Ready for unexpected tragedy?

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, `For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

" `Sir,' the man replied, `leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' " (Luke 13:1-9)

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. 80% of the city was flooded, and Americans were horrified by the devastation, the suffering, and the looting. Why had this happened, many wondered? Some believed they knew the answer—Katrina was God’s judgment on a city filled with sin. After all, look at the lewd behavior at every Mardi Gras. Look at the rampant crime. Consider the timing of the hurricane—if there had been no storm, the city was to have hosted a major gay pride event the very next week. Certainly God was punishing the people of New Orleans for their sinful behavior.

During the mid 1980s, Americans became aware of the AIDS virus for the first time. It was an incurable disease that caused terrible misery and certain death, but it could only be spread by one of two ways—through sexual contact or by the sharing needles. The sick were mostly those who injected illegal drugs into each other or who participated in homosexual activity. Why had this disease come into existence, many wondered? Some believed they knew the answer—AIDS was God’s judgment on homosexuals and drug users. After all, look at who contracted the disease—only people who abused drugs or had multiple sex partners were at risk for infection. Certainly God was punishing gays and drug users for their sinful behavior.

During the 1940s, Adolf Hitler began rounding up Jews and placing them in concentration camps. They were treated little better than animals, and soon he ordered that the prisoners be executed, resulting in the deaths of millions. Why did this happen, many wondered? Some believed they knew the answer—the holocaust was God’s judgment on Jews for rejecting Christ. After all, it was the Jews who arrested Jesus and handed Him over to Pilate for execution; it was the Jews who killed Christians and tried to stop Paul from establishing Christian congregations; it was the Jews who steadfastly rejected Christ as their Savior for two millennia. Certainly God was punishing the Jews for these sins by letting Hitler kill them.

This kind of thinking is nothing new—we see it in today’s Gospel lesson as well. Pilate was a man hated by the Jews. He was their ruler, but not by their choice. He was a foreigner, put into office by the Roman Empire. He only ruled the Jews because he had detachments of soldiers patrolling the city, enforcing Roman law. The Jews hated everything about Rome—they hated paying taxes to the Empire, they hated having foreign soldiers in their streets, and most of all they hated being ruled by a culture that worshipped false gods and tolerated all manner of sinful behavior. So the Jews fought against Pilate as best they could—they committed acts of violence from the shadows.

Of course, Pilate could not allow terrorism to happen on his watch. The governor was ruthless in putting down rebellion, so ruthless that his superiors sometimes had to tell him to back off lest he make things even worse. On one occasion, Pilate had a tip that malcontents would be in the Temple at a certain time, offering sacrifices to God. Acting on that information, Pilate sent a detachment to the Temple where they cut down the suspected terrorists in the act of worship; the blood of the murdered Jews mixed with the blood of the animals they had brought for sacrifice.

Word of this horror came to Jesus. Why did this happen, many wondered? Some believed they knew the answer—the massacre in the Temple happened because those Jews had done something to anger God. Since Jesus was well respected as a godly teacher, they asked Him for His opinion.

But Jesus’ answer must have surprised them. Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. The Lord then goes on to mention another tragedy that had happened recently: Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Collapsing towers—certainly this calls to mind images of the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001, when almost 3,000 people died in terror.

The people wanted to know if the Jews killed in the Temple were victims because they had angered God; are some sinners worse than others? But Jesus told them no; those who were murdered had suffered a terrible tragedy, but it wasn’t because God had singled them out for punishment. God hates all sin, and every human being is a sinner. Psalm 14 says, The LORD looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.

We want to believe that some sins are worse than others. Certainly stealing is worse than telling a lie, we think; murder must worse than having an affair. We want to believe that some sins are bigger than others in order to soothe our conscience—we want to be able to think, "at least I’m not as bad as that scumbag." The trouble is that Scripture doesn’t let us off the hook so easily. We are told in James chapter two that whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. Think of it in terms of a porch swing. If a link in the chain breaks, does it matter which link? Not at all! The failure of any link results in a sudden, painful fall. So it is with the law of God. It doesn’t matter which law you break—as soon as you break any of them, you are cut loose from God and start falling towards hell.

You should be grateful that Jesus reaches out to grab you before it’s too late. Jesus loves you, and He doesn’t want to see you fall away from God and land in hell. So Jesus fixed what you broke. You broke any number of links in God’s chain of law; but by living a sinless life, Jesus restored that shattered chain to a pristine condition. Because of Jesus, it is just as if you had never broken any of God’s laws. Of course, working with broken metal is bloody work; in order to fix the chain of law you and I have broken, Jesus was pierced and bled—in fact, He died from the wounds He suffered, wounds He received while working to keep you out of hell. Because of His suffering and death, you are safely and firmly connected to God once more.

Every sin has the same result—whether large or small, every sin angers God and demands that He punish the sinner for eternity. Whatever sins you have committed, the only thing your behavior deserves is punishment from above. If God punished sins according to what they deserve, none of us would survive to adulthood. We can be humbly grateful that God does not treat us as our sins deserve (Psalm 103:10). Instead, He is patient with us, because He wants everyone to repent of their sins and cling to Christ for dear life (2 Peter 3:9).

Repenting is very important. Repenting happens when you realize that things have gone sour, and it’s because of you. Your selfish and perverse desires. Your foolish and hasty decisions. Your nasty words and broken promises. Your short attention span and willingness to take risky shortcuts. Repenting only happens when you stop trying to blame others or hide the truth; repenting only happens when you hang your head in shame and admit, "it’s my fault."

But repenting does not free you from your guilt—only Jesus can do that. Repenting only has value if it drives you into the Savior’s arms, soaking His sleeve with your tears as you cry, "Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner!" It is a painful, humiliating thing to repent, but the blessing of Christ’s forgiveness takes all the hurt away.

The people who heard about the massacre in the Temple were probably filled with two emotions: relief that it wasn’t them, and worry about what the future might bring. Jesus’ words were not very comforting: unless you repent, you too will all perish. But Jesus was not speaking about the death of the body, He was speaking about the fate of the soul. Referring to those who lost their lives in the sudden collapse of a building, Jesus used the word "died" in speaking of what happened to their bodies. But when He warned of what can happen to the soul, Jesus used the word "perish" instead. The point being made was this: in both tragedies, the end of life was sudden and unexpected. The end of life might come suddenly for any of the people who had gathered to hear Jesus speak. Were they spiritually ready for what awaited them in eternity?

That is the question which you must consider as well. We never know when some terrible event might catch us by surprise, ending our brief stay here on earth with little or no warning. If you get invoved in a fatal car accident tonight, are you spiritually ready? Are you in the habit of repenting your sins? Do you trust Jesus to wipe away your tears as He frees you from your guilt? If you died suddenly, are you securely attached to God through the chains which Jesus repaired at the cost of His own blood? Or will you fall into hell to perish everlastingly?

Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to make your soul ready for the unexpected by taking responsibility for your sins. Now is the time to admit to God that you deserve nothing from Him but His wrath. Now is the time to ask His mercy for the sake of Jesus, who died that every sinner might have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). You are no better than St. Paul, who said Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst (1 Timothy 1:15). Although he viewed himself as the worst of sinners, Paul found hope and joy in the mercy of Christ; when you repent and cling to the Savior, those blessings will be yours as well. When the most important things in your life are repenting and praying to Jesus, you can be confident that if tragedy strikes, you are spiritually ready.