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.
May 8, 2022: Back to the Beginning-Paula Williams
April 24, 2022: Begin At The Ending - Bekah Stewart
April 17, 2022: Easter Sunday - Michael Hidalgo
April 10, 2022: Mending the Divides –Dave Neuhausel
April 3, 2022: Clean on the Inside - Michael Hidalgo
March 27, 2022: The Long View - Dave Meserve
March 20, 2022: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome - Amanda Lum
March 13, 2022: A Divine Connection - Michael Hidalgo
March 6, 2022: The Comfort of Solidarity - Jonathan Merritt
February 27, 2022: Teenage Jesus - Nick Elio
February 20, 2022: What Are You Waiting For - Michael Hidalgo
February 13, 2022: The Extraordinary Ordinary - Bekah Stewart
February 6, 2022: Naming Babies and Other Things - Michael Hidalgo
January 30, 2022: Danger Mom - Amanda Lum
January 23, 2022: Yes Women - Kent Dobson
January 16, 2022: This Is Nothing New - Michael Hidalgo
January 9, 2022: No More Words - Michael Hidalgo
January 2, 2022: How It Begins - Michael Hidalgo
December 19, 2021: Sit At My Right Hand - Michael Hidalgo
December 12, 2021: A Story of the Gods - Michael Hidalgo
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