured to health. Of course, Jesus wasn’t giving gardening tips; he was talking about the lives of his followers.
In sharing this parable Jesus makes it clear that God expects us to bear fruit. It’s a message that is present throughout the Gospel of Luke, beginning with the preaching of John the Baptist. In Luke 3, John tells the people who came to him seeking to be baptized, that if he baptized them, they should bear “fruits worthy of repentance.” If they didn’t bear fruit then they would be cut down and thrown into the fire (Luke 3:7-9). When the people asked him how they might bear this fruit, he offered a couple of examples. He told them that if they had two coats they should give one to a person who lacks a coat. If they had plenty of food then they should share what they have with those who lack food. He told tax collectors not to collect anything more than what was prescribed, and he told soldiers not to exhort money from people through threats and false exhortations (Luke 3:10-15).
While God serves as the divine judge in Luke 13, God also serves as the gardener, who lovingly prepares us to bear fruit. As the Ephesian letter puts it:
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Eph. 2:10).
Then in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he speaks of the fruit of the Spirit, which includes “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things” (Gal 5:22-23). This fruit is an expression of God’s realm. It’s not a burden but a gift of God. Since love is the first fruit mentioned, we can return to the two great commandments, which call on us to love God and our neighbors. In fact, we love God by loving our neighbors, who like us, bear the image of God.
May we use this Lenten season to consider what it means to bear fruit as we navigate this broken world we inhabit. The message of the season is simple—we are called by God to let go of the things that hinder our relationships with God and our neighbors and keep us from bearing the fruit God has prepared for us. This is, I believe, what true repentance involves.
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
Troy, Michigan
Lent 3C
March 23, 2025
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