You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
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Turn with me this morning to Luke 13.
It's been about three months since I said turn to Luke.
You may have forgotten where that was, you know, even though we're 12 chapters in.
Basically halfway through Luke's gospel, which is kind of exciting.
It's been a while, so I want to do a review here at the beginning of the new year as we jump back into Luke for a little bit.
If you remember way back to when we started, it was a long time ago, I brought a football,
which I'll admit is a little painful for me this week.
But nonetheless, we brought a football and started where football coach Vince Lombardi did every year.
He said, ladies and gentlemen, this is a football.
And he started and said, we're going to start back at the beginning, at the basics,
and say, this has to be the center of attention.
This must be the thing that you focus on.
This is what you have to follow and keep your attention glued to.
And Luke has been doing that in his gospel.
He told us at the very beginning, he was writing to say to Theophilus,
this is Jesus.
He's the one you've got to keep your focus on.
He's the one you've got to know about.
He's the one I want to make sure you're clear on.
The real Jesus, I want to tell you who he is and what he was like.
He's the center of attention.
We said Luke's gospel is the historical, paradoxical, upside down, life-changing, true story of Jesus.
That's why he's writing.
So we've seen as we've gone through these first chapters,
Jesus announced by angels to shepherds as good news of great joy for all people, right?
That's the theme of the series.
Good news of great joy for all people.
Jesus himself is good news.
He brings a message of good news for all sorts of people.
Many you may not expect.
That's part of the upside down nature of Jesus, right?
The king himself.
The one at the center of attention.
Not merely engaging shepherds, but many other social and religious outcasts.
Valuing women, including Gentiles.
Loving enemies.
We see Jesus healing the sick, the possessed, even the dead, raising them to life.
Quite a king.
A powerful king and at the same time merciful.
An authoritative king and at the same time humble.
This is the Jesus that Luke wants people to know about.
He's unlike anyone they've ever known.
So just a couple chapters ago, we saw this Jesus who's done all these things
get laser focused on one thing.
On the primary calling, the primary mission that he had.
Saying, I must suffer and be rejected and be killed and rise again.
He sets a course for Jerusalem, doesn't he?
Right?
Before we even get to the midpoint of Luke's gospel,
Jesus says, that's where I'm headed and the rest of the gospel is headed that way.
He fixes his gaze on a sacrificial death in our place.
And he won't be deterred from it.
Nothing can get him off that course.
Jesus and those following him are headed to Jerusalem.
Every story we read now is in that context.
The rest of the way through until he gets there.
It's in the shadow of the cross and that great task that's before him
that Jesus has fixed his eyes on.
But we've entered a section just recently
where for several chapters on his way to the cross,
Jesus is teaching about his kingdom.
He's the king and he wants to tell us how his kingdom works.
And we've already heard him turn our value systems upside down.
We've heard him challenge us on the extent of our love.
We've heard him instruct us on how to pray.
There's a lot more teaching coming up.
There are parables of mustard seed, a wedding feast.
The prodigal son is coming in a couple chapters.
That's exciting.
There's also some challenging, hard sayings about what it looks like to follow him
and what living in his kingdom must look like.
So we've added that little button to the sermon slide to remind us where our focus is in this part of Luke's gospel.
This is kingdom teaching from Jesus on his way to the cross.
It's the king teaching us with the cross always in view.
He's headed there.
It colors every event and every conversation on the way.
As we turn to chapter 13 this morning, Jesus has just been teaching those who would be a part of his kingdom
to be all in.
Challenging us to value him above all else.
Particularly in light of eternity.
He says that's vitally important.
Let's read about this next interaction with some that have been listening to him teach.
This is Luke 13 at verse 1.
God's holy word given so that we might know with certainty about Jesus and the hope that he gives.
There were some present at 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 18 on whom the tower in Siloam 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.
A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
And he said to the 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 the ground?
And he answered him,
Sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure.
Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good.
But if not, you can cut it down.
Let's pray and ask God for his help as we study his word.
Father, we've already said this morning how much we need your help.
And it's especially true as we seek to understand and apply your word to our hearts.
Because our hearts would rather avoid it.
Holy Spirit, would you come and work in our hearts.
And we might submit ourselves to your word and that it might shape who we are.
Not just today, but every day.
Teach us and change us, we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
When some sort of major disaster or calamity hits,
I tend to brace myself and prepare to wince as some self-appointed spokesman for Christianity
steps to the microphone.
And in recent years, perhaps Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell or someone else
blames the victims or the country for bringing the disaster upon themselves.
It's happened after 9-11 with the immorality of various groups being blamed for that disaster.
