Another Chance
Scripture Reading: Luke 13: 1 - 9 (NIV)
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 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 growing 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.’ ”
Message: Another Chance
Comment culture - going outward
Did you hear what happened? I wonder what they did wrong?
The poor Galileans that was killed so brutally by Pilate that their blood was mixed with the blood of their sacrifices
And those eighteen from Siloam - a tower falling on them crushing them - what were they guilty of?
Current affairs - what was on everyone’s mind: two huge events
Comments and speculation are going around - people trying to make sense of it
We love to speculate, don’t we? (Never call it gossip, speculate sounds better)
We love to have opinions and also to weigh the opinions of others
With news events, news channels have panels of experts discussing different angels of the news
Exploring the different angles is supposed to help us form our own opinions so that when we land in a discussion of some kind, we will be informed
As if it is a terrible sin not to have an opinion or a comment…
It is in our nature to have opinions about others - views on what is out there
We live in a comment culture where we are keen to form opinions… from world news to national news… from regional events to local events… from what is going on in our community and church to what is going on in the lives living with us
Repentance - going inward
But what about you?
What about what is going on in your life?
The headlines that stay inside your head - the stuff that is going on in your head?
Jesus says to those around him: you can have opinions about what happened in the temple and you can have your take on the tower collapsing, but “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
It doesn't really help you to have informed opinions about all this stuff, if you are not willing to be honest with yourself
Jesus says - you need to repent or you are going to be just another news story
Or in other words - take your urge to form opinions and to be informed about everything going on around you inwards
Look in the mirror and ask yourself - what is going on here?
What is happening here that I am not seeing?
Stop going out there with your comments and opinions and turn inward to ask yourself - what is going on here?
Practice of Lent - reflection: what am I not getting?
If I need to repent today, perhaps I need to see what is going on first
Perhaps I need to start asking the question: what am I not getting?
What are my blind spots?
What are the things that I avoid thinking about?
What does denial look like in my life?
What are the emotions that I keep to myself that no one else should know about?
What makes me bite my tongue?
What is it that I am just not getting?
Traditionally, Lent is seen as a time of reflection - many also fast during lent or perform some kind of ritual that points to reflection
Lent provides us with the opportunity to reflect on where we stand in our lives
To honestly seek to see the things we have been missing
Spiritual Growth happens when you start getting it and start doing something about it
But Jesus did not say to go and reflect… He said go and repent!
Reflecting is only part of the process of repenting
You need to gain the insight to be able to make changes in your life
But you can’t just leave it at aha-moments
You need to react to the insights you get from reflecting
That is when you start to grow spiritually…
When you start getting what God wants you to see and respond to it
Repentance is when you start making real changes in your life
God wants me to get it
In comes the parable…
The fig tree growing in a vineyard (what was ’n fig tree doing in a vineyard anyway?)
The owner of the vineyard was looking for fruit but did not see it…
He told the Caretaker to take the tree down, but the Caretaker pleaded for another chance and got it
Key words here: another chance (let’s not overcomplicate the parable here)
God wants me to get it
God wants me to bear fruit
God wants me to have another chance at it
So, on this third Sunday of Lent, let me refrain from airing all my opinions from what is going on out there
Let me turn inward…
What is it that God wants me to see today?
What is it that God wants me to change?
Here, God is giving me another chance to do something about myself…
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