Christ The King Ministry International.org

By Rev. Michael Carl

Introduction

If someone were to ask you, what would you say is the greatest lie the enemy has sown in the Western World?

Keep in mind there are several good answers to this question.

The one that fits the context of today’s teaching is: ‘I am a self-made man,’ or it’s variant, ‘I worked for everything I have, so it’s mine!’

There is its first cousin: ‘My life is mine and I can do what I want to!’

Let’s look at today’s Gospel passage and see how this self-centred attitude plays out.

Scripture and Explanation

⁹And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time.

¹⁰“At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹“And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

¹²“And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out.

¹³“The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴“But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’

¹⁵“So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶“He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others ” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!”

¹⁷But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone’?

¹⁸“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Tribute to Caesar

¹⁹The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them.

Jesus’ parable very rightly teaches us about how mistaken we are in our perspectives and attitudes about life.

The attitude of the vine-growers is obviously mistaken. They’re hostile and

rebellious. However, there is an underlying desire that is driving those vine-grower’s rebellion.

• What is the underlying motivation that drives the vine-grower’s actions? (There could be several, but I’m looking for one in particular.)

Their motivation is for control and power. How do we know this? Well, first,

when the owner sends his messengers, they reject the messengers, and ultimately are rejecting the owner’s message.

Then to really see this, we need to zero in on verses fourteen and nineteen. In fourteen, they want to kill the owner’s Son because they thought that if they killed the heir, the property would be theirs.

Then in verse nineteen, the Scribes and the chief priests know that Jesus was aiming this story directly at them. However, to understand the significance of this story and it’s teaching purpose, we need to ponder what the Scribes and priests represent.

They represented the successful, the social climbers and those whom that culture considered could seemingly be proud of their accomplishments.

How do we know this? Paul tells us in Philippians 3 where he says, ‘If there are any who could have confidence, I much more. I was the best of the best…’ That’s a paraphrase, but Paul lets us in on the fact that the Pharisees were very conscious of their level of achievements and were very proud of themselves.

On several occasions, we read where Jesus dressed them down for being greedy, self-serving, power hungry, unmerciful, tyrants.

Thus, this story was aimed at the group of people who could claim to be that era’s ‘Self-made men’.

And in the parable, what are they doing, ‘”‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’”‘

They wanted to be in absolute control of Judea and the rest of Israel. They believed the entire religious establishment and the kingdom of Israel was theirs. They believed it belonged to them, which is why Jesus was such a threat to them.

Application to Today

Now it’s easy for us to look back at the Pharisees and Sadducees and say, ‘Shame on them.’ However, let’s think about this for a moment.

From where do our greatest problems come in our relationship to Jesus and our obedience to His will? It’s because we want to be, ‘in control.’ As such, we have some mistaken attitudes about life and its purpose.

We think our time is ours. We think the money is ours and we tend to think that our lives are our own. Surprise! None of it belongs to us. It’s all a gift from the Lord and He has merely put it in our care.

The legal term would be that we are stewards and the money and property are legally called a ‘bailment.’ It’s the Lord’s, it’s just been given to us so we can be caretakers and stewards of the Lord’s life, wealth and property.

In closing today, let’s review some passages that teach us the proper perspective we need to have.

To life and possessions are His

If we look at Psalm 24.1, it says, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything it contains’ (Psalm 24.1). The whole planet and everything in it belongs to the Lord. And we would be free to enjoy life if we would let go and understand that everything we have is a gift from the Lord.

Let’s not greedily resent having to give to the Lord’s work or to help others with what He gives us. Jesus covers this point very well in the parable of the workers in the vineyard who the landowner decided to pay the same to those who had worked one hour and to those who had worked the entire day.

The ones who had worked all day were angry with the master’s generosity, but Jesus has the landowner saying at the end…

¹³“But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

¹⁵‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶“So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

The key line here is, ‘”‘Is it now lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?’”‘ Everything we have is from Him and we tie up ourselves in knots and get angry and jealous when we start thinking, ‘This is mine!’

Our time is His

The next mistake we make is that we act like our time is our own. We don’t draw a breath apart from the fact that the Lord gives is to us. Every day is a gift; life itself is a gift and we should rejoice that the Lord has given us the privilege to be a part of His wonderful plan.

Not only that, we shouldn’t begrudge coming to church or giving our time to serve the Lord because we owe Him everything.

How do we know this? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7.23 that, ‘You were bought with a price.’

Jesus paid for our redemption and so we should rejoice in gratitude at every day He gives us. Why fret and get agitated because He asks us to give Him some of our time. Time is His too and we are His! And He has paid a high price to redeem us from the pits of perdition.

Our purpose is His

It’s no accident that Jesus’ parable at the beginning of the sermon talks about vines and vine-keepers. You see, as Jesus highlights in John 15, our purpose is to build a lasting relationship. He says, ‘”I am the Vine. Abide in Me,”‘ and ‘”Apart from Me, you can do nothing”‘ (John 15.1-5).

