March 7th. 2010    Reading:  Luke 13.1-9

 Theme: The turning point

Such is the rapidity of the news that when on Tuesday 12 of January this year at seven minutes to five local time, a huge earthquake shook the island of Haiti and around 250,000 homes, and 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed or were severely damaged, many lost their lives, and many many more were made homeless, the event was headline news across the whole world. The earthquake is still in the news today, there are reminders of the situation in Haiti every couple of days on TV, it is still being talked about.

In Luke 13, we have traces, a reminder of an event that took place in Jerusalem,

which was still being talked about, and which forms the background to the profound words and wonderful teaching of Jesus we find here in the gospel. Jesus mentions Galileans who were killed by Roman soldiers, and the collapse of the tower at Siloam.

What was it that had happened ?

Well, experts on the New Testament tell us, that when Pilate was Roman governor in Jerusalem he announced plans for a water supply to be installed in the city of Jerusalem. The Romans were unrivalled in the way they built cities, put in paved streets, built city squares, public buildings - and of course, constructed water supplies. However, having announced the plans for the water supply, Pilate then announced that he was going to be using a portion of Temple funds to pay for it. The Temple in Jerusalem had huge financial resources, the equivalent of millions of pounds.

The next day a huge crowd gathered in the city to protest. Pilate, ruthless as ever, set his soldiers on them. The whole thing got out of hand, and many innocent Galileans, who had gone to the Temple with sacrifices, a lamb or a calf or a pigeon were killed, along with the sacrifices they had brought. So tensions now were running high. And it may well be that the collapse of the tower at Siloam was connected with all this, for there was a very deep pool there dug into the solid rock, and perhaps work had already begun digging underneath the tower for the water pipes.

Anyway, the tower collapsed and eighteen were killed.

Reminders of recent events recorded here in the gospel of Luke,

still being talked about in Jerusalem and the surrounding towns.

It was in these days that the Lord Jesus, has come with His disciples to preach, to announce, to proclaim the kingdom in one of the towns near to Jerusalem.

The gospel tells us that the teachers of the law had made a plan to try and trap Jesus by the questions put to Him, and whether it was part of this plan

or whether it was simply those in the crowd who liked to fire off tough questions,

a discussion begins.

Someone, it seems, asked Jesus this question: Those Galileans, killed by Pilate’s soldiers in Jerusalem - along with the offerings they had brought to the Temple...... they must have been bad people, sinners, for that to happen to them ! Don’t you think ?

Jesus answered - No, they were no worse in God’s sight than any other Galileans, and, added Jesus, the eighteen people who were killed when the tower collapsed were no worse than anyone else, no more guilty before God than anyone else in Jerusalem !

But what is of greatest interest for us, in the gospel, here, is what happens next.

You see, the discussion about whether or not the Galileans, or the workers at Siloam were worse than anybody else really was a fruitless discussion.

But with a few words, the Lord turns things round to what does matter....

The Lord turns things round to where His questioners stand before God - not to where others are, or might be.

To what their situation, what their condition is before God !

Jesus puts this question to His hearers - where do you stand before God ?

What of yourselves ?

Where do you stand ?

For unless, says Jesus, you turn from your sin,

life will slip from your grasp........

This is, in fact, a turning point, a turning point we see in many places in the gospel.

A turning point for the crowd.

And the Lord Jesus Christ often brings men and women to this turning point in the gospels.

What is this turning point ?

It is this: Jesus calls men and women to turn to the living God, to turn into and onto the path of life,

to turn away from sin, and from the old ways of life...........

that’s what Jesus invites men and women to do, calls men and women to do,

summons men and women to do.

to turn to the living God, to step into a relationship with the living God,

to turn into and onto the path of life,

to turn away from sin, and from the old ways of life...........

a turning point.

That’s what we have here in Luke’s gospel,

and Jesus adds to it, a parable, a story:

There was a vineyard, and in this vineyard along with the vines, there grew a fig tree. Now, the book of Proverbs says: He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit.......

