Rev. Benjamin Kandt: Hello everyone, this is Pastor Benjamin.
Rev. Benjamin Kandt: You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City Orlando.
Rev. Benjamin Kandt: At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer.
Rev. Benjamin Kandt: For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com.
Hannah Corlew: Please pray aloud with me.
Hannah Corlew: Eternal God, the grass withers and the flower fades, but your word will stand forever.
Hannah Corlew: Holy Spirit, help us to love and trust your word through Jesus Christ we pray.
Hannah Corlew: Amen.
Hannah Corlew: Please remain standing if you're able for today's scripture reading, which comes from Luke 13, 1 through 9 and 31 through 35.
Hannah Corlew: There were some present that very time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Hannah Corlew: And he answered them, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way?
Hannah Corlew: No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Hannah Corlew: Or those eighteen on whom the tower of Saloom fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
Hannah Corlew: No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Hannah Corlew: And he told this parable.
Hannah Corlew: And he said to his vine dresser, Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none.
Hannah Corlew: Cut it down.
Hannah Corlew: Why should it use up ground?
Hannah Corlew: And he answered him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put manure.
Hannah Corlew: If then it should bear no fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.
Hannah Corlew: At that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to him, Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.
Hannah Corlew: And he said to them, Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.
Hannah Corlew: Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.
Hannah Corlew: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.
Hannah Corlew: How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing.
Hannah Corlew: Behold, your house is forsaken, and I tell you, you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hannah Corlew: This is God's word.
Hannah Corlew: Thanks, babe.
Hannah Corlew: You can be seated.
Justin Grimm: A couple years ago, when I was in seminary, uh, one of my part-time jobs is I was a coach at a CrossFit gym.
Justin Grimm: Now I actually had the early shift, so I rolled in pretty early in the morning to get the gym set up and ready to go for the day.
Justin Grimm: One morning, uh, a new lady walked into the gym, and it looked like so far she had not been having the best day.
Justin Grimm: I walked up to her and greeted her, let her know my name was Justin, and I asked if I could help her.
Justin Grimm: She said, Yeah, you can help me.
Justin Grimm: I'm actually looking for the coach or the trainer or whoever owns this place.
Justin Grimm: I said, Hey, that's actually me.
Justin Grimm: You know, I'd love to, I'd love to uh help you out if I can.
Justin Grimm: She paused for a moment and she started looking at me from the top of my head, took her time and went all the way down to my toes, and she asked me a question.
Justin Grimm: You are the coach?
Justin Grimm: I responded, Yes, I am.
Justin Grimm: I would love to help you.
Justin Grimm: She said, I'm here for a workout.
Justin Grimm: Let's see what we can do.
Justin Grimm: I had her sign the waiver and I ran her through uh in CrossFit what is known as a baseline workout.
Justin Grimm: She did really well.
Justin Grimm: She was really fit.
Justin Grimm: After she finished the workout, she proceeded to uh let me know how inefficient and how dangerous the CrossFit methodology is working out.
Justin Grimm: And then she did the, she she dropped the straw that broke the camel's back.
Justin Grimm: She looked at me and with all sincerity said, I bet you couldn't even beat me in a CrossFit workout.
Justin Grimm: You see, up to this point, she'd insulted my physique, which I was able to handle.
Justin Grimm: She insulted the methodology, which I had heard before, but then she went straight to the heart.
Justin Grimm: She went after my pride.
Justin Grimm: I think the very words out of my mouth in that moment were that's it, let's work out.
Justin Grimm: I proceeded to set up, if you have any uh knowledge or background in CrossFit, a workout known as Fran.
Justin Grimm: I'll spare you all of the details, but it is short, quick, and incredibly painful.
Justin Grimm: I came out victorious.
Justin Grimm: I also lost her as a client.
Justin Grimm: That night, I have never slept so well.
Justin Grimm: Knowing me, the CrossFit coach, was better at CrossFit than the lady who had never done CrossFit off of the street.
Justin Grimm: Church, do I sound a little silly?
Justin Grimm: I hope so.
Justin Grimm: Because I don't tell you this story in any way, shape, or form to brag on myself, but I tell you the story because this is often things that we do.
Justin Grimm: We compare ourselves to others in order to feel good about ourselves.
Justin Grimm: Have you ever done this?
Justin Grimm: Maybe in parenting, you feel really great about your own child and your own parenting simply because their child is misbehaving.
Justin Grimm: Perhaps professionally, you think you are nailing it and hitting it out of the park in your place of work because your co-worker showed up late.
Justin Grimm: Or maybe even morally, you think that you are superior because you didn't vote for the same candidate as they did.
