Luke 13:1-9 Be Ready…and Be Fruitful

Have you ever had something bad happen to you and it made you ask if God is punishing you or why God allowed it to happen? Well if you have, you’re not alone. People have asked this question since the beginning of time, and this same question is the foundation of the Gospel reading from Luke 13:1-9.

That particular reading mentions two incidents that are not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible-Pilate’s slaughter of the Galileans in the Temple and the collapse of the tower. Pilate had proven himself capable of killing Jews who displeased him or opposed his policies. The crowd apparently wanted to see Jesus’ response to Romans slaughtering righteous Jews as they performed their Jewish religious duties.

There was a belief at that time that severe calamities happened only to people who deserved God’s judgment and that the truly righteous were spared suffering. Jesus said that this was not true. Jesus said in effect that the precariousness of life in a fallen world should prompt us to take stock of our spiritual conditions. Jesus’ words about judgment and repentance are scary, but they depict human life as a gift.

There are still some people today who believe that a person’s suffering is a result of his/her actions. This is true to some extent. For example, an alcoholic who develops cirrhosis of the liver has no one to blame except himself and his decision to drink alcohol to excess. Some churches are also guilty of this sinful belief. For example, there was a church that taught that God’s approval, love and blessing were all conditional based upon one’s performance. As a consequence, some people who have experienced spiritual abuse and hold a distorted image of God see God as a policeman who will punish them for any wrongdoing.

Suffering is not a form of punishment. God does not want anyone to suffer. He wants us to turn away from sin and turn to him so we can have abundant lives. On the other hand, Jesus didn’t deny the connection between sin and disasters, because many disasters are the result of the curse of human sin. He does challenge the notion that people who survive disasters are morally superior than the victims. Disasters are not God’s way of singling out evil people for death. Disasters are God’s way of warning all sinners. Since disasters occur without warning, we must always be ready to meet God.

For Jesus, the real sin is not bearing fruit when we have been given the responsibility to do so. We are planted where we are and we are called to be responsible disciples who do God’s work in whatever calling we have. 

Jesus told several parables relating to vineyards during his teaching. In each parable, the vineyard represented both the people of Israel and us. According to Old Testament law, no one was to eat the fruit from newly-planted trees. This fruit belonged to God. God gave Israel plenty of time to repent and bear fruit, and he gives us plenty of time to repent and bear fruit. Eventually, judgment will come. God wanted to show compassion to the people of Israel, and he wants to show us compassion as well, but his compassion has a limit. We must not presume upon God’s grace and patience.

The voice of the gardener is a voice for mercy. More time is given for the tree and us to bear fruit. The tree can’t do it on its own, so the gardener will take steps to help the tree be fruitful. Similarly, God has taken steps to help us be fruitful. He has sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. He has given us instructions in the Scriptures. God is always on our side. He always sends us help and encouragement in our need to change and live fruitful lives. The life of a disciple of Jesus consists of daily repentance and renewal. Each day is a day of grace, providing the opportunity to repent and bear the fruits of repentance. When our time is up, it’s up. God will give us many opportunities to repent and obey the gospel, but if we don’t, God will deal with us.

Both of the stories we heard from Luke’s Gospel this morning are calls to repent. God wants us to repent. He wants to be involved in our lives and give us the promise of heaven and spiritual blessing. He wants to plant something in us that will grow and bear fruit. This fruit will change the way we live and it will impact our actions, decisions and character. Jesus’ purpose is to redeem us. Jesus wants to see something grow within us as a result of his presence in our lives. We have no right to be taking up space in church if we aren’t being fruitful. We need to share Christ with other people. We do this by inviting them to church or by talking about Jesus with them over a cup of coffee.

Time can be a grace for us. It gives us space and time to grow, mature spiritually, reform our lives, serve the Lord and remove the obstacles between God and us and between us and others. It doesn’t matter what size the obstacles are.

During this season of Lent, we are called on to give thanks to the one who spared us from his wrath and gave us the gift of today. We must not waste this gift by returning to the ways of sin. We must use this season of Lent to examine our own behaviours and make the changes we need to make. We do this by following these steps:

1.      We must acknowledge our need for God in prayer and in our hearts.

2.      We must confess our sins.

3.      We must accept God’s forgiveness and lay claim to his love.

4.      We must change our minds and re-examine some things about our lives, our priorities and our patterns of activity.

5.      Finally, we must bear fruit. We have to show some new actions, practices and behaviours that reflect the love that God has for us and the love we have for God.

When we walk with God, we will be strengthened by his presence and we will find hope through his love. That makes all the difference to us. When times are tough, we know that we are not alone. We know that God will help us. Our faith will keep us on the right path. It will help to keep us moving. It will help us to do the right thing. God walks with us even through the valley of the shadow of death, because Jesus opened the doorway to eternal life for us. That gives us hope, and that hope is a blessing.

Bibliography

1.      Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 1413)

2.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.

