Sermon 20th March 2022 – 3rd Sunday in Lent
Text: Luke 13:1-9 – We’re all in this together.
There are many things that divide us. Our views on politics. The
football team we support. Our views on various ethical or religious issues. Sometimes
these differences engage us in healthy debate that helps us to understand each
other better and even understand the issue that we are arguing about. Sadly,
sometimes these differences cause us to fight and separate ourselves from each
other. And at the extreme they may even cause countries to go to war against
each other as we currently see in the Ukraine.
But there are also things that unite us and one of the things that has
united the world in the past couple of years is human suffering. In fact St
Paul says something similar when he says that when one part of the body suffers
then the entire body suffers. But the other thing that unites all humankind is
the love of God for all people as Jesus reminds us in John 3:16 – for God loves
the world so much that he sent his one and only Son so that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but receive eternal life. We see that unity with God no clearer than in how God shows that love in
Baptism and Holy Communion – the 2 Sacraments as we call them. In Baptism we
are joined with Christ in his death and resurrection. In Baptism there are no
divisions – no male or female, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, as Paul says in
Galatians. In First Corinthians Paul corrects a wrong thinking that some
baptisms were better than others – I was Baptised by Peter or I was Baptised by
Paul. Paul corrects that thought that it’s not the person who Baptises but God.
Likewise in Holy Communion – we all drink from the one cup and the one
bread even though we use individual wafers and cups because it is the one body
and blood of Christ that we receive. So one of the things that Jesus corrects
today is any thought that suffering is linked to individual behaviour. At that
very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose
blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, "Do you think that because these
Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other
Galileans? No. 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? No.
Suffering is a shared human experience that is linked, not to our
individual behaviour but to our common condition of sin, and as Paul reminds us
– all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We call this Original
Sin which we see cleansed by our Baptism.
But what is also a shared reality for us all is the compassion of God
for us all because of his love for us. We saw that compassion last week when
Jesus wept at the condition of his brothers and sisters of Israel who had
rejected God’s love –
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those
who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing. And this
continued throughout his ministry as Jesus went through all the towns and
villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the
kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had
compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without
a shepherd. And that word for compassion is one of the most compelling words in
the Greek vocabulary – splagchnizomai – which literally means sick in the
stomach.
The compassion Jesus experiences for us is not a feeling or an emotion
but physical pain. In our Gospel reading we see the compassion of Jesus at work
in the parable he tells. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he
came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, 'See
here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still
I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' The gardener
replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put
manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can
cut it down.' Here we see the compassion of Jesus standing up for the underdog
– standing up for the defenseless. The fig tree is underperforming – in fact
it’s worse than that. For 3 years it’s produced nothing and is just taking up
valuable space.
So the owner of the vineyard gives the instruction – get rid of it. The
gardener who really has no authority puts his own life and reputation on the
line – let it alone and I will nurture it.
It reminds me of the book of Esther in the Old Testament. Esther was a
Jew who had risen to the rank of Queen of Persia.
An edict had gone out to put to death all the Jews in the land. She
approaches the King to change his mind and we are told that because she does it
without being summoned she has put her life on the line. The King can call her
forward and listen to her plea or he can give the order to execute her for her
disrespect.
She places herself between the executioner and the victim as does the
gardener for a stay of execution. And that’s what Jesus does for us because of
his love and compassion for us. He has placed himself between the judgment for
our sin and our punishment for sin. And he has said – take me instead. This is
the compassion of God at work in Jesus for us. In that while we were still
sinners Christ died for us. He who had no sin became our sin so that we would
become the righteousness of God.
And that’s what our Baptism does – whoever believes and is Baptised will
be saved. And that is what Holy Communion delivers to us – my body and blood
shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. The love and compassion of God
extends all boundaries. And Paul reminds us that suffering is a shared
experience with all humanity: Paul says: No testing has overtaken you that is
not common to everyone. But so is God’s
compassion for us, as Paul says: God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way
out so that you may be able to endure it.
And the challenge for us comes to be able to see others in that same
light. We can very easily fall into the role of judge, jury and executioner and
pronounce others to be beyond saving by God. You may have in mind someone that
you believe is beyond saving and sadly we hear people say “I hope that person
rots in hell for what they have done”. But not God – and that is the challenge
of the cross that is all embracing – like the mother hen for her chicks. The
problem with that thinking is that it brings into question God’s unconditional
love and who knows what other conditions exist. And that’s why Paul says the
message of the cross if foolishness and a stumbling block for those who don’t
understand just how much God loves all people. Because the danger is that where
we draw the line could be different to where others draw the line that may in
fact include us being on the wrong side of that line.
Or perhaps you yourself have placed yourself on the wrong side of the
line doubting your salvation. But not while Jesus is the vine and we are his
branches. And Jesus, as our Vine, pleads with his Father, the Gardener to
preserve his branches – you and me. Jesus is there as our advocate as the
gardener was for the fig tree that had not produced any fruit, not for one
year, not for 2 years but for 3 years. Jesus is our compassionate advocate and
no one is a lost cause or waste of space.
You have been created by God to do good works for him which he himself prepared in advance for you to do. And we too are to ensure that we never become judge, jury and executioner no matter how bad we believe a person to be but become like the gardener pleading for mercy for them because God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. And as much as that might surprise and even offend – it is the assurance for us that we have Jesus compassion constantly pleading for us.
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