Repentance

This week we have had a fun week at VBS.

We learned about the Bible.

The Bible is a big book.

It's really just one long story about God being so good

that he sent his son Jesus to rescue us.

Let us show you what we mean.

Come with us back to the very beginning.

Maybe we can put the banner in front of us.

There, maybe hold it down in front.

Down just a little bit.

Okay, so from the very beginning, tell us what the first one says.

God is maker. God is king.

The fall. We disobey God and the perfect place is ruin.

Abraham and the promises of God.

God's special place, God's special people and blessing.

David, king of God's people.

Solomon that ate raw.

Exile from the stone.

The coming of the king.

Jesus is born.

Dead of the king.

Jesus is crucified.

Jesus is raised.

Jesus is king.

Jesus promised fulfilled God's people in God's place.

Is?

Okay.

So now you guys get the pleasure of listening to us sing for a little bit.

So we have three songs for you.

Okay, kids.

Come on up.

So guys, when you're ready, we're going to sing the creation song with actions.

you can watch Melissa with the actions at the front.

And if you want to join along with us,

you're welcome to join the actions of the kids of Dewey.

Day one.

Day one.

Day three days.

Day four.

The night had gone on, and it was good to start a tune,

As all creation got it full, and by the power of His Word,

The power of His Word.

They tied up to the sky, and started a fish on the sea.

They saved the fish, and they took a pen, and they brought the land.

And it was good, just as it should, as all creation got it full,

And by the power of His Word, the power of His Word.

The second day, when God in this land, on His land,

And it was good, just as it should, as all creation got it full,

And by the power of His Word, the power of His Word.

We're going to sing God rules now, so let's have our hands up guys.

We're going to sing God rules, okay, no God's no way,

He's the Lord, He's the King, He's the boss of everything, He's the boss of everything.

He's the boss of everything, He's the boss of everything.

He's the boss of everything.

Don't make no mistake, don't follow the same,

Like Adam and Eve, who trusted Him,

Don't make that mistake, and know what it takes,

To worship our faith, and know what it takes,

God rules, okay, no God's no way,

He's the Lord, He's the King, He's the boss of everything.

He's the boss of everything.

Don't make no mistake, don't follow the same,

He's the Lord, He's the King, He's the boss of everything.

He's the boss of everything.

God rules, okay.

And now we'd like to share with you our last song,

which is all about the promises of God that He made to Abraham.

Yeah, kids, remember we talked about Louis Armstrong voice?

Louis Armstrong voice.

For this song, you guys ready?

You guys remember the clap for this, right? How's the clap go?

Yeah, yeah, something like that.

Beautiful.

A long, long time ago, when Abraham was born, God promised him a great big family.

It seemed too good to do, too good to be the truth.

Yes, Abraham said,

Yes, God, I believe you can.

What a man.

What a man.

Abraham.

Trust in God when he can't understand.

What a man.

Abraham.

Abraham.

Man, oh man.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

As well as family. God promised land and trees. A special place to call his Gary home.

So Abraham didn't go to see his property home.

Abraham didn't go to see his property home.

Oh man.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

Oh man.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

As well as family. God promised land and trees. A special place to call his Gary home.

Abraham didn't go to see his property home.

And Abraham said,

Yes, God, I believe you can.

What a man.

Abraham.

Trust in God when he can't understand.

Oh, Adam, man.

Abraham.

Oh man.

Oh man.

Oh man.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

And lastly, but not least, God said you will be blessed. Your name will be made great in all the earth.

You'll be my special one.

Now I want to have faith like Abraham.

Oh man.

Oh man.

Oh man.

Oh man.

Oh man.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

Oh man.

Oh man.

Oh man.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

And lastly, but not least, God said you will be blessed. Your name will be made great in all the earth.

You'll be my special one.

I'll bless the world through you.

And Abraham said,

Yes, God, I believe you can.

Oh man.

Abraham.

Trust in God when he can't understand.

Oh man.

And man, oh man.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

I want to have faith like Abraham.

Okay, so CDs will be made available right after this.

You know, they're for free and all that.

Oh, that's okay.

It's not a party until something gets broken, so that's okay.

Hey, let me pray for these kids.

So you see what our week was like in the community center.

And let's pray, guys.

Let's pray.

And we're going to pray for your teachers and for your school starting up.

And after this, Melissa, you're going to get special classes on all the hand signals, right?

I'm teasing you.

Okay, let me pray for us.

Father, we just thank you for this day.

We thank you for every one of these kids.

We thank you for Amber and Mimi and all these little kids, Esther and Holly and Javi and Robert and Joshua and Lawrence and all of them, Lord.

We just pray that you would bless them.

We pray that they would come to know your son, Jesus, at an early age.

We pray for all the kiddos that are about to release as they go to class, Lord.

We pray that that would be a place of sanctuary and peace.

We thank you for the volunteers.

We're just overwhelmed by people who give their time to serve your children.

And so we pray, Lord, for this time that lives would be changed, they would come to know you, and they would do mighty things for your kingdom.