3.      MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, NASV (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)

4.      Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NKJV (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)

5.      Robin Dugall, “What Fruit Are You Growing?” Retrieved from www.homeword.com

6.      “Each and Every Person.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com

7.      Pastor Dick Woodward, “An Unfruitful Disciple.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

8.      Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, Third Sunday of Lent (C).” Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org

9.      Arland J. Hultgren, “Commentary on Luke 13:1-9.” Retrieved from http://www.workingpreacher.org./preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1578

10.  The Rev. Joseph Evans, “Spared the Axe.” Retrieved from http://day1.org/4534-spared_the_ax.print

11.  The Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler, “Changing Your Mind, Bearing Fruit.” Retrieved from http://day1.org/1033-changing_your_mind_bearing_fruit.print.

12.  “Spiritual Abuse Warps Our View of God: How to Heal”. Retrieved from www.preachitteachit.org/articles/detail/spiritual-abuse-warps-our-view-of-god-how...

13.  Exegesis for Luke 13:1-9. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org

 

 

 

 

Luke 13:1-9 God’s Forgiveness is Always Available

Good morning boys and girls!

How many of you like stories about fairies or pixies? Well, you’re in luck because today I’m going to tell you a story about a pixie named Clarrie. Clarrie was a very naughty pixie who bullied and intimidated the gentle fairy Delphinium. But when Clarrie tore her wing, and was therefore grounded indefinitely, it was Delphinium who cared for her and showed her genuine forgiveness.

CLARRIE was very, very angry. The Head Pixie had just informed her that a good fairy had been assigned to look after her. Clarrie didn't want anybody to look after her. She certainly didn't want some fairy, and she most definitely didn't want a fairy who was good. Clarrie was not good. She worked hard at being bad, which was why the Head Pixie in despair, had turned to the fairies for help. Almost all fairies are good, and so are particularly suited to caring for others, even for bad pixies like Clarrie

Clarrie’s worst sins were hurting other pixies. She delighted in pinching pixie wings, or stamping hard on pixie toes, or hiding in the trees, then at night when it was dark and scary, jumping out with a loud shriek. All the other pixies were terrified of CLARRIE, and avoided her whenever they could. So CLARRIE had no friends and was always alone. That was the way she liked it. She couldn't be bothered with any of the other pixies, they were so boringly well-behaved. They never had any fun. Well, only feeble fun like playing games or flying sedately in a kind of pixie crocodile.

The Head Pixie had long despaired of Clarrie but kept on and on forgiving her, hoping she'd perhaps become loveable one day. CLARRIE regarded the Head Pixie with contempt. She considered the Head Pixie to be a total wimp, and every time the Head Pixie forgave her, CLARRIE would immediately fly off and hatch a new plot which was even worse than previous schemes.

The crunch had finally come when CLARRIE had torn a piece out of another pixie's wing. She hadn't actually meant to tear the wing, she'd only nailed it to a tree with a pine needle when the pixie was asleep. But the pixie had woken up with a start, and the wing had torn, and a little piece of wing was still nailed to the tree. Pixie wings are very delicate. Any damage to a pixie wing is extremely painful, so the little pixie was in agony. CLARRIE, whose wings had never been damaged, laughed out loud to see the little pixie's suffering. The Head Pixie had been horrified by CLARRIE's lack of remorse, and had resolved to call in the fairies. And when CLARRIE had begged and pleaded and implored forgiveness, the Head Pixie had stood firm and refused to budge.

It was a terrible disgrace to be put into the charge of a fairy. CLARRIE didn't care about the disgrace, she rather enjoyed it and swaggered and boasted about how she was the worst pixie in the world. But when the good fairy Delphinium arrived, CLARRIE's swagger changed to a depressed sort of limp, and her boasting became an angry moan. The trouble with good fairies is, you can't get away from them. Delphinium stuck to CLARRIE like glue. CLARRIE had no opportunity for any mischief, because Delphinium was always there, like a kind of shadow.

And Delphinium was so boring. For a start, she was always nice, no matter how rude CLARRIE was to her. And she enjoyed fairy pursuits, like dancing in a ring and sitting on toadstools, and helping whenever she could. All things which CLARRIE hated. CLARRIE sat and sulked, and tried to work out a way to shake off Delphinium. She tried kicking and pinching and scratching and punching Delphinium, but the good fairy was quick and light, and could fly out of trouble very fast indeed. CLARRIE never got near enough to do any real damage. But she did say really nasty things to Delphinium, and jeered and sneered at her so much, that once or twice CLARRIE noticed tears creep into Delphinium's blue eyes, and her rosebud mouth droop in despondency.

One day, when CLARRIE had shouted long and loud at Delphinium and told her how much she hated her, Delphinium turned her head away and closed her eyes for a moment. It was all the time CLARRIE needed. Quick as lightening, she slipped the sharpest pine needle she could see into the palm of her hand. When Delphinium turned towards her again, CLARRIE slashed at her face with the pine needle. Delphinium screamed, a tiny, high fairy scream, and covered her face in her hands. CLARRIE saw a drop of fairy blood ooze between Delphinium's fingers, and with a sigh as soft as thistledown, Delphinium crumpled into a little fairy heap on the ground.

