Transcript
Will you turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke once again, chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. When you hear this passage read you may be inclined to think it is not an appropriate passage for Easter Sunday morning. But let me encourage you to withhold your judgment until after you have heard the message and then you can make your own decision about that.
Luke chapter 13. We begin to read at verse 6.
“He also spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down. Why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not after that,’ or as we might equally read it, ‘but if not in the future you can cut it down.’”
How's this for a golden opportunity? And when I say golden I do mean a golden opportunity.
A 43-year-old Thorney Parker, that apparently is his real name, Thorney Parker, and his 10-year-old son Mason were out on the evening of March 31st this past March 31st and they decided to stop for a hamburger. But they soon found themselves picking up more than a few calories. As Parker slowed down the car in order to turn into a restaurant on Parker Road both he and his son noticed what his son called green trash blowing around on the median strip just above Parker Road.
Yes, coincidentally the Parkers were close to Parker Road. As Mr. Parker tells it, as I slowed down we saw all this money floating around the median and around the street. So we stopped. We jumped out and we started to pick it up. For several minutes they scampered in and out of traffic picking up mainly $50 bills and $100 bills and all $438. And on top of that they picked up a couple of credit cards and they picked up a cashable cashier's check. Listen to this, a cashable cashier's check for $113,926.
As 10-year-old Mason scurried in and out of the traffic picking up the loot visions of children's heaven floated across his brain. He said later, I thought I could buy a color TV, a VCR, a cable TV with some of the money and with the rest of the money I could buy some Super Nintendo games.
Well the Parkers also found something else. They found a business card which apparently identified the individual who had lost all this money and they knew that the right thing for them to do was to turn the money in to the Plano police and that's exactly what they did. And later Mr. Parker said he was very proud of his son for wanting to do the right thing and he added he had a big smile on his face when he turned it in. He felt a lot happier than he did when he was holding it.
Well the money turned out to belong to a lawyer who was so embarrassed by the incident that he wouldn't allow the media to print his name. He had apparently lost his wallet at a nearby service station but he didn't even know that it was gone until the Plano Police telephoned him to come down and to identify his property. He had been carrying $500 and the cashier's check because he had closed all his bank accounts in Dallas preparatory to moving out of the city.
And what did this lawyer think of the Parkers' performance? Well he said it's great to know that there are some honest people out there willing to do a good deed. It gives me faith in our society. And he added that he was going to give the Parkers a reward and just in case 10-year-old Mason was interested the reward would be big enough to buy a Super Nintendo game.
Now how's that folks for taking advantage of your opportunity? What's that you say? You think the Parkers didn't take advantage of their opportunity? You think they missed a big chance to wind up with a whole lot of bucks? I wasn't talking about that kind of opportunity. Remember that what was blowing around out there on the median strip was just green trash. It was simply green trash. I was talking about the opportunity to do what was right when nobody but God was looking. The golden opportunity to do the right thing.
And that's what I'd like to talk to you about for a few minutes this morning: opportunity. And I'd like to discuss it with you under a rather unusual title. In fact my title is a question. The question is this: Is your future already here? That's the title of my message to you on this Easter Sunday morning. Is your future already here?
Now please keep in mind that the great subject that opens the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Luke is the subject of repentance from sin. And in the verses that stand just in front of the passage that we read a few moments ago Jesus has been talking apparently in Jerusalem about a couple of tragedies that have recently happened in that city.
He talks about some Galileans who were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Roman governor apparently as they were in the very process of offering sacrifices at the Jewish temple. And he was also talking about the tower of Siloam falling and killing 18 men. And if you were here for our last message you will remember that he confronted his audiences with a very direct question.
He asked them whether they thought that the Galileans who were killed were worse sinners than all the rest of the Galileans who were still alive. He asked them if they thought that the 18 men who were killed by the tower were worse sinners than the rest of the people that lived in Jerusalem. And the answer that Jesus gave to His own question was very pointed and very direct. He said, I tell you no. And unless you repent you shall all likewise perish.
And I want you to notice that it is immediately after these words are recorded in the Gospel of Luke that we are told that Jesus, apparently still in Jerusalem, goes on to tell a parable. And the parable goes something like this. There's a man who owns a vineyard and in that vineyard he has planted a fig tree. And he walks into the vineyard one day and he comes up to the tree and he's looking for fruit and he doesn't find anything. Apparently not even so much as a fig on that tree.