We love you, and we pray these things in your son, Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks so much, guys.

Okay, so Watermark kids are dismissed, and youth are dismissed with—is that right?

No, no youth?

Okay.

So youth are staying in today.

The scripture reading today comes from the Book of Romans and the Gospel of Luke.

Please follow along in your bulletin.

Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?

Does this mean nothing to you?

Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

Now, on the same occasion, there were some presence who reported to him about the Galatians whose blood Palladi had mixed with their sacrifices.

And Jesus said to them,

Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?

I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the Tower of Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?

I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

And he began telling them this parable.

A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.

And he said to the vineyard keeper,

Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit in this fig tree without finding any.

Cut it down.

Why does it even use up the ground?

And he answered and said to them,

Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer and it bears fruit next year, fine.

But if not, cut it down.

This is the reading of God's Word.

How you guys doing?

Okay.

If this is your first time here, you're like,

Is this always like that?

Yes, this is always like that.

It's like our home.

We're trying to model something after the average home in Hong Kong.

So it's crazy and out of control.

But welcome to Watermark Community Church and the family of God,

because I think that's what Christian life is supposed to be like,

crazy and out of control sometimes.

Well, all my family got back in yesterday at 3 o'clock.

So our house, we had kids waking up.

I came in about a week early, a week and a half early.

And we had kids waking up at 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock.

And so we've been basically up since about 2 o'clock this morning, which is good.

And it's neat to have everyone back.

After about two days of being by myself, I started walking around the house talking to myself.

And that was not good.

You know, on my journey with Christ,

I think that I've been very blessed,

because my dad was not always around.

He was flying in the military,

that God brought other men into my life

to teach me things and things that I just didn't know,

because my dad wasn't there at that time.

And one of these couples was a couple that I stayed with in seminary in Dallas.

And so they gave me free housing.

And there was a great, the Mayborns, Don and Cheryl.

And I learned so much about being a husband from Don.

And I watched them for about a year as I lived with them.

And I noticed that every Tuesday night,

they would go out on a date.

And I was trying to figure out, what is this all about?

You're already married.

Why are you dating your wife?

You don't need to date your wife because you got her, right?

So at least that's how I was thinking as a single guy, right?

And so he told me, he said, you know, you need to date your wife.

Just because you're married doesn't mean you don't spend time with each other.

In fact, once you have kids,

you probably need to spend more time with each other,

because your life is chaos and out of control,

and you don't know what's going on.

And so single guys, I wrote down, date your wife.

Yes, that's good, right?

And so then Christina and I started dating.

And I said, okay, let's try this.

And so we started a date night.

And ours in Hong Kong now is every Thursday night.

But we have this tradition in America,

and this tradition is that the last time we can get away before I come back,

we have a date night.

And I'm always just so looking forward to this date night.

We need the kids and grandparents,

and we go out and get something nice to eat

and just talk about life and things like that.

With four kids, we need to talk about a lot of stuff

and just trying to connect with each other.

And so I was really excited about this date night.

And so we go to my favorite restaurant in the States.

It's called the Cheesecake Factory.

If you go there, you know why Americans are so fat.

Because it's unlimited refills on all drinks,

which I'm trying to get that into Hong Kong.

I just don't understand that yet.

And the portions are like massive.

I mean, they're like huge, huge portions, right?

And so we go there and we get fat.

And so I was looking for this date night.

And so we went on date night.

We went to the Frisco Mall in Texas area, right above Dallas.

And I'm still looking forward to talking to Christina

and just debriefing.

And we sit down.

You don't know I'm going to share this.

And we sit down, and there's a couple beside us

that are talking.

And they're not married.

I don't know if they're dating,

but it's obvious from their body language

that the girl likes the guy.

And the guy's life is a mess.

I mean, it is just a mess.

And the reason I know it's a mess

is because they're talking so loudly

that we can't even hear each other talk.

We just hear all of his problems.

And he's had some serious problems go on with death

and just poor choices

and all of these things in his life.

And so I'm trying to talk and engage to Christina.

And in the back of my mind,

the pastoral part of me is like,

I want to go over there and talk to him about Christ

and things like that.

And I want to, so I'm like, I look at Christina.

I go, should I say something?

And she goes, no, just focus on me.

And just pray.

And so we're praying.

And as this guy shares his whole story,

he basically then shares everything.

And this girl goes, well, I know what your problem is.

And I'm like, okay, go, go, go, go, go.

She goes, well, your problem is

is that you just have the wrong focus.

I'm like, okay, you're moving in that right direction.

You're right.

Your problem is is you have the wrong priorities.

Okay, yes, go, go, go, go, go.

Your problem is you have the wrong perspective.

And I'm about to go, preach it!

You know, but I didn't say anything like that.

Christina's like kicking me under the table,

like, be quiet, be quiet, be quiet.

And she goes, the problem is is you have the wrong perspective.

She said, you need to put, and I'm sitting there going,

okay, here it goes, here it goes.

You need to put, and I want to say, Jesus.

