Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

The Church right now is in an extremely critical time. Any day could possibly be your last. The judgment of God is ever nearer. Don’t think that you’ve got plenty of time, because the return of Christ and the end of the world could happen at any time now. John the Baptist has already told you that the ax is aimed at the root of the trees, but you look at his crazy clothes and diet, so who wants to take him seriously? “That’s my Sunday morning make-believe life, not the real world I live in.” You don’t say it, but you do act like it, as do I. You fall to the temptations of your sinful nature. If you don’t lie and deceive your family and loved ones or lash out in frustration against them, you still at least think improper and sinful thoughts about them. Jesus goes one step further than John and says God is about to cut you down because as a rotten sinful tree, you have not borne for Him any fruit. If it weren’t for Christ pleading to spare you just a while longer, you would have been thrown a long time ago into the everlasting fire and burned.

It is not a pleasant thought, but you must realize that, on your own, standing before God’s judgment throne, you are destined for certain punishment. None of the good works that you have done, none of the fruit you say you have produced, even if you’ve been a real help to others, none of it would be pleasing to the Father in heaven. It’s all tainted with the sin disease that you had in you ever since you were conceived in your mother’s womb. In your heart you find yourself opposed to God, doubting His mercy, relying on yourself instead, and only you know the specific ways that you do this. Because you are a sinner, like a dead tree you have cut yourself off from your Lord’s nourishment.

Sure enough, you could say that you could repent of your sins at any time and you would be forgiven and everything would be right. Of course, that is the Gospel, the Good News that Christ has given you new life and freed you from bondage. But were you to say that it’s OK to continue sinning because you could repent of your sins at any time, you would then be sucked right into the devil’s lie that it is better to stay in bondage than to walk in the freedom that is your gift from Jesus. I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Those who think they can become a believer at the eleventh hour are the ones who die at 10:30!” Our Lord’s parable of the landowner and the tree drives the point home that your time is precious. It would be dangerous for you to play with the fire of hell when the opportunity to repent and be forgiven is only for a limited time.

Which is why your Savior pleads so sincerely in two different directions. First He pleads to the Father. Like the caretaker who pleads to the owner to spare the tree, the blood of Jesus, who was sacrificed for you, pleads to the Father in your place. The punishment of eternal death and separation from God was aimed at you, but Jesus got Himself in the way and took that severe punishment for you on the cross. In the parable, the servant agrees to do all the hard work for yet another year, just so he could spare that fig tree. In the same way Jesus committed Himself to doing all the hard work of living a perfect life in your place, suffering for your sins, and dying the death of your punishment, just so He could save you. And you already know that He has followed through on His commitment for your sake. He has pleaded successfully to his—and your—heavenly Father.

Secondly, Jesus pleads to you. You hear His voice through His chosen watchman. Every pastor is in the same position that Ezekiel was (in our Old Testament reading) when he was called to sound forth the call to repentance to the people of Israel. Every pastor has to answer to God whether or not he has been faithful in delivering that message to his people and in delivering the Divine gifts of forgiveness that he has been sent to deliver. So hear the voice of Jesus pleading: Repent. Take stock of your life as the Ten Commandments measure you and come clean honestly before the Lord for your disobedience. The time is short. Take God’s warning seriously. Do not refuse the grace of Christ that makes you God’s own beloved child. Allow your Lord to dig around your roots and prune your branches in the sufferings you endure in this life, so that you are no longer a dead tree. Be reconciled to those you have hurt and forgive those who have hurt you, before it’s too late.

Now, it should be said that Jesus’ call to you is not like one of those sign-holders or apocalyptic survival bloggers endlessly chattering on the Internet that “the end is near.” To be perfectly honest, that kind of preaching is useless. It does nothing for you to remedy your heart because you still cannot do anything by yourself to get yourself right with God. Instead, Jesus, the Son of God who did all the work in order to save you, He gives you something more than just a simple warning about the end of the world.

For not only does your Lord continually plead for you to the Father, not only does He strengthen you in the trials that you face, but most importantly, He grafts Himself right into you. He who said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches,” desires to enter right into your body, because the Life that He is, can and does destroy the death and doubt that afflicts your body and soul every day. This close connection you have with Jesus is not just something you feel emotionally or try to imagine. It actually and really happens; it began when you were baptized. It is renewed every time you hear the word of absolution from your pastor: Your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ. He gives you His own Body and Blood, which was nailed to the tree of the cross for you, and is now raised from the dead in full glory, and (this very day/often) it is right here sitting on this altar, waiting to enter into your mouth so that you would be joined intimately with God your Savior. If you don’t believe this, then don’t eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ to your judgment, for then Holy Communion will kill you. If you do believe and have publicly confessed that this is true, then this Sacrament is life itself entering into you.

With this living, Divine Vine nourishing and energizing you, then you can be sure that you are no longer a dead tree destined for the fire of hell. Jesus your vineyard caretaker has saved you. All His hard work has paid off. There’s no doubt any longer as to where you will be going. As far as you’re concerned, the judgment at the end of the world has already happened, in fact, it’s already happening every week right here. God’s innocent verdict of “I forgive you all your sins…” has been spoken into your ears and placed into your mouth from this holy altar. No need to remain in fear of that ax of God’s Law. Your debt to Him has already been paid.

With the life of the crucified and risen Jesus grafted into you and growing in your renewed heart, you are able to bear fruit. God the Father, who is pleased with you because of Jesus, is especially pleased with you as you live out your calling in life. Whether you are a full-time church worker, a devoted volunteer, a parent, a student, a professional, a spouse, a toddler, self-employed or unemployed, you are serving God, not just because you are doing certain helpful things, but because the Christ who gave Himself for you, is the same Christ who is living within you by faith. His forgiveness can repair the damage that sin brought between you and your family and friends. And it is something you now consider a privilege to sacrifice yourself in order to help others. You pray for each other, give offerings, share with those in need not because you have to but because you were created to do those things in the first place, just like a fig tree was planted to produce figs.

The Church remains in a critical time. But the Church is not alone. You don’t have to fend for yourself. In spite of all the temptations and attacks that you may still have to endure, you have Jesus always with you, the Jesus who did all the work in order to save you, the Jesus who makes Himself one with you and you are one with Him. And though all this is taking place right now in a way that is hidden to your eyes, God is nevertheless preparing you for the eternal life that you have already inherited. At the Last Day, at the end of the world, your resurrected eyes will see the tree of life that your Lord has brought to you concealed here in bread and wine, and your mouth will finally taste its fruit forever.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Ezek. 33:7–20 you son of man: I have made you a watchman
Psalm 85 Show us Your mercy, LORD, and grant us Your salvation.
1 Cor. 10:1–13 our fathers…were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea
Luke 13:1–9 a fig tree in a vineyard