It happened after Hurricane Katrina when more than a couple of people lined up to pronounce
the city of New Orleans to be full of big sinners.
And thus, this was God's judgment.
That's the dot that's connected.
The conclusion drawn is that the disaster is a direct judgment upon those particular sins
of particular people.
Partially, I wince because I think that is such an inaccurate portrayal of Jesus and the Bible's
view of things as we see this morning.
But partially, I wince because I do the same thing on a smaller scale.
This functional karma, perhaps you could call it, that we live with in our culture.
I was talking with a pastor friend about this a while back and he calls it the villain in
the news dynamic.
Have you noticed that?
Every news cycle, there's always a villain in the news.
Just watch in the coming days.
What media folks have learned is that we love hearing about villains.
Someone who is ostensibly evil, who's really tangibly bad, is always featured in every cycle.
And one of the reasons we consume this so readily is that we have this strong propensity in us
to blame others and self-soothe.
To feel better about ourselves because we see someone else who is clearly worse than we are in some way.
And while that psychology makes sense, the results of that can be spiritually devastating.
It can build self-justification, self-righteousness.
The sense that I'm okay begins to grow in my heart and it keeps me from things I really need.
Self-examination.
Genuine repentance are avoided.
And those dynamics can be eternally deadly.
So to guard against this reality that I've seen happen in my own heart, I've been for a couple years now
practicing what my friend suggested to me.
When I see a villain in the news, I try to ask myself
where some of those same realities are true in my heart.
It's really a very convicting and humbling thing to do.
Just think of some of the villains in the news recently.
A number of politicians, Trump, Franken, Moore, just the list goes on.
Accused of using other people, even young people, to serve their own pleasure.
Now either I read reports like that and feel above them and better than them,
or I think of how my heart has used someone else.
My kids or my wife as if they existed to serve my pleasure.
Think of Matt Lauer, who has recently of course been exposed as being one way in public
for the television audience and everyone else to see,
and another way entirely in private.
Now it's true that the outworking of that heart level idolatry in that case for him
is different from what it is for me.
But that same idol lurks in my heart in significant ways.
So don't hear what I'm not saying.
I'm not seeking to flatten all sin and say everything's the same,
or to say that the impact of these things on people that they hurt is not real.
It is.
It is distinct from the impact that sin in your heart can have on someone else.
But those things are real.
What I'm talking about is how I respond.
What does it drive me to do when I see something bad in someone else?
Does it lead to self-soothing?
Or to self-examination?
Two different options.
Do I think of Kim Jong-un?
He's I think a perpetual villain in the news these days
in case they don't have a fresh one to put in.
He's reliable I think at this point
for being able to be used in that way.
So do I think of him as a deranged egomaniac
that couldn't be any more different for me if he tried,
that I'm entirely unlike?
Is that the way I think of him?
Or do I read a story and do I think of him
as someone who's obsessed with controlling
and manipulating everything and everyone around him
so that it serves his purpose and his kingdom?
Hmm.
Because when you say it that way,
I start to see myself.
My kingdom may be smaller,
but my heart knows that sickness very well.
And that's what Jesus is telling us here,
that we must see our hearts.
We have to see the reality of what goes on in our hearts.
It's absolutely essential for our spiritual health
that we see that while we're conditioned
to go through life safely protected from that reality
by many forms of self-soothing.
Telling myself, I'm okay.
I can prove it.
Look at all the people who aren't.
See, it doesn't take a nationally known figure in the news
for my heart to insulate itself from its sin and idolatry.
It can be someone on my own news feed,
my own friend group,
in my own church.
They are clearly more materialistic,
less spiritual,
worse parents,
better gossips.
Whatever the case may be,
you fill in the blank.
And because they are,
I'm okay.
I must be alright.
There's no need to consider my own heart on these issues.
Several years ago,
I sat across the lunch table
from a guy I knew from church.
And at that point in time,
he'd have told you and I'd have told you,
he was pretty much the biggest mess around.
I didn't know anybody who was really struggling
as badly as he was.
We'd been talking regularly because his wife was leaving him.
He'd been involved in immorality
in a number of different levels and different ways.
His work was absolutely falling apart,
partially because he was personally struggling with depression
that left him hardly functional sometimes.
And add to that,
he had anger issues
that were starting to manifest themselves
with his kids in particular.
He'd been verbally abusive and rough
with his kids.
And in this day,
that's what he was sharing with me about.
He told me through tears
about this encounter with his kids,
his outburst
and the completely just painful things
that had happened in this situation.
And then he started talking me
through his emotions that night
that led up to his outbursts.
And I started hearing him use words
that I had thought the exact same words
just the night before.
