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

They told Jesus about an atrocity.  Some people had come from Galilee to worship in the temple, and Pilate's soldiers had invaded those sacred precincts to slay the Galileans on the spot -- mingling their blood with the blood of animal sacrifices.  It was murder, pure and simple.  Even worse, in the minds of these Jews, it was desecration.  Roman soldiers had killed God's people AND defiled God's temple.

Why did they bother Jesus with news of this murder?  I think that they were stunned -- trying to figure it out -- trying to understand why it happened.  Had the Galileans committed some terrible sin?  Was this God's punishment?  What was going on?

When I read this story, I was reminded of a terrible scene in the movie, "Schindler's List." The commandant of the Nazi work camp killed an occasional prisoner personally.  He kept a rifle in his quarters, and would step to his balcony now and then, take aim -- and pull the trigger.  A prisoner would fall to the ground, mortally wounded, and everyone else would run. 

Why would this senior officer bother to kill a prisoner at random, when he could have his guards shoot prisoners by the dozens -- or work them to death by the thousands?  So inefficient -- and Nazis prized efficiency.  What was going on?

What was going on was this -- the commandant was terrorizing prisoners.  He knew that they were trying desperately to figure it out -- to learn how to survive -- and he wanted to drive them crazy.  If he shot a prisoner, all the other prisoners would wonder why.  They would ask what the victim had done wrong.  Was he walking down the wrong street?  Was he outdoors at a forbidden time?  Was he walking too slowly?  Was he carrying contraband?  Kill one prisoner, and start the rumor mill buzzing! 

So The Question was "WHY did this happen?"  But the Question Behind the Question was even more important.  The Question Behind the Question was, "How can I keep this from happening to ME?"  If prisoners could figure out why the other person died, they might avoid a similar fate.

But, of course, nothing could save them, because the problem was not that the victim had done something wrong.  The problem was an evil commandant who was playing with their minds.  He wanted to terrorize them -- to have them scurry for an answer they could not find -- to drive them crazy with fear!  In the name of doing something someone thought was for a good cause, evil ran rampant.  And it still does today, when we do not seek God’s spirit.

You see, it is terrible to have bad things happen.  It is even worse not to know why -- to have no idea how to prevent bad things from happening in the future -- to have to guess what went wrong.

And so, some people told Jesus about Galileans slaughtered in the temple.  They didn't ask Jesus WHY it happened, but that question nevertheless hung in the air.  WHY!!!  What did these Galileans do wrong? 

And a second question also hung in the air -- the Question Behind the Question -- WHAT CAN I DO to keep from suffering the same fate!!!  That is the real point of telling Jesus about this massacre.  Maybe Jesus could explain things -- could tell them what to do so that they wouldn't find themselves on the wrong end of a Roman sword.

-- The Question:  "WHY did this happen?"
-- The Question Behind the Question:  "WHAT CAN I DO to avoid something like this in the future? 

We all ask those questions when terrible things happen.  And we often come up with the wrong answer -- sometimes a terribly wrong answer.

Barbara Brown Taylor tells of an incident that took place when she was serving as a hospital chaplain.  A little girl was having surgery for a brain tumor, and Barbara went to visit the mother.  She found the mother in the waiting room -- sitting next to an ashtray full of cigarette butts -- reeking of cigarette smoke. 

The mother confessed that she knew why her daughter was sick.  "It's my punishment," she said, "for smoking these damned cigarettes."  The mother felt that God wanted her to quit smoking -- and had struck down her daughter to get her attention.  The mother wailed, "Now I'm supposed to stop, but I can't stop.  I'm going to kill my own child" (Barbara Brown Taylor, "Life-giving fear," Christian Century, March 4, 1998, p. 229).

Listen carefully to that mother, and you will hear The Question -- and the Question Behind the Question -- and the mother's answers to both questions:

-- The Question: WHY is my daughter sick? 
-- The Answer:  Because I smoke cigarettes. 

-- The Question Behind the Question:  WHAT CAN I DO to make my daughter well? 
-- The Answer:  Stop smoking cigarettes.

Barbara tried to reassure the mother that God was not punishing her for smoking, but it was a hard sell -- in part because the mother needed an answer that would help her to gain control over her tragedy.  She found it oddly comforting to believe that her smoking was killing her daughter because, if she could quit, maybe her daughter would get well. 

Let me assure you that I don't for a moment believe that God was punishing this mother -- or that the daughter's illness had anything to do with the mother's smoking -- or that the mother could save her daughter by quitting. 

The truth is that sometimes our suffering IS the direct result of our personal sin -- rob a bank and go to jail.  But sometimes our suffering is just the result of living on a Fallen Planet.  Bad things sometimes happen, and they happen for no apparent reason.

