Thursday, September 3, 2026

Luke 13:1-9

Repent or Perish

13 At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

Devotion from Living Water Ministries, New Era, Mich.

Each summer, high-school-age youth gather at an ELCA camp, Living Water Ministries, for Bridge Builders, a program that offers team-building, swimming, games, worship and devotions. What makes this program different from other ELCA outdoor ministries? Since its inception in 2016, 41% of those attending have been people of color. For the ELCA, the whitest denomination in the United States, this is a big deal. More specifically, Bridge Builders is a big deal because its ambitious goal is to accompany young campers who will forge a more racially just church and world through relationship-building with their racially diverse peers.

As today’s Gospel demonstrates, making societal change on the scale envisioned by Living Water Ministries is hard, because we are effectively asked as Christians to challenge — and maybe sacrifice — much of what we hold dear. Bridge Builders confronts the contradiction of racism today: we can overcome it only through genuine relationships with those who look and live differently from us, yet such relationships are complicated by that same racism. In Luke, Jesus raises the stakes of not turning from destructive ways: we must repent or we “will all perish.” If we fail to make change, the fig tree of Jesus’ parable will be cut down.

Though the United States maintains a racial status quo that actively harms communities of color, Living Water Ministries has made space for healing and sees the people it serves as children of God first. Policing is certainly a high-profile data point in the U.S. discourse on race, but those data tell a critical story about how a democratic society treats all its people: between 2015 and 2020, 35% of all unarmed police-shooting victims were Black, though Black people constitute only 14% of the U.S. population. Moreover, the percentage of Black and Indigenous people incarcerated in the U.S. is more than double their share of the national population. These facts remind us not only of inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system but of the broader story they tell: our society limits the humane treatment of others because of their racial identity.

Indeed, as the Gospel passage reminds us, the consequences of dehumanizing our neighbors are a matter of life and death. To stay the course is to “perish just as they did.”

The anti-racist reconciliation advocated by Bridge Builders calls on Christians to account for the sin of racism through love of neighbor. It uses the assets at its disposal — a camp setting — to build intentional community. Whereas the U.S. criminal justice system starts with an assumption that the Other is not to be trusted, Bridge Builders knows that any genuine relationship starts with trust. Finally, after spending time at camp, campers are called to action for a more just church and world. When we give to ELCA World Hunger, we might easily assume that the work our partners do is strictly food-related, but Bridge Builders shows that food is never separate from race — just as justice is never separate from Christian mission. Ministries such as Living Water are supported by your donations and other resources stewarded by the ELCA, including the Lutheran Services for Children Endowment.

Jesus’ admonition to repent or face death might easily come across to readers as a violent shock to the system, and the imagery of this passage is certainly violent. But the actual act of repentance need not be, and should not be, violent. As Living Water Ministries demonstrates, change in our hearts, church and world starts with trust and life together.

Reflection Questions

Identify one relationship in your life where you have a significant difference with the other person — in identity, life experience or opinion. Those differences do not need to be racial. How have you continued to foster that relationship?

What has been most difficult in maintaining relationships across lines of difference?

What is the biggest gift you’ve received through relationships with people who are different from you?