Justin Grimm: Do you see how we do this?
Justin Grimm: I think it is in human nature to compare ourselves to others.
Justin Grimm: And what are we doing in those moments?
Justin Grimm: We're not actually looking at our own lives before God, we're looking sideways, and we're calling that righteousness.
Justin Grimm: We often justify ourselves before God by comparing ourselves to others.
Justin Grimm: If that's you, and I dare to say it is me, you're not alone.
Justin Grimm: And even in ancient times, we see this here in the text.
Justin Grimm: And I believe this is what the Lord Jesus would have us learn this morning from Luke chapter 13.
Justin Grimm: God's mercy is calling you to repent and to come to Jesus.
Justin Grimm: That's what we're gonna talk about this morning by unpacking these three points: the way to mercy, the giver of mercy, and the warning in mercy.
Justin Grimm: The way to mercy, the giver of mercy, and the warning in mercy.
Justin Grimm: Let's go ahead and jump in.
Justin Grimm: So, what is the way to mercy?
Justin Grimm: This question is relevant and it matters again because often we feel safe before God for all of the wrong reasons.
Justin Grimm: We have this false sense of security.
Justin Grimm: How does this actually play out in the text here?
Justin Grimm: Well, in verses one through five, there were apparently two hot takes or two breaking news events of the day.
Justin Grimm: The first, it's only recorded here in the Gospel of Luke, but apparently Pontius Pilate had killed some religious pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices.
Justin Grimm: He took their blood, he mixed it with the offerings, and it was horrible.
Justin Grimm: This was to there's no other word for it, this was an abomination before the Lord.
Justin Grimm: The people witnessed to this, the people who heard about this, they had experienced suffering by the hands of an oppressor.
Justin Grimm: And this is what they come to Jesus with.
Justin Grimm: Jesus goes on and says, you know, we'll take that, let's go one more.
Justin Grimm: How about a sorrow that you all have recently experienced?
Justin Grimm: Apparently the Tower of Saloon, like what likely it was in the southern gate of Jerusalem, fell and killed 18 people.
Justin Grimm: And Jesus goes on to use these two current events to teach a lesson.
Justin Grimm: And how does Jesus teach?
Justin Grimm: He asks good questions.
Justin Grimm: You see what he does here in verse 2?
Justin Grimm: Do you think?
Justin Grimm: He repeats the same question in verse 4.
Justin Grimm: Do you think?
Justin Grimm: Do you think that they were any worse sinners than you are?
Justin Grimm: This is what Jesus does.
Justin Grimm: There's a constant invitation where Jesus invites us to question our own assumptions.
Justin Grimm: And do you see what's implied here in this text?
Justin Grimm: What are you assuming?
Justin Grimm: You're assuming that they must have done something worse.
Justin Grimm: What are you implying?
Justin Grimm: I am not like them.
Justin Grimm: And what are you not asking?
Justin Grimm: What about me?
Justin Grimm: You see, the people of God at this time, they're apparently using someone else's tragedy to justify their own standing before God.
Justin Grimm: And I wonder if we are honest, if we do the exact same thing.
Justin Grimm: Church, I've noticed in my own heart how quickly I can feel okay about myself, not because I'm looking at my own life before God, but simply because I can think of someone worse off than me.
Justin Grimm: If you find yourself in this position, if your heart looks sideways rather than up at God, what do we do?
Justin Grimm: Well, Jesus spells it out here in the text.
Justin Grimm: We repent personally, we reflect honestly, and then we repent personally.
Justin Grimm: Verse 3 and verse 5, Jesus says it one more time.
Justin Grimm: Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Justin Grimm: In some ways, it's an odd answer to those who are victims of both suffering and sorrow.
Justin Grimm: Yet Jesus is saying, Don't look outward, but look inward.
Justin Grimm: What does it actually mean to repent?
Justin Grimm: Briefly, if we look at this word and the way it comes in the Old Testament, we see that to repent, it literally means to turn back to God.
Justin Grimm: It's language of someone who is on a journey, and as they're trying to make their way to their destination, they get lost.
Justin Grimm: What do they need to do?
Justin Grimm: They need to correct course and get back on track.
Justin Grimm: By the time we get to the New Testament, it takes a little bit more of an intellectual flavor.
Justin Grimm: And the very word that Jesus uses here simply means to change your mind or to think rightly.
Justin Grimm: Think rightly about God, think rightly about ourselves and others.
Justin Grimm: Do you see what Jesus is doing here?
Justin Grimm: He's painting in broad strokes, but he's saying, No one is immune unless we likewise repent, we will experience the same fate.
