1 At that very time there were some present who told
him 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 others living in Jerusalem?5 No,
I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did." 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 gardener, "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.'
"
but unless you
repent, you will all perish just as they did.
·
Who here has seen their own face?
·
Not a photo or a mirror’s reflection,
but your own face. It sounds silly, but it really can’t be done. We know what
we look like but we’ve never seen our own faces with our own eyes. We’ve seen
photos and reflections in a mirror, but those aren’t our own faces.
·
As it is with so many things in human
life, it is usually easier to see another’s sins than to see our own. Other
people’s sins may be glaring errors, annoying faults, or down-right crimes. But
our sins are peccadillos or less-than-perfect character traits or things to be
ignored. I don’t know of any person who really, really enjoys having their sins
pointed out to them. It’s a hard lesson and a tough row to hoe. Yet we are
reminded of our faults and failings at almost every turn. In fact, we remind
ourselves of that almost every time we begin our worship in this space. To look
into that mirror can be depressing.
·
What sin leads to is also a concern.
In Luke, Jesus takes on the people’s idea that those who were massacred by
Pilate or the people killed in the accident where a tower collapsed. The
prevailing wisdom held that those people were sinners specifically punished by
death in those events. Jesus tells his listeners that sin and death are not
cause and effect. You can’t say that this sin caused the suffering of a person
in some event or that punishment followed the crime. This idea was quite
current in Jesus’ time and can be found in the book of Deuteronomy in the
Hebrew Bible. Among other things, this book tied suffering and death to
specific instances of sin and sinfulness. The really odd thing that comes from
this is the fact that the Book of Job asks why the innocent suffer all
through-out the book. Jesus’ understanding of human life is in line with this.
·
He then goes on to say but unless you repent, you will all
perish just as they did.
Those deaths were independent of any sinfulness of those who suffered, and
unless his hearers repent, death without repentance will surely come.
·
What Jesus is telling his listeners
is that life is uncertain and although there always appears to be time to
repent and change our ways, there is no guarantee of that. Jesus uses
well-known current events as examples. Those Galileans whom Pilate put to death
were not the worst sinners and they suddenly died none-the-less, very possibly
without any warning. Pilate was known for his cruelty and that cruelty was
probably unpredictable.
·
In the same way, the people killed
when the tower of Siloam collapsed were neither the worst of sinners nor were
they able to know of the coming fall of the tower. As with most disasters, they
were in the wrong place at the wrong time, not because their sins drove them
there, but because they happened to be at the tower when it collapsed.
·
What Jesus is saying is this: the
time of salvation is now. The time for repentance is right now. You can put it
off, but you don’t know what tomorrow or even this afternoon will bring. He
says don’t wait and put your life and spirit in jeopardy.
·
We are in the same boat today. We
live our lives often without a care or a thought for our spirit and how we
stand before God. We forget (or at least I forget) that the judgement of God is
certain. We might forget that the life we live is given to us by grace and is
sustained by grace. It is grace that leads for both repentance and forgiveness.
·
This is a very “Lutheran” concept.
The first of the 95 Theses is this: When
our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the
entire life of believers to be one of repentance. Repentance is not
something reserved for pastors or for members of other churches; it is meant
for all of us.
·
In the same way, forgiveness is meant
for all of us.
· A few years ago, a member of the
congregation I served asked me a question. This question troubled me and a much
as I’ve thought about it and considered it over the years, it still troubles
me. This congregation member asked me this: “Why do we do the confession every
week? None of us really sin, do we?” I have theological answers to that, but speaking
as a pastor, I still don’t know just what to say to that question. I can only
respond as I know myself to be.
·
Personally, I don’t need to hear that
I’ve sinned. My own conscience keeps me quite aware of that. Of course, I often
ignore sins I’m unaware of or would like to avoid. Often my own sinfulness is
not pointed out to me until something I do or something I read helps me to see
it. It is easy for me to fall into the trap of seeing only sin and hearing that
interior voice that condemns me. What I DO need to hear is a voice outside of
me telling me that God forgives me. That’s why I rejoice in the confession.
·
What it comes down to is this: The
time to repent is always NOW. It is always now since the future is uncertain.
The fragile nature of our lives lends a sense of urgency to the call to repent.
The Good News is that God understands and when God calls us to repentance, it is
not to heap on condemnations, but to welcome us back to the surprising love of
God that we might have forgotten. Remember the words of Isaiah:
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is
near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous
their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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