In the case of this mother and daughter, I don't believe there was any connection between the mother's smoking and the daughter's illness -- but this mother wanted to believe -- needed to believe -- that there was.  The mother thought that, if she had caused the daughter's illness, maybe she could reverse course and save her daughter.  It was a small ray of hope -- studded with barbs -- based on a lie -- but it was all that the mother had.

When tragedy strikes -- and we can all expect to face tragedy at some point -- we ask The Question:  WHY? -- and The Question Behind the Question:  WHAT CAN I DO?

The people who told Jesus about the massacre in the temple didn't ask these questions directly, but Jesus knew what was on their minds.  He knew that they wanted to know:

-- WHY this massacre happened and
-- WHAT THEY COULD DO to avoid a similar fate.

So Jesus told them.  Listen carefully to his answer!  If you haven't already had to ask these questions -- if you haven't already experienced tragedy -- the day will come when you will -- so listen to what Jesus says.

Jesus answered the first question first -- the WHY question.  He told them that the slain Galileans were no worse than anyone else.  They had NOT done anything to deserve death.  The massacre was NOT God's judgment -- it was just one of those things.  Bad things happen.  Sometimes they happen to good people.

Then he reminded them of an accident where a falling tower killed eighteen people.  Were they bad people?  No!  Was the falling tower God's way of punishing them?  No.  On a Fallen Planet, towers fall -- people get sick -- bad things happen. 

But then Jesus went on to answer the second question -- the WHAT CAN WE DO question.  He told them to repent -- to change the direction of their lives -- to get right with God.

Jesus' answer can be confusing, but I think that I understand it: 

-- Jesus said, on the one hand, that the people who had been killed had done nothing wrong -- or nothing worse than anyone else.  They weren't bad people.  That was his answer to the WHY question.  Bad things happen.

-- But, on the other hand, he told his questioners to repent -- to change their ways -- to get right with God.  That was his answer to the WHAT CAN WE DO question.

-- And then he told them a parable that warned them that they must be fruitful.  That was the rest of his answer to the WHAT CAN WE DO question.

THIS IS WHEN HE TOLD THE PARABLE ABOUT THE FIG TREE.  What did it mean?

Repent!  Get moving in the right direction!  Get right with God!  Bear spiritual fruit!  Will those things save us?  No!  No, they won't save us from all suffering.  No, they won't keep us from dying.  To be honest, Jesus promised, not a rose garden, but a cross.  We cannot expect that, if we are faithful disciples, nothing bad will ever happen to us. 

BUT Jesus calls us to repent -- to get right with God, because our repentance opens the door to blessings. 

For one thing, when we repent -- when we start moving in the direction that God would have us go -- we are less likely to engage in self-destructive behavior.  I know that there are Christians who have problems with those things, but the person who has committed his or her life to Christ is less likely to self-destruct than the person who has not.  And that is a blessing!

But that is just the beginning.  When we walk with God, we have God always at our side -- find strength through God's presence -- find hope through God's love.  That makes all the difference!  When times get tough, we know that we are not alone.  We know that God will help us.  That faith helps to keep us on the right path -- helps to keep us moving -- helps us to do the right thing.  And that is a blessing!

Let’s talk a moment a little more about the fig tree example Jesus used.  For the fig trees, opportunity meant another year.  Today, for us, it means another opportunity, not to dwell on what we have missed, but to do what we can.  In the parable, there was not only more times but more investment in extra manure to be added to bring forth a crop of figs.  Likewise, in our lives God is working with us to bring forth the results of faithful living.  The second chance is not in nature but in God’s grace.  Sometimes in our zealousness in of faith agendas we forget about God’s grace.

God’s mercy is still talking to God’s judgment, and on that conversation hangs our salvation.  Most of us have dreams we have not reached. The good news us that God is in the business of opening doors, not closing them.  The good news is that the past is not final.  But there is also a message in the one more year being given.  It is there comes a time when we will be accountable.  The tree had another year.  Then if it failed to produce, it would have been cut down.  It could only take up space for so long.  There are times when the day of testing does come.  Ready or not, there are no more chances.

Pastor Martin Niermoeller, imprisoned at Dachau for 7 years, wrote, “ In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists.  I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist.  Then they came or the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.  Then they came for the trade unionists, but I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.  They came for the Catholics; I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.  Then they came for me, and by that time, there was no one left to speak for me.”

But to you and me the final day has not come.  We still have time to be faithful, to be fruitful.  We can still so as Isaiah challenges,”Seek the Lord while he may be found.  Call upon him while he is near.”  Let us rejoice in God’s grace for this day.  Let us each use our opportunity to be faithful to God and to one another.  AMEN.

