11^th March 2010

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley (7 March 2010)

Lessons -- Isaiah 55:1-11; Luke 13:1-9

The New Testament scholar Michael Fitzpatrick says that Luke's 'Gospel of mercy' is most clearly shown in Luke 13:1-9. This is very surprising!
Cruelty (vv 1-3) and an accident (vv 4,5) claim the lives of innocent citizens, the crowd is told to 'repent' and the nation is warned to 'shape up or else . . .'! Can this passage really be the 'clearest' demonstration of the 'Gospel of mercy'?

It isn't immediately obvious that this is the case. The reported tragedies are attributed by the people to the sins of the victims. They are into blaming the victim in a big way. According to their logic, the faithful reap benefits in life while unbelievers are punished.

Jesus completely rejects this kind of logic. There is no justification here for linking catastrophes, like earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, to the sins of the innocent sufferers. Victims of brutality, persecution and natural disasters are no worse and no better than those who are still living! What befalls other people in such circumstances doesn't tell us anything about their goodness or evil -- or ours. Instead, we are starkly reminded of the vulnerability of life and our responsibilities in the time given to us in life.

Jesus doesn't pussy-foot. He brings us back to reality with a jolt!
'Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (vv 3,5)' This is hardly the stuff of mercy: 'Do what I say or suffer terrible consequences.'

Notice, however, that in Luke, the warning to repent is also the invitation to share in the mercy of God embodied in Jesus' teaching and person. Luke alone tells us of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37), the Prodigal Son (15:11-32), the calling of Zacchaeus (19:1-10), the healing of the Ten Lepers (17:11-19), the acceptance of the publican in the Temple (18:9-14) and the penitent criminal on the cross (23:40-43).

The dire warnings in this passage must be understood as invitations to change the way we think and act in response to the coming of God's sheer grace among us in Christ.

We like to think that the invitation to live by grace will be welcomed. In reality, it is often fiercely resisted. We prefer to calculate other people's shortcomings than open ourselves to God's unbounded mercy. But there is no place to hide when we are called us to give an account of ourselves. 'Forget about what tragedies say about the victims,' says Jesus, 'Where do you stand in relation to the mercy of God?'

I'm afraid that the message of God's grace has become so familiar to all of us that we don't think it really matters how we respond. Whatever we do is covered by grace. We easily forget that the Word of grace is an urgent invitation to believe in and to follow the One who went to the Cross.

This is the point of the Parable of the Fig Tree (vv 6-9). Fig trees are still common in Israel. A good tree will produce about 140 kilograms of fruit. They are easy to grow. Their leaves provide shade from the hot sun.
They have healing qualities. Doctors used them to heal ulcers and sore throats -- Hezekiah had a poultice of figs applied to his boils. The failure of the fig harvest still brings great distress to communities in the Middle East.

In the Old Testament the fig tree is a symbol of Israel's calling to be a sign of blessing among the nations (Isaiah 5:1-7; Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1; Jeremiah 8:13). A healthy tree signifies faithfulness to the grace of God; a sickly one indicates the tragic failure to live in the light of grace.

Used here by Jesus, the message is clear. The people called to be 'a light to the nations' are in danger of forfeiting the privileges of grace.
Unlike victims of tragedy, they are not innocent. They are culpable for trying to calculate other people's worth on the basis of what happens to them and neglecting to deepen their faith in God and to spread the word of mercy. They see no need to pray 'forgive us our sins . . .'.

It is fascinating to see how Jesus responds to news of the tragedies. Why doesn't he blame Pilate's soldiers (for murdering innocent worshippers) or the local council (for issuing a shonky building permit)? After all, they seem to be the chief sinners in these unfortunate situations.

Why does he put the acid on his Jewish audience? After all, their only sin as a covenant-community is that they have been a bit lazy, forgetful and short-sighted. They are not accused of cruelty or fraud. They have only neglected to deepen their faith in response to God's grace.

But that is the problem! They have taken for granted the privileges and responsibilities of faith. They have become self-satisfied with their own goodness, eager to calculate the sins of victims of suffering (e.g., like asylum seekers) and unconcerned about restoring the lost to the community.
That is why the warning is so severe. As members of a privileged community, they have refused the invitation to participate in the community of grace.

The same invitation and warning are given to the Church as the heir to Israel. The passage does not justify mistreatment of Jews even though Jesus specifically challenged Israel to be what God had called her to be.
It is also a wake-up call to the Church. How do things stand in a Church that has not done anything particularly murderous or fraudulent?

It is no surprise to us or to critics of religion that serious betrayals of the Gospel, for which repentance is necessary, happen in churches.
However, in this passage the issue is not corruption in high places but complacency about what God in his incomparable mercy has done for the broken world. The Church bears great responsibility for having been given the highest privilege of being members in the covenant-community. It is a grave matter to take for granted the costly, life-giving grace of God in Christ.

The Parable of the Fig Tree is clear that we do not have unlimited time in which to respond to the Gospel of mercy. As members of the Body of Christ we cannot, without serious consequences, continue to snub the invitation, or to accept it but neglect to nurture our faith in God. It doesn't get more serious than saying that 'you likewise will perish' (v 5) or 'the tree will be cut down' (v9).

Remarkably, in view of this dire warning, there is still time for amendment of life. The conversation between the owner of the vineyard in which the fig tree is planted (who represents God the Father) and the gardener (representing the Son) underscores Michael Fitzpatrick's claim that this is the clearest demonstration of the 'Gospel of mercy'.

The conversation is full of sadness, disappointment, frustration, anger and patience as the invitation continues to be given to a complacent people who need to be reminded that their community is founded and sustained only by the costly grace of God embodied in Jesus.

This is good news for the Church. Despite our complacency, there is still time for us to hear the Word of grace and to preach it to the nations. It is good news, as Isaiah puts it, that 'the Word that goes forth from the mouth of the Lord shall not return empty' (Isaiah 55:11). And it is good news that the time for the Church to respond to the Gospel is not completely open-ended.

Thus we are summoned to respond to the invitation to repentance as a matter of urgency. The world still needs to hear the good news: that, in Christ's costly life, death and resurrection, God's mercy to the lost and sinful (including the Church) is embodied. Woe betide a complacent Church 'which departs from this central function'. As one writer says, 'It deserves only to be rooted out and thrown on the rubbish heap.' (Warren Clarnette, The Year of Luke, vol 1, p31.) The good news is that, in Christ, the incomparable grace of God for all has been displayed and therefore that God's mercy must not be taken for granted.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.