"O God of new beginnings and second chances, here we are again.  Amen"

          Dear friends, I love mornings.  I love getting up in the morning, sometimes even before the sun rises.  It's a great way to begin the day.  Morning people know what I mean.  Each new day is a fresh blessing from God, a new start on life, another chance to find the joys and challenges of the new day.  I don't know what will happen that day, but that's part of the excitement.  Even when I know there's a difficult confrontation or an unpleasant task ahead, each day is new, a blessing from God.  I also know not everyone agrees.  Some people think that's the point of view of a sick man!

          This Gospel lesson seems a puzzle, because in it Jesus seems too harsh.  Christ is normally kind and loving, a mild-mannered rabbi.  But this time He gets really tough.  His critics were trying to trap him again.  People have always tried to trap God, to catch Him in a contradiction, to prove Him a fraud.  They tried it with Jesus and they've been trying it ever since.  Last week's US News & World Report magazine had an article on a group of self-proclaimed experts trying to prove King David was not a real king, just a two-bit serial killer.  Their arguments were full of holes at every step.  Too bad they can't spend their time on useful things!

          Here's what Luke records:  "Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.  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?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:1-5)

          The incident of Pontius Pilate killing Galileans during their sacrifices is not well known, but it's consistent with his disregard for the people he governed.  Some think Pilate to be a meek, spineless ruler for not wanting to get involved in Jesus' trial.  Wrong!  He ruled with an iron fist and his brand of justice was swift and often cruel.  The Pool of Siloam was part of the Jerusalem water supply system.  This tower's collapse probably occurred during construction and was well enough known that the people even knew how many had died - eighteen.

          Jesus raised the question they were all thinking:  "What about those people who died tragically?  Were they punished because they were bad?"  Does God smite us when we sin?  Does God love sinners?  Rather than answering them, He warned them:  "Unless you change, you too will perish!"  In other words, instead of pointing the finger at others, look at yourselves first.

          It's always been tempting for believers to find joy in the misfortunes of non-believers.  We get a little glee in condemning sinners with obviously bad lifestyles or by picketing certain kinds of clinics.  At least, we reason, they're wrong and we're right.  Problem is, I doubt the Lord would join us.  I'm not sure Jesus would be so fast to point fingers.  Rather, He might remind us that whenever we point a finger, there are three other fingers pointing back at ourselves.

          Not that Jesus would ever approve of sin.  Violate the law, He'd say, and you risk God's wrath.  Jesus often showed us that we somehow separate the sin from the sinner.  Trouble with too many people today is that they want to be accepted, not just for who they are, but also for what they do.  "Love me, love what I do!" they say.  "You must accept both me and my choices."  But there's a problem with that.  God always loves us, no matter what, but He does not always love what we do.  It's a good thing parents are able to separate their children from their actions.  We love them even when we don't like them!  If parents couldn't separate their kids from what they do -- and kids couldn't separate their parents from what they do, they'd both hate each other.  But God loves us for who we are, not what we do.  He loves us no matter what, but He isn't blind to what we do.

          His critics were talking about the reason why bad things happen.  They wanted Jesus to defend His teachings and also to defend God.  Jesus answers their query with harsh words:  "You want to know why bad things happen to others?  Better you should worry about what YOU are doing!  Unless you change your ways, you'll die like they did!"  It's harsh language, but then Jesus wasn't always a meek and mild rabbi.  He could pronounce judgment with more power than Billy Graham or a court of law ever could.  He's the Lamb of God, but He's also Judge of the world.

          But then Jesus goes to the real heart of the matter.  He tells them a parable about a fruitless fig tree.  It wasn't producing, so the caretaker was told to cut it down and plant a new one.  But remember, this story is not about trees, but people.  Like the tree, if we people don't produce good works that show our faith, we'll eventually pay for it.  God will cut us off.  This is the judgment of the Law we dare never forget.  You can't be a deadbeat Christian for long.

          Here's the parable He told:  "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.  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?'" (Luke 13:6-7)

          Wow!  God has limits!  His rope of mercy is not endless.  This is a side of Jesus we don't often see.  And some Christians deny He could ever be like that.

          God is a God of love, but He's also a God of justice.  He wants our faith to show itself.  If we don't produce godly deeds, it won't go unnoticed.  God is not afraid to confront the slacker or the wrong doer.  He'll eventually call us to account for what we've done.  There's been a movement afoot in Christianity to emasculate Jesus, to make Him a harmless old good neighbor who looks the other way when we sin.  Big mistake!  If we don't understand God's judgment on sin, we won't understand His mercy.  We people need to show our faith.  Church on Christmas and Easter are not enough.  Spectator Christianity is not enough.  We can't just talk the talk, we must also walk the walk.

          But this talk is not popular in churches today.  We've made over God in our own image to the point that we've made Him powerless.  Again, big mistake!  God's love for us is higher than the heavens, but His need for justice is still there.  He says through St. Paul, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)  Nothing will change that, and no cultural trend or church movement can diminish the damage of our sin.  Just because we think God should be a nice guy won't take away His power.  Human standards don't remove His requirement for perfection.

          Yes, God's Word demands perfection, but Romans 6 also says, "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  You see, this lesson is more about mercy than justice.  His parable is not so much about cutting down the tree as giving it another chance.  'Leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine!  If not, then cut it down.'  That's mercy talking.  Jesus could be speaking those words about us.

          God does have patience.  He does give people a second chance.  He doesn't want to deforest the world of unproductive people, but to help make them productive.  And if there's hope for the fig tree, there's hope for you and me.  But we need to be prodded.  In the KJV, the man asks to dig around the tree and dung it - fertilize it a little.  You and I need some digging and dunging;  it helps us produce.  We all need a second chance, and in Christ, we have it.

          Our donated Kodak copier finally works!  It came broken and so I got a repairman, an inept fellow who spent two and a half months on it.  Several visits, repair parts and $400 later, he still couldn't get it to work, but he was sure he could.  He was always late, often several days, and came only when prodded.  He promised he'd "get the parts soon," but didn't.  Finally last week I said "Enough!" - don't come back, I'll get someone else.  I also wanted to throw out the copier, but one of our members encouraged me to try once more.

          So I found another repairman, and He came right away!  He fixed it in 45 minutes - it just needed some connectors cleaned!  And then, when I told him how much we'd already spent trying to fix it, he tore up his bill!  He said we'd spent enough on it.  His company name is Danka, and to them I can only say, "Danke!"  Today's bulletin was printed on our newly repaired old machine.  You see, the machine got another chance, but not the repairman.  He'd used up all his chances.

          But have we?  Do we have any more chances?  On Judgment Day will we be called to account for all the bad things we've done?  NO - It won't happen to believers.  On Judgment Day, when the time comes to give account for our sins, Christ will step forward and cancel our debt.  He'll declare that His sacrifice on the cross balances the books for us.  The Good News is that we don't have to worry that our sins will be recounted before God.  In Christ, we are forgiven.  In Christ, Judgment Day will be great!  Because of Christ, it's the doorway to heaven.

          Christ gives us all a second chance, and so should we.  Pass along what you have!  If your neighbor has offended you, give him another chance.  If your fellow worker sticks it to you, give her another chance.  If your parents mess up, give them another chance.  If your pastor disappoints you, give him another chance.  Know when to say "Enough!", but whenever possible, give them another chance.  God's done it for us - right?  Then let's pass it on.  Thanks be to God!  Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.