Unexpected Grace: A Judgment of Hope
Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
March 7, 2010 Third Sunday of Lent
Luke 13:1-9
On the Sunday following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, churches throughout the United States were filled to overflowing. This church was no exception. People were clearly looking for something – comfort, answers, reassurance, some way to make sense of such violence and callous disregard of life. And preachers struggled to find something to say to these yearning, searching, hurting crowds of people. I know I began my sermon that morning with a story which spoke of hope and sought to affirm life even in the midst of tragedy. And most of my colleagues, I suspect, struck a similar theme.
But I read of one minister whose post-9/11 sermon went in a very different direction. He said something like this: “As Christians, we are commanded, not only to see in the events of world history the hand of God and to seek the comfort of God, but also to expect the possibility of the judgment of God.” He went on to speculate on the ways that September 11 was not only a horrible tragedy and a great injustice, but was also a judgment upon the United States and upon us as a people – a judgment upon our foreign policy, judgment upon our insensitivity to the needs and pain of others around the world, judgment upon our national arrogance. That was his sermon. Does it surprise you when I tell you that within weeks, he had been removed from the pulpit of that church? Now, in all honesty, I believe there was a lot of truth in what he had to say. His call for us to take a hard look at ourselves – something we Americans really hate to do – was an important word to be spoken. But to say that as smoke was still rising from the ruins of the twin towers, as body parts were still being uncovered and an entire nation was enveloped in grief…well, perhaps this pastor needed a little sensitivity himself and certainly a better sense of timing
But having said that, I must acknowledge that in our text for today we meet a Jesus who seemingly couldn’t care less about timing – good, bad, or otherwise. Much like that post-9/11 preacher, Jesus, in this text, does not say what people wanted to hear.
Just like last week’s scripture lesson, this one is a two-parter – both parts tied together by judgment and repentance, I confess that I find the first part extremely challenging, because Jesus, our good friend, our buddy, our therapist who always affirms and never criticizes, this Jesus has some rather unsettling things to say.
“Jesus, did you hear Pilate’s soldiers have slaughtered a number of Galileans who had gone up to the Temple to make their sacrifices? He killed them during the worship service!” Now what is he supposed to do, what should he say, when he is told something like that? How to respond to such brutality? Now, as a side note, there is no historical record other than Luke of such a slaughter. But there is little doubt that Pilate’s rule in Israel was characterized by brutality and injustice, and there were a number of massacres during this period. So could Luke be telling us about an actual incident? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn’t really matter. What matters, the point here, is Jesus’ reaction to this news.
Now, as we know, Jesus has not been shy in his criticism of established authority, both religious and civil. He has spoken out against injustice and violence, and in favor of the oppressed and the poor. Now he is presented with news of this massacre – Romans slaughtering innocent Jews while they worshiped. “Jesus, have you heard?” Now, considering the time and place – a very volatile 1st century Israel – there really is only one acceptable answer here. Those questioning Jesus have to expect nothing less from him than sympathy for the Jewish cause and denunciation of Roman brutality. In fact, there are those who suggest that this is really a test, maybe even a trap for Jesus. “Prove your loyalty – say what we want you to say. Let us know you support the cause of Jewish freedom, that you are a true Jewish patriot.”
What does he say, how does he answer? He is not drawn into a discussion of political aspirations, nor does he choose to comment on who might have been the greater sinner here. Rather, he throws the question back into their laps. “I tell you, unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.” What? Come again? What did you say? Repent? That’s your answer? He turns the discussion away from the hated enemy and instead suggests that those who have brought him this news need to take a hard look at their own lives. This can’t be what they wanted to hear, which is why some Middle-Eastern scholars are surprised that in the next scene, Jesus isn’t being taken out and beaten to within an inch of his life, not by the Romans, but by his own people. They want him to condemn the evil in Pilate. He suggests they begin by taking a look at the evil in their own hearts. And we wonder why he was crucified.
Says New Testament scholar, Kenneth Bailey, “Jesus’ speech should not be read as a concern for things ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘political.’ Rather he seems to be saying, ‘You want me to condemn the evil in Pilate. I am not talking to Pilate. He’s not here. I am talking to you. And evil forces are at work in you that will destroy you, Pilate or no Pilate. You must repent, all of you – you and the Romans – or you will be destroyed by these very forces.’ He doesn’t tell them to submit to Pilate. He is not acquiescing to Roman oppression. Rather he bravely demonstrates a deep concern for the people in front of him who will destroy themselves and everything around them if they do not repent.”