But I didn't.

She goes, you need to put yourself at the center of your life.

The problem with your life is that you're thinking too much

about other people and you haven't thought about yourself.

You need to put yourself at the center.

If you focus on yourself, your whole life is going to be great

and everything's going to be good and there's going to be no problems

whatsoever.

And I'm like, the world is filled with five million people just focusing

on themselves.

And we have a lot of problems.

And Christina's kicking me underneath the table because I'm saying that

underneath my breath.

But I don't say it loud enough for them to hear it.

You need to focus on yourself.

And all of a sudden I want to yell out, that's terrible!

Oh!

But Christina looks at me and gives me this eye and starts kicking me

underneath the table.

And we just listen to that, you know, and I've been thinking about that

perspective for weeks.

And I realize that most of us, including myself, we have the wrong perspective.

I mean, even as a pastor, it's often easy to lose focus in perspective.

When I talk to people, they want the view of Jesus as a wise man, a good man,

someone who's never confrontational, someone who never passes judgment or talks about judgment,

someone who seeks peace at all costs, someone who never challenges people or their false

beliefs.

When we think of Jesus, we want this person who never forces anyone to make a hard choice.

He's always inclusive.

He's always free and lets everybody think about that.

And as I think about it in my life, I have to be brutally honest because I think sometimes

that's true.

That I want a God who's soft.

I want a God who's fluffy.

I want a God that owes me.

He owes me happiness.

He owes me fun.

He owes me prosperity.

He owes me sickness-free life.

I want a God who's for me.

And sometimes when we come to churches and we listen to sermons, that's what we hear over

and over and over and over.

God owes you.

He's let you down.

We want a fluffy and sexy version of Christianity where God is soft.

When we sin, he kind of winks at us.

It's funny.

Javi was up here singing and I winked at him.

And Javi goes, winks at me back.

But that's the type of God we want, right?

That we're about to do something we know we shouldn't do.

We want a God who just looks at us and kind of winks at us.

And sometimes we want to, as pastors, we want to preach sermons like that because we know

that they're fun.

And we know that they're fluffy.

And we know that people will come because they like to hear fluffy things and soft people

come.

And the problem is in the churches when that happens, people don't change.

There's no reason to change.

There's no reason to grow.

There's no reason to be maturity.

There's no reason to think about things.

And as a pastor, I am so tempted sometimes to look at passages like today and look at

things like sin and judgment and accountability before God.

And I want to be nice and I want to be soft and I want to be fluffy and I want to be sexy.

And I want you guys to come and hear it.

And you go, wow, that was really cool.

That was really neat.

Tobin's a really nice guy.

He didn't say anything that I disagreed with.

Now, if you come to church and you never hear something you disagree with, that's bad.

Because if God is working in your heart, the unfluffy God is going to try to show you something

and change something in your life.

But as a pastor, I struggle with wanting to tie all of these things in a nice, neat bow

and make them really cool and fun so that when you leave here, you like us and you ask your

friends to come visit us and you want to do these things and you change these things and

you bring them here to the soft, fluffy, fun church.

But the problem is, is if we live like this, if we lose perspective on Jesus, if we don't

see him as he really is, we've lost everything.

We miss the gospel.

The gospel becomes something nice and fun and cool.

We miss change of life.

We miss hope.

The only hope that we give people if we don't preach the gospel is the same hope the rest

of the world has.

And what is that?

If you're good enough, if you're kind enough, if you don't hurt anybody as much as you can,

you get a pass.

You get to heaven.

And we want to shrink sin and accountability and judgment to make it really small so that

we can swallow it.

But the problem is, is when we do that, we make our God really small.

We make the cross really small.

We make grace really small.

We started preaching in the gospel, Luke, and we started preaching, and you're wondering,

well, when are we going to finish?

Because we're at chapter 13 and we've been doing it for a year and a half, and I promise

you now it goes faster.

The first 13 chapters are all about Jesus' life, and we've covered his life in three

years of his ministry.

And after chapter 13, it's chapter 14, right?

You don't have to be a genius to know that.

You don't have to go to seminary to learn that either.

But in 14 on, it's just a bunch of parables and stories, and it's the last three weeks

of Jesus' life or four weeks of Jesus' life, and he's heading to Jerusalem.

But we preached Luke because we realized that we were going to get to places that were going

to be uncomfortable, and we needed to talk about them.

We couldn't skip them.

And so last week was a very tough place, and this week is a very tough place.

This week and last week are messages that are kind of like punches in your stomach to me

or punches in the arm, and God is seeing how soft we are or how fluffy we are or how we've

lost perspective on his holiness and his goodness.

Luke 13, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.

You have it in your bulletin.

Ultimately, he's going to be crucified for us.

He's in Capernaum, his hometown.

It's by the sea.

If you go to Israel with us this next May, you'll see that.

You'll see where Peter's mom lived.

You'll see the synagogue that Jesus preached in.

It's pretty amazing.

And as he's preaching in 13, some people come to him, and they bring him news that is like

CNN-type news.

