Outline “Do Not Misread Life” Luke 13:1-9 Feb 1st 2015

“Do Not Misread Life”
Luke 13:1-9
Feb 1st 2015

Each of us in our own way(s) –  We want life to make sense.

This desire for life to make sense has been around a long time.

The episode of the blind man in John 9 illustrates this,
John 9:1-3 (ESV)
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The assumption of the disciples around Jesus was that the cause of this man’s blindness was sin. Sin from his parents or his own behavior. 
While sometimes individual’s poor circumstances are the outflow of sinful behavior, there are many times when it isn’t or we just don’t know.
Our rush to wanting life to make sense sometimes leads to making unfair judgments or assessments.

Jesus’ response in verse 3
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
The Lord Jesus said this man’s blindness was not the result of anyone’s sin, but it was going to provide an opportunity for the work of God in the healing of this man.
Sometimes the works of God are displayed in a miraculous healing.
Sometimes the works of God are displayed through patient endurance trusting God in a circumstance that does not change.

While it is fair to have our preferences, it is much more important to pray that God’s glory, the works of God, be revealed through whatever He chooses to do.

Big Idea: Do not misread evil and accidents by ignoring the call to repent.

Do not misread life is developed with do not misread evil by ignoring the call to repent.
Do not misread accidents by ignoring the call to repent.
In our passage this morning Jesus gives the same response - to an act of evil and to an accident. He says don’t ignore the call to repent.
Our lives are ultimately short. What is of great importance is being right with God.

Mark 1:15 (ESV)
15  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) wrote
“Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement;
he is a rebel who must lay down his arms ... This process of surrender-this movement full speed astern-is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years.
It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.”

To often people nourish the thoughts of why things happen in order to ignore the call of God in chaos of life. I don’t know why a lot of things happen, but I do know that God desires we seek Him through it. In the middle of Hebrews 11:35 - the author transitions from miracles through faith to suffering through faith. Both are equally commended.  Both honor God.

I. Situation I. [1-3]
A. How do you understand and respond when people do evil things to others? (1)
1 There were some present at that very time  who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

In most cultures people assume that bad things happen to bad people.
That makes sense in their lives. Someone mentioned to Jesus the cruel death of these Galileans. I suspect they wanted Jesus to make some helpful comforting comment.

Job’s friends were called his “comforters” as a play on words.
His friends wanted to explain things so life made sense.
Job 4:7 (ESV) 7 “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?

B. Jesus’ response: repent or you too will likewise perish.  (2-3)
2 And he answered them,“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

The Lord’s response speaks to their miss-perception of these Galileans. They were not worse sinners than anyone else. There time had come to face death. It was unexpected for them. But the call to his audience was to be ready for death by repenting.

Whether through an act of violence, an accident, illness, or old age, death is the common fate of everyone.
Unless Jesus returns in our live times, we will die.
       
II. Situation II. [4-5]
A. How do you understand and respond to accidents that kill people? (4)
4 Or those eighteen 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?

“Many believe that the tower stood at the juncture of the south and east walls of Jerusalem and may have fallen during the construction of an aqueduct from the reservoir of Siloam to improve the water supply. Some of Jesus' listeners could have argued that the Galileans had "asked for" such tragedy from Pilate due to their political activity and thus were morally culpable, but no one could say the same about the random deaths from the collapse of the tower of Siloam.” [Preaching the Word]

Have you ever looked at someone’s circumstances and said, “they asked for it.”  I know I have. That is so unfair of me to do that.  Or on the other side,  have you ever wondered, why did they get away with it?”  They should have been thrown into jail.  We need to be tough on crime, throw those people in jail.

B. Jesus’ response: repent or you too will likewise perish (5)
5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The others who died by an apparent accident were not worse sinners or offenders than those who were spared.   
Jesus is taking away their excuses...
The call for them, as the others, was to repent or perish.

A remorseful man, wanting to reassure his skeptical wife, said: "I'm going to make a 360-degree turn."

David Jeremiah writes: "That's the kind of change a lot of people make. A 360-degree turn is no change at all. What we need is a 180-degree change, a reverse direction, a U-Turn.

"In driving, U-turns are handy when we realize we're going in the wrong way. The same is true in life. The Lord tells us to turn from our wicked ways and to turn toward Him in confession and true repentance. This involves a change of heart, a change of mind and a change of direction.

"What direction are you traveling right now? Don't keep barreling the wrong way. Turn 180 degrees to Christ and start living for Him today."
(Turning Point Daily Devotional, 7-24-10)

Many of you here know Fred.  We talk on most Fridays. Yesterday I called him with Marv on the speaker phone. He and Edith continue to pray for the ministry here in Lehi. Fred is a WWII veteran. Over the years I heard many of his war stories.   He became a Christian through the ministry of CMA chaplain in the South Pacific during the war.  In the times of combat a number of guys suddenly got ‘religious’ when the bombs were falling. Fox hole conversion. But once the pressure of combat was gone, the concern about God faded away quickly.

Eternity faces us all. Whether the bombs are falling or not.
We still need to ready to meet the Lord.

Do not misread evil and accidents by ignoring the call to repent.

III. The Big Idea illustrated with the parable of the fig tree [6-9]

A. Expectations of a fruit from the tree. (6)

6 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.

Most commentators agree with the following description..
“The fig tree represents Israel, as it sometimes did in the Old Testament. Jesus' hearers, and us by virtue of our desire to follow him, were to examine themselves through the metaphor of the fig tree. The owner is emblematic of God the Father, and the caretaker represents Christ. They are in concert, but, without interrupting their harmony, the owner argues from the logic of righteousness, while the caretaker reasons from the logic of mercy.”

There is the expectation of fruit from the fig tree.

B. Evaluation of the fig tree status (7)
7 And he said to the vinedresser,
‘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?’


The problem was that there was not fruit from the fig tree. The owner thought it should be cut down and the ground used for something else. That would be reasonable to most people
   

There is the expectation of fruit in the lives of believers. Our lives are to reflect the presence an work of God.


C. One last opportunity for the fig tree to bear fruit (8-9)
8 And he answered him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good;  but if not, you can cut it down.’”

“EBC 224] When the blind English poet John Milton was old and obscure he was visited one day by Charles II, son of the king that the Puritans had beheaded.  “Your blindness is a judgment from God for the part you took against my father,” said the king. Milton replied, “If I have lost my sight through God’s judgment, what can you say of your father who lost his head?”

224]6-9}The parable has an application to individuals  and to the nation of Israel. God is gracious and long-suffering toward people

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
And does more than enough to encourage us to repent and bear fruit. He had every right to cut us down, but in His mercy, he has spared us. Yet we must not presume upon the kindness and long-suffering of the Lord, for the day of judgment will finally come.”

The promises of God are profound.
John 3:18 (ESV)
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

A last few reminders
>Suffering and disaster are not necessarily the result of specific sins.
>But everyone is a sinner, and all are called on to repent
>God in his mercy may allow time for repentance, but there is a limit to his patience.
[teach the text]