Now, don’t you wish that just once Jesus would just play along and say what we want him to say? He has this maddening habit of never following the script. And anyway, who is he to question my self-righteous judgments? I mean, I have the world neatly divided into good and evil, us and them, we the angels – they the devils. Now he comes along and suggests that there may be devils among us and angels among them. What is it they say about sausage? It tastes good but you don’t ever want to see how it’s made. Well, perhaps the same could be said about our judgments of others, our eagerness to pass out labels of good and evil. We tend not to want to scrutinize those judgments too closely. But that’s precisely what Jesus invites us to do. And here I thought following Jesus was all about warm fuzzies, contentment and feeling good about myself. I know it’s Lent, but can’t Jesus “lighten up” just a little? Which brings me to part two of this text, Jesus isn’t quite yet done with this.
A colleague shares this story: “He wasn’t much of a husband. I suppose he was even a worse father. He was a talented physician, much in demand. Therefore he was always at the hospital, always working. I was not surprised to hear that his wife of twenty years just one day left him. She said she didn’t know him anymore, and that she had had enough. His children, now grown, never see him. Why bother, they say. We never saw him when we were growing up. I saw him the other day. He has remarried. At the age of sixty, he’s starting over. That’s what he said he is doing, starting over. In his words, ‘Here, in the last part of my life, I’m getting a second chance. I’m going to do better this time. I’ve learned a thing or two. I’m going to do right.’ A number of his friends are convinced he is a complete fool. He didn’t do much with his marriage the first time around and now here he is trying it again “ But says this pastor, “Are they right? Is he just going to find a new way to mess things up? I’m not a big fan of divorce, but when I look at his life, I wonder…Can a man really change?” “A man had a fig tree planted in his garden…”
Do you think people can change? Do you think you can change? It seems to me that one of the most detrimental and hurtful notions out there, is that people can’t change. “You can’t fight genetics,” we are told. “We arrive here pretty much fixed by birth. All of life is mostly a re-playing of the tapes that were implanted in our brains when we were born. Once your gender, socioeconomic level or family make-up has spoken, there really isn’t much you can do.” Do you believe that? Jesus doesn’t believe it. And so, beneath the admittedly strong language of this text, I hear him calling on people to change, and assuring us that, no matter what our state in life, it is not too late.
The owner of the vineyard wants to rip that fig tree out by its roots. He has given it more than enough time. It has produced no fruit and it’s taking up valuable land where he could plant some nice pinot noir. “Cut it down!” he tells the gardener. “It’s never going to change, never going to produce fruit. It’s not worth the effort.” But the gardener pleads for more time. He refuses to give up hope. Just when this text begins to feel maybe just a bit too judgmental, repent or perish, a new word is spoken, a word of mercy, renewal, grace, new possibility. Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on anyone else. Change is possible… there is still time. As one scholar says: “Perhaps sometimes God’s greatest gift and mercy is time, time to learn from our past, to profit from our mistakes, time to start over. Christians have a word for that sort of mercy – repentance…Repentance is when a sinner (and who here isn’t one of those) changes, turns things around, returns to God, starts over, bears fruit. I don’t care what you have done before you got here this morning. It doesn’t matter how you might have messed up your life, or how you have made a mockery of all the gifts God has given you. There is still time – God’s gift of time.
Now as I said, there is no doubt that tree has been given more than enough time. The logical, practical, economically sound course of action is to uproot this disappointing and unproductive tree. To argue for it to have more time and then to give it more time simply makes no sense. But I guess that’s the way it is with God’s extravagant mercy. It simply makes no sense. Can’t make sense out of it, can’t explain it, but hopefully we can accept it, believe it and let it in that we might even begin to believe in ourselves…maybe even turn things around and begin again.
A pastor writes, “I have a church member who proudly showed me an antique radio that has been in her family for years. It has a hand-crafted, beautiful mahogany case and is over 70 years old. Yet when she turned the radio on, I was astonished by its perfect tone. ‘The outside is 70 years old,’ she explained, ‘but the inside has been completely reworked. I was able to preserve the outside, but inside, it’s a modern, up-to-date radio. My nephew reworked it for me, fitted the new mechanism into the old case.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” says Jesus. A new mechanism in an old case, a renewed radio, a renewed tree, a renewed you. And don’t you dare think it can’t happen.” Now, friends you have heard this from me before, but I’m going to say it again. God is not done with us yet. Each day, God is drawing us nearer, refashioning us, restoring us. The promise of the Gospel is that it isn’t over until God says it’s over and clearly God isn’t finished. We don’t know how much time that tree will get. There is a certain sense of urgency in this text. We don’t have forever, but we have now, and there is no time like the present to start turning things around, to begin bearing good fruit. And by God’s abundant mercy and extravagant grace, we can do just that.