Everybody knows it.

This is on all the wires.

It's Bloomberg.

Everybody's talking about it, and everyone knows it, and everybody's discussing it.

And you read in verse 1, now on the same occasion, at the same time in Greek, there were some

present.

They came there, and they reported to him about the Galileans whose blood

Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

So this is a story.

The pilgrims go to Jerusalem to sacrifice.

This probably happened on a Passover because it was the only time that a pilgrim would actually

sacrifice the offering.

The priest would normally do it.

But there were too many people.

And in a Passover, sometimes there'd be 500,000 animals killed in that one day.

Can you imagine the smell in the blood?

And just what it was like.

And what we're told by historians is that Pilate, who was the procreator, he's overseeing all of

Judea for the Roman Empire.

He has this battle going on with Herod.

Herod was a Median, and he was overseeing the Jews.

He's kind of like the puppet governor for Jerusalem.

And Pilate hated the Jews.

And so on this occasion, Pilate had several of his men dress up as pilgrims.

And as the Jews were making sacrifices, all the soldiers took off their clothes, they had uniforms underneath it, they had clubs, and they beat to death.

Everybody making a sacrifice.

At one occasion, we were told they killed over 2,000 people.

And he did it just for fun.

And so they come in, and they share this news, and they're like, this is terrible, because they were in the middle.

They were the closest to God that they could be.

They were at the safest place they could be.

They were in the sanctuary.

They were in the temple.

They were where it was off limits.

It's where they're worshiping God.

If God were to be any place, he would be there.

And in the middle of their sacrifices, these soldiers come in, and they just kill everybody.

Everybody.

It says it mixes their blood with the blood of the sacrifices.

It would be like if you and I were having communion last week.

And in the middle of communion, some men came in, and they shot every person in this church.

What do you think the people in the other churches would have been saying after that event?

What do you think the news would have been after that event?

What would the other Christians have been saying after all the church was destroyed in the middle of a holy time for Passover or communion?

Jesus goes on in verse 2 and 3.

And Jesus says to him,

Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this fate?

I tell you no.

But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Now the question on everybody's mind, the question that everybody wants to ask,

it's the question why these guys brought this thing up because they want to ask this question.

They bring this event up, and they want to say,

These people must have been really bad for this to happen to them.

Right?

I mean, they must have been terrible, terrible people because they were in the middle of a holy thing.

In the middle of that holy thing, they got slaughtered, and obviously God was catching up with them.

Their karma ran out, and people who were sacrificing,

If you get killed this way, you must be really, really, really bad.

That's what they were thinking.

Now they didn't ask that.

But that's how Jesus replies in verses 2 and 3.

And I've been thinking about that for a long time.

I mean, we think that sometimes, don't we?

When somebody has something really bad happen to them,

what do we think?

When you're the last one on the floor because everybody else has been fired,

and you're still standing,

when something really terrible has happened,

all the other people's kids are falling apart,

but your kids are doing amazingly well,

and they all get into Auburn University or some higher educational place like that.

What do you think?

Jesus' disciples thought that.

Remember in John 9, they're walking by, and they see this blind guy?

And the disciples looked at him and said,

Hey, who sinned?

His mother or him?

And Jesus said, No one.

And when I look at this passage, I realize that in my life,

we tend, I tend to compare myself to other people.

I mean, if I'm spared the bad things, I tend to think,

we tend to think, well, I must be pretty good.

I must be pretty moral.

I must be pretty clever.

I must be pretty intelligent.

My life is better, so I must be better.

But when bad things happen, what do we ask?

Oh, man, terrible.

I'm cursed.

God's out for me.

And sometimes in our life, if we're honest,

when things are going really, really, really exceptionally well,

we think to ourselves, God likes me better.

I found more favor with God.

I wonder what I did.

I better go back and do that again because I need to do that again.

But in this passage, Jesus says to you and me that often,

listen to this,

often our circumstances do not dictate our relationship to God.

Often our circumstances do not dictate our relationship to God

because God is beyond that.

And so Jesus says in verse 3, no.

He's basically saying if you really saw yourselves,

if you really saw your heart,

if you really saw what was inside of you,

the question you'd be asking is,

how come the tower didn't fall on top of me?

Because I deserve it.

Jesus is looking at his disciples.

He's looking at the crown,

and he's saying,

repent because you're self-righteous.

Repent because you're selfish.

Repent because you think that your circumstances

are dictating your relationship to God,

and that's not true.

Jesus goes on to tell us another story in verse 4 and 5.

Now again, everybody would have known this.

Everybody would have known this.

Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell

and killed them were worse culprits,

the word in Greek is debtors or sinners in Hebrew,

than all the men who lived in Jerusalem?

I tell you no, but unless you repent,

you will all likewise perish.

So here's what he's saying here,

and we have a picture of this.

Do we have a picture of this?

We have a picture of this.

This is Christina by the Pool of Siloam.

This was eight years ago.

If you go today, it's amazing.

If you go with us in May,

they've restored it, they've redone it,

and it is amazing.

