I wanted to share with you a tension that I have with preaching. It's one that I've always struggled with, and today's passage really stirs up that tension. It's one that's come to a head in churches past, and it's one that people have asked me about that I just have a hard time explaining.
This tension is this sense of urgency that we should have as Christians in bearing good fruit, of sharing the gospel, of making sure that our lives look and bear the kind of things that God has commanded us to bear.
Because I've been asked, why don't you preach about hell? Why don't you tell people to flee the wrath to come? Why isn't that an emphasis of yours? If you have heard me preach at all for any length of time, you know I don't mention hell very often.
The primary reason for that is because I want people to choose Christ, choose God's kingdom, because they are attracted to the kind of life and a vision for a new world that is different from the current one, rather than be afraid and wanting to flee hell.
The tension arises because you lose some urgency. With that kind of desire, you lose an urgency to say, if I do not bear good fruit, what is to come? If I do not follow Christ?
There are times in our nation's history, there are times now where that other style of preaching is effective. You have Jonathan Edwards, sinners in the hands of an angry God, repent now because you're hanging on by a thread at any point. That thread could be cut. Billy Graham's repent now for you do not know what tomorrow may bring. Jesus himself saying, unless you repent, you will end up like those who are killed in their sacrifices by Herod or those whose tower fell on them.
There should be some urgency in our work. There should be some urgency in my preaching. There should be some urgency in our desire to be a part of God's kingdom and bear good fruit. And yet somehow, we've lost that urgency. We think we have more time.
But this isn't unique to us. This isn't unique to Christians. Our culture is one where we are always told to have more time. Wherever you are on the age spectrum, more often than not, we think we have more days, another day, another time to act.
But that's not the case in today's passage. Jesus tells two stories where people met untimely deaths. One, they were offering their sacrifices and Herod comes and kills those people who are offering their sacrifices so much that it mingles their blood with the blood of their sacrifice.
We have another story that Jesus tells that we don't know where in history this may be, but Herod was known for killing people that caused trouble for the Roman Empire. And he says, when that tower fell and killed those people, do you think they were worse sinners than the rest of Jerusalem?
Jesus is challenging the belief that if you do good, good things will happen to you, and if you do evil, evil things will happen to you. He emphatically says no. The people in Galilee killed by Herod weren't any worse sinners than the rest of them. The people killed by the collapsing tower in Jerusalem were no worse than the people in Jerusalem.
We are all called to God's kingdom. We are all called to bear good fruit. And if we don't, then that calling remains unanswered. That calling remains dead inside, hidden from the world. And we lose out. And we are no better off than the people who never heard the calling to begin with.
Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool who stores up treasures for himself, thinking he has time to enjoy it all. But a voice from heaven says, you fool. Why do you think you even have tomorrow? Even tonight, your life is called before you. All of that work, all of that rest, thinking he had time in the future, completely erased in one sentence.
We should have urgency. We should have a desire to be a part of what God is doing. Not because we're afraid that we will end up in hell, but because at any point, our life could end. Any point, something could happen.
Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree in the vineyard. It has been given time to grow, but when the owner comes looking for fruit, it isn't there. The owner orders it to be cut down, but the gardener pleads for one more year to tend to its roots. God is patient. God is good. But we do not know when the axe may come.
How is God calling you to bear fruit each day? Do you want a deeper faith? Commit to praying just a few minutes each day. Want to love better and deeper? Write an encouraging note to someone. Want to build relationships? Reach out to those you have avoided. Want to serve? Put your hands and feet to work.
Start each morning with a simple prayer: God, help me be a part of your kingdom today. Jesus asks, what are we waiting for? He invites us to live in the kingdom of God right now.
So my challenge for you is don't delay. Start living in God's kingdom today. Start cultivating the roots that will help you bear good fruit. Choose one thing and commit to it. Live with urgency, for we do not know what tomorrow will bring.
Let us pray. Lord, wake us up and instill within us an urgency in life, an urgency to be a part of what you're doing. Help us to bear good fruit, to live with purpose, and to trust that you are with us each day. Help us to turn our hearts toward you this day and every day that we are given. Amen.