Spread It Around - Sermon for the Third Sunday in Year Lent C

Spread It Around

Lent 3C

March 20, 2022

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Luke 13.1-9

During my first call in Central Illinois, I became familiar with a small group of Christians that I’d never heard of before. They were an offshoot of the Anabaptist movement, similar to Amish or Mennonites. The adults were noticeable by their unique clothing. Being Anabaptists, they did not practice infant baptism. Rather, at some point as the children matured, they might decide to become a member, after which their life would change and they would conform to the group by wearing distinctive garb and following the rules. Even so, they might not become members and yet still be a part of the group. They did not have trained, ordained, clergy. An elder would perform that function and the obligation would be moved around. One item was of particular interest to me: their funerals. They were of two types: for a member, the elder would invariably say something like this, “Be like this person so you know you are saved.” For a non-member, the admonition would be, “Don’t be like this person who has foregone their salvation. Become a member now before it’s too late.

Though the theology is suspect, and the timing even more so, the question this group continually asks is an important one: In the face of a calamity such as death, what are you going to do? How will you respond? In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus replies to an unspoken question underlying the report of a vicious atrocity perpetrated by Pilate, a former-day Vladimir Putin: “Why is this happening?” Jesus short-circuits the theology of the day, the belief that people suffered because of their sinfulness. Now, we know that sometimes our suffering is the result of sinfulness, but Jesus says that’s not the point.

Jesus rather abruptly tells them that unless they repent, they will perish just as the others did. Now, we need to unpack what Jesus means by repentance and perishing. We normally think of this as asking forgiveness for our sins so that we are saved from the judgment of hell. Agreed, there is a place for confessing our sins and our brokenness while seeking absolution; we did it today. But more often, Jesus has a deeper understanding of repentance, which means literally to change our minds and the direction we are heading. In Jesus’ world, repentance means seeing things from God’s perspective, not our human perspective.

And when Jesus talks about perishing, he doesn’t mean going to hell. Rather, he means not dying like they did, suddenly and unprepared. Then Jesus tells the parable of the fruitless fig tree to broaden our imaginations about what our response might be. Too often we blame the victims and point fingers, probably to distance ourselves from the pain of what we see. And if we’re honest, we are quietly fearful of something like that happening to us or loved ones. So we deflect. But repenting, seeing the situation from God’s perspective, may mean responding with fruitful lives of care and concern, not blaming. Or, to shift the view, spreading the manure that can foster growth.

Two stories might illustrate this point. There was a question on my approval essay 26+ years ago. It asked how I would respond to someone who contracted AIDS, particularly through risky behavior. I wrote in my essay that I wouldn’t focus on blame or shame, but how I could care for this person; blaming or shaming wouldn’t help. The second story a year or two earlier, a local and highly regarded high school student athlete died when he drove drunk, missed a curve, and crashed into a tree. The family was rightly comforted and there was an outpouring of support. Yet I found the community’s subsequent response lacking: they cut down the offending tree. Nothing was said about drinking and driving. At an appropriate time, a manure-infused, fruitful response might have included discussing responsible drinking. That’s not blaming.

Lent is a time to reflect on our relationship to God, but the relationship and reflection are both personal and communal. God calls us to be church for the sake of the world, a world often broken and in pain. So, we ask, how might Good Shepherd Lutheran Church see the world from God’s viewpoint? Where might Good Shepherd walk with those who are hurting and address the brokenness and hurting in our world? As we’ll sing in a moment, there’s a wideness in God’s mercy that encompasses everything in our world. That mercy enables us to be the people God calls us to be, spreading mercy in word and deed. Spread it around, my sisters and brothers. Amen.

My written sermons often preach differently "live." To watch the video, click here.