But this is the picture here.

Because I think the idea of towers today

has changed a lot since Jesus' time.

But in Jesus' time,

especially in New York, right?

But in Jesus' time,

a tower was a place of safety.

It was a place of refuge.

It was a place of security.

It was a place where you could make your living.

It was the strongest place in the wall's fortification.

And the guy goes in,

and he kisses his wife,

and he gets on his camel.

He goes to Jerusalem.

He goes into his tower,

and as he's about to pick up his phone

to call his wife and tell her,

hey, I'm not going to make it today,

hey, you know, save some stuff for me to eat later on,

the wall just collapses.

The whole tower just crushes on top of him.

And this place that he thought

was a place of security,

hope,

financial stability,

success,

a haven of safety,

a future,

all of these things

that he was putting his hope in,

all of these things

crushed him

as if tower fell on top of him

without a warning.

Jesus tells these two stories.

One is evil,

pilot,

evil.

One,

one is natural,

but in both stories,

the end comes quickly.

But in both stories,

the end is unexpectedly.

In both stories,

the groups are doing

what they would normally do.

It was a place of safety.

They would be okay.

In both places,

the people felt comfort.

In both places,

the people felt security.

And these places,

these things

that they were hoping in,

that they were drawing on,

that they would say,

this would give me meaning,

this would make me happy,

this would give me security,

this would make me closer to God,

all of these things

destroyed them.

Have you ever felt that way sometimes?

That there are things

you cling to in your life,

there are things you hope

will bring meaning,

there are things that you're expecting

to bring purpose,

there are things that you are,

you're looking at,

and when you grab onto them,

or when you go to them,

or when you stay in them,

ultimately,

they cause your destruction.

Jesus says again in verse five,

no.

He doesn't answer the question

how, or why,

or who's to blame.

I always find it interesting

that he doesn't go after Pilate,

say Pilate's a bad person,

you should know this.

He doesn't say all these,

any of those things.

He just says no,

repent.

Repent because you

are radically self-centered.

Repent because you

are radically selfish.

Repent because you believe

all these things

are happening to you

because you're good,

and somehow your goodness,

God,

owes you.

Somehow,

if I do all the right things,

if I answer all the questions,

God owes us,

right?

I wanted to start

the service off

by having a card

in everybody's chair

and just say,

before we begin,

I want you to write down

on your card

what you think

God owes you.

And we're gonna talk

about that.

Repent,

Jesus says,

because we all

deserve to have towers

fall on us.

Do we deserve

anything from God?

Do we?

And we're talking

about perspective here.

And we walk around

like we think we do.

But do we?

Repentance is a scary thing.

I mean,

it's a word that we use here,

we don't talk about,

but in Jesus' day,

when his,

remember his audience

is all religious people.

He's talking to people

in church.

He's talking to good people.

He's not talking

to outsiders,

he's talking to the family members,

he's talking to insiders.

And when he used

the word repent,

what they would have heard

is,

okay,

I need to feel sorry

for my sin.

I need to think

of the consequences.

I need to think of,

what if somebody sees me?

What if somebody catches me?

What if I lose?

Lose my job?

I shouldn't do that

because I might look really bad

in front of other people.

The focus is on self,

self,

self.

There's some image management

going on here.

When they heard

the word repent,

they would have thought

things like sacrifice.

I need to sacrifice more.

I need to kill another lamb.

I need to kill another sheep.

I need to kill a cow

because my sin is really bad.

I need to pay for my sin.

I need to do penance.

I need to kill a cow

because I did something

really bad

and I got to pay for that.

Or maybe I'm going to make

myself feel so terrible.

I'm going to act so bad.

I mean,

my little two-year-old,

three-year-old,

she's five now,

right?

Six.

Okay.

You can tell

the jet lag's still not gone.

My six-year-old

does that still.

When she's going to get in trouble,

she feels so bad

and she just puts on this face

and she mourns

and she cries

and she wails

and it's terrible

and she thinks,

if I make myself feel terrible enough,

then everybody's going to forgive me.

Sometimes we do that,

don't we?

I was walking

to an amazing cathedral

in Italy

and about two miles

from the cathedral,

people were on their knees,

scuffing up their knees

and getting up

and they'd walk

and they'd scuff their knees again.

You're like,

what are you doing?

I'm doing penance.

I got to do something

and work out

what I did wrong.

I got to show people

that I deserve

to be forgiven.

One of my favorite movies

of all time,

and don't watch it

because you'd be totally bored,

but it's called The Mission.

And in The Mission,

Robert De Niro

is a soldier.

He accidentally kills

this friar.

He feels such a weight

of guilt on him

that as they're going

up into the mountains

to reach out to the Indians,

he's carrying this large load

behind him

on his string

and for miles

and for days,

he's carrying this armor

and he's pulling it

and he's beating them up

and he's bloodied,

he's terrible.

It's an amazing scene.

And finally,

the priest,

Jeremy Irons,

comes and he takes a knife

and he cuts the load loose.

