In Jesus Holy Name March 20, 2022
Luke 13:6,8 Lent II
“Why is Death Stalking Humanity?”
“The Questioning Mind Wants to Know”
In 1966 the St. Louis Cardinals built a new ballpark and named it Busch Memorial Stadium. There is a story that the owner of the Cardinals, August Busch, wanted to name it Budweiser Stadium, but the city officials would not allow him to name it after a beer. Frustrated by their answer, he named it Busch Memorial Stadium after their family name. But shortly after the new stadium was opened, August Busch introduced anew beer to the market: Busch beer. I guess he got his way!
When the new Busch Stadium was built in 2006 a similar conflict happened. The city had an ordinance that advertisement signs were not allowed on the Southside of the new stadium Facing the situation of losing millions of dollars in advertising costs, the designers of the stadium got around the ordinance by making a huge sign that faced the outside of the stadium, but was offset by one foot so it was located inside the building framework. Technically, it was not “on” the outside of the building. (story from Getting to Know Jesus by Paul Schult)
These two stories remind us of our human nature, how easily we can find away around any rule, and how much we hate being told what we can and cannot do.
Which brings us to your week long Lenten devotional study this past week on the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are God’s values. He takes them seriously. God is holy and perfect, and so are His rules. When kept, they create harmony and peace between us and our Creator and our neighbor.
Like August Busch, we too often find ourselves trying to find a way around God’s Ten Rules. The Apostle Paul wrote one verse in Romans 6 that contains both the consequences of breaking the Ten rules and also a word of Grace and Mercy.
“The wage of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”
In Luke 13 the Lord had been talking and teaching and answering people's questions on any number of different subjects. That's when somebody in the crowd brought up a terribly tragic incident, an event which was, in all probability, on the minds and tongues of everyone. Although we don't know many details about the event, we know this: the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, had ordered some people from Galilee to be killed, while they were making their sacred sacrifices to God.
Everyone who had heard about what had happened to these poor souls was stunned... at first. Then the shock of this scandalous action by the governor was replaced by questions. Inquiring minds wanted to know, "Why had this happened? What terrible sin had these people committed that would allow God to punish them
Many everyday Jewish people, including Jewish Pharisees during the time of Jesus believed that in this life God rewards the righteous and punishes the sinner. In the Gospel of John (9) this point is made very clear when the disciples asked Jesus this question after He restored sight to a man who was born blind. “Lord, who sinned, this man or his parents.” It is a theological question about their understanding of how or if God punishes people for their sins.
The current Jewish thought was that maybe these Galileans deserved what they got. Is their tragic death a punishment from God for their specific sins? It would be the same as asking: Is God trying to teach all those Nebraska farmers a lesson? In 2019 a blizzard killed thousands of their cattle and pigs in the heaviest snowstorms in 50 years? Then flooding their farms and houses were flooded? Are they being punished for their sins?
Jesus rejects the popular theory that these Galileans were worse sinners than others. He gave an amazing answer. No, it has nothing to do with punishment for their specific sins. But you should consider your own life and relationship with God. Unless you repent you too will perish. ( The Gospel of Luke Fred Danker p. 157)
And when the people had finished telling their story, Jesus added one of His
own. He said, “Yes, that was bad….and how about those eighteen folks who were crushed when a tower fell on them?”
Both stories ask, “Does God love us or doesn’t He?” If a person commits a very, very, very bad sin, will God show His displeasure and hit that fellow with a very, very, very bad punishment?” Jesus said No, that is not how God acts.: Then Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree in a vineyard. It is both about judgment and mercy. Judgment: “Unless you repent you too will perish…you all are sinners and have broken God’s commandments and you must repent. God offers mercy to the fig tree. God offers mercy to you and me.
The “vineyard” is a classic reference to Isaiah 5 where God calls Jerusalem His vineyard. God in Jesus has come to His vineyard (Jerusalem) and is seeking fruit. The fruit God was seeking from those who managed His Holy Temple was “mercy and justice.” The words of the Old Testament Prophet Hosea and Micah come to mind.
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
(also quoted by Jesus in Matthew 12)
This is what the Lord proclaims:
“…. I desire mercy, not sacrifice.. acknowledge God
Rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6)
Judgment is coming even to Jerusalem. How many years had Jesus been coming to Jerusalem? Three years. He has been coming to Jerusalem looking for justice and mercy… but finds none. Instead Jesus finds sellers of birds, lambs and money changers in God’s temple. The parable of the fig tree is an offer mercy and hope.
The Bible tells us that because of humankind's deliberate disregard of the Creator's single commandment, sin was born into the world, bringing death and a pantheon of other evils along with it. I'm talking about the questions of death because history in general, and the Bible in particular, show no person can defeat death - not on his own.
Jesus gave this answer: this is a sinful world and because it is a sinful world bad things will happen, even to good, ordinary people. Sooner or later some of those bad things are coming your way. Before those bad things which bring death, show upon your doorstep, you should repent. Square your life with God.
Repentance is the message of Lent. It means to stop moving away from God and turn your face back towards God. Repentance is more than saying: “I’m sorry.” It means to admit to God you have failed to love Him with all your heart, all your actions. It means to admit that even the good you should have done you did not do. Think for a moment about the parable of the Prodigal son. The Prodigal
Son is a victim of his own sins. He admits that his selfish behavior led to a life of failure and misery. He repents, turns back towards home and is forgiven. In the parable Jesus is telling us about the love of God. The father welcomes the boy home. He does not deserve forgiveness, yet it is given. This is how God acts.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…. To be our Savior.
We are like the Prodigal. We are coming home for salvation. Like the fig tree in our parable today… we are offered mercy.
Rev. John Stott writes: Repentance and faith belong together. We can not follow Jesus without forsaking sin. Repentance is a definite turn from every thought, word, deed and habit which is known to be wrong. It is not sufficient to feel pangs of remorse or to make some kind of apology to God. Fundamentally, repentance is a matter of neither emotion nor of speech. It is an inward change of mind and attitude toward sin which leads to a change of our behavior.”
(Basic Christianity page 138-139)
Of course we cannot repent if we do not have faith that our evil behavior will be erased by God’s action on the cross. This is why repentance and faith belong together. (Rev. John Stott in his book “The Contemporary Christian” writes Our God has offered us mercy at the foot of the cross. “Once we have received mercy it must be shown to others. We have all been prodigals, God wants us all to be Good Samaritans, showing mercy to others.” (p.347)
Christianity is a rescue religion. It declares that God has taken the initiative by sending Jesus Christ to deliver us from our sins. Jesus said: “Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” We cannot do it. You and I can not keep the commandments if our lives depended on it, which they do. Which is why Jesus kept all the commandments for you and me.
So you and I might be declared righteous, holy and without blemish in God’s sight, Jesus avoided temptation. He kept the commandments perfectly. Then He carried to the cross all our broken commandments, everything you and I have done wrong . (sermon by Ken Klaus Luke 13 2010)
When Jesus began His ministry he proclaimed through Galilee “Repent for the Kingdom, the reign of God has come. The good news is about Jesus that He died for our sins and was raised from death. He now sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven and authority to command repentance and faith, then bestows forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believe.
