Third Sunday in Lent 3/7/10 Text: I Corinthians 10:1-13 & Luke 13:1-9
Third Sunday in Lent
3/7/10
Text: I Corinthians 10:1-13 and Luke 13:1-9
Title: Making sense out of the senseless
The human race for the most part has come a long way. We have changed a lot in the areas of technology, science, and medicine. We, at least in most of the developed world, no longer have to scrounge for our daily food and shelter. Things are a lot better but we have certainly not changed in how we view the tragedies of life that happen so frequently. We, just like I am sure Adam and Eve did when one son murdered the other still cry out to God, “Why God, why?”
We, just as the people of old are still trying to understand senseless destruction and death. We still are trying to understand its significance. We still do not know why and how it came to be that several Galileans were killed in or near the temple by Pilate's soldiers as they prepared to offer their sacrifices to God. Nor do we have a record public of the tragedy involving the collapse of the tower in Siloam that killed eighteen people.
All we know for sure is that then, as now, tragedy had struck and people died and the reason for their death was being discussed. What caused the problem? Had the people sinned in some way that they deserved their terrible death? Then, as now whenever bad things happen, whenever senseless things happen, we try to make sense of it and almost always cannot.
Why did my father die now? Why was our son taken from us? Why did God allow that mother of three children to die of cancer? Why did earthquakes hit Haiti and Chile? Why did Hurricane Katrina strike our coast causing loss of life and making thousands of people homeless? Why are innocent children still suffering and dying, often at the hands of family members? Why? Why? Why?
We all want to make sense of the senseless, we want to know why certain things occur, and that in itself is a good thing. For example; when buildings collapse, like the tower in Siloam collapsed, investigations are done to find out why so that, just perhaps, such a tragedy will not occur again. When there are mass murders all the resources possible are called together so that similar murders do not happen again. We want to know and that is not a bad thing, but sometimes our desire to know can lead us astray. It can lead to us to assign blame and guilt to people, that do not deserve it, or who at least do not deserve it any more or less we deserve it.
I read a story Friday about a young man killed outside a bar in Chicago. He was out with his girl friend for a quiet evening. He had just stepped out of the bar minding his own business when he was murdered. People, talking about the incident, were heard to say things like: "Well, if he hadn't gone to the bar he wouldn't have been killed." and "People who drink deserve everything that happens to them." and “He was probably involved in some drug thing.”
The implication of those particular statements is that the young man somehow deserved what had happened to him that night, just as in today's reading, the implication is made by the people talking about the Galileans killed by Pilate that they somehow they deserved to die.
There is a way to make sense of the senseless, but to blame the victims by suggesting that somehow God brought about their death, or whatever other mishap has occurred to them as some kind of punishment for sin, we have to be careful going there, for by that standard no one should be alive today, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Jesus is telling us in our Gospel reading this morning that we should not be concerned with blaming victims for their part they might have played in the particular tragedy. What he is wanting us to learn is that we too can be victims of senseless disasters and that we need to be aware of our own mortality, and our own sinfulness, so that we will live lives of repentance.
God never intended for any of his creation to be the way it is. It was never created to have earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrible fires. He never intended people to treat each other the way we do. But because of sin all of creation is broken and bad stuff happens even to the innocent.
God does not seek our deaths, nor does he delight in our suffering, but the Bible is very clear, especially in our readings today that his patience will not last forever. There will be a time when judgment will fall on those who have not turned their lives over to him.
As the parable of the unfruitful fig tree in verses 6-10 of today's reading tells us God expects us to respond to what he has done for us. He expects us to not only have faith in his salvation, but to produce what is pleasing to him, for you cannot separate good works from faith. Faith saves and good works are the visible signs of faith. The Bible is very clear on the subject.
That same parable also tells us that God actively labors over us to make us fruitful before making his final judgment. We are not only given time to get things straight, we are also given the care and attention that a good gardener gives to his plants; the raking and the fertilizer and the nourishment that anything requires if it is to be fruitful.
I cannot tell you why some people die at certain times and others do not. I cannot make sense of the senseless in this fashion. But I can and do tell you that all of us are in need of the gracious forgiveness of God, that all of us deserve to die as much as anyone else deserves to die, for we all fall short of meeting God’s demands. And like I said earlier it was never God’s intention that bad things and death should happen to any of his human creatures, but it does, as we are all well aware.
He wants us to be restored, so he came to us as the man we know as Jesus and did what we cannot do, live sinless lives. Jesus did live a sinless life and he died so that we might be declared guiltless before God. He wants us all to be restored into fellowship with God.
When it comes down to it, it is only in Jesus that we can make sense of the senseless, for only in Jesus can our lives truly have meaning before we are called home to God. There is an old story told about little Johnny. Johnny was going home one day past his grandfather's house with a couple of his chums. As they passed the house they spied the old gentleman out on his sun porch in his rocking chair reading his Bible rather intently. "What's your grandfather doing", asked one of Johnny's friends. "Oh, grandpa; he's cramming for the finals", Johnny replied.
Cramming for the finals, grandpa was studying the Word of God. I would dare say that he had probably been reading his Bible for many years. But there are many people who believe they can wait until the last minute to have Jesus in their lives, but will they have time? God will pursue them, as he does all people until they draw their last breath, but will they have the time? Last week a young man was texting as he drove down the highway. Taking his eyes off the road for a couple of seconds he crossed over the center line right in front of a truck. He died instantly. His time of judgment came. Was he ready? Only God knows.
Our Lord and Savior is patient with us. He cultivates us and tends to us, even when we ignore him, even when we fail to trust him, even when we produce nothing for him. But he will not wait forever, for there will be a time when we will be called to give an account for what we have done and not done. What will your answer be? There is only one answer. “Jesus has already taken the punishment I deserve.” Amen.
3/7/10
Text: I Corinthians 10:1-13 and Luke 13:1-9
Title: Making sense out of the senseless
The human race for the most part has come a long way. We have changed a lot in the areas of technology, science, and medicine. We, at least in most of the developed world, no longer have to scrounge for our daily food and shelter. Things are a lot better but we have certainly not changed in how we view the tragedies of life that happen so frequently. We, just like I am sure Adam and Eve did when one son murdered the other still cry out to God, “Why God, why?”
We, just as the people of old are still trying to understand senseless destruction and death. We still are trying to understand its significance. We still do not know why and how it came to be that several Galileans were killed in or near the temple by Pilate's soldiers as they prepared to offer their sacrifices to God. Nor do we have a record public of the tragedy involving the collapse of the tower in Siloam that killed eighteen people.
All we know for sure is that then, as now, tragedy had struck and people died and the reason for their death was being discussed. What caused the problem? Had the people sinned in some way that they deserved their terrible death? Then, as now whenever bad things happen, whenever senseless things happen, we try to make sense of it and almost always cannot.
Why did my father die now? Why was our son taken from us? Why did God allow that mother of three children to die of cancer? Why did earthquakes hit Haiti and Chile? Why did Hurricane Katrina strike our coast causing loss of life and making thousands of people homeless? Why are innocent children still suffering and dying, often at the hands of family members? Why? Why? Why?
We all want to make sense of the senseless, we want to know why certain things occur, and that in itself is a good thing. For example; when buildings collapse, like the tower in Siloam collapsed, investigations are done to find out why so that, just perhaps, such a tragedy will not occur again. When there are mass murders all the resources possible are called together so that similar murders do not happen again. We want to know and that is not a bad thing, but sometimes our desire to know can lead us astray. It can lead to us to assign blame and guilt to people, that do not deserve it, or who at least do not deserve it any more or less we deserve it.
I read a story Friday about a young man killed outside a bar in Chicago. He was out with his girl friend for a quiet evening. He had just stepped out of the bar minding his own business when he was murdered. People, talking about the incident, were heard to say things like: "Well, if he hadn't gone to the bar he wouldn't have been killed." and "People who drink deserve everything that happens to them." and “He was probably involved in some drug thing.”
The implication of those particular statements is that the young man somehow deserved what had happened to him that night, just as in today's reading, the implication is made by the people talking about the Galileans killed by Pilate that they somehow they deserved to die.
There is a way to make sense of the senseless, but to blame the victims by suggesting that somehow God brought about their death, or whatever other mishap has occurred to them as some kind of punishment for sin, we have to be careful going there, for by that standard no one should be alive today, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Jesus is telling us in our Gospel reading this morning that we should not be concerned with blaming victims for their part they might have played in the particular tragedy. What he is wanting us to learn is that we too can be victims of senseless disasters and that we need to be aware of our own mortality, and our own sinfulness, so that we will live lives of repentance.
God never intended for any of his creation to be the way it is. It was never created to have earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrible fires. He never intended people to treat each other the way we do. But because of sin all of creation is broken and bad stuff happens even to the innocent.
God does not seek our deaths, nor does he delight in our suffering, but the Bible is very clear, especially in our readings today that his patience will not last forever. There will be a time when judgment will fall on those who have not turned their lives over to him.
As the parable of the unfruitful fig tree in verses 6-10 of today's reading tells us God expects us to respond to what he has done for us. He expects us to not only have faith in his salvation, but to produce what is pleasing to him, for you cannot separate good works from faith. Faith saves and good works are the visible signs of faith. The Bible is very clear on the subject.
That same parable also tells us that God actively labors over us to make us fruitful before making his final judgment. We are not only given time to get things straight, we are also given the care and attention that a good gardener gives to his plants; the raking and the fertilizer and the nourishment that anything requires if it is to be fruitful.
I cannot tell you why some people die at certain times and others do not. I cannot make sense of the senseless in this fashion. But I can and do tell you that all of us are in need of the gracious forgiveness of God, that all of us deserve to die as much as anyone else deserves to die, for we all fall short of meeting God’s demands. And like I said earlier it was never God’s intention that bad things and death should happen to any of his human creatures, but it does, as we are all well aware.
He wants us to be restored, so he came to us as the man we know as Jesus and did what we cannot do, live sinless lives. Jesus did live a sinless life and he died so that we might be declared guiltless before God. He wants us all to be restored into fellowship with God.
When it comes down to it, it is only in Jesus that we can make sense of the senseless, for only in Jesus can our lives truly have meaning before we are called home to God. There is an old story told about little Johnny. Johnny was going home one day past his grandfather's house with a couple of his chums. As they passed the house they spied the old gentleman out on his sun porch in his rocking chair reading his Bible rather intently. "What's your grandfather doing", asked one of Johnny's friends. "Oh, grandpa; he's cramming for the finals", Johnny replied.
Cramming for the finals, grandpa was studying the Word of God. I would dare say that he had probably been reading his Bible for many years. But there are many people who believe they can wait until the last minute to have Jesus in their lives, but will they have time? God will pursue them, as he does all people until they draw their last breath, but will they have the time? Last week a young man was texting as he drove down the highway. Taking his eyes off the road for a couple of seconds he crossed over the center line right in front of a truck. He died instantly. His time of judgment came. Was he ready? Only God knows.
Our Lord and Savior is patient with us. He cultivates us and tends to us, even when we ignore him, even when we fail to trust him, even when we produce nothing for him. But he will not wait forever, for there will be a time when we will be called to give an account for what we have done and not done. What will your answer be? There is only one answer. “Jesus has already taken the punishment I deserve.” Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 10:59 AM
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