Luke 13:6-9
How many times do you feel ambushed by Jesus
When you hear a parable he gave
Do we even still listen in when they are read
If we’ve been around churches for a long time
We let the words drip off us like rain drops
Today is one of the smallest parables we’ll ever read
Which is good in one way
We get through it quicker
Yet this smallest of the parables is one I think that makes us a little less sure
Where Jesus is wanting to turn us around
This one really does mess with our heads
Like we saw the other week
in the parable of the neighbor in the Good Samaritan
the question was who is my neighbor
the answer Jesus gave turned everything on its head
my neighbor isn’t a geographical one
it isn’t necessarily the family or person living next store
but it will include them
Jesus said that being a neighbour came from within
As Jesus saw it he asks us more
will I be a neighbor
Mercy is about action
in it answers that question of just who our neighbor is
Jesus gets us sensing things in the kingdom of God have a shape to them that doesn't wash with the way the world turns
then there was the Barn Builder who built a bigger barn
we kind of have a whistle blower story
about how sometimes we can use high minded concerns
as a cover for a base for sin
the man wanted Jesus to tell his brother to give his share of the estate
got a story where he was to see himself as the man in the middle of it
as the man of the story who thinks he’s made it in life when he builds his bigger barns finds out instead he’s empty before God
life does not add up to the sum of our possessions
now we come to this forth parable of Jesus
as he journey’s with his disciples through the land of Samaria
on his way up to Jerusalem
where he knows he is going there to face death
he tells the story of the gardener and the fig tree
as we read in Luke 13:6-9
6Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' 8" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
Obviously in this story of a fig tree that doesn’t seem to be all that fruitful
The shocking thing of the story is the owners decision
to want to chop it down
it’s not worth taking up precious space any more