And he said,

you've done enough.

You've done enough.

And that's what

Jesus' followers

would have been thinking

when they heard that.

When they heard the idea

of repentance,

they would have said,

okay,

I gotta change my lifestyle,

I gotta look outwardly,

differently,

I gotta do something

so that when people look at me

and when God looks at me,

if I do it enough,

hopefully God will bless me.

Because if I do it enough,

then God owes me

because I've done it all

the right way.

But you know,

that's not what this passage

is about

and that is not the repentance

that Jesus talks about

and that's not the repentance

of the Bible.

When you hear the word

repentance in these verses,

what he's talking about

is seeing yourself

as you truly are.

Seeing yourself as broken.

Seeing yourself as radically

self-centered.

We are all radically

self-centered.

NBC Wild World Sports said it.

They're interviewing the gymnast

after she got a gold medal

and they said,

how did you become a gymnast

and how did you do so well?

And she said,

well, you know,

to be an athlete,

you have to be very self-centered.

I mean,

she says it right on TV

so it must be true, right?

But the Bible says it over

and over

and over again.

To repent sees

that we are self-centered.

To repent sees

that we are needy.

To repent sees

that we are hopeless.

No matter how much penance we do,

no matter how many times

we scrape our knees,

no matter how many times

we give money,

no matter how many times

we serve in the Sunday school,

no matter what we do,

it's not enough.

Repentance is seeing

each one of us

as deserving a tower

falling on top of us.

Think about that next day

you go to work

and you get fired.

Aren't you angry?

And you go,

well,

at least I didn't have

a tower fall on top of me.

Now,

don't ever counsel

somebody that way,

okay?

If they're in bad mood

or things are bad,

don't go,

you know,

but it could be worse.

You could have a tower

fall on top of you.

That's not the meaning

of this passage, right?

But it is for us.

Repentance is seeing us

as we really are

and seeing God

as he really is.

The God is holy.

The God is merciful.

The God is just.

The God is gracious.

The God comes to you

and me

and we don't deserve it.

Repentance is

not being self-centered

but being God-centered.

The next time you're tempted

to cheat on the books

or cheat on your wife

or husband

or go to the internet

and look at things

you shouldn't look at

on your company computer

or cheat on your taxes

or owe people money

and not pay them back

or just be mean

to your wife

or your spouse.

Remember that repentance

isn't about

I'm feeling bad,

I'm bad,

I'm bad

but repentance

in the Bible

is saying

look at what I just did

to God.

Look at how much

I just hurt God's heart.

Look at how much

I just ruin

God's testimony

in my office

or with my kids

or with my friends.

Repentance is being

radically God-centered

instead of self-centered

and understanding

that when we sin

we dishonor God

and we displease Him

and that's it.

Repentance is not

doing penance.

It's not trying to earn

our salvation.

Not trying to earn

forgiveness.

Jesus suffered

for our sin.

Jesus did everything.

There's nothing

you could add on

to what Jesus did.

Nothing.

Repentance means

understanding that

and saying that

what Jesus did

was enough

and I cannot work

and be good enough

because it's never

going to happen.

I just have to receive

that salvation

from Jesus.

Repentance is knowing

that

I cannot

live good enough.

That no matter

what you do,

no matter how

you try to do it,

no matter where

you put your hope,

no matter what you do,

you can never

live good enough.

Only Jesus

lived good enough.

And so when Paul

and Luke

and the gospel writers

talk about repentance,

they talk about

this incredible realization

that Christ

did it all

and that we need

to see Him

as our hope

and if we see Him

as our hope,

if we surrender to Him,

our lives

are going to change.

Our minds

are going to change.

Our hearts

are going to change.

Our actions

are going to change.

Our intellect

is going to change.

Our will

is going to change

and eventually

our feelings

will change,

our emotions.

You know,

a lot of times

I just obey

what God calls me to do

and I really

don't feel like it.

It's inconvenient.

It's really bothersome.

I'd really just go home

and take a nap

or read a book.

But as I continue

to repent,

as we continue

to come before the Lord

and realize who we are

and who He is,

God slowly

changes those feelings

in you.

God slowly

changes your mind.

He changes everything.

And so when we repent,

Jesus is changing

everything in you.

I don't know

if you know that,

but the scripture

says very carefully

that as we repent,

the more that we repent,

the more that we come

to Him,

the more that we grow

in our relationship

to Christ

and the more

that we trust Him.

Jesus continues

with this parable

which to me

has been

one of my

all-time favorite

parables,

especially as I've

been studying it

over and over.

He tells this parable

that drives the point home.

He tells this parable

that everyone

in his audience

would have understood.

Now we don't understand it

because we're,

I think that one time

I said I'm the only farmer

in here so I'm the only one

that kind of understands

a little bit of farming

but every agricultural

person would have

understood this

and the parable

is this.

Verse 6,

He began telling

this parable,

example,

a man had a fig tree

which he planted

in a vineyard

and he came

looking for fruit.

In Greek he's saying

he came every day.

