Luke 13:4-9 (NIV) 4Or 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? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." 6Then 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. 7So 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. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
Jesus gives a wake up call to those of us who have some ingenious ways to keep the focus off ourselves and on some issue or question other than “how goes it with you?”
When we avoid seeing the state of our own soul we are already perishing. We are losing touch with the real God for the good of our own making. We are getting lost in the callousness of spirit. Repent, wake up. See what you are doing to yourselves. Quit wondering and worrying about others and see the truth about you.
And then Jesus told a parable about a person who had a fig tree that appeared dead. He knows it needs to be plucked out and destroyed, but the vinedresser intercedes and begs for more time.
We are not called to repentance by threats of God’s punishment but by the patience of God who chose not to destroy, but sends His Son to intercede by His life and by His death for you and me. Through the life and death of Jesus, God is working the hard ground of our soul with His compassion and care to give us back our life. Patiently God calls us to wake up to all that is self-destructive in our attitudes, our thoughts, our actions. With patience and loving care, God seeks to wake us up to the hidden truth about our faults and failures. Some, we may wonder if Gods patient loving care is enough to wake us up to all that is hurtful and harmful in our soul, or anyone else’s. Regardless of what we might wonder, Jesus says this is the truth, I’ll dig around it and fertilize it - with care and compassion.
And, if it bears no fruit cut it down. Sometimes calamity comes as a reminder of what God has a right to do with us. It opens our eyes to the callousness of our soul. It awakens us to the defensive blindness of our own life.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 15, 1998
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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