One of my responsibilities, here at Holy Cross, is to teach the seventh grade Confirmation Class. This last week I had a little pep talk with my seventh graders. It was a pep talk of encouragement, but also a pep talk of warning.

Because of absences and illnesses, in the past few weeks, there are a number of assignments that are incomplete, have not been finished, and have not been turned in, yet. And so, I encouraged my students, this last week, to complete and turn in the work that they have not done yet, so that they can finish the quarter strong and get a good grade.

Right now, you might say I am loving and gracious. Now is the time to turn those assignments in, because a day is coming, (and that day is this Friday), when the third quarter is going to come to end. And then, my time of love and graciousness, my time of compassion is going to run out. That is when I must be ‘just.’ Grade Keeper is going to mandate that those grades be in on time, so that those grades can be sent home to the parents.

I am loving and compassion now, but the day is coming in which those grades won’t be able to be accepted, anymore.

In our text for today, there were some people who posed Jesus with a problem. The problem was there were some Galileans who once came to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, during one of the three major festivals in the church year. But, Pilate put them to death. He took their blood and mixed it with their sacrifices.

Now, the thinking back in Jesus' day was ‘good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.’ So, their logic was this. "These people must have done something pretty terrible, right?"

And, Jesus said, "Wrong." And then He gave a warning, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Then Jesus adds an example of His own. He says, "Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you no!"

But again He gave a warning, "But, unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Sometimes, even today we may wonder, as tragedy strikes in the world, (like when Hurricane Katrina came ashore in New Orleans, or when the tsunami hit Indonesia, or when that bus ran off the road, a week ago, carrying that baseball team from Bluffton University), "Those people must have done something pretty terrible, right?"

Wrong.

But, it is important that we heed the warning of Jesus,

"Unless you repent,

you too will all perish."

In all of these examples, all of these people were sinners. And the point is that they are no better and they are no worse than you. They are no better and they are no worse than I am, because…

The wages of sin is death.

What we deserve, because of our sin, is death. Whenever somebody dies, no matter what the circumstance is, it is a reminder to us of the day of our very own death, as well. There is a ‘warning call’ in another person’s death. That ‘warning call’ is this. If a person dies without faith in Jesus as their Savior from sin, that person will be separated from God for all eternity.

We are in the Lenten Season right now. The Lenten Season is a reminder to us of a call to repentance. In Jesus' Words, in our Gospel Lesson for today we hear that warning.

"Unless you repent,

you too will all perish."

To add to that warning, Jesus gives a parable in the second half of our sermon text for this morning. In the second half of our sermon text, Jesus uses this parable, (a parable is an earthly story, with a heavenly meaning,) of an owner of a vineyard, who plants a fig tree. After three years it has not produced any figs. He has given up on that fig tree. But, the caretaker of that vineyard says, "Give me another chance. Give me another year and this fig tree will produce figs."

"Leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine!"

This is a parable in which God is the owner of the vineyard and you are the fig tree. God has not only created you, but He has also planted in you faith to believe in Jesus, as your Savior. Now, God expects and desires us to bear fruit in keeping with that faith. The fruit that He desires from us is the fruit of the spirit, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." Those are the fruits that God is looking for. And, if we don't bear fruit that is in keeping with faith in Jesus, as our Savior, God will be willing to cut us down.

God is gracious, but He is also just. And there is a time in everybody's life, where if we don't respond to that Gospel call, God will be just. But, notice the caretaker of the vineyard. The caretaker of the vineyard, steps in between the fig tree and the owner, (or between ourselves and God), and the caretaker (Jesus) says, "Dear Heavenly Father, look what I have done for these, your children. It is I who went and suffered and died on the cross to pay for all of their sins. Their sins are forgiven. Be gracious. Be gracious."

How thankful it is for us to be able to say, "We have One who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the righteous One."

And God gives us time to repent. He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Well, God's time of grace also runs out, at which time His justice is handed out. We are destined to live once, to die once, and after that to face the Judgment.

Oftentimes, as I am looking for a picture to put on the front of our bulletin cover, I have difficulty finding exactly the right thing that fits in with message for the day. The picture for today’s bulletin cover is actually graffiti that was spray painted on a wall. The person who took the picture of the graffiti, looked at it and thought about his Christian upbringing. He said, "Isn't it amazing, even in graffiti, you can see a picture that shows God's graciousness, and justice."

In the picture, at the center of the graffiti, you see the cross. That cross is a reflection of God's graciousness. God has given to you and to me the riches of eternal life in Heaven, through the expense that Christ paid on the cross.

The picture also shows God’s justice. The scales show God's justice. He is just. Without faith, God must hand out His justice to those who don't believe in Jesus, as their Savior, and will be separated from Him for all eternity.

That is the warning call for us, today.

"Unless you repent,

you too will all perish."

Today is the time of repentance. Today is the day, through the working of the Holy Spirit, to believe in Jesus, as our Savior, and to receive God's graciousness of everlasting life, with Him in Heaven.

In my classroom this last week, I shared with my students a little pep talk of encouragement, but also of warning. Yes, because of the illnesses that have been going around, and because of absences, there are a number of assignments that have not been turned in, yet. I encouraged my students to get those assignments done and to turn them in. I am gracious and loving, now. But, the day is coming (and that is this Friday), when the third quarter will come to an end. It is at that time when I must be ‘just,’ because Grade Keeper mandates that everything be done and turned in.

Let us heed Jesus' warning call, this morning.

"Unless you repent,

you too will all perish."

Amen.