Time To Change

Dr. Jim Wilson, March 7, 2010
Text: Luke 13:1-9

The question is a timeless one. It is a question which if it has not passed from our lips, it surely has crossed our minds. We heard it after 9-11, and again as we saw the devastation of Katrina, and now, more recently, as we came face-to-face with the tragic loss of life caused by the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. The question is some variation of “What could these persons have done to deserve such fate?” At other times the question is stated in a more direct theological manner: “Why is God punishing these people?” The question rests on an assumption which maintains that there exists a direct correlation between sin and suffering. One of my first serious encounters with the question happened early in my ministry. I was with a young wife and mother in the hospital emergency room. Her husband had been in a serious automobile accident. After several hours of anxious waiting, the doctor came out and shared the sad news that the husband had died. This young woman grabbed my arm and screamed through her tears, “What did I do to deserve this?” I just stood there---silently, not knowing how to answer.

Jesus is much more effective in responding to the question. Evidently, those who have come to hear him are quite worked up about a news story. Pilate, the Roman governor, has had his troops brutally murder several Galileans as they were offering their sacrifices during worship. The tell Jesus about the tragedy, implying a desire to have him explain why such a brutal tragedy should occur. “Did these Galileans deserve to get hacked to death by Pilate’s troops? Was this some form of divine punishment for sin?” Common Jewish thought of the day would suggest that such tragedies were in fact a sign of God’s judgment. Jesus’ response is sharp and to the point: “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners that all other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will perish as they did.” If those gathered wanted to engage in a theological discussion, Jesus makes it abundantly clear his is not accepting the invitation. Instead, he uses the tragedy as a basis for a call to repent. “No, I tell you,” he says, “but unless you repent, you all will perish as they did.” Then he cites a second tragedy to reinforce his point. “Or remember those 18 who were crushed when the tower fell over in Siloam? Do you think they were worse offenders than all others living in Jerusalem?” He answers his own question. “No, I tell you; unless you repent you all will perish just as they did.”

So much for an academic discussion of religion! Jesus turns the headline stories into a warning, a call to repent, to turn around and receive God’s forgiving, liberating love. The call is repeated word for word for emphasis. Note also how inclusive Jesus is. The first tragedy involved Galileans; the second the residents of Jerusalem. Jesus is speaking to everyone. The first tragedy is caused by a paranoid political tyrant; the second by a more or less natural calamity. He is addressing all causes. Using the tragedies, Jesus answers the question. There is no direct correlation between sin and suffering. God does not operate in such a manner. But this answer to the crowd’s question fades as Jesus scores the main point, a call to change, to repent, and be set free by God’s gracious forgiving love. He turns to a parable to make his point again.

He tells of a man who had a fig tree planted and due time, usually about three years, he comes looking for figs. There are none!! He says to the gardener, “I come looking for figs and the tree does not produce. Cut it down! It is wasting good soil.” The gardener replies by pleading for more time: “Sir, let it alone for one more year, I will cultivate around it and put manure on it If it bears fruit next year, well and good, if not, you can cut it down.” God is gracious, says Jesus. In God’s mercy more time is given to repent and receive forgiveness. There is still time, but it is not time without limits. It is now time to change, and bear fruit.

As we hear Jesus’ response to the timeless question, what do you take away for your life? What does his response say to you? While I realize each of us hears Jesus’ response through the filter of what is going on in our lives at this moment, nevertheless I would offer two thoughts. Both have to do with how we understand sin and suffering. The first thought focuses on what Jesus says is not true about the relationship between sin and suffering. The second thought focuses on what Jesus says is true about the relationship. This is my response honed over thirty plus years from that fateful night at Sherman Hospital when I stood silent when the question was posed.

First, Jesus clearly states that it is not true that suffering is punishment for sin. One would think that should settle the matter. But this is not the case. I still hear people asking, “Why these people? Did they do something wrong?” I heard it last week in a restaurant as the people at the table next to us were commenting on the brutal murder of the Kramer family in Darien last week. When we encounter tragedies, we quite naturally attempt to find a cause. Our culture has taught us about the Law of Causality. Everything that happens has a cause. A car accident must have a cause---a drunk driver, speeding, icy roads, mechanical failure… An earthquake occurs. There must be a cause, shifting geologic plates in the area. Everything has a cause. But what about those who are injured or killed as a result of the tragedy---200,000 Haitians, hundreds of Chileans, the Kramer family?” Are they part of the cause? Did they violate some moral law and deserve to die? Are they worse sinners than you and me? We must have a cause. To experience something so horrific, so tragic, so irrational, so random, without being able to assign a cause, would be unthinkable.

