Luke 13:1-9, 31-35 | Parables in Practice

Listen to this week’s sermon, Parables In Practice preached by Pastor Justin Grimm from Luke 13:1-9, 31-35.

Transcript

Welcome And Scripture Reading

Rev. Benjamin Kandt 0:06

Hello everyone, this is Pastor Benjamin. You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City Orlando. At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com.

Hannah Corlew 0:20

Please pray aloud with me. Eternal God, the grass withers and the flower fades, but your word will stand forever. Holy Spirit, help us to love and trust your word through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Please remain standing if you're able for today's scripture reading, which comes from Luke 13, 1 through 9 and 31 through 35. There were some present that very time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower of Saloom fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And he told this parable. And he said to his vine dresser, Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up ground? And he answered him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put manure. If then it should bear no fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down. At that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to him, Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. And he said to them, Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. Behold, your house is forsaken, and I tell you, you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. This is God's word. Thanks, babe. You can be seated.

Why We Compare Ourselves

Tragedy And The Call To Repent

What Repentance Really Means

The Fig Tree And Delayed Judgment

Jesus The Vinedresser Who Intercedes

Jerusalem’s Refusal And The Final Warning

Don’t Delay And Closing Prayer

Justin Grimm 3:01

A couple years ago, when I was in seminary, uh, one of my part-time jobs is I was a coach at a CrossFit gym. Now I actually had the early shift, so I rolled in pretty early in the morning to get the gym set up and ready to go for the day. One morning, uh, a new lady walked into the gym, and it looked like so far she had not been having the best day. I walked up to her and greeted her, let her know my name was Justin, and I asked if I could help her. She said, Yeah, you can help me. I'm actually looking for the coach or the trainer or whoever owns this place. I said, Hey, that's actually me. You know, I'd love to, I'd love to uh help you out if I can. She paused for a moment and she started looking at me from the top of my head, took her time and went all the way down to my toes, and she asked me a question. You are the coach? I responded, Yes, I am. I would love to help you. She said, I'm here for a workout. Let's see what we can do. I had her sign the waiver and I ran her through uh in CrossFit what is known as a baseline workout. She did really well. She was really fit. After she finished the workout, she proceeded to uh let me know how inefficient and how dangerous the CrossFit methodology is working out. And then she did the, she she dropped the straw that broke the camel's back. She looked at me and with all sincerity said, I bet you couldn't even beat me in a CrossFit workout. You see, up to this point, she'd insulted my physique, which I was able to handle. She insulted the methodology, which I had heard before, but then she went straight to the heart. She went after my pride. I think the very words out of my mouth in that moment were that's it, let's work out. I proceeded to set up, if you have any uh knowledge or background in CrossFit, a workout known as Fran. I'll spare you all of the details, but it is short, quick, and incredibly painful. I came out victorious. I also lost her as a client. That night, I have never slept so well. Knowing me, the CrossFit coach, was better at CrossFit than the lady who had never done CrossFit off of the street. Church, do I sound a little silly? I hope so. Because I don't tell you this story in any way, shape, or form to brag on myself, but I tell you the story because this is often things that we do. We compare ourselves to others in order to feel good about ourselves. Have you ever done this? Maybe in parenting, you feel really great about your own child and your own parenting simply because their child is misbehaving. Perhaps professionally, you think you are nailing it and hitting it out of the park in your place of work because your co-worker showed up late. Or maybe even morally, you think that you are superior because you didn't vote for the same candidate as they did. Do you see how we do this? I think it is in human nature to compare ourselves to others. And what are we doing in those moments? We're not actually looking at our own lives before God, we're looking sideways, and we're calling that righteousness. We often justify ourselves before God by comparing ourselves to others. If that's you, and I dare to say it is me, you're not alone. And even in ancient times, we see this here in the text. And I believe this is what the Lord Jesus would have us learn this morning from Luke chapter 13. God's mercy is calling you to repent and to come to Jesus. That's