Well, every year for the last three years, the owner has come down to have a look round his vineyard, and he every time he comes he checks the tree for fruit. Three long years have passed, and still there has been no sign of any fruit - there has been nothing. So the owner tells the gardener to cut the fig-tree down. But the gardener says - Give it one more year, let me dig round it, put in some fertiliser down round it. If we get some fruit from it next year - good. If not, we can cut it down then !

What does this parable of the Lord Jesus mean ?

It means that there is still time.

For those with fruitless lives, there is a time, and its now.

The living God, in His grace and love, offers time,

like a gardener digging round, and putting down fertiliser,

the living God has put all the circumstances in place,

for men and women, for us, to turn to Him,

and find life.

A turning point.

Now we don’t have that much time left but

this turning point for men and women,

can be found throughout the Bible in different ways.........

God calls men and women, God invites men and women, to turn away from their sin, their old way of life, and turn to Him, and new life...........

The Lord says in the book of Isaiah: Come, everyone who is thirsty - here is water !

Come you that have no money, buy corn and eat.......

Why spend money on what does not satisfy ?

Why spend your wages and still be hungry ?

Listen to me and do what I say, and you will enjoy the best food of all.........

That’s what the Lord says, He offers a turning point,

and all through the Bible men and women respond, and respond in different ways.

For example, here’s a whole city at that turning point. The Lord spoke to Jonah the prophet. 2 He said, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to the people the message I have given you." 3 So Jonah obeyed the Lord and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to walk through it. 4 Jonah started through the city, and after walking a whole day, he proclaimed, "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed!" 5. The people of Nineveh believed God's message. So they decided that everyone should fast, and all the people, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth to show that they had repented. 6 When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes. 7 He sent out a proclamation to the people of Nineveh: "This is an order from the king and his officials: No one is to eat anything; all persons, cattle, and sheep are forbidden to eat or drink. 8 All persons and animals must wear sackcloth. Everyone must pray earnestly to God and must give up his wicked behaviour and his evil actions. 9 Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!" 10 God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behaviour. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.

Here, under very different circumstances is the desperate, deep turning point of one man - David, King David, from Psalm 51.

This psalm maps out, traces out for us, in his own words David’s emotions and feelings Nathan the prophet had confronted King David with the enormity of what he had done - committing adultery with Bathsheba, murdering her husband. Dreadful and awful deeds. Nothing can justify them.

David recognises his own wrongdoing and sinfulness, he says: Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. I have sinned against you- only against you- and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. I have been sinful.

This is the turning away from sin.

Now in Psalm 51 David declares his turning to God............

7. Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Here is another man’s story of how God spoke to him and brought him to the turning point of life: This is the apostle Paul speaking:

12. I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength for my work. I thank him for considering me worthy and appointing me to serve him, even though in the past I spoke evil of him and persecuted and insulted him. But God was merciful to me because I did not yet have faith and so did not know what I was doing. 14 And our Lord poured out his abundant grace on me and gave me the faith and love which are ours in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them, 16 but God was merciful to me in order that ... Jesus might show his full patience in dealing with me, the worst of sinners........

We could go on, to speak of the Prodigal son, who far from home was brought to the turning point, got up and made his way back to his father,

or speak of Zacchaeus, who heard Jesus call, came down from the tree and at that turning point went with the Lord..........

A turning point ?

Jesus calls men and women to turn to the living God, to turn into and onto the path of life,

to turn away from sin, and from the old ways of life...........

that’s what Jesus invites men and women to do, calls men and women to do,

summons men and women to do.

to turn to the living God, to step into a relationship with the living God,

to turn into and onto the path of life,

to turn away from sin, and from the old ways of life........... either for the first time,

or once again as we often have to do:

as God calls us we come to the turning point,

the Lord says:

Why spend money on what does not satisfy ?

Why spend your wages and still be hungry ?

Listen to me and do what I say, and you will enjoy the best food of all.........

Jesus says:

Come to me, all you who are burdened down... and I will give you rest, rest for your souls.......

put the Kingdom of God first, and everything else will be added...........

Like the gardener in the story that Jesus told, digging round, and putting down fertiliser,

The living God, in His grace and love, offers us time,

the living God has put all the circumstances in place,

for men and women, for us, to turn to His Son Jesus and find life.

A turning point.

AMEN