Which? - Luke 13:1-9
Tommy's house is
packed with relatives for family reunion. Grandpa calls 6 year old Tommy and
starts asking about school, girlfriends and anything else he can think of.
After a while, grandpa notices that Tommy is losing interest in the
conversation so he pulls out two bills from his wallet to see if he can keep
him interested, a ten and a twenty-dollar bill. He shows both bills to Tommy
and tells him that he can keep any one he chooses. Tommy reaches over and grabs
the ten-dollar bill.
Grandpa
was pretty surprised and upset about the unwise decision his grandchild made,
so he pulls out another ten-dollar bill to see if it was a mistake. Again, he
tells Tommy to take one of the bills and keep it. Tommy grabs the other ten.
Grandpa again is surprised and upset. He
takes Tommy over to one of the uncles and shows him how dumb Tommy is in
choosing the ten over the twenty. Grandpa goes on and on showing every uncle
and cousin and each time Tommy chooses the ten over the twenty. Grandpa finally
shows the stunt to Tommy 's dad. Dad's quite surprised but seems to not pay too
much attention at the moment.
A
few hours later, Dad, who is very concerned about Tommy's poor decision, walks
up to him and asks him if he knows the difference between a ten-dollar bill and
a twenty.
"Of
course," answers Tommy.
"So
why did you always choose the ten over the twenty?" asks Dad.
Tommy,
with a wide smile answers, "Well Dad, if I would have chosen the first
twenty dollar bill, do you think grandpa would have played the game fifteen
more times?"
We
find ourselves today at the Third Sunday of Lent. These forty days are symbolic of Christ’s
forty days in the wilderness. These are the days in which those in the Church
have traditionally prepared themselves for the celebration of Holy Communion on
Easter Sunday by reflecting on their lives, repenting of their sins, and
seeking to get their lives back on track with God. We began the first Sunday of Lent asking the
question “Who?” and remembering that we are Christians called to follow God’s
will. Last week we asked the question “Where?”
and focused in on the fact that we are to be “citizens of heaven” and live
focused on living as aliens in this world. Today we ask the question, “Which?”
Some
may ask whether or not out passage today is about choices our not. Luke seems to be a discussion between Jesus
and the Disciples on current events, followed by some gardening tips from Jesus. It begins with the Disciples running to Jesus
and saying, “Hey Jesus, did you hear about those heathen Galileans? They were worshipping their idols, and Pilate
sent some soldiers in and had everyone of them killed. God got those sinners didn’t He?” This comment by the Disciples had come right
after someone had come running to him and said, “Those sinners in Siloam got
there reward. They were standing nearby
that tower, drunk as usual, when it fell on them and killed them. God sure knows how to get a sinner doesn’t
He?” Jesus was shocked. He was outraged. Here he’d been telling them of God’s love and
the promise of eternal life, and then teaching them to spread that Word to
everyone, and they are rejoicing over the fact that some sinners have been
killed. Jesus said, “No, my brothers and
sisters. God doesn’t work that way. Those were just things that happened. God didn’t cause them to happen, but they did
happen, and some sinners died. However,
they weren’t any worse a sinner than anyone else living in Jerusalem.”
All
too often, my brothers and sisters, our society thinks of things in the same
way. A hurricane, earthquake, volcanic
eruption, mudslide, or terrorist attacks happen happens and someone one will
say, “God took care of those sinners.”
Someone will contract a disease like AIDS or cancer and folks have said,
“God developed that to punish them for their sins.”
My
brothers and sisters, the God we worship is a God of love. Our God doesn’t work like that. What is God’s response to our sin? It is not disaster, it is not disease, it is
with the cross of Christ! Our God is the
one that, as 2nd Peter tells us: “The
Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient
with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”[i]
Jesus tells the
Disciples, that though God doesn’t work like that, “No, I tell you; but unless
you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” This is where the question of choice comes
in, my brothers and sisters. Jesus tells
the Disciples that they have a choice, the same choice that we have: either “repent” or “perish as those sinners
perished.”
“Since
we are all sinners though, doesn’t that mean that we will all perish?” The answer to that is a resounding “No!” That’s why Jesus follows this up with the
gardening tips. You see, my brothers and
sisters, we are the barren fig tree. We
are the ones that God planted and are bearing no fruit because we are lost in
sin. However, as I mentioned before, God
doesn’t want any to perish, He wants us to thrive in His garden, this
earth. So God decides to give us one
more chance, but He realizes that we can’t bear fruit if just left to
ourselves. So God counters the poisoning
of our sin-sick soil with the life-giving, purifying Blood of Christ. God, knowing that we cannot stand alone
against the winds of temptation, braces us with the Holy Spirit. He then watches to see if we will receive the
nourishment and strength He offers and begin producing fruit, or if we will
resist what He offers and die as barren trees.
We
can choose to accept God’s grace, repent of our sins, and live out our lives
according to the will of God, or we can resist God’s grace and continue to live
our lives in sin, doing what we want to do.
It’s our decision.
If
we choose the way of God, though, we can expect criticism. Why?
Because choosing God’s grace means we are going to act differently than
those who resist it. It means if we own
a business, we are not going to charge high prices just because we can—we are
going to charge what we know the item is worth and what folks can afford. Those who are profiting will laugh at us. If we employ someone, we will pay them what
their labor is worth, not as little as we can.
Those who like to hire cheap labor will criticize us. It means giving time to the church, not just
for Sunday School or Sunday morning Worship, but all through the week—and there
will be those that scoff telling us we should be using the time to make money
or to enjoy ourselves. However, my
brothers and sisters, those who chose to remain in their sin, and laugh,
criticize, or scoff at us, are just as short-sighted as that grandpa with the ten
and twenty dollar bills. They are only
looking at the immediate situation and not at the long term consequences. To them the twenty makes more sense, because
they can’t see the hundred and sixty in the long run. However, the choice we have with God is not a
financial choice. This decision is a
matter of life or death. Do we want to
die and perish like the Galileans or those under the tower of Siloam?
“But
if we all die, what’s the difference?” someone may ask. The big difference is, my friends, that Jesus
said, “I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me, though they may die, yet shall they live, and
everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”[ii]
Isaiah puts it this way, “Why do you
spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does
not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and
eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so
that you may live.”[iii] We can spend our efforts on the bread of this
world that will never satisfy us and then we will die, or we can feast on the
Bread of Life—the Word of God, and live.
Which will we choose, death or life?
My
brothers and sisters, as you come to the table today, choose to receive...not
simply bread and juice, but understand you are receiving the body and blood of
Christ, a meal of salvation.
In
the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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