7^th March 2013

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 3 March 2013

Lessons - Psalm 103:1-13; Isaiah 55:6-9; Luke 13:1-9

When disasters happen we speak openly about things that are never far below the surface. Why did this injustice, accident, illness or misfortune happen to me or others? Is it the result of blind fate, bad karma or the will of God?

Some folk, like those in Jesus' audience, see a direct link between the victims of tragedy and their sin. Jesus rejects this kind of logic. The brutal massacre of Jewish worshippers (human evil) and the collapse of a building (evil in nature) do not tell us anything about the sin (or the
faith) of the victims. They are not any worse (or any better) than those who survived! We cannot draw conclusions between untimely deaths and the character of those who perished!

We often ask the question in a different form. Why do (some) good people suffer tragedy while (some) bad ones are spared? The reasoning is the same. We try to 'explain' disasters in terms of the worth of those who die or who survive! We think that the good should be rewarded with long lives and little suffering, and the bad punished with short lives and misery.

Jesus completely rejects such calculations! There is no guarantee that the faithful will be spared tragedy. God 'makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust' (Matthew 5:45).
Moreover, disciples are to expect hostility in the service of their crucified Lord, himself the victim and the conqueror of evil.

The problem with trying to calculate our worth and the worth of other people is that we miss life's most important question. If we are obsessed with 'fairness' we will be blind to the grace of God, before whom all of us have no 'right to life' but through whom we are given 'fullness of life' in Christ.

Jesus questions our tendency to blame others for their misfortune and forces us to take stock of our own lives. The brutality, vulnerability and brevity of life should impress on us the need to change our ways radically. Tragic events should spur us to become servants of grace who are not interested in calculating the sins of others or of excusing our own failures.

There is no cause and effect relation between untimely deaths and sin! But they do make us aware of life's fragility and the urgency of responding to God's grace in Christ. Time is short. People (then and now) must decide where they stand in relation to Christ's costly love for them. Time is not
unlimited in which to accept the invitation to be his disciples!

At this point you might expect 'hell-fire and damnation' preaching! The passage seems to support such an approach. 'Unless you repent,' says Jesus, 'you will all likewise perish. (vv3,5)' 'Cut down the barren fig tree,' says the owner, 'because it is a waste of space. (v7)'

Jesus is blunt and the tone is threatening! So it is surprising that New Testament scholar, Michael Fitzpatrick, says that Luke's 'Gospel of Mercy'
- which includes the Parable of the Prodigal Son - 'is most clearly shown in these verses' (The Year of Luke, p31 para). How can this be when we are told that, if we are complacent, disaster will strike? How can this be
called 'mercy'?

Is it not a great mercy to be strongly reminded that, because time is short and because God, in Christ, has justified us by grace through faith, we are set free from trying to calculate other people's worth - and ours?

Though it does not seem so at the time, a far worse thing can happen to us than to suffer an untimely death! We can miss seeing that the time given to us is a time-of-grace in which God is to be worshipped and we are to serve the crucified-and-risen Christ in bearing the suffering of the world.

In this hard saying, Jesus is not being callous. He does not say that untimely deaths are 'the will of God'. Such deaths are a great evil! As we see in Jesus' ministry, it is not God's will that people suffer cruelty, indifference, affliction or accident. He heals the sick, raises the dead, condemns sin, forgives repentant sinners and, at the Cross and Resurrection, defeats the dread powers of evil and death for us.

In this episode, though, he is disturbed that folk are so concerned to calculate the sins of others that they ignore their own sins and are closed to God's life-giving mercy. Complacent about their faith and condemning victims of misfortune, they try to dodge God's claim on their lives.

This is the point of the Parable of the Fig Tree (vv6-9). In the Bible fig trees are symbols of blessing which the 'People of God' experience when they are true to God's gracious covenant. A thriving tree indicates a community that responds to God's grace; a sickly tree means contempt for
God's grace, deserving of the severest condemnation.

At this point 'hell-fire and damnation' preachers go astray! Tragically, too, it has been used by others to justify terrible mistreatment of the Jews. They miss the dialogue between the owner and gardener. It is full of sadness, frustration, anger and patience. 'Father' and 'Son' are dismayed about the behaviour of 'the people' they love! The passage ends with a 'period of grace' - time in which the Word of mercy can still be heard and taken to heart.

Michael Fitzpatrick is right to say that this is the clearest example of Luke's Gospel of Mercy. It is 'Good News' for individuals and communities of faith. Why?

* There is still time for 'amendment of life'. We / 'the Church' may yet hear the Word of grace.
* The Church is given time to preach and teach the Word of grace.
* The time for responding to the Word of grace is not unlimited.

It is not merciful for individuals or churches to think that 'grace' is open-ended and demands little of us. Because it is costly (for God) and demands everything (of us), a decision should not be delayed.

It certainly is not our place as the Church to decide whether the 'period of grace' has come to an end for other people. That would be to fall into a way of thinking that is forbidden by Jesus in relation to personal tragedy (vv1-5). We are not to calculate the sins of others by the bad things that befall them. It is enough that we are open to hearing the Word of mercy and let it challenge, convert and renew us in the service of Christ.

At the same time, we should not tolerate the flippant attitude of many in the church and the community towards God's Word of mercy embodied in Christ. 'Cheap grace' must be identified and resisted! 'Acceptance' and 'tolerance' are poor substitutes for forgiveness and right living. The Gospel of God's incarnate, crucified and risen mercy must be welcomed, proclaimed and lived-out - not mocked (as in the media) or explained away (as often in the church).

This dramatic episode demonstrates that it is very serious for us (as individuals and as a Church) to ignore God's invitation to participate in the ministry of Christ: to proclaim God's grace and bear the suffering of the world. We must not pass up the opportunity and time given to us to preach and teach the Word of grace in a world where calculating the sins of others and being easy on our own palpable short-comings is the cause of great conflict between individuals, families, communities, churches and nations.

The great danger of trying to calculate the worth of others (and
ourselves) is that we become blind to our need to hear the Word of grace and blind to our responsibility to set forth the Word of grace for the sake of the world.

We must not treat untimely deaths lightly. Jesus did not! But tragic situations force us to see that, because our time is short, procrastination is a luxury that we cannot afford. We are invited to make up our minds to live freely and responsibly in the service of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord who forgives sin, bears our suffering, redeems our humanity and makes the whole creation new.

Like a healthy fig tree the Church is called to bear fruit worthy of grace. We ought not to presume on God's patience lest we, like a barren fig tree, are no longer useful for the purpose for which we have been planted in the earth. We are to proclaim gladly, in word and deed, the Gospel of grace as it has been embodied in Jesus Christ the Son of God and Lord of heaven and earth.

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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.