The man in Greek

is a very important person

and so he plants

this fig tree

in the middle

of this vineyard

so there's grapes

everywhere.

Often you would do that

because you'd want

the grapes

and the wine

to get some

different taste

so you'd plant

an apple tree

in the middle of it

or you'd plant

a fig tree

in the middle of it

and as the animals

pollinated

the wine

acquired that taste

and the man came

and it says

often he came

and he looked

for fruit

a harvest

and he didn't

find any

and he said

to the vineyard

keeper

behold

listen up

for three years

I've come

looking for fruit

on this fig tree

without finding any

cut it down

why do we even

use up the ground

now this is

this is the law

of agricultural

you find

very few farmers

keeping things

in the ground

that aren't

benefiting them

or producing fruit

and everybody

would have understood

what he was saying

here

he's basically saying

if it doesn't

produce fruit

cut it ground

it's using up

too many resources

it's using up

too much water

its leaves

have grown over

and he said

he answered

and said in verse 8

let it alone

in Greek

the words actually

mean

forgive it

forgive it sir

for this year

this period

of time

too

until I dig

around it

and put fertilizer

in

the word is

manure

and it bears

fruit

next year

fine

but if it

doesn't

cut it down

see the story

here

so Jesus

says

this guy

plants

this fig tree

in the middle

of the garden

it grows huge

it shades

everything

it's taking up

resources

it's taking up

sun

it's using the soil

it's using care

and for three years

the vine keeper

has come into that garden

and for three years

he's taking care

of that fig tree

for three years

he's taking care

of it

and finally

the owner

comes

and it says

he comes

fairly frequently

and he's looking

and he sees no change

he sees no fruit

he sees no harvest

he sees nothing different

and he says

cut it down

and in verse 8

he says

forgive it

leave it alone

and this is what

the vine keeper does

the vine keeper

comes

every day

and he puts

massive

that's a

watermark word

I think

massive amounts

of time

in energy

grace

and mercy

I mean the tree

it says here

is being stunted

by things

that are clinging

to its roots

and so the keeper

comes in

and literally

in Hebrew and Greek

what it says

is he's doing

is he's breaking

the hold

that the earth

has on it

because the earth

is clumped up

so much around

the roots of the tree

that the tree

cannot get nutrients

and it cannot grow

and so the vineyard

guy comes in

and he literally

breaks away

everything

that's clinging

to it

he breaks away

things that are

going to stun

his growth

he breaks away

pride

he breaks away

idols

he breaks away

self

he breaks away

money

he breaks away

relationships

he's breaking away

everything

because he wants

that tree to grow

the Romans passage

says that he gives

us all good things

he gives us all

good things

so that we grow

it's not because

we're good

and so this guy

comes in every day

he puts all his

energy in there

and he's digging

and he's tearing

and he's breaking

loose

and the passage

says that Jesus

is constantly

digging into our

lives

to free us

from things

that are preventing

us from growing

fruit

that Jesus is

coming in

he's constantly

digging up

things

he's constantly

taking away

things

because he wants

fruit in your

life

and you hear the

passage

fruit is

repentance

and worship

fruit is

repentance

and worship

and it says that

Christ comes in

to your

and my life

every day

and he gives us

mercy

he gives us

grace

and he comes in

there

and he breaks up

all the things

that cling to

us

traditions

and doctrine

and religions

and family

and culture

and he breaks up

all these things

because they're not

allowing us to grow

they're not allowing

us to be

the tree that we're

supposed to be

and he puts

manure

over us

he puts

relationships

over us

he puts

the church

over us

he puts

community

over us

he puts

his word

over us

he puts

the Holy Spirit

all around us

he puts

everything

in our life

to help us

grow

maybe

maybe even

this sermon

is manure

think about that

but the parable

tells us

the keeper

Jesus

is committed

to saving

the tree

from what

it deserves

did you hear

that

Christ

is committed

to saving

us

from what

we deserve

he's committed

to saving

us

he's committed

to rescuing

the tree

he's committed

to getting

fruits of repentance

and worship

out of the tree

and the Bible

says clearly

it's not the tree

that does it

by itself

the tree

has no energy

in and of itself

the vine keeper

doesn't come in

and break up

the stuff

the tree

cannot produce

fruit

and as all

Jesus parables

we don't know

how it ends

I think he does

that on purpose

I mean we don't

know how it ends

we don't know

what's going to

happen here

we don't know

if it produces

fruit

we don't know

how long

the vine keeper

is going to

come in

we don't know

how long

we have

until our

end

we don't know

when a tower

is going to

fall on us

or we're going

to get in

a car accident

or we're going

to find a speck

on our lung

we don't know

how long

but we know

that Jesus

is committed

to saving us

from what we

deserve

and everyday

mercy

and everyday

grace

and everyday

and amazing

things are poured

out on us

and this story

basically tells us

that we are

called to respond

that you and I

we have an

obligation

and that obligation

is to respond

to God

working in our

life

we're called

to say

am I going

to bear fruit

am I going

to do it

am I going

to be a part

of this

am I going

to repent

see Christ

as he really

is

see myself

as I really

am

realize that

there's no way

that I can get

to him on my

own

surrender

my life

to him