CLARRIE gasped. She hadn't meant to hurt the fairy so much. She'd just wanted to frighten her. Suppose Delphinium was dead? She was lying very still. CLARRIE took to her wings and started to fly as fast as her wings would carry her. But she was in such a hurry, she flew straight into a thorn bush. The last thing CLARRIE remembered, was the agonising pain in her wing as she caught it on a thorn and tore its delicate tissue.

When CLARRIE came to, she was lying on a bed of soft moss, and somebody was gently bathing her injured wing in a soothing solution. As she struggled to sit up, Delphinium pushed her quietly back. "Hush now," whispered Delphinium. "You've hurt your wing quite badly. It'll heal in time, but I'm afraid there'll be no more flying for a while."

She looked so concerned and spoke in such a gentle voice that CLARRIE stared at her. Eventually CLARRIE said: "Don't you hate me? I've done such terrible things to you. Why don't you just leave me in pain? Why are you helping me?"

Delphinium laughed, a musical fairy laugh. "I don't hate you," she said. "I just want you to get better. And I'll help you all I can. I promise not to get in your way, and when you're really better, I'll ask the Head Pixie if you can be by yourself again. I know you don't really like having me around."

But to her surprise, CLARRIE heard herself saying: "Don't go, please don't leave me. I wish you'd stay." Then she caught hold of Delphinium's hand and clasped it tightly. "I'm so sorry for all I've done to you and everyone else," she whispered. "I know you must hate me. I hate myself."
But Delphinium simply put her arms around CLARRIE and hugged her. "I'm your friend," she said. "I could never hate you."

And do you know, after that CLARRIE changed so much she became the Best Pixie in the World, and everyone was her friend. She never hurt anybody again, and she soon became the happiest pixie anyone had ever known.

Boys and girls, Jesus is just like Delphinium. He is always willing to forgive us, and he will never leave us not matter how badly we behave. 

Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes for a moment of prayer. Dead God, thank you for your love. Thank you for being with us no matter how badly we behave. Help us to say we’re sorry when we sin, and help us to act like you want us to act. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN

Bibliography

1.      Janice H. Scott, “The Worst Pixie in the World.” Retrieved from https://store.sermonsuite.com/content.php?i=788017559

 

 

 

Genesis 39:1-23 Adversity Can Lead to Success

Have you ever heard the saying that “hell has no fury like a woman scorned?” Well, we have a perfect example of this in the reading from Genesis 39:1-23.

Even though Joseph was a slave in Egypt, he showed great faith and righteousness, and even though he was physically alone, the Lord was with him. Because of this support, Joseph endured and prospered. Joseph is a good example for all of God’s people, regardless of their circumstances. Fellowship with the Lord means freedom from fear and loneliness. I know that some of you here in Queens Manor might be suffering from loneliness or fear. I hope you can take comfort in the fact that just like he was with Joseph, God is with you.

People notice when God is with us. For example, when Joseph’s master Potiphar saw that God was with him, it pleased Potiphar and glorified God. It fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would bless others-and Joseph was one of his descendants. Potiphar was so pleased with Joseph that he gave Joseph an enormous honour. He made Joseph the overseer of the household.  

Our good characteristics can be both an asset and a liability. In the case of Joseph, his good looks made him the object of Mrs. Potiphar’s lust. Even though she pressured him every day, he didn’t give in to temptation because he knew that by giving in he would betray both his master and God.

Mrs. Potiphar was one of these people who refused to take “no” for an answer. She was so angry that she tried to destroy Joseph with her lies. She blamed everyone but herself for the situation. She blamed her husband for bringing Joseph into the household. When she emphasized the fact that Joseph was not an Egyptian, she took advantage of the long-standing racial tension that existed between Egyptians and foreigners from Canaan. She portrayed Joseph’s actions as being directed against the entire household, and not simply her. She was like many people today in that she blamed everyone else but herself for her actions and their consequences.

At that time, death rather than imprisonment was the common punishment for rape. Potiphar was captain of the guard and could have had Joseph executed, but instead he put Joseph into prison. Even in prison, God’s support for Joseph did not cease. Joseph was given a trusted position of oversight. Joseph understood that he was not the author of his success. He worked hard and obeyed the Lord. God did the rest. God’s presence with Joseph was linked to his commitment to God. Similarly, God’s presence with us is linked to our commitment to Him. That presence gives us the strength we need to overcome adversity and successfully accomplish the tasks God gives us to do.

Bibliography

1.      Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 55-56)

2.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.

3.      Briscoe, D.S. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 1: Genesis (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987)

4.      MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, NASV (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)

5.      Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NKJV (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)

6.      Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 55-56)