what we're gonna talk about this morning by unpacking these three points: the way to mercy, the giver of mercy, and the warning in mercy. The way to mercy, the giver of mercy, and the warning in mercy. Let's go ahead and jump in. So, what is the way to mercy? This question is relevant and it matters again because often we feel safe before God for all of the wrong reasons. We have this false sense of security. How does this actually play out in the text here? Well, in verses one through five, there were apparently two hot takes or two breaking news events of the day. The first, it's only recorded here in the Gospel of Luke, but apparently Pontius Pilate had killed some religious pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. He took their blood, he mixed it with the offerings, and it was horrible. This was to there's no other word for it, this was an abomination before the Lord. The people witnessed to this, the people who heard about this, they had experienced suffering by the hands of an oppressor. And this is what they come to Jesus with. Jesus goes on and says, you know, we'll take that, let's go one more. How about a sorrow that you all have recently experienced? Apparently the Tower of Saloon, like what likely it was in the southern gate of Jerusalem, fell and killed 18 people. And Jesus goes on to use these two current events to teach a lesson. And how does Jesus teach? He asks good questions. You see what he does here in verse 2? Do you think? He repeats the same question in verse 4. Do you think? Do you think that they were any worse sinners than you are? This is what Jesus does. There's a constant invitation where Jesus invites us to question our own assumptions. And do you see what's implied here in this text? What are you assuming? You're assuming that they must have done something worse. What are you implying? I am not like them. And what are you not asking? What about me? You see, the people of God at this time, they're apparently using someone else's tragedy to justify their own standing before God. And I wonder if we are honest, if we do the exact same thing. Church, I've noticed in my own heart how quickly I can feel okay about myself, not because I'm looking at my own life before God, but simply because I can think of someone worse off than me. If you find yourself in this position, if your heart looks sideways rather than up at God, what do we do? Well, Jesus spells it out here in the text. We repent personally, we reflect honestly, and then we repent personally. Verse 3 and verse 5, Jesus says it one more time. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. In some ways, it's an odd answer to those who are victims of both suffering and sorrow. Yet Jesus is saying, Don't look outward, but look inward. What does it actually mean to repent? Briefly, if we look at this word and the way it comes in the Old Testament, we see that to repent, it literally means to turn back to God. It's language of someone who is on a journey, and as they're trying to make their way to their destination, they get lost. What do they need to do? They need to correct course and get back on track. By the time we get to the New Testament, it takes a little bit more of an intellectual flavor. And the very word that Jesus uses here simply means to change your mind or to think rightly. Think rightly about God, think rightly about ourselves and others. Do you see what Jesus is doing here? He's painting in broad strokes, but he's saying, No one is immune unless we likewise repent, we will experience the same fate. You see, repentance, it's not merely something that we do in a single moment. Repentance is a lifestyle where we continually go back to the Lord. Repentance requires that I stop measuring myself against others and I start seeing myself honestly before God. There's uh an old story that a man once approached a Jewish rabbi and he said to him, Rabbi, I so wish to repent, but I don't know what to do. The rabbi looks at him and he responds, And when and when you sinned, did you know what to do there? The man desperately, yes, but that was easy. First I sinned and then I knew what I did. And the rabbi says back, exactly. Now do the same the other way around. Start by repenting. You'll know what it means later. We repent, we get back on track, we change our mind. How do we go about doing this? Briefly, three things. We see clearly, we think differently, and we respond concretely. We go to God in prayer and we ask the Lord to help us see our sin the way that He sees it. We go to God in prayer and we say, God, help me to change my mind about this sin that I so desperately wish wasn't there. And then we respond concretely. We name it for what it is, that is, we confess it. We flee from temptation, that is, we do whatever is within our power to remove it, and we bring in community and ask them to hold us accountable. Jesus makes it clear here in these first five verses that judgment, it's not for worse people, judgment is for unrepentant people. And if you're thinking right now, I hope my spouse or my roommate is listening in church, you're missing the point. This isn't about them, this