and allow

him to

change me

and to

heal me

and to

fix me

and put

fruit in

my life

both stories

tell us

that we

don't realize

how bad

off we

are

sometimes

we might

be walking

around and

everything's

perfect

and this

passage says

it might

be perfect

because God

is putting

amazing things

into your

life

because he

wants you

to repent

you know

why your

life has

gone so

well up

to this

point

God is

just putting

amazing things

into your

life

because he

wants your

heart

he wants you

to repent

he wants

to worship

he's doing

all these

incredible

things

don't think

that all

these great

things are

happening

because you're

doing it

the passage

says all

these great

things happening

because the

vine keeper is

going in there

and he's

breaking up

those things

he's changing

those things

he's giving

you all the

things that

you need

and the

question is

how do we

respond to

that

that's why

Jesus didn't

answer the

why or how

or who's

responsible

question in

the parable

and in the

story

because that

at that

point wasn't

important

what was

important was

that life

is short

and at any

time these

things will be

taken away

and the

question is

what are you

going to do

with that

okay we're

way over

two minutes

God has

really been

working on

me in this

place on

this passage

in our

hearts

and I

realized in

Jesus day

the church

was filled

with people

the church

was filled

with people

who just

sat in the

garden and

they did

nothing

the church

was filled

with people

who just

sat there

and watched

they came

to church

they observed

but there was

no fruit

there was

no life

and this

passage says

don't be

an observer

don't just

sit there

don't just

do nothing

but to

repent

and know

how good

God is

the passage

isn't saying

you can come

as much as

you want

and you see

all these

things

you're observing

all these

things

and just

take your

time

because you

got all

the time

in the

world

the passage

doesn't say

that

and remember

he's talking

to believers

he's not

talking just

to non-believers

he's talking

to everybody

and he's saying

you don't have

all the time

in the world

you don't know

how much time

you're going

to have

and one day

God is going

to remove

his grace

and his mercy

from your life

he's going

to stop

nudging your

heart

and in that

day you're

going to

meet him

and the

whole part

of this

story

and the

whole part

of this

sermon

and the

whole part

of this

passage

is

we love

you too

much

for you

have a

tower

full on

you

and you

come before

a holy

God

and you

say

why

should

you

let me

in here

and he

goes

well I've

done all

these

things

I'm

great

I've

done

it

all

I mean

that's just

the wrong

perspective

it's why

we're here

it's not

why God

has come

into your

life

it's not

why Christ

continues

to break

your roots

up

don't

keep

sitting

in church

and doing

nothing

don't keep

sitting in

church

and not

growing fruit

don't keep

sitting in

church

and not

repenting

and realizing

that everything

you have

is because

God gave

it to you

he wants

an amazing

life for

you

he wants

a fruit

and he

wants

abundance

he wants

incredible

things

but he

wants your

worship

and he

wants your

heart

and that's

why Jesus

says

repent

the kingdom

of God

is at

hand

repent

father

we just

come before

you

and we

just are

humbled

by your

mercy

and your

grace

lord we

come before

you

and we

just

we repent

we realize

that when

things are

going good

maybe you're

just fertilizing

us really

a lot

because you

want a

change of

heart

and lord

we realize

when things

are going

bad

for sure

they're not

as bad

as they

can be

we will

never

as christians

we will

never get

all that we

deserve

lord we

realize that

we realize

we'll never

get all

that we

deserve

because your

son

took all

that we

deserve

on the

cross

and so we

just come

before you

now we

ask you

to change

our hearts

to look

at our

hearts

break away

the soil

that's

clogging up

the roots

in our

life

help us

to see

you as

you truly

are

help us

to see

us as

we truly

are

help us

to walk

in the

tension

of realizing

that we're

lost and

we're broken

but that you're

amazing and we're

your child

and amidst that

tension help us to live and be in community every day

and to worship you

father we come before you and we just repent of our self-righteousness

we repent of our sin we repent of our smugness we repent of our pride

i confess lord just the pride of my life and just the arrogance and just the anger i feel sometimes when people don't do things the way i want them done

father i just repent of that

and i know that i'm not the vine keeper

that you are

and so we trust you and we're so thankful for everything you've done

we pray these things in your son jesus name

amen

you know if god has worked in your heart we would pray that you wouldn't leave here

you know there'll be people up here up front who are trained to pray with you and i would love to pray with you christina and so please don't leave here if you have a burden on your heart or you want to talk to somebody about the message today

the next step if you're here for the first time or any time is community groups

i have a picture of our community group up here i think and so that's where everything happens in the church that's where people gather that's where people do things and so we would encourage you that if this is our community group if you're not in the community group please sign up it's where we sharpen each other iron on iron

and it's it's kind of the lifeblood of our church because we believe that we're on a journey together in community

and so there'll be a table out there to sign up for the community group