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

They told Jesus about an atrocity.  Some people had come from Galilee to worship in the temple, and Pilate's soldiers had invaded those sacred precincts to slay the Galileans on the spot -- mingling their blood with the blood of animal sacrifices.  It was murder, pure and simple.  Even worse, in the minds of these Jews, it was desecration.  Roman soldiers had killed God's people AND defiled God's temple.

Why did they bother Jesus with news of this murder?  I think that they were stunned -- trying to figure it out -- trying to understand why it happened.  Had the Galileans committed some terrible sin?  Was this God's punishment?  What was going on?

When I read this story, I was reminded of a terrible scene in the movie, "Schindler's List." The commandant of the Nazi work camp killed an occasional prisoner personally.  He kept a rifle in his quarters, and would step to his balcony now and then, take aim -- and pull the trigger.  A prisoner would fall to the ground, mortally wounded, and everyone else would run. 

Why would this senior officer bother to kill a prisoner at random, when he could have his guards shoot prisoners by the dozens -- or work them to death by the thousands?  So inefficient -- and Nazis prized efficiency.  What was going on?

What was going on was this -- the commandant was terrorizing prisoners.  He knew that they were trying desperately to figure it out -- to learn how to survive -- and he wanted to drive them crazy.  If he shot a prisoner, all the other prisoners would wonder why.  They would ask what the victim had done wrong.  Was he walking down the wrong street?  Was he outdoors at a forbidden time?  Was he walking too slowly?  Was he carrying contraband?  Kill one prisoner, and start the rumor mill buzzing! 

So The Question was "WHY did this happen?"  But the Question Behind the Question was even more important.  The Question Behind the Question was, "How can I keep this from happening to ME?"  If prisoners could figure out why the other person died, they might avoid a similar fate.

But, of course, nothing could save them, because the problem was not that the victim had done something wrong.  The problem was an evil commandant who was playing with their minds.  He wanted to terrorize them -- to have them scurry for an answer they could not find -- to drive them crazy with fear!  In the name of doing something someone thought was for a good cause, evil ran rampant.  And it still does today, when we do not seek God’s spirit.

You see, it is terrible to have bad things happen.  It is even worse not to know why -- to have no idea how to prevent bad things from happening in the future -- to have to guess what went wrong.

And so, some people told Jesus about Galileans slaughtered in the temple.  They didn't ask Jesus WHY it happened, but that question nevertheless hung in the air.  WHY!!!  What did these Galileans do wrong? 

And a second question also hung in the air -- the Question Behind the Question -- WHAT CAN I DO to keep from suffering the same fate!!!  That is the real point of telling Jesus about this massacre.  Maybe Jesus could explain things -- could tell them what to do so that they wouldn't find themselves on the wrong end of a Roman sword.

-- The Question:  "WHY did this happen?"
-- The Question Behind the Question:  "WHAT CAN I DO to avoid something like this in the future? 

We all ask those questions when terrible things happen.  And we often come up with the wrong answer -- sometimes a terribly wrong answer.

Barbara Brown Taylor tells of an incident that took place when she was serving as a hospital chaplain.  A little girl was having surgery for a brain tumor, and Barbara went to visit the mother.  She found the mother in the waiting room -- sitting next to an ashtray full of cigarette butts -- reeking of cigarette smoke. 

The mother confessed that she knew why her daughter was sick.  "It's my punishment," she said, "for smoking these damned cigarettes."  The mother felt that God wanted her to quit smoking -- and had struck down her daughter to get her attention.  The mother wailed, "Now I'm supposed to stop, but I can't stop.  I'm going to kill my own child" (Barbara Brown Taylor, "Life-giving fear," Christian Century, March 4, 1998, p. 229).

Listen carefully to that mother, and you will hear The Question -- and the Question Behind the Question -- and the mother's answers to both questions:

-- The Question: WHY is my daughter sick? 
-- The Answer:  Because I smoke cigarettes. 

-- The Question Behind the Question:  WHAT CAN I DO to make my daughter well? 
-- The Answer:  Stop smoking cigarettes.

Barbara tried to reassure the mother that God was not punishing her for smoking, but it was a hard sell -- in part because the mother needed an answer that would help her to gain control over her tragedy.  She found it oddly comforting to believe that her smoking was killing her daughter because, if she could quit, maybe her daughter would get well. 

Let me assure you that I don't for a moment believe that God was punishing this mother -- or that the daughter's illness had anything to do with the mother's smoking -- or that the mother could save her daughter by quitting. 

The truth is that sometimes our suffering IS the direct result of our personal sin -- rob a bank and go to jail.  But sometimes our suffering is just the result of living on a Fallen Planet.  Bad things sometimes happen, and they happen for no apparent reason.