is about you. But we need to know and we need to remember repentance, it's not the end goal in and of itself. Repentance is the door, but Jesus is the destination. Jesus is the one who is the giver of mercy. So right after Jesus instructs and he teaches and he says that you must reflect honestly and repent personally, he goes on and he tells a story. That's today's parable, the parable of the fig tree. So what is this parable ultimately about? Well, you have uh the owner of a vineyard, and within his vineyard there is a tree, a fig tree. And this fig tree is no longer bearing fruit. And so the vineyard gives the instruction to the vine dresser cut down the tree. It's wasting up space, it's wasting up resources, it is not doing what it was created for. And intercedes the vine dresser. Give me one more shot. Let me care for it, let me tend to it, let me dig deep into the soil to see if we can cause this tree to yet again do what it was always meant to do to bear fruit. What is the story about? Well, if we really look at it deeply, we can see that this parable ultimately it's a story about the ancient people of God who are not bearing fruit. They're not carrying out their calling to be a blessing to the nations the way that God meant them to. And it's a warning. It's a warning about God's judgment that is coming. But it's not just that. This is also a story about the vine dresser who both advocates on behalf of the tree and nourishes the tree. And so I want to zoom in for just a second, and I want to see in the care of the vine dresser, both his intentional care and his delayed judgment. First, we see the vine dresser is willing to intentionally care for this tree that does not bear fruit. That's exactly what he does in verse eight. First, he advocates. And in advocating, saying, No, don't cut it down, not yet. Here, let me do this thing first. Let me tend to the roots on behalf of the tree. Let me dig down deep. Let me give it fertilizer so that it may grow. Even in verse nine, there's this language that's a Hebrew idiom. If it bears fruit again, well and good. This is language that implies hope for a future. You see, the vine dresser has not completely given up on this barren tree, not yet. He hopes for it. He is willful that this tree would once again be restored to bear fruit the way that it was always meant to. But he doesn't merely care for it. He there is a warning in the text. There's delayed judgment. Verse 9, wait a year. You see, for the people that are first hearing this, they should and we should be hearing the warning in the text. Just as God gave his ancient people the time that they don't deserve, so too God gives us the time that we don't deserve. You see, in this parable, the tree is spared because the vine dresser is willing to step in, to labor, to tend to, and to take responsibility for it. And what is Jesus doing in ancient times, and what is he doing here and now? Jesus is saying, That is what I am doing for you. You are the tree that has not produced what it should. And Jesus is saying, I'm the one standing between you and being cut down. He doesn't merely ask for more time. Jesus enters in. Jesus digs down to the roots of our heart, he nourishes and tends to the deep places, he pays the cost, church, so that you might bear fruit. He is merciful and he has patience. And it is that patience that will take him all the way to Jerusalem. And in Jerusalem, the one who gives life will be cut off, so that those who deserve judgment might receive mercy. What is this parable about? This parable is about the vine dresser that was cut down so that the tree doesn't have to be. What do we learn here in this text? We learn this. Jesus is the vine dresser, only he can tend to your soul. Do you see how frivolous the comparison that we do? We try to tend to our souls by saying, at least I am not that person. At least I don't have that going on in my life. And Jesus is saying, that will not do. Only I can give you what you truly need. It is only the Lord Jesus that can cause you to bear fruit if you will let him. Now I'm taking a guess here for just a moment, but as modern readers of the text, I think this idea that we can be cut off, or to use the language that I've been using here this morning, the idea that we can be judged by God, I would imagine that doesn't necessarily sit well. I imagine perhaps as we read we read text like this or parables like this, maybe we feel a little uncomfortable. We have to remember comparison, that's not the way of Jesus. The warning is in the text and it is real. But I don't think the warning is the greatest tragedy that's out there this morning. You see, I think the greatest tragedy is not the judgment that Jesus is talking about, but it's that people are able to refuse the mercy that is meant to save them. And that's really the last thing that I want to talk about this morning is the warning inherent in mercy. See, the scripture reading this morning, it wasn't just verses one through nine, it also jumped ahead to the end of chapter 13. Now it probably takes me a little more. Time than I have this morning to explain in detail how chapter 13 of Luke is in the middle of his gospel and it comes in the form of a chiastic structure. It starts with Israel and it ends with Israel. But what do we see here in this text? We see that there's a real warning in this mercy. Why? Because there is a willing savior, but an unwilling people. So the story goes on, and Jesus is given a warning himself. Hey, Herod is here, and Jesus is actually, you know, quite something. He throws quite a bit of shade on Herod. Go and tell that fox. What's a fox? Maybe, you know, you know, of all the animals out there, not really all that dangerous. Maybe dangerous to something little, maybe like a rodent. But Jesus is essentially putting Herod down. He goes on and to say, What I am called to do, I must go do this. Let's go ahead and read again, verse 33. