Turn to God 

March 23, 2025 

You might sit here today look around and think “Everybody looks good. Their lives must be perfect.” But you can’t just look at someone and know what’s going on. Like, you don’t know that I got stopped by the police a week ago. Now you know! I didn’t come to a full stop at a stoplight while turning right. Has anybody ever been stopped by the police before? Ok, I don’t feel so alone! 

We want to believe that if we have faith in God, we are guaranteed a good life. We think, if we go to church, read the Bible, take our kids to Sunday school, God will give us good health, lots of money, and no problems. So, when something bad happens, we may ask God, “Why me?” I’m keeping up my end of the bargain! Why did I get cancer, why is my car totaled, why is my relationship on the rocks? 

But from the start of Christianity, Christians have always believed that the worst possible thing happened to the best possible person! Jesus, an innocent person, was falsely accused, suffered horribly and was executed in the most shameful way. If God didn’t spare his own son, what can we expect from God?  

What do we do with horrible circumstances? Is God just not paying attention? Doesn’t he care? We’re all tempted to jump to conclusions. Your faith can take a hit because of what happened to someone you love. If God is good, what did I do wrong to deserve pain? Why is God blessing everybody else, but not me? 

In the gospel reading today from Luke 13:1-9, some terrible things have happened. Some people tell Jesus that the Roman governor, Pilate, killed some Jews and mixed their blood with animal sacrifices. It was a horrible event. Back then it was common to think that if something bad happened to you, it was because God was angry at you. Jesus knows that’s what people would be thinking, so he says, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no!” Their deaths were not caused by God.  

There was another recent disaster. Jesus says in verse 4, ^“Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?” Jesus says, No! They weren’t more sinful than anyone else. Jesus is saying, bad things happen to good people. Something bad happened. It was by chance that 18 people died.   

Then Jesus says, unless you repent, unless you are sorry for your sins and turn to God, you’ll perish. Not that you’ll drop dead today. But he’s saying, you don’t know when death will come. 

 No one knows what tomorrow will bring. Jesus says, These disasters are not caused by God. God doesn’t do that, God loves you. You have an opportunity today to return to God, draw near to Him. Then you’ll be ready, no matter what happens tomorrow! 

Next Jesus tells a story about a fig tree. There’s a fig tree that hasn’t produced fruit for three years. So, the owner of the vineyard tells the caretaker, Chop this tree down! It’s been 3 years, and it hasn’t produced any fruit! 

The caretaker says, give it one more year. I’ll dig around it and give it fertilizer. If after a year it hasn’t produced fruit, then I’ll chop it down. 

The story is about following God and growing into who he made you to be! You are meant to be a fruitful fig tree. He made you to turn to him, be in relationship with God, and to live a life that brings encouragement and hope and vitality to others. We can be distracted by trying to figure out if someone got a punishment from God, or why God is angry at us. Jesus basically says, that’s stupid. God is good and doesn’t send disaster. Instead, turn to God and listen to him. Offer help to others and nourish the good in this world. Because right now, you can turn to God and find salvation and purpose in Him. 

When we think we can look at what happened to someone and determine by their circumstances if God is angry with them, we have our covenants mixed up.  

In the Old Testament of the Bible, God made a covenant with his people. If you do what I say, you’ll be blessed. If you don’t do what I say, I’ll punish you. And so, the people in Ancient Israel knew they were on good terms with God by looking at how things were going for them. If they worshipped idols or made agreements with foreign kings, God would cause bad things to happen. In the Old Testament, God’s covenant was with all of Israel. It was with the nation, not with individuals. God punished or blessed the whole nation. That was the covenant. You didn’t look at personal circumstances to know how God felt about you. You looked at, say, if Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people were marched off to Babylon. Ok, then you know the people sinned! God was angry at them and punished them. 

Things changed with Jesus. At the Last Supper Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” We’re not covered by the covenant of the Old Testament. Now we’re covered by the Covenant where Jesus promised eternal life. Through his sacrifice, we are saved if we turn to God. Being a Christian does not mean bad things will never happen to us. It means we are now in right standing with God, and he calls us to be in relationship with him. 

In the Old Testament, and in the New Testament, people who followed God endured tragedies. Hebrews chapter 11 talks about so many heroes of faith! By faith, Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they weren’t afraid of Pharoah’s edict. By faith the people of Israel walked through the Red Sea! The Egyptian army tried to follow but drowned. So many faithful people went through difficult times, not knowing what would happen. And by faith, they kept following God. 

Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us.” If you read Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter, you will see that so many people of faith have suffered. So don’t interpret hardship as God’s absence. 

Hebrews 12 verse 1 says, Throw off anything that gets you saying God is not faithful. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. You might be on the downhill of the race, where things are good and easy in your life. You need to persevere because you might not sense your need for God. 

When you’re in the “I never saw this coming” stretch of the race, and experience that divorce or financial need or health crisis you didn’t choose, Hebrews 12 verse 2 helps us out! It says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus.” Don’t look at your circumstances, don’t let anxious thoughts turn over and over in your head. Instead, turn to God. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Whether you are in an easy or difficult season of life, fix your eyes on Jesus to receive mercy and strength. 

Jesus knows your pain. He went to the cross for you. He’s been there and faced that. He offers us grace and power in our time of need. 

We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses! Not just looking back at the Old Testament or New Testament, but today. You are surrounded by witnesses, sitting here in church. People who in very difficult times, experienced God’s love, which helped and strengthened them in a time of need. God got them through. If you’re ever experienced God’s help in a difficult time, raise your hand. That’s a lot of hands! 

We’ve all been sustained by God! When adversity comes, remember, your difficulties say nothing about God’s love for you. When someone else suffers tragedy, it’s not their fault. Instead of getting angry at God or blaming someone for their problems, fix your eyes on Jesus. So that you may receive mercy and grace in your time of need. Amen.