It is a
great privilege being a Vicar, because I get to share at special moments in
peoples’ lives. There are the joyful
moments such conducting a wedding, celebrating the birth of a child, rejoicing
with people when they have received some good news. But I also get to be with people in the
difficult and sad times of life, being there for someone when the doctor has
given them some bad news, supporting the dying and comforting the bereaved,
being there for people when life is a struggle.
It is when bad
things happen, when tragedy strikes, that we look for explanations and answers. We ask the why questions. “Why
did I get cancer?” “Why did my mum
die?” “Why when I try to live a good
life, do bad things seem to happen to me or my family?” We need an answer, because an answer feels
better than not knowing.
Behind these
questions, there is often another, deeper, more challenging question, “Why did
God allow this to happen?” and “Where is God in all of this?”
In the
Jewish mind, there had to a reason for suffering, and they believed that
suffering was a consequence of sin. So
if personal tragedy befell someone, it was believed that in some way they were
responsible for it, it had something to do with the person’s past.
For example
Job in the Old Testament, in a series of terrible tragedies, loses his family,
property and health all within a short period of time. His friends assume that Job must have done something
wrong to deserve this suffering. One of
Job’s friends, Eliphaz says “Think! Has a truly
innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap? Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in
the end? It’s my observation that those who plow evil and sow trouble reap evil and trouble. (Job 4:7-8) In other
words “you must have done something to deserve this!”
And in the
New Testament when Jesus and his disciples saw a man who had been blind from
his birth, the disciples asked “Rabbi, who
sinned, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind?”
(John 9:2) There had to be a reason why
this man was blind. But Jesus replies
that neither this man nor his parents sinned so as to cause the blindness.
In our
reading today, Jesus mentions two tragedies, the first where Pilate had killed
some Galileans in the Temple in Jerusalem, and the second, where the tower of
Siloam in Jerusalem had collapsed killing 18 people. Jesus asks the question, were these people
worse sinners or more guilt than anyone else?
To which the answer is an emphatic no.
The reality
is that we live in a world where tragic things happen all the time. Anyone happening to be at the wrong place at
the wrong time can be a victim of an accident, like the 19 people who were
killed in the ballooning accident in Egypt this week. Job worries, family tensions, health
problems, and accidents can affect us all, and sometimes there isn’t always an
explanation why.
But still to this day, there are those who believe that human
suffering is due to divine punishment or sin.
For example there were some who claimed that the Sandy Hook Elementary
School massacre in December in Connecticut was God’s judgement on America. This of course is an absolutely outrageous
and totally unjustifiable claim to make, but it is what some people believe.
And this type of thinking is more common than I think
we’d like to admit. For example when
people receive bad news and they say “What
did I do to deserve this?” there is an assumption that they are somehow
being punished. But Jesus never promised
us that if we follow him, we would have an easy life, free from trials and
difficulties. Instead he promised us
that he would always be there for us, “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20)
Jesus uses the stories of these two tragedies, the killing
of the Galileans and the eighteen killed by the collapse of the tower, to turn
attention on our own lives. He reminds
us that we all fall short of God’s standards, we are all sinners, and that we
need to repent, which means turn from our sin, and turn back to God. Jesus says "Unless you repent, you will all perish as they did."
Jesus goes onto to tell the parable of
the fig tree, which carries an important challenge for us, but also words of grace
and encouragement.
A landowner had planted a fig tree in
his vineyard, and employed a gardener to look after it. But after three years this fig tree had
failed to produce any fruit. The tree
was failing to do what it was intended to do.
So the owner of the vineyard tells the gardener to cut down the fig
tree, because without fruit it is worthless, and is taking up space that could
otherwise be productive in the vineyard.
But the gardener was not willing to give up on this tree just yet, “Leave it alone one more year, and I’ll dig
around it and fertilise it. If it bears
fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut
it down.”
In the Old Testament a fruitful tree
was often used as a symbol of Godly living, and John the Baptist called people
to “Produce
fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew
3:8) What is this fruit? It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness and faithfulness (Galatians 5:22).
As Christians, we are called to be fruitful, this happens when we open
ourselves up to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It happens as we seek to live faithful and
obedient lives. This is what it means to
be a disciple of Jesus. It all starts with
repentance, recognising that we have failed God, turning away from that sin,
and surrendering ourselves to God.
The problem arises
however, when we believe that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract
sin. In other words have a change in belief without a change in behaviour. You cannot have one without the other.
In the parable of
the fig tree, there is a sense of urgency, time in short. The vineyard owner is giving the tree only
one more year to produce fruit, or it will be taken out. This tree is being given one last chance to
prove itself. We need to recognise that
time is short for us as well. Christ
calls us to come to him today, to repent and turn from our sins, and to start
bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Jesus
warns us that “unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
None of us know what tomorrow will bring,
none of us know how long we have on this earth, which is why there is a sense
of urgency in needing to turn to Christ, and living faithfully today.
But whilst this parable warns of
judgement, it speaks even more of God’s grace, patience and mercy. The gardener has not given up yet on the tree,
he says “I'm going to
do everything I can to help this tree live and bear fruit.” This is a
reflection of God’s love and unending patience with us all. God does not give up on us, even when it may
appear we will never bear fruit, or never change – God does not abandon hope
that change is possible.
In this teaching Jesus is calling us to
repentance, to turn our lives in a new direction. As individuals we are called to acts of generosity, compassion, love and service. These are the fruits of a life turned to God,
of a mind and heart changed by the Spirit of God. As a community of faith, we are called to bear
fruit as well, to engage in God’s mission in the world, to be build God’s
kingdom of justice and peace for all.
This
season of Lent is a time to take stock of our own hearts, souls and life in
God. There are some steps that help us to do just that; here are some of them:
First, acknowledge your need for God
Second, confess your sins. Tell God about the things that you do regret and
want to leave behind as you turn a new direction and embark on a new journey in
your living.
Third, accept God's forgiveness and lay claim to God's love. The truth is, God
is much more ready to forgive than we are to receive that forgiveness and much
more ready to love than we are to own that love.
Fourth, take time to examine your life, your priorities, and
your patterns of activity. Let God renew your mind with God's grace and love.
And
finally, bear fruit.
"Repent.
Change your mind. Bear fruit." There it is, a repentance recipe for this
season, the ingredients for spiritual renewal during these 40 days of Lent,
which can lead to a new future, and renewed hope in the love of God for each
one of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment