“Gospel Conversations”

  Today we’re taking a break from our Matthew series, where instead we are going to look at a passage from Luke 13. And as we open up to Luke 13, I want to give you a little background. Several weeks ago I was at a gathering of pastors that prays for the town and the churches weekly. This has been going on for over a decade, but in the last year I have not attended as often as I have in the past. In fact, I’ll go months without attending just for the mere fact that, for some reason I have a lot of late Tuesday nights and the meetings are on Wednesday mornings. 

But when I have a Tuesday off, I try to be there. It was at one of these meetings where I was told that one of the other churches had held a viewing of a political movie. The church, nor the movie is important, but what was said to me struck a chord. I was told by a pastor that one of our parishioners attended and in conversation said something along the lines of, “our job is to spread the Gospel message.” 

To me this was great, what is the job of the disciple of Christ, but to work in the commission given by Jesus to make disciples of all people? But when I was told that this was what the parishioner said, is wasn’t shared with me as a positive, but a negative. 

Not that I believe this pastor was implying that the Gospel isn’t important, but it was implied that we are to be political players. Hence the reason why they had showed the movie.

It was in that moment that the passage we are going to look at today came to my mind. And it’s been something that has been weighing on me for several weeks. Yet, God has not allowed me to share until this week. So let’s read together Luke 13, starting in verse 1.

1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or 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? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

6 Then 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. 7 So 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. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

This is an interesting passage, for several reasons that we can observe. First, it’s unique in the Gospels. The other three Gospels do not mention this conversation happening. That’s interesting because in the Gospel of John we get two mentions of the pool of Siloam, but not the collapsing of one of it’s towers. This could be that the tower hadn’t collapsed at the time when Jesus mentions it in John, or it’s simply not the focal point of the situation in John. Either way, we know for a fact that Luke is the only Gospel writer to record this moment in time. And because Luke is the only one who records it, we don’t know much about the situation in general.

The second thing that’s interesting is that we do not get many current events in the Gospel accounts that do not directly impact Jesus’ story. But here we are given two. One by some people who are seeking Jesus’ opinion on the matter, and the other given by Jesus himself.

Taking these two observations together, what can we gather so far? Well, we know that some Galileans were killed by the governor Pilate while they were bringing their sacrifices to the temple. This could be for several reasons: Galileans had the reputation for being rebels, and so they could have been sought by Rome for execution. Or Pilate could have been making an example of them, because of other Galileans who were trying to cause problems for Rome. Concerning the tower of Siloam, we know where its location was, and that eighteen people died. That’s about it. 

But there’s a third interesting observation we can make about this passage is Jesus’ response. He doesn’t focus too much on the situations that are presented. Though Pilate’s killing of the Galileans’ is most likely political in nature, it’s not what Jesus’ focuses on. Rather it’s the false linking of calamity to sin and judgment and the need of repentance, that Jesus chooses to focus on.

The parable that follows hit’s this point home, that repentance and God’s judgment are not necessarily found in the day-to-day calamities of life, but are dependent on the patience of God. 

So what is the Holy Spirit trying to get us to understand from this passage by including it in Luke’s Gospel? I believe there’s two layers to it. Let’s look at the first layer.

First, the overarching theme of the passage is to correct the common misconception of sin and judgment. There was, and still is, the belief that if something bad happens, it’s because you’ve sinned. This is the belief that is being presented to Jesus. Jesus recognizes that the people presenting him with the Galilean situation believe that these people died because of their sin. So Jesus asked them a rhetorical question, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?”

Jesus’ emphatic “No,” is supposed to correct the wrong mindset. It isn’t, necessarily, because they had greater sin, and therefore were judged by God. Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:11-12 speaks to this, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Just because a person suffers, does not mean that the person has sinned, because even Christians will suffer for no other reason than they follow Jesus. So we must have our understanding of situational hardships put into perspective: a bad situation is not necessarily because of an individual’s sin, and is not necessarily a judgment from God.

Instead, Jesus gives the people what does constitute judgment from God. In response to the killing of the Galileans, Jesus gives the people these words, “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Jesus reemphases this again after giving the example of the tower. So he’s trying to turn the focus of the people off of the sin of others and onto themselves. What the people are doing is, comparative righteousness. They’re comparing themselves to these people who have endured a horrible fate, which can lead to a sense of greater righteousness. The thought of “Well I haven’t died like that, therefore I must be greater than them,” seeks to compare our sin to another’s, so that we can feel better about ourselves.