And so he turns to the keeper of his vineyard. This may have been the foreman who supervised the work that was going on in the vineyard. And he says to the keeper of the vineyard, for three years now I have been coming to this tree looking for fruit and not finding any. I've had it with this tree. Cut it down. Why is it just taking up space? Why is it just using up the good soil of my vineyard?
And may I suggest that with the Scriptures in our hands and keeping the context in mind it is not hard to interpret this parable. Surely the vineyard is the nation of Israel because long ago the prophet Isaiah had called Israel God's vineyard. And if the vineyard is the nation of Israel surely the fig tree is the city of Jerusalem, the place where Jesus is speaking these words. And if the vineyard is Israel and the fig tree is Jerusalem then surely the owner of the vineyard is God himself, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And I think that through this parable God is giving this kind of a message. He is saying I've had it with the city of Jerusalem. I've given it a long time to repent and it has failed to repent. It has failed to bring forth the fruits of repentance. It is now time for my judgment to fall on the city like an axe that falls at the root of a tree and cuts it down. It is time for my judgment to overtake this wicked and unrepentant city.
Have you ever noticed something however that happens in Christian experience? Did you notice what the owner of the vineyard said? He said for three years, for three years I've been coming to this tree looking for fruit. Have you ever noticed in the case of a real born again Christian person who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for the free gift of everlasting life? They're saved and they're saved forever. And yet after they get saved they begin to drift away from God.
Maybe they don't come to church as often as they used to come to church. Maybe they don't read their Bibles. Maybe they don't engage in prayer. Maybe they even get involved with the wrong kind of people and begin to do the wrong kind of thing. Have you ever noticed that in the opening months of that kind of behavior almost never does anything really severe happen to that Christian? Almost never does God bring his hand down in hard discipline on a wayward Christian in the opening months.
That Christian's departure from God and nothing like that may happen for a year. Nothing like that may happen for two years. Nothing may happen like that for three years or even many more years. Why? The answer is very simple. Our God always wants us to have a chance to repent. And whether it is the city of Jerusalem in Jesus' time or whether it is a Christian sitting in this auditorium this morning God almost always grants us a golden opportunity to turn to him and to do what is right.
Some years ago there was a man with the very unusual name of Ferman Abes. He lived to the ripe old age of 87 and during his lifetime he had a reputation for patience and self-control. In fact nobody could remember seeing him lose his temper. Now there were some people who doubted that anybody could have that much self-control and so they went to a woman who worked as his housekeeper and they asked her to do something that would provoke Mr. Abes to anger. And if she was successful then they would give her some money.
Well the housekeeper knew that Mr. Abes liked his bed to be prepared just so before he retired in the evening. So one night she didn't make his bed at all. And in the morning he reminded her that she had not made his bed and she said simply that she had forgotten it. Nothing more was said. But the next time she didn't make it again and Mr. Abes reminded her again that she had failed to make his bed and this time she just blew it off with some weak and flimsy excuse.
The next night she failed to make it again. So the next morning Mr. Abes said to her, I see you haven't made my bed again and I also see that you are determined not to do it. But he said I realize that this job must be very troublesome to you and as a matter of fact it's of no importance because I'm beginning to get used to going to bed in this kind of a bed.
Now folks the story is that this housekeeper was so moved by this patience and kindness that she gave up her little experiment immediately and gave up on the money and went back to make Mr. Abes' bed the way he liked it every night before he retired. And yes folks the God of the Bible has a marvelous reputation for being patient and longsuffering. The God of the Bible is slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and he gives us extended opportunities to turn to him and to do the right thing.
And hey sometimes it works. Sometimes sinners are so touched by the goodness and patience and kindness of God to them that they turn to Him in repentance. But know this that if we go on despising the patience and goodness of God sooner or later that patience will end. No wonder that the psalmist wrote,
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor does he stand in the way of sinners nor does he sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in that law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season. Its leaf also will not wither and in whatever he does will be successful.”
May I ask you on this Easter Sunday morning each of you who know that you're a Christian, may I ask you a question which I want you to answer within yourself? What kind of tree are you? Are your roots down into the water of God's word? Are you bringing forth fruit or are you a barren fig tree just waiting for the judgment of God?