In the case of this mother and daughter, I don't believe there was any connection between the mother's smoking and the daughter's illness -- but this mother wanted to believe -- needed to believe -- that there was.  The mother thought that, if she had caused the daughter's illness, maybe she could reverse course and save her daughter.  It was a small ray of hope -- studded with barbs -- based on a lie -- but it was all that the mother had.

When tragedy strikes -- and we can all expect to face tragedy at some point -- we ask The Question:  WHY? -- and The Question Behind the Question:  WHAT CAN I DO?

The people who told Jesus about the massacre in the temple didn't ask these questions directly, but Jesus knew what was on their minds.  He knew that they wanted to know:

-- WHY this massacre happened and
-- WHAT THEY COULD DO to avoid a similar fate.

So Jesus told them.  Listen carefully to his answer!  If you haven't already had to ask these questions -- if you haven't already experienced tragedy -- the day will come when you will -- so listen to what Jesus says.

Jesus answered the first question first -- the WHY question.  He told them that the slain Galileans were no worse than anyone else.  They had NOT done anything to deserve death.  The massacre was NOT God's judgment -- it was just one of those things.  Bad things happen.  Sometimes they happen to good people.

Then he reminded them of an accident where a falling tower killed eighteen people.  Were they bad people?  No!  Was the falling tower God's way of punishing them?  No.  On a Fallen Planet, towers fall -- people get sick -- bad things happen. 

But then Jesus went on to answer the second question -- the WHAT CAN WE DO question.  He told them to repent -- to change the direction of their lives -- to get right with God.

Jesus' answer can be confusing, but I think that I understand it: 

-- Jesus said, on the one hand, that the people who had been killed had done nothing wrong -- or nothing worse than anyone else.  They weren't bad people.  That was his answer to the WHY question.  Bad things happen.

-- But, on the other hand, he told his questioners to repent -- to change their ways -- to get right with God.  That was his answer to the WHAT CAN WE DO question.

-- And then he told them a parable that warned them that they must be fruitful.  That was the rest of his answer to the WHAT CAN WE DO question.

THIS IS WHEN HE TOLD THE PARABLE ABOUT THE FIG TREE.  What did it mean?

Repent!  Get moving in the right direction!  Get right with God!  Bear spiritual fruit!  Will those things save us?  No!  No, they won't save us from all suffering.  No, they won't keep us from dying.  To be honest, Jesus promised, not a rose garden, but a cross.  We cannot expect that, if we are faithful disciples, nothing bad will ever happen to us. 

BUT Jesus calls us to repent -- to get right with God, because our repentance opens the door to blessings. 

For one thing, when we repent -- when we start moving in the direction that God would have us go -- we are less likely to engage in self-destructive behavior.  I know that there are Christians who have problems with those things, but the person who has committed his or her life to Christ is less likely to self-destruct than the person who has not.  And that is a blessing!

But that is just the beginning.  When we walk with God, we have God always at our side -- find strength through God's presence -- find hope through God's love.  That makes all the difference!  When times get tough, we know that we are not alone.  We know that God will help us.  That faith helps to keep us on the right path -- helps to keep us moving -- helps us to do the right thing.  And that is a blessing!

Let’s talk a moment a little more about the fig tree example Jesus used.  For the fig trees, opportunity meant another year.  Today, for us, it means another opportunity, not to dwell on what we have missed, but to do what we can.  In the parable, there was not only more times but more investment in extra manure to be added to bring forth a crop of figs.  Likewise, in our lives God is working with us to bring forth the results of faithful living.  The second chance is not in nature but in God’s grace.  Sometimes in our zealousness in of faith agendas we forget about God’s grace.

God’s mercy is still talking to God’s judgment, and on that conversation hangs our salvation.  Most of us have dreams we have not reached. The good news us that God is in the business of opening doors, not closing them.  The good news is that the past is not final.  But there is also a message in the one more year being given.  It is there comes a time when we will be accountable.  The tree had another year.  Then if it failed to produce, it would have been cut down.  It could only take up space for so long.  There are times when the day of testing does come.  Ready or not, there are no more chances.

Pastor Martin Niermoeller, imprisoned at Dachau for 7 years, wrote, “ In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists.  I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist.  Then they came or the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.  Then they came for the trade unionists, but I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.  They came for the Catholics; I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.  Then they came for me, and by that time, there was no one left to speak for me.”

But to you and me the final day has not come.  We still have time to be faithful, to be fruitful.  We can still so as Isaiah challenges,”Seek the Lord while he may be found.  Call upon him while he is near.”  Let us rejoice in God’s grace for this day.  Let us each use our opportunity to be faithful to God and to one another.  AMEN.