I had lost my cool with my little kids
when they had interrupted my controlled environment
and peaceful evening.
I had wounded their little hearts.
I had seen it in their eyes
when I reacted harshly.
And it was as though God reached across the table
in that moment
and said,
look,
I'm using the guy
who's the biggest mess you know
to hold him up as a mirror
to you.
And say,
do you see?
Do you see your heart?
It's just like his.
You may have acted differently in some ways,
but you're no better than he is.
You're not above any of the things that he's done
because the same battle going on in his heart
is going on in yours.
Your heart battles those same idols.
You've got some repenting to do.
And God had to use that to show me.
Y'all, that's what Jesus is saying
to his followers and to us in this passage.
The clear call of the king is repent.
It's not complicated to figure that out in this passage.
It's to have your eyes turned to your own heart
to grieve the sin that you see there,
the relational distance between you and God
because all of our sin is first and foremost
against him,
a breaking of that relationship.
It's the call for us today to repent
because Jesus is saying
this is the way of life in his kingdom.
Repentance is a daily,
moment by moment,
part of living in his kingdom.
It's a lifestyle,
as Martin Luther would remind us years later.
Jesus came saying to everyone,
repent,
for the kingdom of God is near.
And so even when you're living in the kingdom,
what that means is repent.
He continues to call us to turn from sin
and turn back to God
and find forgiveness
and fruit
in him.
I know it's taken me a little bit longer than usual
to get back to it,
but let me show you how Jesus draws us
to examine our own hearts
and repent
in this passage.
He does it primarily by warning us.
That's what most of the passage is.
Why should we repent?
The bad news is worse
than you realize.
As Jesus has been challenging those following him,
apparently some of them,
understandably,
needed the pressure released a little bit.
They needed the focus turned off them
and these things Jesus is calling them to.
It's they say,
hey Jesus,
you know about those Galileans that got killed?
Bad bunch, huh?
How about them?
Terrible event.
Event that fits with what historians tell us
of Pilate and his harsh treatment of the Jews.
This would have been a horrific event.
Most likely a massacre
by the ruling invaders
in the temple
on the Passover.
It would be like Christians
being killed in church
on Easter morning.
An awful event.
And boy,
those people who died
must have really had it coming,
the crowd says.
But Jesus says something different,
doesn't he?
He says,
you're examining the wrong hearts.
Verse two.
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.
Don't worry about their hearts
and how bad they are.
What about yours?
And he adds to that
his own example.
18 killed
when a tower falls on them
and Jesus repeats
the same challenge.
Repent
or you too
will perish.
Y'all may not have thought
you were perfect,
but did you realize
the sin in your heart
deserves death
like this too?
It's not that theirs
was worse than yours
so they got what was coming.
Look what yours deserves.
Jesus makes clear
in multiple places
in many different encounters
that specific suffering
should not be assumed
to be linked
to specific sin.
Rather,
Jesus is saying
all sin
deserves
God's
judgment.
That's what really
comes out here
in the conversation
if you look back
at it carefully
that all of us
on our own
face
God's judgment.
Notice four times
in four verses
all
all the other Galileans
you'll all perish.
Do you think
they're worse
than all the others
in Jerusalem?
No,
you'll all
perish.
All of you
are facing
this same thing
Jesus said.
Stop distinguishing
yourselves from them
and see yourselves
in the same
category.
That's what we mean
by saying
that the ground
is level
at the foot
of the cross.
You may have
heard that before
in a church context
and wondered
what we meant
by that.
It's not that
we're all really
close to God
but that we're all
utterly undeserving
of heaven
and utterly
close to hell.
That's what it means.
You don't get off
the hook
for that by
hanging around
Jesus and listening
to his teachings.
You don't get off
the hook
by being born a Jew.
So you don't get
off the hook
by being born
in the Bible belt.
You don't get
off the hook
by showing up
at church
to hear a sermon
now and then.
Jesus says,
no, no,
you too repent
or you will perish.
The bad news
is that doing
those kinds of things
doesn't make you
any better
than the villain
in the news.
It doesn't.
The bad news
is that there is
badness in this world
and it's not just
badness out there.
There's badness
in here.
Right?
And further,
the bad news
is that even
the sin
that you see
in your heart
that doesn't seem
so bad
deserves death.
That's highlighted
by Jesus' parable
with the fig tree,
right?
He's making
that same point
at the beginning
of the parable.
The man had
a fig tree
in his vineyard
and he came
seeking fruit on it
and found none.
The tree was dead
and he said,
look,
for three years
I've come
seeking fruit
on this tree
and I find none.
Cut it down.
