Repent Ye!
Luke 13:1-9
Let's just start with some honesty - there is nothing worse about religion to me than when God is used to justify a disaster. Really - did God intend for innocent children to be shot, or those going about their daily lives to be swept up in a storm having their lives abruptly ripped apart? Does God need to stoop to petty retaliation if we are misbehaving? What comfort is there to be found in looking at bad things that happen in our lives and thinking we are being punished? The wrong kind of comfort!
If we need to be in control so much that we must have a 'why' to every occurance, then we are not trusting in God at all. We want for everything in our lives to be understandable by our rules and concepts of how the world works. But there is chaos, there is random misfortune, there is evil. I don't believe that God is the hand controlling any of these. From 1 Corinthians, we are told that God's ways are beyond us and God's thoughts are above us. True power is found in a God who doesn't have to exercise complete control and act as a puppeteer. This powerful God does not feel the need to explain to us the mystery of 'why'.
Instead we should focus on what is more important. We are told to repent. Icky word repent. I picture Bible-thumping, fear mongerers of television evangelism at its worst. We are to repent or face true damnation. What in the world does that mean? Is Jesus saying that these disasters in Luke weren't punishment, but if I don't repent my disaster will be? I can't help but struggle with that. I do not believe that Christianity is meant to be a faith driven by fear.
Believe or else. Give up your sin, or else...
When all else fails - go back to the Greek! What does this word 'repent' mean. Manteo - to turn toward. With the Christian spin being to turn toward God. Okay - so that doesn't appear as threatening. I've softened it enough to be palatable. Uh-oh. It continues with to turn your life toward God - this is impossible to do without embracing change on what such a turn means. It means a completely different kind of life from before the turn.
Being a good Presbyterian, I've always embraced Christ. What turn is needed? I do not think as is a common interpretation that repent means to turn away from sin. If this were truly possible, grace would be meaningless. I would not need Jesus if I could accomplish such a turning on my own. Forgiveness comes with confession of sin. But as Romans 6 tells us that forgiveness does not mean we can just rest on our laurels and live however we want. Repentance is to remember to focus our lives on God - perhaps not to get so confident that I feel I have been turned that way always. This is surely only a message for others....
So, what is this Luke passage asking of us? To repent - to turn toward Christ. But that means to live in a way that is oriented toward Christ. Rather than trying to map out an explanation and spin our wheels with a 'why', we should focus on orientation of our lives. The 'why' is not for me to know - but the comfort is that it is not a vengeful God as the 'easy' explanation. Not an easy equation do x - God will destroy you, don't do x - get to heaven. There is gray, lives full of gray in our uniqueness and interactions.
Further comfort comes with the story of the fig tree. Such trees are usually abundant in production of fruit. Yet, even when this one is not doing as it should, it deserves the nurture and care - maybe even a little bit more time to turn the right direction. We have a reprieve - more time to turn our lives toward God. Looking at the Greek again, we humans have made it a 'year' but the Greek is much more vague. It implies to wait into the future. We are all unique, we are all special enough for caring without a calendar deadline and specific steps required to accomplish the goal.
Take comfort. Ours is not to know 'why' or even 'when'. Rather than focusing on the helplessness we sometimes feel of not understanding bad things that happen in the world, turn toward God. Take God your anger, your fear, your tears, your love - and your lives. Share all of your lives with God and then turn to the world in a response of service. Share God's love rather than worry with pointing fingers and justifying events, and this world can't help but be a better place. We aren't promised an end to struggle and strife, but we are promised relationship and love to help get us through.
Let's just start with some honesty - there is nothing worse about religion to me than when God is used to justify a disaster. Really - did God intend for innocent children to be shot, or those going about their daily lives to be swept up in a storm having their lives abruptly ripped apart? Does God need to stoop to petty retaliation if we are misbehaving? What comfort is there to be found in looking at bad things that happen in our lives and thinking we are being punished? The wrong kind of comfort!
If we need to be in control so much that we must have a 'why' to every occurance, then we are not trusting in God at all. We want for everything in our lives to be understandable by our rules and concepts of how the world works. But there is chaos, there is random misfortune, there is evil. I don't believe that God is the hand controlling any of these. From 1 Corinthians, we are told that God's ways are beyond us and God's thoughts are above us. True power is found in a God who doesn't have to exercise complete control and act as a puppeteer. This powerful God does not feel the need to explain to us the mystery of 'why'.
Instead we should focus on what is more important. We are told to repent. Icky word repent. I picture Bible-thumping, fear mongerers of television evangelism at its worst. We are to repent or face true damnation. What in the world does that mean? Is Jesus saying that these disasters in Luke weren't punishment, but if I don't repent my disaster will be? I can't help but struggle with that. I do not believe that Christianity is meant to be a faith driven by fear.
Believe or else. Give up your sin, or else...
When all else fails - go back to the Greek! What does this word 'repent' mean. Manteo - to turn toward. With the Christian spin being to turn toward God. Okay - so that doesn't appear as threatening. I've softened it enough to be palatable. Uh-oh. It continues with to turn your life toward God - this is impossible to do without embracing change on what such a turn means. It means a completely different kind of life from before the turn.
Being a good Presbyterian, I've always embraced Christ. What turn is needed? I do not think as is a common interpretation that repent means to turn away from sin. If this were truly possible, grace would be meaningless. I would not need Jesus if I could accomplish such a turning on my own. Forgiveness comes with confession of sin. But as Romans 6 tells us that forgiveness does not mean we can just rest on our laurels and live however we want. Repentance is to remember to focus our lives on God - perhaps not to get so confident that I feel I have been turned that way always. This is surely only a message for others....
So, what is this Luke passage asking of us? To repent - to turn toward Christ. But that means to live in a way that is oriented toward Christ. Rather than trying to map out an explanation and spin our wheels with a 'why', we should focus on orientation of our lives. The 'why' is not for me to know - but the comfort is that it is not a vengeful God as the 'easy' explanation. Not an easy equation do x - God will destroy you, don't do x - get to heaven. There is gray, lives full of gray in our uniqueness and interactions.
Further comfort comes with the story of the fig tree. Such trees are usually abundant in production of fruit. Yet, even when this one is not doing as it should, it deserves the nurture and care - maybe even a little bit more time to turn the right direction. We have a reprieve - more time to turn our lives toward God. Looking at the Greek again, we humans have made it a 'year' but the Greek is much more vague. It implies to wait into the future. We are all unique, we are all special enough for caring without a calendar deadline and specific steps required to accomplish the goal.
Comments