“When Tragedy Strikes” Luke 13.1-9, Lent 3C, Feb. ‘16

1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word today is taken from Luke 13:1-9.  In our text today Jesus tells us that repentance is absolutely necessary (vv. 1–5).  Jesus points out tragedies as occasions for self-examination and reflection on our sinful frailty. Contrary to popular thought, tragedy doesn’t always strike people because they somehow deserve it. But, in His wisdom God allows and uses even tragic events to warn of judgment, that He might bring us to repentance and eternal life through faith in Jesus. The message is entitled, “When Tragedy Strikes,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Gunman kills and wounds many in Kansas.  Terrorists strike in a workplace in San Bernardino, California.  An Uber driver goes on a rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  It seems like almost every day the news tells us that some people die. Some die in shootings around the nation and other times people die from accidents.  Why were those people killed?  Why are we still alive?
3. In our text today from Luke 13 Jesus discussed two news events of his day.  Galileans were killed as they offered sacrifice in the temple.  Eighteen people in Siloam were killed when a tower fell on them.  Did they (and the ones in our news today) die because they were worse sinners than others?  Jesus says “No!”  We shouldn’t assume that those who die in an untimely fashion are being punished because they are worse sinners than others.  We shouldn’t assume that those who live long are being rewarded for their goodness.
4. Let me illustrate this point for you.  Christopher Plummer was a movie actor who starred in a movie he hated. Later on in life, he used to refer to it as “The Sound of Mucus.” In that movie, the Christopher Plummer character falls in love with the Julie Andrews character. As they fall in love, they suddenly realize they’re going to live happily ever after, so they sing a song about it, of course.  This is what they sing to each other. They look at each other, and they both sing it to each other back and forth. They say:  “For here you are, standing there, loving me, Whether or not you should, So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”  Then they keep on going, unfortunately. They say: “Nothing comes from nothing, Nothing ever could, So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”
5. What are they saying? They’re saying, “If my life is turning out well, I must have done something right. If my children are turning out right, it’s because I was a smart parent. If my career is going well, it’s because I’m a hardworking, savvy, intelligent person. If I have a lot of good relationships, my relationships are all the way I want, it means I’m an attractive person.” In other words, there’s something natural about the human heart that wants to take credit.
6. Do you see what they’re saying? They’re saying, “If something good happened to me, then there must have been somewhere I must have done something good.” When they say, “Nothing comes from nothing,” what they really mean is this couldn’t be grace. See, grace is goodness out of the blue. Grace is goodness for nothing. “It couldn’t be that. I must have done something good.”  Because the human heart wants to take credit for the good things that happen, as a result, when your life starts to go poorly, when things start to fall apart, it is absolutely instinctive to say, “I must have done something bad.” Only we don’t sing songs about it. Rodgers and Hammerstein don’t write songs about it. Maybe there is one. If you know of one, tell me, and I’ll use it.  That’s what happens. If bad things start to happen, what do you start to say? You say, “Am I not living right? Am I being punished for something?” It’s instinctive. It’s out of your mouth or it’s in your head before you know it.
7. Jesus says, “But unless, you repent, you too will all perish.”  Had the Galilean and the 18 in Siloam failed to repent?  Had the people in our news for today failed to repent?  We can’t know the hearts of others. But, Jesus affirms, it’s not the degree of our sin that will bring God’s judgment, but our failure to repent.  Therefore, we need daily reminders of our need to repent. The first lesson from this text is that life itself—the daily news—reminds us that our lives on this earth are temporary and fleeting. Each death is a reminder that we need to repent. And there is another lesson from this text.
8. Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree that didn’t produce fruit.  It was taking up valuable space in the vineyard.  After three years the owner told the manager of the vineyard to cut it down; its lease on that spot had expired.  The manager of the vineyard asked the owner to extend the tree’s life for one more year.  He asked for the tree to have another chance to produce fruit.  But more importantly, he asked that he would have another chance to dig around the tree and to fertilize it—to give it new life.
9. God offers us a new life in His Son Jesus Christ.  God expects us to produce for him. Gal 5:22–23 says, “²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  How is your life different because of your faith in Jesus?  The fruits of good works show that God is working.  Being a productive tree doesn’t mean that you won’t die. But since your productivity comes from the power of the Holy Spirit working in you (James 2:18), who also gives you faith, the death of those who believe in Christ gives them a new life.
10. What Jesus is saying here in Luke 13 is that if you aren’t producing fruit for God, you need a reminder to repent—to be turned from sin to the Savior. If we don’t produce fruit, we’re just taking up valuable space in the kingdom of God.  Think of Jesus as the manager of the garden. He asks—and receives from the Father—another chance to dig at the roots of your life so you may see the reason that you were planted by God. He wants to give you the energy of his Gospel. He wants you to see again that he gave his life so you could have an eternal lease on life. He wants to call you again by the Gospel so you know you are saved. By his Holy Spirit, he wants to gather you with other Christians so you can benefit from their spiritual gifts, and they from yours. He wants to renew and increase your faith so you can produce fruits in the kingdom of God.
11. Lent is a time for self-examination and repentance. Use the daily news not to judge others, but to evaluate your own life. You can’t change yourself from an unproductive person to a productive one any more than a leopard can change its spots (Jer 13:23)—but God can do it for you.  Jeremiah 13:23 says, “²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.”  Jesus always wants another chance to rejuvenate you. His love is continual and constant. Through his death and resurrection, he digs into your life and gives you a source of spiritual energy. May he cause you to grow and bear abundant fruit.  Amen.