Notes on Is 55:1-9, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 and Luke 13:1-9

We gather today with a mixture of emotions. In some ways, it feels a bit like a funeral or divorce … although not everyone in the room knows what it is that we are grieving. The vote last week to discontinue the discussion of changing our relationship with the larger church, ELCA has left us with heavy hearts and questions and tears and hope and some, anger.
In times like these, we naturally turn to try to make sense of things. Living in chaos and uncertainty, conflict and loss; we don’t like to stay here long. So, we turn to coping mechanisms. For some, this means the shelter of denial and withdrawal from the tension here, … . For others, … anger drives their withdrawal and withholding … and there has to be someone to blame for this.” Yet, others … in seeing the hurt of friends and family and the congregation, may be turning to a stage of bargaining, wondering if they did the right thing or … or said something differently, … then we could go back to the way things were. Some will be so wounded by this experience and disillusioned by the church and neighbors that they will need time away in grief and sadness and tears. And, others have already accepted this, made adjustments and are ready to move on. … Most of us may go through more than one of these stages in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
But, as much as we would like to bring order to all this and control how people respond to all that has happened the past seven months, we can’t. And, we are not alone in our efforts.

The crowds following Jesus to Jerusalem try to make sense of difficult events in their lives, as well. They tell Jesus about some Galileans, killed by Pilate, as they were offering their ritual sacrifices to God, in Jerusalem. Implied, in their sharing of this story is our age-old question of, “Why did God let this happen to good and faithful people? They were bringing their offerings to God, doing what they were instructed to do. Yet, they were killed. Tell us Jesus … Why?” And Jesus replies, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think that they were worse offenders than all others living in Jerusalem?” In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, many … like Pat Robertson made this type of suggestion … God caused it, because of something we did.

Pastor Barbara Brown Taylor points out, “It is a tempting equation that solves a lot of problems. (1) It answers the riddle of why bad things happen to good people: they don’t. Bad things only happen to bad people. (2) It punishes sinners right out in the open as a warning to everyone. (3) It gives us a God who obeys the laws of physics. For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. Any questions?
It is a tempting equation, but Jesus won’t go there.”1 Jesus says, “No. Those folks were not worse sinners. God did not use Pilate to carry out punishment on the Galileans. No. God did
1 Barbara Brown Taylor, “Life-Giving Fear”, Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock (copyright by the Christian Century) www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=641.