Justin Grimm: You see, repentance, it's not merely something that we do in a single moment.
Justin Grimm: Repentance is a lifestyle where we continually go back to the Lord.
Justin Grimm: Repentance requires that I stop measuring myself against others and I start seeing myself honestly before God.
Justin Grimm: There's uh an old story that a man once approached a Jewish rabbi and he said to him, Rabbi, I so wish to repent, but I don't know what to do.
Justin Grimm: The rabbi looks at him and he responds, And when and when you sinned, did you know what to do there?
Justin Grimm: The man desperately, yes, but that was easy.
Justin Grimm: First I sinned and then I knew what I did.
Justin Grimm: And the rabbi says back, exactly.
Justin Grimm: Now do the same the other way around.
Justin Grimm: Start by repenting.
Justin Grimm: You'll know what it means later.
Justin Grimm: We repent, we get back on track, we change our mind.
Justin Grimm: How do we go about doing this?
Justin Grimm: Briefly, three things.
Justin Grimm: We see clearly, we think differently, and we respond concretely.
Justin Grimm: We go to God in prayer and we ask the Lord to help us see our sin the way that He sees it.
Justin Grimm: We go to God in prayer and we say, God, help me to change my mind about this sin that I so desperately wish wasn't there.
Justin Grimm: And then we respond concretely.
Justin Grimm: We name it for what it is, that is, we confess it.
Justin Grimm: We flee from temptation, that is, we do whatever is within our power to remove it, and we bring in community and ask them to hold us accountable.
Justin Grimm: Jesus makes it clear here in these first five verses that judgment, it's not for worse people, judgment is for unrepentant people.
Justin Grimm: And if you're thinking right now, I hope my spouse or my roommate is listening in church, you're missing the point.
Justin Grimm: This isn't about them, this is about you.
Justin Grimm: But we need to know and we need to remember repentance, it's not the end goal in and of itself.
Justin Grimm: Repentance is the door, but Jesus is the destination.
Justin Grimm: Jesus is the one who is the giver of mercy.
Justin Grimm: So right after Jesus instructs and he teaches and he says that you must reflect honestly and repent personally, he goes on and he tells a story.
Justin Grimm: That's today's parable, the parable of the fig tree.
Justin Grimm: So what is this parable ultimately about?
Justin Grimm: Well, you have uh the owner of a vineyard, and within his vineyard there is a tree, a fig tree.
Justin Grimm: And this fig tree is no longer bearing fruit.
Justin Grimm: And so the vineyard gives the instruction to the vine dresser cut down the tree.
Justin Grimm: It's wasting up space, it's wasting up resources, it is not doing what it was created for.
Justin Grimm: And intercedes the vine dresser.
Justin Grimm: Give me one more shot.
Justin Grimm: Let me care for it, let me tend to it, let me dig deep into the soil to see if we can cause this tree to yet again do what it was always meant to do to bear fruit.
Justin Grimm: What is the story about?
Justin Grimm: Well, if we really look at it deeply, we can see that this parable ultimately it's a story about the ancient people of God who are not bearing fruit.
Justin Grimm: They're not carrying out their calling to be a blessing to the nations the way that God meant them to.
Justin Grimm: And it's a warning.
Justin Grimm: It's a warning about God's judgment that is coming.
Justin Grimm: But it's not just that.
Justin Grimm: This is also a story about the vine dresser who both advocates on behalf of the tree and nourishes the tree.
Justin Grimm: And so I want to zoom in for just a second, and I want to see in the care of the vine dresser, both his intentional care and his delayed judgment.
Justin Grimm: First, we see the vine dresser is willing to intentionally care for this tree that does not bear fruit.
Justin Grimm: That's exactly what he does in verse eight.
Justin Grimm: First, he advocates.
Justin Grimm: And in advocating, saying, No, don't cut it down, not yet.
Justin Grimm: Here, let me do this thing first.
Justin Grimm: Let me tend to the roots on behalf of the tree.
Justin Grimm: Let me dig down deep.
Justin Grimm: Let me give it fertilizer so that it may grow.
Justin Grimm: Even in verse nine, there's this language that's a Hebrew idiom.
Justin Grimm: If it bears fruit again, well and good.
Justin Grimm: This is language that implies hope for a future.
Justin Grimm: You see, the vine dresser has not completely given up on this barren tree, not yet.
Justin Grimm: He hopes for it.
Justin Grimm: He is willful that this tree would once again be restored to bear fruit the way that it was always meant to.
Justin Grimm: But he doesn't merely care for it.
Justin Grimm: He there is a warning in the text.
