Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator and Sustainer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Spirit that abides in each of us!
 
You know, I have learned over the years if I am wrestling with a deep, philosophical issue that to best understand it I need to talk to children.  Wouldn’t you agree children can see through the fluff and the muck of the world, that they have this gift of cutting right to the core of things and seeing the basic truths?  Let me explain what I mean.  Many years ago, I was helping Jill teach one of her Sunday school classes.  I think the kids were in 2nd or 3rd grade, and the lesson for that day was about forgiveness.  If I must say so myself, the lesson I had prepared for the kids was a masterpiece, and when I was finished teaching it I was convinced that these kids really knew about forgiveness.  So I asked the question, "Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness?"  Well, there was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, one boy shouted, "Sin."  Now, that is the truth!  If you want to obtain forgiveness, you must first sin, or as Luther would probably say, “Sin Boldly!”  That little boy that yelled out that answer had no idea how profound of an answer he gave.  Without sin, there would be no need for forgiveness.  Forgiveness is a response to sin that God freely offers each of us constantly because of His love for us and, in return, God expects us to offer that same gift to others who sin against us. 
 
Forgiveness is a hard concept to understand.  For most of us, we tend to think forgiveness is something that is offered after justice has been served.  In other words, once the other person has learned their lesson or been punished, then we will forgive them.  We tend also to think that forgiveness involves forgetting.  We’ll talk about this notion of forgetting on Wednesday.  In the ancient world, forgiveness involved retributive justice.  Retributive justice is the belief that when one sins or does something wrong one must be punished.  Specifically, one is punished by God.  Retributive justice is the thinking that sin equals suffering.  In plain English, God blesses those who are good, and God condemns those who are not.
 
Our Gospel story today comes in the midst of some tough teachings that Jesus has been offering on discipleship.  He was speaking to Pharisees, scribes, lawyers, and common people, and he was teaching them how to live and warning them that they needed to change their ways soon.  These are people who considered themselves good and faithful followers of God.  Jesus had accused them of not living faithful lives.  They didn't like what they heard.  Luke tells us that at that very time some told Jesus about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mingled as he had them massacred in the temple.  In other words, “Jesus, maybe we are not perfect, but weren't those Galileans worse?  Weren't they killed as a punishment from God?”
 
Jesus, as only Jesus can do, immediately asks a question. “Do you mean to tell me you think those Galileans were worse offenders than all other Galileans?”  Keep in mind Jesus was a Galilean.  As a Jew listening to that question, you would have considered that a rhetorical question.  Of course, they were worse!  Jesus knows what's going through their heads, and he responds with an answer, an answer that probably shocked them.  Jesus responded with an emphatic, No!  Everyone thought the answer to Jesus’ question was yes; everyone except Jesus, that is.  And then He makes the bold and threatening statement, Unless you repent, you will perish as they did.  In Greek, that word “perish,” doesn’t mean to die.  Of course they will die.  Everyone will die.  The Greek word Jesus used that we translate as perish was apoleso.  It doesn’t just mean die, it also means you “will be lost.”  In other words, you will die and be lost.  You will perish.  This is not comforting news, but Jesus doesn’t stop there.  To make sure He has made His point, he asks them another question:  What about the 18 that were killed by the collapse of the Tower of Siloam?  Do you think those men of Jerusalem that were killed were worse offenders than all others in Jerusalem?  Well, the answer again, in the minds of those listening, was, Of course.  The religious leaders of that time would actually use occurrences like that to remind the people that God punishes those that sin.  As before, Jesus repeated His response to this rhetorical question:  “No, unless you repent, have a change of heart as to how you are living, you all will perish as they did.”  He didn’t say, “You will die as they did.”  He didn’t mean that they would die at the hands of Pilate or that they would be killed in an accident.  He meant that without repentance in one’s life one will perish.  You see, Jesus wanted us to know that we are not punished for our sin, but we are punished by our sin.
 
With this said, Jesus then tells what might be one of the most comforting stories in all of scripture for you and me, the parable of the fig tree.  The crux of this story is that the owner of the fig tree, God, wants his tree, you and me, to bear fruit, figs.  For three years now, He has been coming out to His garden to get some figs, and each time He comes, the fig tree has not produced any fruit, it has basically done nothing but consume the nutrients in the soil, so the owner wants to cut it down.  But the gardener, Jesus, says, no, Wait one more year, let me give it more nutrients and I am sure it will bear fruit by next year.
 
So why would I say that this might be one of the most comforting stories in all of scripture?  Well, remember what we just read before this.  The people had thought that when they sinned God would punish them, and then, if they were lucky enough to survive His punishment, forgiveness would be possible.  But here we are told that although the tree has sinned, it is forgiven and will be asked to go on with its life.  What was its sin?  Well, in this case, the sin of the fig tree was not that it had done something bad, but that it had done nothing!  Now, in the midst of this story on repentance, Jesus offers forgiveness first.  You see the message for us today is not one of repentance, then forgiveness.  No, it is just the opposite, your Father in Heaven has forgiven you, now repent, change your ways, take in His nourishment, and live differently.  Now, that is good news!

We are first forgiven so that we can repent.  We are first forgiven so that we can stop doing nothing and start bearing the fruits of love, caring, kindness, and generosity.  We have been forgiven so that we might be able live lives that imitate Christ.  We have been given a new lease on life so that we will not be lost.  But there is urgency to Jesus’ message.  According to the parable, we only have a year to bear fruit, and then if the owner wants to cut the tree down, he can.  When is the year up?  We do not know that answer. 
 
So what will you do with the year you have left?  Will you seek to repent?  Will you seek to make up for the wrongs you have done?  Will you seek to forgive those who have wronged you as your father in heaven has forgiven you?  Will you seek out those opportunities to be part of God’s Kingdom that you have let slip by and do something about them now?  The lesson of the fig tree is a challenge to live each day as a gift from God, as a new life.
 
We are a forgiven people!  The challenge is to live like it.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter asks Jesus how many times we should forgive others and Jesus’ response is, We should forgive 77 times.  Some translations say 70 times seven times.  Both of these amounts are correct, as the Greek may be translated either way.  The point is not the exact number but the fact that God never stops forgiving us and we should do the same.  Our challenge today is to live as a forgiven and a forgiving people.  Can we do this?  I pray we can!  Amen.