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following. For it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. New Testament scholars, they point out this language. It's a divine imperative. Do you hear Jesus' words? I must. And then he pairs that with Jerusalem. I must be about the work that my father has given me. I must go to Jerusalem, for a prophet cannot die away from the city. He then goes on and he laments over Jerusalem. We may miss it, but it's quite tender language. Verse 34. How often would I have gathered you together as a mother hen would gather together her chicks? This language, it's motherly language, and this isn't the only place in the scripture that the Lord Himself is willing to use motherly language to describe the way that he cares for his people, that he desires their flourishing, he desires their good. But what is the conclusion that even here Jesus ultimately draws? But you were unwilling. Verse 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing. I had once heard from a wise man that you should never trust a prophet who does not have a tearful eye. You never trust a dry-eyed prophet. It's going to be later in his ministry, but Jesus is going to fulfill these very words. In 13, he must go to Jerusalem. In 19, he enters through the city gates. And what is the first thing our Lord Jesus Himself does? In Luke 19, 41, he weeps for the city that is now spiritually blind, who will go on rejecting him. You see, there's a warning in the text. Verse 9, it's not just language that is flora and fauna language. It's not merely agricultural, it is covenantal. If the tree refuses to bear fruit, let it be cut off. The same language that God uses throughout the scripture to describe what it is if we won't repent and if we won't receive and respond to the mercy that He has on offer. This was the fate that Jesus warns about. Christian philosopher and writer C. S. Lewis in describing God's ultimate judgment, to use a word that even now perhaps makes me a little uncomfortable. C. S. Lewis talking about hell says this. Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others. But you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day where you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it. Just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine. Jesus is merciful, but hear the warning in his mercy. If I were to sum it up, it's two words. Don't delay. Resist or receive, those are the only options. Do you hear the words, the tender words of our Lord Jesus Himself? He's willing. The question this morning is, are you? Again, you're not safe. You're not okay with God because you're doing better than your neighbor, your coworker, your friend. You're not here because you're safe. You're here because God is merciful and patient. And that patient, even now, is calling you to repent. Church, the thing that scares me about this passage is how easy it is to hear all of this and still walk away unchanged. So many of us, we've spent our lives looking sideways, measuring ourselves against other people, convincing ourselves that we're okay, because we're not as bad as them. But Jesus won't let us stay there. Remember, Jesus, he is the vine dresser. He is the one who has stood between you and being cut down. He is the one who has been patient with you, who has labored for you, who set his face to Jerusalem and went there for you. And even now, he's not distant. But even now, he is calling. The question is not whether Jesus will receive you. The question is will you come? Pray with me. So, Father, I pray for all of our hearts now. Lord, sometimes in your word there are strong words, words that cut deep, words that go to our heart. But Lord Jesus, I pray that this would work good in the lives of your people. Because as you cut and you prune, you do it tenderly. You do it with merciful care. And I pray that that would be our heart's posture towards you. Lord, for the ways that we want to self-justify through self-comparison, would we receive your gentle mercy? Would we be able to see ourselves honestly before you and before before the Father? And may you work even now in the hearts and the lives of your people. Would your tender mercy work in them that they may bear fruit? Cause us to bear fruit only the way that you can. We pray all these things in the merciful and powerful name of our Savior Jesus. Amen.