Justin Grimm: There's delayed judgment.
Justin Grimm: Verse 9, wait a year.
Justin Grimm: You see, for the people that are first hearing this, they should and we should be hearing the warning in the text.
Justin Grimm: Just as God gave his ancient people the time that they don't deserve, so too God gives us the time that we don't deserve.
Justin Grimm: You see, in this parable, the tree is spared because the vine dresser is willing to step in, to labor, to tend to, and to take responsibility for it.
Justin Grimm: And what is Jesus doing in ancient times, and what is he doing here and now?
Justin Grimm: Jesus is saying, That is what I am doing for you.
Justin Grimm: You are the tree that has not produced what it should.
Justin Grimm: And Jesus is saying, I'm the one standing between you and being cut down.
Justin Grimm: He doesn't merely ask for more time.
Justin Grimm: Jesus enters in.
Justin Grimm: Jesus digs down to the roots of our heart, he nourishes and tends to the deep places, he pays the cost, church, so that you might bear fruit.
Justin Grimm: He is merciful and he has patience.
Justin Grimm: And it is that patience that will take him all the way to Jerusalem.
Justin Grimm: And in Jerusalem, the one who gives life will be cut off, so that those who deserve judgment might receive mercy.
Justin Grimm: What is this parable about?
Justin Grimm: This parable is about the vine dresser that was cut down so that the tree doesn't have to be.
Justin Grimm: What do we learn here in this text?
Justin Grimm: We learn this.
Justin Grimm: Jesus is the vine dresser, only he can tend to your soul.
Justin Grimm: Do you see how frivolous the comparison that we do?
Justin Grimm: We try to tend to our souls by saying, at least I am not that person.
Justin Grimm: At least I don't have that going on in my life.
Justin Grimm: And Jesus is saying, that will not do.
Justin Grimm: Only I can give you what you truly need.
Justin Grimm: It is only the Lord Jesus that can cause you to bear fruit if you will let him.
Justin Grimm: Now I'm taking a guess here for just a moment, but as modern readers of the text, I think this idea that we can be cut off, or to use the language that I've been using here this morning, the idea that we can be judged by God, I would imagine that doesn't necessarily sit well.
Justin Grimm: I imagine perhaps as we read we read text like this or parables like this, maybe we feel a little uncomfortable.
Justin Grimm: We have to remember comparison, that's not the way of Jesus.
Justin Grimm: The warning is in the text and it is real.
Justin Grimm: But I don't think the warning is the greatest tragedy that's out there this morning.
Justin Grimm: You see, I think the greatest tragedy is not the judgment that Jesus is talking about, but it's that people are able to refuse the mercy that is meant to save them.
Justin Grimm: And that's really the last thing that I want to talk about this morning is the warning inherent in mercy.
Justin Grimm: See, the scripture reading this morning, it wasn't just verses one through nine, it also jumped ahead to the end of chapter 13.
Justin Grimm: Now it probably takes me a little more.
Justin Grimm: Time than I have this morning to explain in detail how chapter 13 of Luke is in the middle of his gospel and it comes in the form of a chiastic structure.
Justin Grimm: It starts with Israel and it ends with Israel.
Justin Grimm: But what do we see here in this text?
Justin Grimm: We see that there's a real warning in this mercy.
Justin Grimm: Why?
Justin Grimm: Because there is a willing savior, but an unwilling people.
Justin Grimm: So the story goes on, and Jesus is given a warning himself.
Justin Grimm: Hey, Herod is here, and Jesus is actually, you know, quite something.
Justin Grimm: He throws quite a bit of shade on Herod.
Justin Grimm: Go and tell that fox.
Justin Grimm: What's a fox?
Justin Grimm: Maybe, you know, you know, of all the animals out there, not really all that dangerous.
Justin Grimm: Maybe dangerous to something little, maybe like a rodent.
Justin Grimm: But Jesus is essentially putting Herod down.
Justin Grimm: He goes on and to say, What I am called to do, I must go do this.
Justin Grimm: Let's go ahead and read again, verse 33.
Justin Grimm: Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following.
Justin Grimm: For it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.
Justin Grimm: New Testament scholars, they point out this language.
Justin Grimm: It's a divine imperative.
Justin Grimm: Do you hear Jesus' words?
Justin Grimm: I must.
Justin Grimm: And then he pairs that with Jerusalem.
Justin Grimm: I must be about the work that my father has given me.
Justin Grimm: I must go to Jerusalem, for a prophet cannot die away from the city.
Justin Grimm: He then goes on and he laments over Jerusalem.
