In Luke 13.1-9, Pontius Pilate had just done the unthinkable. Apparently, his soldiers attacked worshippers in the temple while they performed their sacred rituals. One might expect heartfelt compassion from Jesus, but he doesn’t respond that way at all; rather he gives a warning of sorts. One that might lead the listener to think that maybe God was punishing people for their sins- you know, the sort of thing modern preachers do when a natural disaster causes the death of “sinful people.” Before the listeners can get their head around what Jesus is saying, he launches into a parable.
The parable is about a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit. And at the end, it sounds like the tired caricature of an angry axe-wielding God who wants to cut the whole thing down. But what if Jesus’ parable was intended to wake the listener up? And what about the gardener in the story who defends the tree? The one who wants to give it a whole year to tend to it, to see that it will bear fruit? Maybe this parable shows that bad things don’t happen because God is angry. For whatever reason they do happen, and they have a chance to wake us up. And when we do awake, maybe there is a gardener who wants to tend to us – so that we can bear the fruit we were made to bear.
December 19, 2021: Sit At My Right Hand - Michael Hidalgo
December 12, 2021: A Story of the Gods - Michael Hidalgo
December 5, 2021: Quid Pro Quo - Bekah Stewart
November 28, 2021: These Belong to You - Michael Hidalgo
November 21, 2021: Look On The Inside - Michael Hidalgo
November 14, 2021: No Ear, No Job - Amanda Lum
November 7, 2021: The One About Selling Everything - Maggie Knight
October 31, 2021 - Less is the New More - Michael Hidalgo
October 24, 2021: On Not Getting It Sorted - Bekah Stewart
October 17, 2021: What Are You Talking About? - Michael Hidalgo
October 10, 2021: A Sacred Presence - Michael Hidalgo
October 3, 2021: There Are Only Participants - Michael Hidalgo
September 26, 2021: This is For Everyone - Michael Hidalgo
September 19, 2021: No One Said It Would Be Easy - Dave Neuhausel
September 12, 2021: Are You Actually Happy? - Michael Hidalgo
September 5, 2021: What Do YOU Mean? - Amanda Lum
August 29, 2021: Setting Forth - Michael Hidalgo
August 15, 2021: With Jesus - Kay Morrison
August 8, 2021: Shift Happens - Bekah Stewart
August 1, 2021: I Am Your Shield - Amanda Lum
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