Repentance and Resilience: Embracing God's Kingdom
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"You who long for connection, receive the fellowship of this community and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. You who search for love, experience the love of Jesus expressed in music, prayer, community, word, and action. May this time of worship fill and refresh you. Let us worship God together, and let us pray together." [00:00:52] (29 seconds)
"At that very time, there were some present. We're in the 13th chapter, the first nine verses. 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 this way, they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you regret, you will all perish as they did." [00:13:43] (26 seconds)
"Or those 18 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." [00:14:08] (31 seconds)
"May we hear and understand what the scriptures are teaching us today. Third Sunday in Lent. And again, we seem to have stories about the social and political upheavals of the day, with the people whose blood was mingled in the tower falling down, and the condemnation and the questioning about whose fault was what, just like whose fault was it the man was born blind." [00:15:49] (34 seconds)
"Caesar Herod Pilate unholy trinity of Roman imperialism Luke begins this selection with two news stories that everybody was talking about this is what was on Facebook at the time no I'm kidding but this was what was making the rounds the murder of the Galileans at the temple and the collapse of a tower on eighteen people in the first instance pilot had Galilee and pilgrims killed in the temple courtyard and then had their blood mixed with the ritual sacrificial blood there that was a shocking defilement of the practices of the Jews and a defilement of the temple with the temple with the temple." [00:19:10] (51 seconds)
"and they were probably crying for revenge and maybe that's why jesus wanted his hearers to repent jesus doesn't think that their personal sin caused everything no one is more or less of an offender than any of the ones who had died everyone had some problems with wrong no one in this sense deserved to die sometimes people just die especially when they're held in thrall and violent kingdoms in this world because that's what every rome every empire i'll let them go by okay every rome and every empire in human history always does" [00:22:06] (48 seconds)
"kills suppresses in order to survive and jesus surely doesn't desire revenge instead now hear this carefully instead he says to repent but repent of what repent of collaborating with roman violence repent of giving in to kingdoms built on injustice repent of blaming victims for their suffering and repent of believing that the murderous power of empire is the only power repent of lust for retaliation and vengeance" [00:22:56] (43 seconds)
"Perhaps the gardener secretly welcomed the idea of cutting down the landowner's tree, but instead of taking an axe to it and violently killing it, the gardener begs, sir, leave it alone for one more year until I dig around it, fertilize it, put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, that's well and good, but if not, then you can cut it down." [00:24:50] (21 seconds)
"Remember, he said, why should I waste the soil on this? It isn't wasted. The land is holy. We're waiting for the land to do its work. But it needs tending. It needs patience. It needs care. It needs compassion. It needs resilience and courage. Trees take time to grow in fruit." [00:27:21] (21 seconds)
"The goodness of the law knows this. The law not only governs human relations, but the very life of creation, the contours of God's kingdom. It's almost like Jesus was saying, the kingdom of God is like a vineyard of young trees. A wicked ruler seized the land and tried to cut down all the trees because they were not profitable. They added no treasure to his stores. He was eager for the wealth the land would produce. But the faithful gardeners refused." [00:27:49] (29 seconds)
"The community, the blessed community, the kingdom of God, the realm, however you want to refer to it, waits for the trees to grow, for the flower and the fruit. And it isn't a passive practice. It doesn't mean just sitting around and waiting for things to get better. Waiting is an active practice of protecting, of standing up, of holding your ground, of nurturing you, of being attentive, of being woke." [00:29:19] (38 seconds)
"Resist every empire and don't meet Caesar's violence with more violence. Instead, remember the law and the work of God's kingdom. And do the work. And the work is what? The work is compassion and caring and doing the same things that we know we are to do. To follow in Jesus' way. It doesn't mean to sit on the sidelines. It means to stand up and protect somebody." [00:30:20] (24 seconds)
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"At that very time, there were some present. We're in the 13th chapter, the first nine verses. 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 this way, they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you regret, you will all perish as they did." [00:13:43] (26 seconds)
"Or those 18 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." [00:14:08] (31 seconds)
"May we hear and understand what the scriptures are teaching us today. Third Sunday in Lent. And again, we seem to have stories about the social and political upheavals of the day, with the people whose blood was mingled in the tower falling down, and the condemnation and the questioning about whose fault was what, just like whose fault was it the man was born blind." [00:15:49] (34 seconds)
"Caesar Herod Pilate unholy trinity of Roman imperialism Luke begins this selection with two news stories that everybody was talking about this is what was on Facebook at the time no I'm kidding but this was what was making the rounds the murder of the Galileans at the temple and the collapse of a tower on eighteen people in the first instance pilot had Galilee and pilgrims killed in the temple courtyard and then had their blood mixed with the ritual sacrificial blood there that was a shocking defilement of the practices of the Jews and a defilement of the temple with the temple with the temple." [00:19:10] (51 seconds)
"and they were probably crying for revenge and maybe that's why jesus wanted his hearers to repent jesus doesn't think that their personal sin caused everything no one is more or less of an offender than any of the ones who had died everyone had some problems with wrong no one in this sense deserved to die sometimes people just die especially when they're held in thrall and violent kingdoms in this world because that's what every rome every empire i'll let them go by okay every rome and every empire in human history always does" [00:22:06] (48 seconds)
"kills suppresses in order to survive and jesus surely doesn't desire revenge instead now hear this carefully instead he says to repent but repent of what repent of collaborating with roman violence repent of giving in to kingdoms built on injustice repent of blaming victims for their suffering and repent of believing that the murderous power of empire is the only power repent of lust for retaliation and vengeance" [00:22:56] (43 seconds)
"Perhaps the gardener secretly welcomed the idea of cutting down the landowner's tree, but instead of taking an axe to it and violently killing it, the gardener begs, sir, leave it alone for one more year until I dig around it, fertilize it, put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, that's well and good, but if not, then you can cut it down." [00:24:50] (21 seconds)
"Remember, he said, why should I waste the soil on this? It isn't wasted. The land is holy. We're waiting for the land to do its work. But it needs tending. It needs patience. It needs care. It needs compassion. It needs resilience and courage. Trees take time to grow in fruit." [00:27:21] (21 seconds)
"The goodness of the law knows this. The law not only governs human relations, but the very life of creation, the contours of God's kingdom. It's almost like Jesus was saying, the kingdom of God is like a vineyard of young trees. A wicked ruler seized the land and tried to cut down all the trees because they were not profitable. They added no treasure to his stores. He was eager for the wealth the land would produce. But the faithful gardeners refused." [00:27:49] (29 seconds)
"The community, the blessed community, the kingdom of God, the realm, however you want to refer to it, waits for the trees to grow, for the flower and the fruit. And it isn't a passive practice. It doesn't mean just sitting around and waiting for things to get better. Waiting is an active practice of protecting, of standing up, of holding your ground, of nurturing you, of being attentive, of being woke." [00:29:19] (38 seconds)
"Resist every empire and don't meet Caesar's violence with more violence. Instead, remember the law and the work of God's kingdom. And do the work. And the work is what? The work is compassion and caring and doing the same things that we know we are to do. To follow in Jesus' way. It doesn't mean to sit on the sidelines. It means to stand up and protect somebody." [00:30:20] (24 seconds)
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