Why should it
use up the ground?
Right?
Makes sense.
It's a dead tree.
Get rid of it.
See,
what Jesus is saying
is repentance
by its nature
bears fruit.
Doesn't it?
It's a turning back
to God
to trust him
that then looks
like something
in my life.
So when the fruit
is not there,
the root,
repentance,
is not there either
and you all
likewise will perish.
You will be cut down
in terms of the parable.
So here's another way
the bad news
is worse
than we realize.
True repentance
is not merely
avoiding evil,
really big sins,
you know,
just being a decent guy.
That's not what
repentance means.
Rather,
it involves
actively
bearing fruit.
Jesus challenges
his followers
and us.
Don't look at others
and see their
big sins.
Look at yourselves
and see if you
truly love me.
Does your life
demonstrate a
passionate zeal
for Christ
that actively
shares him
with your neighbors?
Or,
do you soothe yourself
with thoughts
of being pretty good
while checking out
on Netflix
every spare moment
and serving yourself?
Do you sit back
and soothe yourself
with thoughts of,
I'm pretty good
because while your friend
has had an affair
that led to a divorce,
you're still technically
faithful to your wife
even though you're
emotionally cold
and verbally harsh
regularly
and rarely
demonstrate
love toward her
at all.
I mean,
at least you're not
doing the big things,
right?
Friends,
repent
or you likewise
will perish.
Bear the fruit
of a heart
turned back
toward God
or you will
be cut down.
It's what the
gospel tells us.
There's good news
coming,
but it's not
going to be good news
until we look
the bad news
squarely in the face.
Grace is not
going to be amazing
to us
until our sin
is amazing to us
that we see
ourselves
as broken
and bent
as every villain
we see in the news.
And Jesus says,
you've got to see it.
You've got to look
at your heart.
You've got to learn
to stop making yourself
feel better
by comparing to others
but instead
examine yourself
and then you can
truly appreciate
the good news
because there is
good news.
It's the second
reason why we
repent actually.
The passage
is primarily
a warning
but it's a warning
that is laced
with hope.
See,
repentance
is not merely
wallowing
in how bad
we are.
That's what
sometimes we think.
Repentance
is not just
being awful
and feeling awful.
It's also about
celebrating
how good
God is
and the beauty
that He brings
in broken
people
and places.
the good news
is better
than you imagine.
Jesus' parable
of the fig tree
does certainly
affirm
the seriousness
of the warning
but it does
something else
that's easy
to gloss over.
If you don't know
about fig trees
the people
in Jesus' day
certainly did.
They knew
what to do
with a fig tree
that it had
no fruit
for three straight
seasons.
cut it
down.
The real question
that would have
puzzled Jesus
here is
why'd this guy
come the last
two years
and not cut it
down then?
It was a no-brainer.
Get that thing
out of the way
so you can put
something else in.
This is serious.
This is an agrarian
society.
The vines need
to work properly
and if they don't
you need to get
the tree
out of the way.
The owner says
as much in verse
seven doesn't he?
He knows.
It's obvious to him
what he should do
and yet
something different
happens.
He decides to wait
yet another year
and not just to
leave it alone
but to have the tree
cared for
and nurtured
in the hopes
of renewal
possibly coming.
The point clearly
in this context
is to encourage
repentance
not merely
by warning
repent
or you will perish
but especially
by hope.
the hope
of God's
patient
mercy
or if you
prefer
his
merciful
patience.
We know
that God's
like that
don't we?
All the way back
when he introduced
himself to Moses
in Exodus 34
he said
I'm the Lord
the Lord
a God
merciful
and gracious
slow to anger
abounding
in steadfast
love
and faithfulness
that's who I am
and Peter
tells it to us
in a really
helpful way
in the context
of judgment
and why has
Jesus not returned
yet?
Peter says
the Lord's not
slow to fulfill
his promise
as some count
slowness
what's happening?
Why hasn't
Jesus come back
already?
Peter says
the Lord is
patient
towards you
not wishing
that any
should perish
but that all
should reach
repentance
the one thing
that will prevent
the perishing
right?
That we would
turn back
to God
a mercifully
patient
God
see Jesus
warns of
the reality
of sin
and judgment
and we need
to hear it
as a merciful
call
to repentance
to find
in him
the hope
that he offers
if we will yet
acknowledge
our utter
helplessness
and need
for rescue
there is a
king
who is headed
to a cross
remember?
Remember that's
where he's going?
To be a savior
a helper
a rescuer
there's not just
two groups
in this passage
who died
in Jerusalem
right?