But wait a minute there's somebody else in this parable. Did you notice? I mean if the fig tree represents Jerusalem and the vineyard Israel and the owner of the vineyard represents God then there's somebody else in the parable too. And you see the owner of the vineyard is talking to somebody when he says cut this tree down. Why? Why is it still using up the ground? And the person that he is talking to is called the keeper of the vineyard. Perhaps he was the foreman who was in charge of all the labors in the vineyard. This was the man who was responsible for producing fruit in that vineyard for doing everything that could be done to make the vineyard fruitful for his owner.
Did you notice what the keeper of the vineyard said when the owner says I've had it with this tree get rid of it? Did you notice that the keeper of the vineyard said yeah you're right you would not believe how much effort I put into this tree let's get rid of it? He didn't say that did he? He says, Sir let it alone this year also and I will dig around it and fertilize it. Sir, says the keeper of the vineyard, give it another chance. Give it another year. And during this year I'll make special efforts. I'll dig around the roots and I'll pour fertilizer into the holes around the roots and those roots can get nurtured from the fertilizer. Sir extend your patience one more year.
Say who is this keeper of the vineyard? Who does he represent? I suggest to you that there can be only one answer. He represents our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He represents the one that God committed the vineyard to and who was laboring in that vineyard. Did you notice the three years here? And do you realize that according to the best calculations the Lord Jesus Christ started his career of teaching and preaching, I'm not talking about when he was born but when He began to preach and teach in Israel. He started it in A.D. 29 and he crisscrossed the land of Palestine preaching, teaching, healing and casting out demons and He visited the city of Jerusalem over and over again.
And from A.D. 29 to 30 He was working in the vineyard of God. From A.D. 30 to 31 He was working in the vineyard of God. From A.D. 31 to 32 He was working in the vineyard of God. And I'm suggesting that it was shortly after the conclusion of the third year of His ministry that Jesus said to God the Father give the city of Jerusalem another year and in this year I will make special efforts to fertilize the spiritual soil of Jerusalem so that it may bring forth fruit to You.
You know what happened in that year? In that year Jesus died on a cross outside the walls of Jerusalem. He was buried in a tomb. He rose again in triumphant resurrection, the greatest miracle ever performed in human history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And I'm suggesting that by His death and burial and resurrection He was seeking to fertilize the soil of Israel so that they would repent.
But that's not all he did that year. After 40 days He went back to heaven, poured out the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit came to earth to bear witness to Israel through the apostles and through their signs and miracles and wonders. And the witness of the Holy Spirit sent by our Lord Jesus Christ was an effort to fertilize the soil of Jerusalem. And I think we can safely say that in no single year in the history of that ancient city did God do more to produce fruit than He did in the final year of our Lord's life on earth.
And why did He do it? Very simple. Jesus asked Him to do it. Jesus prayed for the nation and for the city of Jerusalem. Now maybe you're a Christian here this morning. Maybe you have been drifting away from God. Maybe you really haven't been walking with God. Do you know that it's quite possible that the reason you're sitting here this morning is because Jesus Christ has prayed for you? It may well be that God was ready to send his discipline into your life and Jesus prayed, give him, give her another chance. Another chance.
Do you know that that could be true of you as you sit here today? A man by the name of J. Sanders tells this story. He says in 1947 I was traveling by horseback in central China with Mr. Fred Mitchell. We were passing through an area that was notorious because it was infested with robbers. The missionary who was accompanying us was keeping a sharp lookout as we proceeded. We came across a body lying beside the path. It was evident that this body was a dead person who had not been dead very long. The brigands, the robbers had been in the vicinity quite recently.
A few days later says Mr. J. Sanders I received a letter from my wife and she asked me if by any chance I had been in danger at such and such a time on such and such a night which she specified. And she explained that on that particular night she had been awakened from a sound sleep. She was pressed by a sense that her husband was in serious danger. She rose from bed. She began to pray until the burden was lifted and until peace came back.
Mr. Sanders says I checked in my diary and the time and date which she mentioned was the very time that we were passing through the robber infested region. Folks that's only a lady, wonderful lady, but that's only a lady who didn't even really know what was happening and her prayer helped save the life of her husband. But think what it means on this Easter Sunday morning not only to have a risen Savior but to have a Savior who is at the right hand of God who prays for us and who knows everything that is going to happen to us from the next minute and forward.