We do this when we say things like, a”t least I’m not like that person.” Or when I’ve spoken to people and I ask, are you a sinner, the typical nonbeliever response is, “well I’m not a murder, or cheater.” That’s comparative righteousness, we’re comparing ourselves to others, rather than to where we’re supposed to compare ourselves, which is with God himself. And when we compare ourselves to God, we realize what Paul speaks of in Romans 3, “There is no one righteous, not even one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (v.10b & 23)…”

Jesus then follows this tearing down of comparative righteousness with a parable of a fig tree. This particular fig tree hadn’t produced any fruit for the three years. It’s the owner’s plan to cut the tree down and replant, but the caretaker convinces the man to give the tree a little more time; with added attention it might produce the intended fruit. If the tree doesn’t, then the caretaker will cut it down.

This parable speaks to a person’s personal sinfulness that is to be judge by God. It speaks of the patience of waiting on final judgment until the person has been given ample opportunity to respond. And it speaks to the fact that there is final judgment. The implication is that we need to repent while we have the time, because whether we’re killed for political purposes, or crushed by a tower, if we’ve repented we have no fear in this life or the judgment to come. But if we have not repented then what awaits us is an eternal judgment.

This is why the Bible pleads with people to not push off repenting of sin, and following Jesus. This is why in 2nd Corinthians 6 Paul writes, “As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

So we too need to have repented of our sins, accept Jesus’ payment for those sins through the cross, and follow him in his resurrection that we too may be found bearing fruit into eternal life.

And if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, there’s the second layer of the passage that we need to understand. This layer speaks to our current cultural situation and how Jesus’ disciples are to respond to non-believers. With all the politics and current events swirling around us, how are we responding? Let’s look at Jesus’ response one more time.

Jesus had heard of the Galileans and the tower of Siloam, yet we’re never shown any sermons or parables on the subject. But he did know about them, so that should indicate to us that we need to know what’s going on around us. We should know and understand the political and social events that are happening. 

But why should we know them? Jesus used these events to point to repentance. He wasn’t upset by them, preaching against them every chance he got, but rather used them to call others to repentance. We as his disciples need to be doing the same thing. We need to know about the situations around us, so that we can point others to the Savior. 

As followers of Jesus, our first priority is the Gospel message. The things around us, the political and social events, will be there, but only until the return of Jesus. And so what should we be doing? We are to be imitators of our Savior, and when these events were brought up, he pointed to the need for repentance, so should we.

Can we have political and social opinions? Can we have opinions on mass shootings, on boarder security, on gender identification? Of course, the Bible speaks to many of the problems we are having and it gives solutions as well. But we must realize that these things are symptoms of a nation and world in rebellion against God, and the solution, is repentance. 

Several weeks ago we red Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:26, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” I want to paraphrase those words, what good will it be to win every political or social argument, but never call others to repentance?

I do believe that God wants us to be engaged in the political and social spheres, we can see God the Son himself was engaged when he walked the earth, but are we utilizing that engagement because we’re angry and in fight mode? Or are we using that engagement to call others to eternal life? 

The Book of Revelation speaks of a complete destruction and recreation to come. And what will endure past that event will be based on the repentance. Therefore let us use what happens in the world to point others to the Savior, that they might have eternal life. Because you’re right, politicians do shady things, and they have been doing shady things since your Savior walked the earth and even before that. You’re right, our nation is degenerating into blatant sinful acts that are deplorable even to non-believers. Yet the Church was birthed into a culture that were engaged in similar acts. But Jesus used those shady things, his disciples used those deplorable acts, to point to eternal life, what are we using them for?

My challenge this week is three-fold. First, If you haven’t repented and accepted Jesus as your Savior, then I want to talk to you about it, but you don’t even need me, read through the Gospel of John; read through the book of Romans. Read God’s word and he will meet you if you seek him. All it takes is a recognition of your sin, asking God’s forgiveness of sin, and following him as he tells you.

Second, each of us should participate in the political event that happens on Tuesday August 2. We must vote and we must vote on biblical grounds. We must pray and be led by the Spirit to vote according to what God has revealed is right through his word. Not based on our own ideas or human arguments, but based on the Word of God and through the movement of the Holy Spirit.

And third, we must share the Gospel. You’re going to find yourself in some sort of political or social discussion this week, take the opportunity to point others to Jesus. Voting certain people in is a bandage to our situation, a wave of repentance from the people of this nation and world is what is need in this life to make real change. Let’s be lights to real change.

Now may we ourselves be found bearing fruit of eternal life, so that when the master of the vineyard comes, he will rejoice over us and we won’t be one who is cut down. Amen.