Repent or Perish....Luke 13: 1-9 Sermon by Rev. Michael Smart Lent 3

Pilate, had ordered the slaughter of some Galilean protestors, even while they were in the sacred Temple itself. “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than all other Galileans ?” “Do you think that because many people in Haiti suffered that they were worse sinners than anyone else ?’...at least one telly evangelists said, yes. What will they say about Chile ?
To return to Jesus day...that industrial accident, when 18 workers were killed in Siloam when the tower they were building collapsed on them ? Accident or divine punishment ?
“Who sinned that this man was born blind,” they asked Jesus. “neither this man nor his parents sinned.” And still, people ask the same kind of question. “What did this little boy do wrong that he was killed in a quad bike accident ?” With regards to individuals, Jesus refutes the simplistic equation of tragedy = punishment for sin and so should we.
Such tragic consequences are not a result of God actively punishing sin. If God were into that kind of business, then are we not all up for punishment....who is next !
But what about Jesus warning, “ Unless you repent you will all perish just as they did”. Jesus was warning about consequences for Jerusalem there and then, not hereafter. If God’s people did not repent of their guerrilla tactics against Rome, accept his way to peace, if they did not set aside the sword, they would perish by the sword.
Some of the warnings of Jesus have mistakenly been taken as warnings about the afterlife, when in fact they are warnings of judgement to come for his fellow Jews in the political situation of their day. “Unless the tree bears fruit this year it will be cut down”....the tree is Israel. Are God’s people producing the fruit that reflects God’s character....if they don’t repent when one greater than Jonah is here, when will they....they will perish; not in the fires of hell after they die, but in the fires of Jerusalem, sacked by the Romans.
It did not take a great prophet to see what was going to happen to Israel if they persisted in opposition to Rome. The prophet ,however, is not merely a wise political commentator. A prophet understands when God is using the social and political upheavals of the day to execute his judgement. Not every social or economic crisis is God’s judgement any more than rain on a parish picnic is God’s judgement on the parish. We must not rush to make such interpretations, for much of life is random, accidental, open to chance.
One way to understand God’s judgement is that there is a built in, moral basis to the world, like gravity. God doesn’t act in one off judgements, but lets the moral basis find its own balance...a kind of reaping what we sew. Others would have God active in every tiny event and circumstances, busy all the time, so everything becomes an expression of God’s approval or judgement...very exhausting. Others hold that God only acts in major events to express his judgement and that is when we need prophets to help us recognize the hand of God. I am suggesting this understanding.
Time to repent is always offered....I will give the tree one more year ! Jesus as a prophet warns them that unless they take his way, Jerusalem would end up like chickens without a mother hen to protect them from the barnyard fire that Rome would light.
God’s judgement is not expressed in giving you cancer or causing a child to be run over. Jesus speaks of the judgement of the nation Israel as the people of God. It is more at the level of a judgement upon the whole church rather than visiting an illness on an individual Christian There are bigger issues for God than whether you eat chocolate during Lent, or lose your cool with your husband or wife or get irritated with your fellow Christian. Let us not argue about the seating arrangements on the Titanic, when the whole ship is sinking.
There can be judgement of a whole nation, even on nations. As Christian nations we should be asking if the economic crisis is God’s judgement upon our corporate greed in the face of others poverty and repent. And repent not out of fear of worse to come, but because we want to embrace the good, the just, embrace the life of the kingdom. We wont accept greed as “ just the way it is these days”, but call for a just distribution of wealth. We will be careful about our own investments and consider the use companies make of our money.
What is most often put before us for us to soak up into our minds from our movies and TV series? Violence and uncommitted sex. We are bombard with visions of violence that infuses our collective mind and we wonder why our society has a problem with violence. “There’s probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy yourself.” The assumption is that to walk in the ways of God means the end of fun and enjoyment.
Our society is obsessed with casual sex, and while that might give some momentary enjoyment, all the evidence is that sex without a degree of loving commitment, without some security within a relationship does not satisfy the human spirit. We are more than bodies. It will be interesting to see if Jane Campion’s latest film; “ Bright Star” which has no physical violence and no steamy sex scenes will be a box office hit. Its popularity might indicate where our collective treasure lies.
When we protest it must not be from some moral high ground, but from a compassionate certainty that God knows how best to use his good gift, and as often happens these days, some psychologist after much research , will confirm what God has already told us. Surprise !!
To worship God is not in the first instance about liturgy and hymns and is not limited to an hour on Sundays. To worship God is at all times and in all places to fill one’s mind and heart with the vision of his kingdom life, to hold before us what is good and beautiful and worthy of God. This living process, can be very deliberate, as in a set time of prayer or reading or watching a thought provoking film, but often, the vision comes to us in unexpected places, like at a school concert, in an art gallery, listening to music. Thus inspired by our worship, by seeing and tasting the worth in what we see and hear, sense and discover we work and pray and speak out for God’s kingdom to come on earth. In particular this will involve developing and supporting programmes for the most vulnerable, the displaced, and those trapped in poverty. Those not against Christ are for him...we should expect to find people of good will and sound judgement likewise concerned and sharing the same vision so we must not isolate ourselves, thinking we are the only ones with moral discernment.
God’s judgement is not about revenge or punishment for its own sake. God’s judgement when it comes, is a way of calling us as a people back to walk the ways of his Messiah, walk the talk of resurrection life.