Repent, Or Else!

Exodus 3:1-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

I had an English teacher back in high school who proudly told our class that she was an atheist. Having been brought up in the Jewish faith, she was an atheist, she told us, because she couldn't believe in a God who was supposed to be good, loving, and all powerful, and who yet allowed evil things to take place in the world. So, rather than throwing out her disfunctional theology, she decided to throw God out of her life.

There are many people who are confused about the role of God in the things that happen in this world. Believing God to be all powerful, we often give God credit for all the things that go on in the world. I remember being a pastor out in Iowa, during a dought, for example. I'd walk into the town's cafe during coffee hour and the place would be filled with farmers. And they'd look at me and some of them would ask, "When are you going to get the good Lord to make it rain?" And all I could do was reply with something like, "Well, if you guys would start praying along with me and attending church a little more often, maybe the Lord would have mercy on you and make it rain!" Or, once in a while I'd just shrug my shoulders and say, "Sorry, fellas, I'd like to make it rain, but I'm in sales and service, not management!"

But, even this kind of wistful theology is indicative of a more deeply rooted theology that many of us have that is really incomplete and problematic, if taken to its logical extremes. If we believe that God is in control of everything that happens on earth, then we must also believe that it is God's will that evil things happen; that it was God's will, for instance, that those three kids burned down the Elementary school in Owosso; or that it is God's will that mass murderers be on the loose, or that those 90-some cars got wrecked out in California on that fog-bound freeway, last week. In fact, if we truly believed that everything that happens is God's will, then wouldn't we be going against God's will if we punished law breakers? Indeed, if everything that happens is God's will then we have to conclude that God is not always good. But, then, if we believe that there are some things that happen which are not God's will, then we have to conclude that either God is not all powerful, or that for some very logical reason, God, inspite of (or because of) his wisdom, power, and goodness, chooses to allow certain things to happen. I happen to choose the latter.

Our gospel lesson for this morning begins with this sort of question on the part of the Pharisees who had gathered to hear Jesus speak. The Pharisees were the most religious people in Jesus' society. They were the good folks; the ones who really tried hard to please God in all they said and did. They weren't all that bad, really, except for one thing: As they strived to be good, they often found themselves judging others, simply as a means of comparing themselves. They felt that if they were more righteous than the most, then there was a good chance that God would accept them and they would have eternal life.

As a part of this process of judging, they believed that if something nasty happened to someone, it was a sign of God's judgment for something they did wrong. If a man was born blind, for instance, they would ask, "What did this man's parents do wrong that this man was born blind?" Or in the case of today's scripture passage, they asked Jesus about an incident where some Jewish rebels had been captured by the Romans, and executed. And to make matters worse, the Romans had taken the blood of these Jewish rebels and put it among the sacrifices the Romans made to their pagan gods. It was concerning this matter that the Pharisees wondered if he thought this had happened to these Jews because they were worse sinners than most other people. And Jesus rejected this sort of theology out of hand. Jesus even brought up another instance where a building in Jerusalem had collapsed and killed eighteen people and rejected the notion that this had happened to these persons because they were worse sinners than the rest of the people in Jerusalem.

Now, we should wonder why Jesus was so concerned about kind of thing. Why would Jesus be concerned with whether people thought it was God's will that a building fall down, that the Romans killed and desecrated the blood of some Jews? Well, it had to do with this thing that the Pharisees seemed to be so caught up in: comparing themselves with others, judging others, just so they could feel assured of their salvation.

Can you imagine sitting down with the newspaper and reading about all the terrible things going on in the world and feeling good because you can say to yourselves, "Well those folks must have done something wrong to have all those terrible things happen to them. Those things didn't happen to me! So, God must love me!

So, I must be doing something right!"

Jesus rejected that sort of thinking among the Pharisees. And if we ever got into such a mindset, he would slam dunk that sort of thinking among us, as well.

Perhaps highest of all on Jesus' list of persons who he loved were those who were sick, those who were poor, those who were in prison, those who were naked, homeless, and hungry, for whatever reason. Notice that Jesus never went around to the poor people and ask them what sort of stupid thing they had done to get in such a miserable situation? Jesus didn't ask the hungry where they had fouled up in their lives before he would feed them. Jesus didn't judge the homeless to before he would care for them. He didn't judge persons, at all. He just loved them and accepted them unconditionally. And that was the nature of Jesus. That is what Jesus came to do. And that is what salvation is.

Yet, at the same time, we must not forget that God does demand accountability from us. God is, after all, a God of justice who demands obedience, morality, and perfection from his people. This is something that many of us living in these modern days have forgotten. So many people believe that they can get by on the love of God without obedience, morality, and perfection. And, I believe that is something that the church and society, itself, may have to deal with over the years to come. The apostle Paul was very much concerned with this, as well, warning the people of the importance of being faithful to God or risk his wrath.

Jesus, himself, told the most righteous people of his own day, the Pharisees, that unless they repented they would suffer the wrath of God. And this was something that the Pharisees thought they didn't need to hear. They believed that they were already good enough for salvation. After all, there were plenty of people in society who were worse sinners than they were. And they could even sight the evidence. But, Jesus told them all to repent.

What do we think about your chances of getting to heaven? Are we like the Pharisees, thinking that we've got it all wrapped up. Are we secure in our little systems that we have created in order to assure ourselves that we are good enough? Do we point at the sins of others around us, hoping to catch them in some mistake or weakness, so that we'll have our evidence of getting a higher place in heaven than them? Do we secretly thank the sinner for making us look good?

If we do, we'd better take seriously the warning Paul gave the Corinthians: "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall."

The only firm foundation that we have for salvation is that of Jesus Christ. And if our faith is in him, then it follows that we will be continually in repentance, never standing firmly on our feet, but, rather, kneeling humbly on our knees, before God, who knows us for what we really are! Amen.