Repentance is Urgent Business
“He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Repentance is regarded as one of the major themes of the Lenten season. If we are honest, we often view it as a distant, seasonal reminder or a posturing of the heart, rather than a very urgent and real response in which we are offered an opportunity to choose life over death.
What does it mean for us to have an imminent perspective on responding to the kindness of God with repentance?
In today’s passage, the parable of the barren fig tree is offered in response to two conversations that Jesus is having with those around him. First, Jesus directs attention to how we easily look at the things of this world and make judgments on what will happen next, yet we do not pay close attention to the action of God around us. Second, Jesus makes very firm statements concerning the need for repentance, no matter the quantity or quality of sinfulness, saying, “but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
This parable tells us that God is gracious and longs to give us every opportunity to turn our lives towards him. Yet we live in a finite world with finite time. God’s grace does not run out, but our ability to respond does. This is the tension we carry during the season of Lent. As the days pass and we approach the cross of Good Friday and the empty tomb of Easter Sunday, repentance is necessary. Our opportunities are limited. Our passage reminds us that we are called to respond to Christ’s work of salvation. We do not know the time of our own end, and the time of judgment is coming.
This is sobering, and soberness of life is another theme of the Lenten season. We are reminded to take true stock of our life, our heart, and our souls. So accept this invitation: while we are being mindful, remember: “from dust you came, and to dust you shall return. So repent, and believe the Gospel!”
Lord, stir in me the urgency of repentance, not out of fear but in faithful response to your kindness and grace, again, even today. Amen.
EVERETT WILSON
Master of Theological Studies Student
Montgomery, Texas