God Moves...Over the Fence (March 20, 2022) Luke 13.1-9
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I have often quoted Mark Twain’s quip of “It’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that cause me trouble. It’s the parts I do understand.” And we all chuckle, perhaps nervously because we realize that we too are like Twain. The parts of the Bible that we do not understand are the parts that we can gloss over, say its a mystery and go on about our lives. But the parts that we do understand, the parts that are clear are the parts that give us trouble. These are the parts that we wish we could gloss over and claim a mystery, but alas we cannot. So it is with the text for today.
The text begins with a group coming to Jesus to tell him of an atrocity. There has been a group of Galileans who were offering sacrifices to God in the Temple when troops from Pilate, the governor of the region, swooped in and killed them all. Now the blood of those killed mixed with the blood of the sacrifices. Not only was this a tragedy of epic proportions, but it was also a sacrilege.
This story is found only in this Gospel but it is one that would not have been out of character of Pilate. He was cruel and would often outrage the Jews with his callous and flippant behavior toward their religion and their traditions. And so those coming to Jesus are looking for answers. They are looking for outrage against the occupiers. But they are also looking for something else. They are looking for answers to why this occurred to those who were just making a sacrifice, innocents who were minding their own business.
See, in the ancient world it was believed that if one had sinned, one would be judged by God and be punished accordingly. Come to think of it, this mindset is still present today. But those coming to Jesus are basically asking, “Just what sins had those giving sacrifice committed that they were cut down in such a way? They must have committed grievous sins.”
Jesus gives an answer that is not expected. He says “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”[1] This was something none of us wants to hear. To hear that those asking were sinners and those who were killed were no worse than they were.
Jesus then tells them that those listening are to repent unless they want to perish as those in the temple did. Hard words for those listening and for us today.
But Jesus continues. He says: “Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”[2] Again, this is a story that we only hear about in this Gospel and nowhere else. The story is about a tower near a famous pool falling and killing 18 people. Again, those listening would have been thinking that those killed must have sinned grievously to have such a fate fall upon them. They may have gotten away with it by human standards but God was watching and got them in the end.
But Jesus will have none of this talk. He again tells them that those who died were no worse than those around listening and that if they do not repent, they too will perish.
Then Jesus tells a story. A landowner comes to a fig tree on his land and finds it not bearing fruit. He calls the gardener over and tells this man that this tree is not fruitful. For three years he has come and not found any fruit on it. The time has come to cut it down and rip up the stump. There is no room for an unfruitful tree. It is taking up space and valuable nutrients that could be better used for another tree or something else that is fruitful. The gardener agrees that the tree is not bearing fruit. It may look good, but it is not doing what it is intended to do. But the gardener pleads with the landowner to give it one more chance. He says “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”[3] There is a plea for grace and mercy that the tree does not deserve. And Jesus ends the story there. One has to ponder if the landowner gives the time requested or if he decides that, no, there have been enough chances, cut it down.
Now, all this sounds doom and gloom. Where is the hope in this passage? I must admit that I have struggled with this passage of scripture this week and many times before. It seems too harsh and unforgiving. So judgmental and fear inducing, as if Jesus is saying that unless the people repent, “God is gonna get ya!” But there is some hope in this story.
We are told that God is not a capricious and angry deity who lashes out against those who are sinning. There is what is known as natural evil. Things like tornados, hurricanes, illnesses and such are all a part of this. These things are evil in that they go against the plan of God. But they are in no way a part of God’s plan to keep us in line. They are part of the natural order.
Yet, we want to see these things as punishments for our wrongdoing. We need an answer to why bad things happen to good people. “If there is a loving God, then why did my child get a brain tumor unless God is trying to get me to quit smoking” one mother stated to a hospital chaplain. And that is the easy answer. But Jesus does not give an easy answer because it would be easy for those who do not have those kinds of troubles to see themselves as better than those who do have them. We would see ourselves as blessed and those “others” as cursed. This is the basis of the “prosperity Gospel”, “I must be doing something right or else I would not be blessed as I am”; “God must be pleased with me.”
But here is where Jesus gives us the hard answer. We are no better than those whom we would view as cursed. In fact, we have need to repent as well as they do, perhaps even more so.
Perhaps we are the unfruitful tree. We may look like we have great fruit and being fruitful, but what if that is not the case. Justo Gonzalez has this to say about how we might want to view the “blessings” that we so often look upon as blessings from God: “Could it be that our own abundance has been given to us in an effort to lead us to bear fruit, to share those resources, to share of ourselves, and that the reason we survive is not our great budget, our nice music, our fine sermons, our beautiful buildings, or our sophisticated theology, but this miraculous grace of the Owner of the vineyard who has decided to give us one more chance?”[4]If we are the unfruitful tree, then we have been given another chance. Jesus had been teaching about the coming judgement and his words were calling for the people to be ready, to repent and come back to God, to turn around and live a life that showed repentance for their sins. This was a message similar to that of John the Baptist and the people knew it. They must have gone away thinking hard about what Jesus had said.
There is a saying that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. We tend to look at our neighbors and see how things are going on their side. And oftentimes we see problems and cluck our tongues at how they must have done something to deserve what is happening to them. But Jesus calls us to look at our own side of the fence. Erma Bombeck had a book entitled The Grass is Greener Over the Septic Tank and I believe that is what Jesus was saying: “Tend to your own lives, look at your own side of the fence and see your own issues with God, repent and live a life that is pleasing to God. God is merciful and is giving you another chance. Don’t blow it.” God moves us past looking at the other side of the fence to bring us closer to Godself. May we repent and live lives worthy of the grace that has been given to the tree in the parable. Amen.
[1]The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.
[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.
[3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.
[4]González, Justo L. Luke. Ed. Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. Print. Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible.