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.
August 8, 2021: Shift Happens - Bekah Stewart
August 1, 2021: I Am Your Shield - Amanda Lum
July 25, 2021: A Life Entrusted - Landon Lynch
July 18, 2021: Remember Who You Are - Ryan Taylor
July 11, 2021: Be With Us – Kristin Wright
July 4, 2021: Good Grief - Michael Hidalgo
June 27, 2021: Burning Like a Furnace – Michael Hidalgo
June 20, 2021– Remembering Rightly – Bekah Stewart
June 13, 2021: Build My House –Michael Hidalgo
June 6, 2021: Rooftops, Stars, Clothing and Thresholds - Michael Hidalgo
May 30, 2021: I've Heard of You – Jon Gettings
May 23, 2021: This is Not Comforting - Michael Hidalgo
May 16, 2021: Walk This Way –Dave Neuhausel
May 9, 2021: And Now for the 6th Act! – Michael Hidalgo
May 2, 2021: Scott Oppliger - That's Not How You Treat Family
April 25, 2021: Tov! – Michael Hidalgo
April 18, 2021: Bugs, Wrestlers and Faces – Bekah Stewart
April 11, 2021: About a Homer for Gomer – Michael Hidalgo
Apri 4, 2021: This isNot Resuscitation – Amanda Lum
March 28, 2021: It is Finished – Michael Hidalgo
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