Everyone hearing
this
hears it in the
context of
there's someone
else
who's already
told us
he's going
to die
in Jerusalem
to be the
only one
who can do
helpless
sinners
good
who can
offer them
hope
and he
desires us
not to miss
out on
relationship
with him
because we
feel better
than the next
guy
or okay
without him
rather he
wants us
to experience
him
the beauty
of a life
giving
relationship
with him
that's really
more good
news
better
than we
imagine
that he
would
desire
that
it's
why
repentance
is
greater
than
resolutions
how many
of you
have already
broken a
new year's
resolution
don't
don't feel
ashamed
yeah I
know
several
me too
I don't
want to
discourage
you but
it's only
one weekend
and sometimes
that happens
some of you
didn't start
the new year's
resolutions
I understand
that too
this isn't
always the
case but
but how do
resolutions
typically work
a resolution
in and of
itself
it's just a
resolution
means this
I am
struggling
in some
area
and this
year
I am
going to
be better
I commit
to being
better in
whatever area
it is
diet
exercise
spirituality
something
you're gonna
see a
change
you'll see
fruit
in me
but
but isolated
like that
resolutions
are lacking
two really
important things
the relationship
and the results
usually
usually you don't
see the fruit
see it's because
a resolution
leaves me
alone with
me
it's an
attempt to
move
from bad
me
over here
to good
me
by myself
and I've
already shown
myself to be
a dead
fig tree
as it were
now simply
resolved to
bear fruit
next year
from the
same
dead tree
there's a
difference
in repentance
repentance
turns from
sin
bad me
first
to God
to a
relationship
to a
God who
forgives
who shows
patient
mercy
who
sacrifices
himself
for me
because he
loves me
and it is
that relationship
that resolution
skips over
it's that
relationship
that is
actually the
power for
the results
it's that
relationship
that allows
fruit
to be
born
because God
gives
his spirit
it's not
just me
left alone
with me
it's God
giving to me
his spirit
that bears
fruit in my
life
because God
is because
he's so good
because he is
patiently
merciful
and abundantly
gracious
he does
all these
wonderful
things we've
been celebrating
this morning
he gives us
children we
don't deserve
he gives us
hearts that
actually want
to be generous
and see his
kingdom advance
in place of the
hearts that
just want to
see our
kingdom promoted
he gives us
eyes that
see like we
watched in the
video
a desire to
see other
people experience
the relationship
that we've
experienced
the thing
we've needed
so badly
to have
the opportunity
to share that
with others
that's the God
we enter into
relationship with
and he begins
to produce
that fruit
in us
fruit that we
can't make
on our own
no matter how
hard we resolve
we turn back
to that God
and he produces
fruit
don't
don't just
resolve
you miss both
those things
you miss
first of all
you miss
Jesus
if all you
do is resolve
you stay on
your own
you miss
him
that's why
he says
repent
you'll get
me
and then
there will
be fruit
that must
also come
Southwood
may we not
be a group
of people
and believe me
it's easy
to do this
it's even
easier in
groups than
it is
individually
may we not
be a group
of people
that finds
our significance
and our value
in being
better
than another
group of
people
you know how
easy that is
to do
you know how
off-putting
that is
what's
welcoming
and honest
by the way
is being a
group that
that owns
our shortcomings
that knows
our weaknesses
and that runs
quickly and
repeatedly to
one great
savior
isn't that the
truth
y'all tell people
all the time
Southwood's not a
place where a
bunch of people
who figured life
out come to be
part of a group
together
and as a result
we're not a
church that has
life figured out
or church figured
out
and that's just
honest
right
that's just
the truth
it's who we
are and yet
there's something
we have to say
along with that
amazingly
for people like
us that don't
have things
figured out
amazingly
Jesus call
to repentance
is to us
again a call
to relationship
with him
that he loves
us and wants
to be in
relationship with
us
it's a call
for us
personally
and together
to realize
that we
desperately need
a king
who will go
to a cross
for us
a king
who loves
us enough
to call us
back to himself
and be in
relationship
with us
again
let's pray
Jesus thank you
for loving us
enough
to challenge
our hearts
that are really
slow to repent
really quick
to defend
would you
change our
hearts
personally
would you
continue to
work in
this body
make us
people in
a community
really gracious
and humble
and really
hopeful
because at our
lowest point
we see a
savior
who still
loves us
in the face
of our
biggest failure
and sin
we see a
savior who's
going to a
cross so
that he can
take care
of it
who's got
blood that
will wash
away
all our
sin
might we
come and
see you
clearly
rejoice in
you
and be
renewed
people
because we
walk in
relationship
with you
we ask
in your
name
amen
for more
information
visit us
online
at
southwood.org