Time to Wake up

Luke 13:1-9

There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them,  “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” 
6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ” 

Again we have heard of natural disasters, tornadoes in Oklahoma, taking the lives of adults and children. There are moral evils, like Pilate brutally killing Pharisees to make an example of them. And there are natural evils, like tornadoes and hurricanes. We know that God is in control of all things, that God is good and not the author of evil. We know that all evil is rooted in sin in some way, and that we can’t always trace a direct cause from that sin to this tornado. These are mysteries hard to understand. Jesus gets practical, instead of philosophizing: use such things as a wake-up call to repent. You don’t have all the time in the world to repent. God is patient, but there is an end; a time appointed to cut down the trees not bearing fruit.

5/26/13