Text Messages

Text Messages focus on the backstory of the upcoming text for this Sunday’s sermon. Provided by our pastors, these messages will give some background on that section of scripture text and give a few hints about where the sermon might be going. We hope you find these Text Messages helpful!

Sunday, March 30, 2025

SERMON SERIES:
“The Way It Is: Following Christ’s Call”

MESSAGE THEME:
“The Way Through Hard Places”

TEXT(S):
Luke 13:1–9

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

REFLECTION:
From Pastor Kris Tostengard Michel

This week’s reading includes mention of two tragedies, plus a parable. The details of the calamities have been lost to history, but we know that Pilate was cruel and had little respect for Jewish religious practices. Someone in the crowd has just reported an event of state-sanctioned terror, so Jesus refers to that, along with a recent random accident and wonders aloud if suffering correlates to the magnitude of one’s sin. He answers his own rhetorical question by saying, “no”. But life is precarious, so he calls people to adopt a new way of seeing things, to reorient their perspective.

Then comes the parable of a patient gardener who convinces a landowner to hold off on cutting down a fig tree that has yet to produce figs. Both portions of the reading have to do with taking stock of the current moment and moving into the future with intention and renewed vision.

During Lent, I’m reading the Gospel of Luke from beginning to end. When I looked at this reading, I realized it had a familiar ring. In Luke 3, John the Baptist voiced similar themes. The word of God came to John in the wilderness, and he began to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. “Bear fruits worthy of repentance,” he said. “Trees that don’t bear good fruit will be cut down.” As dire as that sounds, it’s not all doom and gloom. People respond by asking, “What then should we do?” John says if they have two coats, they should give one away, and if they have food, they should share that, too. To the tax collectors and soldiers, he says, be fair and honest, and don’t take advantage of others. People’s response, as I read it, is hopeful for the future. In Chapter 11, Jesus will continue the theme and promise that life is more than food and clothing; it’s God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

  • What do you think of when you hear the call to ‘repent’? 
  • How do you make sense of the tragedies in today’s world? Do they somehow impact the way you live? 
  • What do you think Jesus wants us to do in response to the parable?

PRAYER:
Gracious God, turn us toward you each day. Give us thankful hearts, and help us tend your creation with mercy, skill and tender love. Amen.