Sermon

How do we respond! : Luke 13: 1-9

Sermon for Sunday 7 March 10.30am

We are all well aware how both acts of terrorism and natural disasters seem to occur seemingly and worryingly at frequent intervals. It is only natural for compassionate people like you and me to be filled with anger and raise our voices against these senseless acts or feel compassion and heart wrenching sorrow at pictures of earthquakes and tsunamis. And then, of course, there are the questions, the forever haunting questions: Why did this happen? What did these people ever do to deserve this? Why must this senseless violence continue? Why have so many innocent people died? Why does this natural disaster have to happen?

I personally do not have an answer to these questions and I guess that is something I will have to live with. But there are many who cannot live without answers. They are well meaning individuals but highly impatient. They would rather have a simple answer than no answer at all. And so, they are carried away by the first answer that blows in the wind. Remember what some of the most prominent religious sages said when 9-11 happened: “God is judging America. God is punishing America. The crashing towers of New York City is God’s wake up call.” And many people in America swallowed these explanations lock, stock and barrel. This is not new. Bad things happened 2000 years ago when Jesus was walking the face of the earth; things similar to what happens in our world today. Two such tragedies are revealed in our gospel text for today. The slaughter of innocent Jews while they were offering their sacrifices in Jerusalem, and the unfortunate deaths that occurred when the tower of Siloam came crashing down.

Just like today, so it was back then, explanations started circulating among the community about the reason it all happened; including the simplistic idea that these people were being punished for their sins. Punishment for their sin? That is always the classical religious answer; isn’t it? It wasn’t the first time Jesus had to deal with this presumptuous attitude. Remember, how the religious prudes brought a blind man to him and raised a similar question: “Who is responsible for this man’s disease? Is he responsible or are his parents responsible?"

Siloam Jesus set them all straight on that occasion, and he does it again in the narrative before us. He begins with a reasonable hypothesis. The sin of these victims is not greater than your sin. The logical conclusion to that hypothesis though not explicitly spoken can certainly be inferred. If these victims died because of their sin, certainly you would be among them and you would not be standing here talking about how sinful they were. There is another possible explanation for this tragedy. These people died because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the people who died in the World Trade Centre were at the wrong place at the wrong time; just like the people who died by the sea front in Chile – all in the wrong place at the wrong time. That of course is weak explanation and certainly not a satisfactory one for most of us. But it is the best answer we can offer from our human perspective without sounding arrogant and spiritually superior. And, while it may not be a complete explanation, it does provide, as you shall see, a backdrop against which Jesus can reveal an important message for those who are spared the tragedy.

We ask the wrong questions when faced with a tragedy man or nature made. Why we find ourselves confused by tragedy is often because we are asking the wrong questions. This happens with regard to the tragedies in our narrative and it happens in the context of the many tragedies that have and are befalling us as a world. When we ask the wrong questions, we are going to naturally come up with the wrong answers. To ask why innocent Jews were slaughtered by Pilate while doing sacrifice is the wrong question? To ask why innocent bystanders were crushed when the Tower of Siloam fell is the wrong question. To ask why 3000+ Americans died in New York several years ago, and why 700+ died in Chile recently is the wrong question. I will leave the questions “why” for the spiritual sages who have been working on this puzzle for thousands of years.

As for me, knowing my time is short upon the face of this earth, I will follow the lead of my Lord Jesus Christ. It is clear that Jesus does not direct his energies in this narrative toward answering the question of why these tragedies happened. He does take the time to expose a wrong explanation but then he quickly moves into the mode of raising another more important question. The right question for the survivors of tragedy whether ancient or contemporary is not a philosophical one, but a very practical one. In the wake of tragedy it is not so important that we know why. It is exceedingly important that we know “What now”. In the wake of tragedy the real question is: “What are we going to do?” How is the tragedy going to change our lives?

There may be any number of ways that tragedy might change our lives. Tragedy might make us bitter. Tragedy might fill us with fear. Tragedy might immobilize us. But Jesus prefers a different kind of affect. Jesus wants tragedy to bring about a positive change in our lives; or as stated in verse 5; repentance. And why does Jesus want us to repent? Verse 5 gives us the answer: Let me restate it in its positive form. “Repent so that you will not die after the same manner as those victims who died at the hand of Pilate. Repent so that you will not die after the same manner as those victims who were crushed by the tower of Siloam.” If you read carefully this text, you will note that Jesus is not highlighting the fact of death in these two tragedies but the manner of death. How did these poor souls die? They died suddenly and un-expectantly before they were able to finish their business.

In the first case we even know what kind of business the victims were engaged in; they were in the process of offering sacrifice at the temple. But before they could complete their mission, their lives were ended. They died with unfinished business. That is ... why Jesus wants us to repent. He does not want us to die with unfinished business hanging over our heads. He knows that we will eventually die, but he does not want us to die like the victims in these tragedies; so, he bids us repent while there is time.

There are basically two kinds of repentance. One kind of repentance is that of repenting from unbelief. This is the kind of repentance that takes place when we become Christians. And then there is the kind of repentance in which we repent for being unfruitful Christians. I suggest to you that the repentance which Jesus is calling the people to in this narrative is not of the first variety but is of the second. He is calling them to repent of their unfruitfulness. How do I know that Jesus is talking about the second kind of repentance? Because of the parable that follows. That parable is all about fruitfulness or to be more specific in the case of the proverbial fig tree; the lack of fruitfulness. This parable naturally follows the narrative that goes before and elucidates the kind of repentance which Jesus is challenging his followers to effect. At first it appears to be a bad news parable leading only to a bad news message. The orchard owner plants a fig tree and nurtures it in the most aggressive way possible. After three years the tree has failed to produce. So the farmer tells his caretaker to cut it down. Here is where the bad news stops and the good news begins. The caretaker pleads for one more year, and one more year is granted. And that is the light in which I want you to see all the tragedies that are unfolding before us.

Do not look at these tragedies as God punishing sinners. Of course not. Look at them as unfortunate events in which people are in the wrong place at the wrong time and they end up dying suddenly and un-expectantly with unfinished work still hanging over their heads. And see these events as events in which we may very well be the victims but for the grace of God and a bit of good luck. And in the context of the tragedy, instead of asking the question “why”, ask this question: “What am I going to do? What am I going to do with the realization that it was not me who was in that tower, that it was not me in that train? What am I going to do with the wonderful fact that I am still alive, still healthy and breathing? Moreover, what am I going to do about the unfinished business that is hanging over my head? What am I going to do with the gracious benevolence offered to me by the great God who walks amongst the vineyard of my life and says; ’Ok, another year’. What am I going to do?"