not cause the tower to tumble upon the 18 Judeans, as a means of judgment upon their lives. No, God did not choose the epicenter of the earthquake to wipe out the Haitian people or even as a means to wake us up. No. God is not hovering close by with an axe in hand, ready to cut us off at the base, whenever we slip up or don’t produce at the level expected. Jesus clearly shifts the attention away from the connection of sin with suffering; … away from our cause and effect worldview; entrenched from the time of the Israelites, wandering in the wilderness, … to the reflections in Job by his friends, trying to make sense of his suffering, … to the people in the Gospel of John who ask about why the man was born blind, … “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”
We are drawn to these questions and are even willing to find comfort in believing God caused the disease or car accident or tornado, because of someone else’s sin or as punishment for our own inability to turn or quit doing things that are bad for us, … rather than think these things are truly accidents or random or a natural part of creation, which is good, yet in flux and beyond our control. Because, we are also drawn to the idea, if I work hard enough and am righteous enough, then I’ll be blessed and I can keep all bad things at bay.
We do not do so well with the unpredictability of life. We like our routines. We like our “if, then” statements. We like our black and white world where everything fits nicely into a box. And, before you get too self-assured, because you find comfort in the gray areas, we have to listen to the second part of Jesus’ answer. “No. Those Galileans and Judeans were not worse sinners than anyone else, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”
Wait a minute! Didn’t Jesus just say punishment is not directly linked to sin, yet if we don’t repent we will perish? All of our discussions from the past months hover around this question. What sins are bad enough to bring down God’s judgment? But, Jesus just said, the equation doesn’t work this way, … so why the urgent need for repentance? What does it mean to repent and to bear fruit? I was just starting to feel secure Jesus, but now, I am not so sure. … It sounds like the axe is just being delayed, but still too close for comfort.
Pastor Taylor goes on to reflect, Jesus’ statement “is not meant to aid reason but to disarm it. In an intervention aimed below his listeners’ heads, Jesus touches the panic they have inside of them about all the awful things that are happening around them. They [and we] are terrified by those things [towers toppling, getting older, drugs in our community, illness, dying and death, and the constant flow of change felt through thoughts and ideas and new ways of doing things in our community and nation, ... our list could go on] — we are fearful for good reason. [Jesus’ listeners] have searched their hearts for any bait that might bring disaster sniffing their way. They have lain awake at night making their lists of all their mistakes.
While Jesus does not honor their illusion that they can protect themselves in this way, he does seem to honor the vulnerability that their fright has opened up in them. It is not a bad thing for them to feel the full fragility of their lives. It is not a bad thing for them to count their breaths in the dark – not if it makes them turn toward the light.”2
This is what repentance is. It may start with making a list of wrongs and regrets and things left undone, but it is more than that. It may continue with saying, “I am sorry. Please forgive me God.” Or reaching out to a loved one with an apology, but even that is not enough. It may evolve into trying to live an upright life and hold to higher values. But, if we stop there, we will be tempted to continue seeing God as someone we can and need to appease … and we will continue to delude ourselves into thinking we can control what happens in our life, control God or even make our life safe. Which means, the only way to keep our world safe is to continue holding onto this vision of cause and effect, payback, and everyone gets what they deserve. So, Jesus comes to us again, and says, No … this is not how it works. Unless you repent, change your whole perspective; you will perish.
In Isaiah, we hear it this way, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? … Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. … For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my way, says the Lord.” Or as the musical group Nickelback sings, “If today was your last day, and tomorrow was too late.
… Would you …?”
2 Ibid. pg 2 of 3.
It would be easier to deny our mortality and move past these feelings of discomfort and fear stirred up by congregational division, economic challenge, visions of natural disasters, congressional grid-lock, and our many individual worries, losses, and broken relationships, … but I think Jesus is saying to us today, this is not God’s intention, but it is an opportunity to wake up. It is in these moments, when our guard is down, when we are not distracted by our busyness and assumed invincibility, or worried about getting ahead or lulled by our routine and assumptions and weariness. Moments when, try as we might, all our explanations fall short. God senses in these moments, an opening where we just might see or hear or sense there really is something more to this life, and it is worth seeking, trusting, and living.
So, pay attention to how you feel … the discomfort, fear, and anxiety. Use this time of Lent to discover what God is teaching you, so you can turn away from all these efforts of self- reliance, justification, blaming of others or reasoning away the unpredictable and ever-changing world we live in. God wants our whole perspective to change, so we will see a way in this world that truly gives life and freedom. A world where God keeps dumping manure on our roots and keeps trimming back the dead branches, believing something is worth saving and able to bear fruit. A world able to see and live with the vision of the Holy Spirit and therefore bear its fruit of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
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I know there is much screaming the opposite. I know, walking out in the world where we just might be in the wrong place at the wrong time, is scary. I know, every ounce of your being may want to fix things or rewind or blame or find an explanation, but this way of self assurance, self gratification, control, judgment, fear and holding on tight, keeps leading us down the same path of hunger, loneliness, division, and inside … we keep dying. It is what nailed Jesus to the tree.
But, after three days God declared this is not the last word God wants for our lives or this world. Have a little faith in this God. Look again, beyond the chaos and hurt and confusion. Repent. There is more than just barren branches and impossibility. Sap is still flowing. Didn’t you smell spring in the air yesterday? Focus where there is light and signs of the Spirit’s fruits, … then take “your best step in that direction, leaving the rest up to God.”3
3 Curry, Michael B., “Homiletical Perspective”, Feasting on the Word (Year C, Vol. 2) p 95. 7