March 22-23, 2025 Ascension Lutheran Church, Littleton
Ezekiel 33:7-20 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9
“Who’s Satisfied Being the Best Smelling Bum?”
“Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus responded and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate? 3 No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse offenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 6 And He began telling 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. 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”
Grace to you and peace from our Triune God, amen. Some of you may be using a financial advisor to help watch over and grow your wealth. Now in our later years of life my wife and I have sought out an advisor to help us know what to do and we were talking about the economy back in 2022 when everything was down — stocks, bonds, interest rates, everything at the same time, something that’s happened only two other times in our nation’s history. Our advisor used a phrase that I found very memorable. He said, “In a market like this no one is going to do well. You’re just trying to come out of it being the best smelling bum.” I didn’t understand the phrase so I asked what that meant? He told me, “Everyone is losing money, everyone feels like a bum because of all the loss, so you’re trying to come out being the best smelling bum you can be.” That’s what we’re addressing in our sermon today, but in the spiritual realm. When it comes to your faith, is being the best smelling bum enough for you? Or are you hoping for more? Here’s what I mean.
In our Gospel reading today Jesus taught a very important truth. Some people reported to Him how some Galileans had been murdered as they were making animal sacrifices in the Temple. So Jesus asked a question. “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate?” This was a common belief among the people of that day. It was thought that if you had bad things happen, it was because you had done something bad, and so you were being punished accordingly. But Jesus let them know everyone is in the same predicament. Unless each of us repents we will all suffer the ultimate loss, being in Hell forever. Jesus may have been thinking these Judeans thought He was only talking about Galileans because the Judeans thought the Galileans were less worthy. So Jesus brought up another tragedy they all would have known about, a tower in Jerusalem that had fallen on 18 people and killed them. That happened in the capitol of Judah where they thought the people were better. He asked them the same question. Because this happened to those 18 people, do you think they were worse than others? He answered His own question. “No, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” To repent is a central teaching in God’s Word. All of John the Baptist’s teachings are summarized for us in Matthew 3:2. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Jesus’ teachings are summarized in the exact same words in Matthew 4:17, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” So what exactly is repentance? In verses 3 & 5 of our text the Greek word for repent is METANOIA, and it means a MIND CHANGE. So then the question becomes what’s the cause of such a “mind change”? God’s Word answers that question for us.
Jesus is addressing the problem of these people judging one another. The people were thinking, ‘They must have been really bad sinners for this to happen to them. I’m glad I’m not as bad.’ So Jesus told them to stop looking at other people and focus on their own soul, as it says in Romans 2:1-5. “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Did you hear that? So many of us think repentance is all about feeling BAD enough about ourselves, then God will notice how serious we are and forgive us. That’s not the answer. Judas Iscariot felt so bad he killed himself. It’s not how bad you feel, it’s knowing how much God loves you that gives you that MIND CHANGE. Listen to Ephesians 2:3-5. “We were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” It’s God’s kindness, it’s God’s love that brings us to repent.
Does God want us to stop committing the sins we do? Of course He does. Does God want us to repent when we sin? Of course He does. That’s not in question. It’s about the WHY. When we choose to sin it creates a barrier between you and hope, between you and God, your Savior Jesus. That’s what makes God upset, not just the sin, but what sin does. It’s really not about your purity or mine. We are sinful by nature. That’s our core. It’s about knowing Him, having your mind changed to know HE LOVES YOU.
My core is sin. But listen to what Jesus said in Luke 15:1-7 to know His core. “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine so-called righteous persons who need no repentance.” So hear this. You can’t earn your way into God’s grace. No matter how much you may pay for the trip, and by trip I mean the ‘guilt trip’ you may be on; no matter how hard you work or how badly you feel along the way, the only way there is to peace and life eternal is Jesus and HIs mercy. It’s not your feelings, not your efforts, not your intentions — it’s Jesus’ love and righteousness.
Our text ends with a parable Jesus told. He said, “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. 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’” What’s the lesson Jesus is teaching? If you want good fruit, where does your attention need to go — on the fruit itself, or on the roots? It’s the roots. It’s the same with your faith life. If you’re focused on the fruit you’re producing, whether it’s good or bad, you’re looking in the wrong place. To produce good fruit, you want to look to the root. Colossians 2:6-7 says, “6 As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.” If we’re only working on our morality, we may get to be the best smelling bum, but is that enough? I know I want to live my ultimate identity, a loved child of God. How about you? Get more fully rooted in Christ. That’s when His love and kindness and patience will give you the mind change you need. In Jesus’ name, amen.