Those vine-keepers in the first parable weren’t interested in abiding; they were only selfishly interested in conquering and taking over. They wanted to run their lives as they saw fit.

In the 1980s, there was the film, Whose Life is it Anyway? The answer to that question is that it’s God’s gift and we don’t have the right to throw it away.

He is our all-sufficient God who is our source of supply. He is the One who

grants us life and He is the One who has opened the doors for us to have

anything and everything that we have.

So let’s lighten up and enjoy life, but let’s also remember to ‘Abide in the Vine,’ because when we stay connected, we are connected to our source for living. For truly it is His gift to us. It all comes from Him.

That’s why He reminds us that, “‘Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”‘

Conclusion

He is our all-sufficient Saviour and He’s the Enduring Vine. We can rely on Him for everything. He opens the doors for us to have jobs. He opens the doors for us to have anything. To live in His abundance, we have to turn our hearts over to Him and put our lives in His hands.

Then we have to let go and resolve that we won’t try to retake control. And it is then that we will truly live the abundant life.

Let’s pray.

By Rev. Michael Carl

It was in 1897 that Mark Twain’s cousin, James Ross Clemons wrestled with an illness for three weeks. Clemons eventually recovered, but somehow, the news of his struggle morphed into a report that Mark Twain had died.

This famous incident was the launching pad for the now infamous series of variations of, ‘The reports of my death…’ quote.

The original note is on display at http://www.twainquotes.com/Death.html.

According to this source, Twain’s quote was, ‘The report of my death was an exaggeration.’

Reports of the demise of something are common. Our popular media, from radio to the Internet, are always forecasting the demise of something.

One of the biggest areas of speculation is the death of the church in America as we know it. Of course the church in America has its problems, but I’m confident that the Lord’s own words in Matthew 16.18 are still true: ‘”I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”‘

What this means is that all of the attempts to weaken the Kingdom of God and the attempts to kill the church and stop the Gospel will fail. The church will triumph! And the church is Jesus’ lasting and enduring vine!

This brings us to a reasonable question: What did the very first church in Jerusalem do to grow? What were they doing that we’re not?

First, they were empowered by the Holy Spirit and Christ-centred. Second, they had the joy of the Lord as they were, ‘devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.’ They joyfully went to the temple to preach and teach and then they went from house to house!

Here’s an interesting thought: What if Christians actually acted like we’re excited about Jesus and His church? What if we went to church with joy and didn’t act like it was an imposition on our time to worship with other believers! If we did that, people would actually want to join us so they don’t miss out on a good time!

So, let’s joyfully tell the world that Jesus isn’t through and He will not be defeated! He has already won the ultimate victory! There may be bumps in the road, but those are so we can learn how to endure the rough spots. So let’s get on board with His awesome plan and experience a life that goes from victory to victory!

There is a church in Wakefield, MA that uncompromisingly preaches the Gospel and serves the Eucharist without apology. It’s Christ the King Church.

We meet presently in the youth room of St. Joseph’s Church on Sundays at 10:10 a.m. There’s a Bible Study Breakfast at Brother’s Restaurant in downtown Wakefield, Saturdays at 9:00 a.m.

For information on how to find us, call 781-640-9450.

By Rev. Michael Carl

Introduction

In one form or the other, I’ve been preaching or teaching for eleven or so years. And one of the things I’ve learned about following Christ is that there is frequently a disconnect between the intellectual knowledge and the heartstring that prompts someone to take the plunge into full-fledged, sacrificial, discipleship.

The problem is, the disconnect for each person is different. For some it’s just putting the faith into practise. For some it’s lacking motivation or the intuitive fire of passion.

Some folks see the need for faithful service, but if there’s no discernable material benefit on this side of eternity, they’re not interested.

Others are just hesitating for fear of what the full commitment may mean.

Now I believe we have a highly motivated crowd here in this place and we’re just waiting for the command from our Commander-in-Chief, Jesus.

I believe that if we hear today’s Gospel passage, we’ll hear that call to attention and the Lord will fully ignite our passionate fires of obedience.

So let’s go to the Word of God and take a look at Luke 13.1-9.

The Passage and It’s Meaning

¹ There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? ³ I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

One meaning we can get from this section is that the formerly common thinking among Jews that good happening in your life means blessing and that a constant string of bad things means you’ve been had.

This is the major point Jesus is trying to make in this section: Just because bad things were happening doesn’t mean that you’re not in God’s blessing. Just because you’ve experienced misfortune doesn’t mean God has forgotten you.

Then Jesus gives us the equalizer in verses three and five: We’re all in the same condition. We all need repentance and we all need to come to the Lord by faith.

This is something that’s important to point out in an evangelism or witnessing situation.

We’ll sinners who need to repent. Our entrance into eternal life doesn’t

depend, as Jesus’ words in this section make clear, on a multi-tiered system of rewards, good deeds, or on some relativistic point system.

This is the most just and right way the Lord could make it. We are truly all in the same condition.