And He also knows what nobody else can know. He knows when God is ready to reach into our lives with His chastisement and with His judgment. I rest assured of this. Probably none of us can say that we are exceptions but that all of us have benefited from His prayer to God that we might have extended opportunity to do what is right.
In that very well beloved song called Wounded for Me, Gladys Watkins Roberts wrote two stanzas which are highly appropriate to what we're saying this morning. She wrote,
“Risen for me, risen for me, up from the grave He is risen for me. Now evermore from death's sting I am free, all because Jesus has risen for me.”
But she didn't stop there. Her next stanza is equally powerful.
“Living for me, living for me, up in the skies He is living for me. Daily He's praying and pleading for me, all because Jesus is living for me.”
And when the rapture we're caught up yonder there folks we will probably all have to bow in humble adoration and worship before the Son of God who prays for us because of all of the things He spared us from and because of all the opportunities that He has extended to us to do what is right.
But I wish that I could tell you that this story had a pleasant ending. The vineyard keeper said, Sir let me make a special effort with this tree this year and if it bears fruit, well. But if not in the future you will cut it down. And despite all that happened in that most momentous year of Jewish history Jerusalem failed to repent. And there was a sense in which for Israel the future was now. The decision they would make in this year would determine what happened in the years ahead and in the future.
In came the Roman armies. They surrounded Jerusalem and set siege to it and the axe of God's judgment fell on that city and the city was leveled to the ground. The temple was burned down and according to one historian a million Jews died in that city. And is it possible that for someone in my audience this morning the future is now? Maybe God has already given you all the opportunities he intends to give you and maybe the decision that you make this year or this month or even this morning will determine your future.
Maybe what you decide today will determine whether you keep your physical health. Maybe it will determine whether your marriage stays together. Maybe it will determine even whether your life will be preserved. We all know do we not that our salvation is eternally secure. We are saved by grace and by faith in Christ alone. But my health is not secure. My well-being is not secure. My life on this earth is not secure.
And Jerusalem perished physically because it refused to do the right thing. And unless we repent we could all likewise perish. Sergeant Alfredo Salana is a member of the city of Dallas police force and he is also a certified public hero. In 1982 he got a life-saving award for pulling a woman out of her car which had caught fire after it was struck in the rear end. And much more recently, last August to be exact, he had another opportunity to be a hero.
He was working as an off-duty security man at Jerry's Supermarket out on Singleton Boulevard and he saw an employee of the supermarket, a young man of 19 named John L. Smith who was working for the forklift out on the supermarket parking lot. Then he saw the forklift turn over. He and the manager rushed to the assistance of this man and Salana said that the gas was beginning to leak, that the thing was heating up, the smoke was beginning to show and all he could think of was he had to get that man out as fast as possible.
But the forklift was too heavy for the two men to lift and so Salana signaled to about six or seven men who were in the area and they all came rushing and together collectively they lifted the forklift. When he pulled John L. Smith out Smith wasn't breathing but his mouth was full of mucus and blood and using mouth to mouth resuscitation Salana got all the mucus and the blood out and then they took John L. Smith to Parkland Hospital where he died.
When Salana said this he said so sad. He was just a nice young kid working at his job. Just 5 minutes earlier I'd seen him laughing and joking with the manager. And then Salana added this. He said it makes you think. It makes you think life is kind of borrowed. There are no guarantees. Sergeant Salana was right exactly right. And was he not a hero because the man he tried to rescue? I know indeed he had acted promptly. He had acted heroically. He had done everything that could be done. Sergeant Salana was a hero but John L. Smith was dead.
And despite the fact that Jesus did all that He could do for the city of Jerusalem the city of Jerusalem perished. Could it be, could it be that the Son of God has already done for you all that he can do? Could it be that the decision you make this morning about whether or not to change your life will determine the days that lie ahead of you? In other words could it be that for you the future is already here?
Shall we pray? Father we marvel at the grace and longsuffering and patience that you our Father have for us. But we do not take this for granted. We do not presume upon it. Help us to be aware that if we need repentance we should do it now. If we need to change our lives we should do it right away while the opportunity is still available. Help us to make any decision that we each need to make this day. We pray in Christ's name, amen.