Justin Grimm: We may miss it, but it's quite tender language.
Justin Grimm: Verse 34.
Justin Grimm: How often would I have gathered you together as a mother hen would gather together her chicks?
Justin Grimm: This language, it's motherly language, and this isn't the only place in the scripture that the Lord Himself is willing to use motherly language to describe the way that he cares for his people, that he desires their flourishing, he desires their good.
Justin Grimm: But what is the conclusion that even here Jesus ultimately draws?
Justin Grimm: But you were unwilling.
Justin Grimm: Verse 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.
Justin Grimm: How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.
Justin Grimm: I had once heard from a wise man that you should never trust a prophet who does not have a tearful eye.
Justin Grimm: You never trust a dry-eyed prophet.
Justin Grimm: It's going to be later in his ministry, but Jesus is going to fulfill these very words.
Justin Grimm: In 13, he must go to Jerusalem.
Justin Grimm: In 19, he enters through the city gates.
Justin Grimm: And what is the first thing our Lord Jesus Himself does?
Justin Grimm: In Luke 19, 41, he weeps for the city that is now spiritually blind, who will go on rejecting him.
Justin Grimm: You see, there's a warning in the text.
Justin Grimm: Verse 9, it's not just language that is flora and fauna language.
Justin Grimm: It's not merely agricultural, it is covenantal.
Justin Grimm: If the tree refuses to bear fruit, let it be cut off.
Justin Grimm: The same language that God uses throughout the scripture to describe what it is if we won't repent and if we won't receive and respond to the mercy that He has on offer.
Justin Grimm: This was the fate that Jesus warns about.
Justin Grimm: Christian philosopher and writer C.
Justin Grimm: S.
Justin Grimm: Lewis in describing God's ultimate judgment, to use a word that even now perhaps makes me a little uncomfortable.
Justin Grimm: C.
Justin Grimm: S.
Justin Grimm: Lewis talking about hell says this.
Justin Grimm: Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others.
Justin Grimm: But you are still distinct from it.
Justin Grimm: You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it.
Justin Grimm: But there may come a day where you can no longer.
Justin Grimm: Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it.
Justin Grimm: Just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.
Justin Grimm: Jesus is merciful, but hear the warning in his mercy.
Justin Grimm: If I were to sum it up, it's two words.
Justin Grimm: Don't delay.
Justin Grimm: Resist or receive, those are the only options.
Justin Grimm: Do you hear the words, the tender words of our Lord Jesus Himself?
Justin Grimm: He's willing.
Justin Grimm: The question this morning is, are you?
Justin Grimm: Again, you're not safe.
Justin Grimm: You're not okay with God because you're doing better than your neighbor, your coworker, your friend.
Justin Grimm: You're not here because you're safe.
Justin Grimm: You're here because God is merciful and patient.
Justin Grimm: And that patient, even now, is calling you to repent.
Justin Grimm: Church, the thing that scares me about this passage is how easy it is to hear all of this and still walk away unchanged.
Justin Grimm: So many of us, we've spent our lives looking sideways, measuring ourselves against other people, convincing ourselves that we're okay, because we're not as bad as them.
Justin Grimm: But Jesus won't let us stay there.
Justin Grimm: Remember, Jesus, he is the vine dresser.
Justin Grimm: He is the one who has stood between you and being cut down.
Justin Grimm: He is the one who has been patient with you, who has labored for you, who set his face to Jerusalem and went there for you.
Justin Grimm: And even now, he's not distant.
Justin Grimm: But even now, he is calling.
Justin Grimm: The question is not whether Jesus will receive you.
Justin Grimm: The question is will you come?
Justin Grimm: Pray with me.
Justin Grimm: So, Father, I pray for all of our hearts now.
Justin Grimm: Lord, sometimes in your word there are strong words, words that cut deep, words that go to our heart.
Justin Grimm: But Lord Jesus, I pray that this would work good in the lives of your people.
Justin Grimm: Because as you cut and you prune, you do it tenderly.
Justin Grimm: You do it with merciful care.
Justin Grimm: And I pray that that would be our heart's posture towards you.
Justin Grimm: Lord, for the ways that we want to self-justify through self-comparison, would we receive your gentle mercy?
Justin Grimm: Would we be able to see ourselves honestly before you and before before the Father?
Justin Grimm: And may you work even now in the hearts and the lives of your people.
Justin Grimm: Would your tender mercy work in them that they may bear fruit?
Justin Grimm: Cause us to bear fruit only the way that you can.
Justin Grimm: We pray all these things in the merciful and powerful name of our Savior Jesus.
Justin Grimm: Amen.