Now we have discussed what it means to repent, but the recent explanation was the best one. The word for repent in both of these verses is from the verb ????-???? or metanoeo, which from the Greek dictionary at Great Treasures Greek dictionary site means, ‘to change one’s mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.’ There’s sense of completeness because the word also gives a reflection that it’s a deeply rooted act, a hunger to change through and through, down to the deepest levels of our being.

This the Lord desires for us because it’s in our interest to make such a change.

Let’s move on to verse six.

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
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. ⁷ 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?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that^[a] you can cut it down.’”

Have you noticed in the Bible how often figs are used in illustrations? Why would this be?

If we take a trip through a few Bible dictionaries, ClassicalHebrew.com tells us that figs were used for medicinal purposes. The figs were used in ointments and poultices to draw the poison from a wound. And because of how wide they are, fig leaves can still be used to cover wide spaces.

Figs were also used in the Bible to give illustration of the prophets, so a fig tree and a fig, the fruit, connote a Word from God, a sign of life and healthiness.[1]

BibleFocus.net teaches us that the fig tree is an illustration for Israel and God’s plan for that nation and its destiny to bring salvation to the world. The fig tree is also used to show ‘a vision of security and safety.’[2]

The same site also teaches us that, ‘If the fig trees failed to produce, it constituted a national calamity.’ That is why in Jesus’ parable, the landowner insisted the tree be dug up and thrown away. It was a tragedy that an unfruitful tree was taking up good land.

Then there’s Smith’s Bible Dictionary that the fig tree was a powerful symbol of blessing a favour by the Jews, but in Scripture,figs are known for their sweetness and their flavour.[3]

Remember too, in John 1.48, when Jesus is calling Nathanael to become a disciple, He tells Nathanael, ‘”When you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”‘ In this instance, the tree was a resting place, it represented home. Furthermore, in Leon Morris’ commentary, The Gospel According to John, under the shade of a fig tree was a place for prayer, study and contemplation on the wonders of the Lord.[4]

So it was a place of spiritual devotion as well as the safety of home and a place where the Lord found you and called you to His service.

Which of these meanings is relevant for Jesus’ story? All of them. Jesus is talking about fruitfulness. It’s about blessing, service, and being a sweet addition to the world.

The parable shows us that Jesus acts as our trainer and our intercessor. There is a growth process, but the parable also shows us that at some point, God has the right to expect that we should be bearing fruit.

Indeed, the parable shows us seven things about our life in Christ.

First, we are called to serve and live in communion with the Lord. Remember that the fig tree was a comfortable place like home and a place where communion and fellowship with the Lord takes place. So, while we are fellowshipping with the Lord under our fig tree, the Lord sees us, knows us and calls us.

Second, we’re also supposed to be medicine for the world. We’re to be healers, bridges that bring Jesus to the world and remove the sting of the wounds the world inflicts on its own.

Third, we’re also supposed to live, work and act as if we know that we’re part of the Lord’s master plan—a people of destiny who are chosen to do great things for Him. We’re to know that we’re an important part of the Lord’s masterful purpose.

Fourth, as the fig tree illustrates God’s prophets, we’re to be bearers of the Word of God to the world. We need to be the ones who bring God’s healing revelation to a lost, hurting and dying world.

Fifth, as an illustration for Israel and God’s plan, we need to live confidently, knowing that we’re a part of God’s plan. We have a purpose. We are a church of purpose and we’re a people of purpose.

Sixth, we’re to live with peace. As those who are to reflect that vision of safety and security if we are in God’s plan, we can communicate to the world that if they too come under the protection of the Lord’s plan. While they may not live completely free from danger and calamity, if they’re in His plan, they have His security.

Seventh, and this is the one that teaches us it’s a calamity if there is no fruit; we live to produce fruit. We live to be bearers of fruit so we can always be used of God.

Conclusion

The point of today’s sermon is that we’re to be fruitful in our walk and service to the Lord. And in this case, it’s a fig tree that points us to examples of how we’re to grow and show forth fruit.

It may be silly, but I have a tasty reminder of the sermon points today. We have some of the most famous fig cookies of all times for you during our refreshment time today.

Let’s all leave here today with the knowledge that the Lord’s plan for us is that we be life-communicating, fruit bearing servants of the Lord.

Let’s pray.

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[1] From the web site, http://www.classicalhebrew.com/biblical_world/Newsletters/figs_2008.asp . Downloaded 6 March 2010.

[2] From the web site http://biblefocus.net/consider/v15FigTree/Adam_and_Eve_and_the_Fig_Leaf.html . Downloaded 6 March 2010.

[3] Dr. William Smith. “The Definition for ‘Fig, Fig Tree,” Smith’s Bible Dictionary. (Fort Washington, PA: Crusade Bible Publishers, 1930). From http://www.bible-history.com/smiths/F/Fig,+Fig+tree/ . Downloaded 6 March 2010.

[4] Leon Morris. The Gospel According to John. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1995), 167.