This desire to find a cause has led to some very bad theology---the assumption that there is a direct relationship between suffering and sin. To complicate the matter, there are places in the Bible, especially in the First Testament, that seem to support this correlation. I grew up with such a theology. If a tragedy occurred I would hear family members say something like: “There people must have done something wrong.” Then as a college freshman I was required to read, THE BRIDGE OF SAN LOUIS REY by Thornton Wilder. You may recall the story is about a small village in Peru. Each day the villagers have to cross a bridge to get to the fields. One day the bridge snaps and six villagers plunge to their deaths. Attempting to cope with the tragedy, the local priest decides to research the lives of the six victims certain he would find some secret moral flaw that made them deserving of their fate. He finds none. The six are no worse or better than any of the other villagers. There is no correlation between sin and suffering.

At the same time, in Dr. Collins History of Western Civilization class, we spent the first two weeks reading and discussing the Book of Job. Again, the topic was sin and suffering. And again, the conclusion was there is no correlation. Job is an innocent man who suffers. Yet, it was not until I began serious Bible study as a lay person and the formal study of the Bible and theology in seminary that my transition from this theology of retribution to a theology of grace was completed. I came to know our lives are bracketed by God’s gracious love in Christ Jesus. There is no direct correlation between sin and suffering---tragedy, illness, broken relationships, job loss, etc. are not punishment for sin. God in Christ does not operate is such ways.

God does, however, create us in freedom, a tenacious freedom, a freedom that makes us so free we can do that which violates God’s intentions. We live in a fallen world, indeed, a fallen creation, one that bears the marks of sin. And in a fallen creation, people do violence, often brutal, obscene violence to one another; earthquakes happen, tornadoes and hurricanes occur with tragic consequences, oppression and war and incredible cruelty take place. God does not do these things. They are a result of our sinfulness. Innocent people suffer and die. This is not God’s will for us. The Cross, the Cross on which Jesus, innocent of sin, died a cruel death for our forgiveness answers the bad theology of retribution with the theology of God’s redemptive love. The Cross reminds us that God’s redemptive grace is at work in all circumstances, even tragedies.

However, there is a truth in the relationship between sin and suffering, a truth Jesus acknowledges. Tragedies remind us of the fragileness of human life. The very nature of tragedy is that it comes with little or no warning. Commuters are making their usual journey into Minneapolis one morning, and the I-35 bridge collapses and several people die. A twenty year old basketball player is on the court; the very model of prime conditioning and health. Suddenly without warning he has a heart attack and dies. A young wife and mother is coming home from the mall when a drunk driver runs a red light at high speed, hits her car and kills her. Tragedies come with little or no warning. They leave us in shock. Jesus uses two tragedies to remind us that life is fragile and that now is the time to repent, to turn around and receive God’s forgiveness. Timing here is everything. There is a sense of urgency in Jesus’ call. We do not have the luxury of unlimited time to be reconciled with God and with one another.

Why is it that we think we do, think we have unlimited time to be reconciled with one another, with our spouse, or parent, or child, or friend, or with God? Why is it that we think we have unlimited time to say, “Thank you,” or “I am sorry,” or “I love you,” or “Please forgive me?” When I have the opportunity to be with someone in the last stage of life, a question I usually ask is, “Do you have any unfinished business you need to take care of?” When I asked Nancy this question, she said, “I have the front closet to clean” and laughed. I discovered that was her way of saying “Yes, I do and I tell you when I am ready.” Some three months later she was in the hospice unit and during a visit said to me, “Jim, it is time to clean the closet.” I asked what I could do to help. She asked be to bring her husband and daughter to the hospital. I did. The three spent considerable time on a Saturday night saying their “good byes” and speaking of their love for one another, and asking for the forgiveness that was needed. It was a beautiful experience. The next day, Nancy told me there was another piece of business to do. “I want to ask God for forgiveness,” she said, “and have communion with my family.” We did as Nancy requested. Nancy died peacefully two days later. The family rejoiced in the time they had. What a difference such an experience is from those that run out of time, that do not get the words said and the healing experienced.

This morning we come to the Table to receive the very symbols of God’s forgiving and liberating love given in Christ Jesus---the bread which gives life and he cup of joy and salvation. These are reminders of that gracious love, which is at work in all circumstances, even tragedies, to redeem and give new life. As we receive the bread and cup, may we also receive the gift of God’s forgiveness. Thanks be to God! Amen!