Third Sunday in Lent (Year C RCL) 2022

Third Sunday in Lent (Year C RCL) 2022

St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church

Luke 13:1-9, (Isaiah 55:1, Gal 3:1-14)

What the Gospel is Not

Children's Sermon:

What is the Gospel?

Is it a second chance? (is that news?)

Or is it a promise (or the news of forgiveness)

I assume that you’ve all heard this question; Right? “why do bad things happen to good people?” It’s often asked in order to show the supposedly problematic nature of Christianity, or of God’s existence as a whole, to begin with. Because, as the reasoning goes; If God is so good, then why does He let bad things happen to those who don’t deserve it.

But What does that question assume? It assumes two things; firstly, that those who do bad things do deserve it. And secondly, that there are “good” and “innocent” people among us.

We hear this assumption every time a calamity happens, don’t we? New Orleans, 9-11, covid, aids, the black plague, world war 1 & 2, - name any catastrophe at any time and in any place and I can guarantee you that somebody somewhere is saying that it was the judgment of God upon those people for their sins. If only they were like me, you’ll hear it said. If only they would have turn and repented. Then covid wouldnt have come upon us. If only you were were more like me, and less like you.

This is no new question.

Luke 13: there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices

As I said. The question is left unspoken but it was pronounced loudly. “Lord, did you hear what happened to those Galileans?”

Yes, I did hear. And?

Well… this is like… this is that judgment of God you’ve been speaking about right?

So how does Jesus answer?

Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish

Notice with me here friends; Jesus isnot the least bitinterested in telling you that He doesn’t know why bad things happen. He knows why. And He isn’t the least bitinterested in telling you that bad things aren’t the consequence of sin, in fact they are, in fact bad things do happen to bad people. Jesus’ point here is simply this; you aren’t good either.

unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Well; well; okay that may be Jesus, but what about those people in Siloam who had that tower fall on them? Surely that wasn’t just a freak accident, that had to have been God’s wrath against sin. Right?

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? 5I tell you no! But unless you repent, YOU TOO will all perish.

See, the assumption is, the calamity fell on them, and not me – because theydeserved it (which is true) andI didn’t. But It’s that last part that’s the problem. It’s that last part. It’s the YOU part, that’s the problem, particularly the YOU pretending you’re excused, or innocent, or off the hook in regard to God’s judgment and sins consequences. It’s that part, - THAT, that is the problem my friends.

Yes, it is so, 18 died when a tower fell on them, and unless you repent, YOU TOO will perish. Unless you repent, you will all perish.

That is your choice. Repent or perish. Turn - or burn.

But we don’t like that message. Do we? At least not when it’s spoken to us. To a homosexual, okay. To a fornicator, okay. To a blasphemer, or a drunkard, or a drug abuser, okay. To anyone who struggles with sinsIdon’t struggle with, Okay. But to ME?! Repent? That’s what sinners do! That’s what dirty people do. That’s what unclean people do.

That IS the message today, isn’t it? It’s that YOU are the sinner. As the prophet Nathan said to David, YOU are the man who you demand be put to death for heinous crimes you’re hearing about. YOU are the evil in this word. YOU are what is wrong with this country. YOU are the problem.

With nowhere left to run, condemned under the weight of the Law, the command that we stop sinning, that we be perfect lest we perish – we start to look for any way out of it. Pleading with God; just give me more time, just give me one more chance. And so we sin and we sin and we sin, and so again and again we beg God, we promise God, I promise Lord I WILL NEVER SIN AGAIN – that was my very last time doing that sin.

That is exactly what this parable is about.

A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 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?’

8“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.

Just like the parable of the unforgiving servant; the one who owed his king million and millions of dollars but only worked part time at the McDonalds so to speak, and yet said NO KING ILL PAY YOU BACK JUST GIVE ME MORE TIME, this parable of the fruitless fig tree and any of our hopes for it may seem like a second chance to an unreasonable gambling addict, Butit is NOT the Gospel.

So often we fall into the trap of thinking that it is though, don’t we? So often we hear, so often even we ourselves think, that the gospel is that God has now made it easierto be justified by works. That He has now made it possible that we would become better people, that we would bear fruit, that we would escape judgment because of something in us, because of something which comes from us. So often we fall into the temptation of thinking that instead of being about forgiveness, the gospel is about second chances. But it isn't. And thank Godthat it isn't.

The gospel isn’t that God is giving you a second chance to be worthy of salvation. In fact, the good news, in a sense, isthat that isn’t the good news. The good news is that God is not the giver of second chances at personal holiness. He’s the giver of free grace.

The good news IS that there are nosecond chances at the Law. You’ve not been picked up from your fall into sin just to be sent off to try and earn your way to heaven again. The good news is that your salvation has been given to you as a free and a finished gift. You are saved. Not because of you. But because of Christ. Not because you were able to fight your sins and addictions and bad habits with the help of the Holy Spirit. But because God took your sins on Himself, and was nailed to a cross to die FOR YOU. Your sins are forgiven. I repeat again, your sins in the past are forgiven. The sins that you are doing today are forgiven. And the sins you will do next week ARE FORGIVEN. The gospel is not that you get in by God’s grace and STAY IN by your works.

You did not begin a walk of salvation by graceonly to finish it by the Law. For the spirit wasn’t given to you by the Law, not by commands or by self betterment but by the Word of promise, by Baptism and the Holy Supper.

So I ask again (Paul says); does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by believing the gospel that you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness

Why then would we imagine ourselves to be saved any other way? For God begun this work in us by His Spirit – and that is just how He will finish it. All by Grace.

So when you hear the call to repent or perish, to turn or burn, don’t look at your sins, LOOK AT WHAT YOU TRUST IN FOR SALVATION. Don’t ask for more time to clean up your act, but turn – turn away from yourself, look only to Christ. The good news is not that Christ will help you be righteous, but that He has given you His righteousness.

no one who relies on the law is justified before God. The Law will never tell you “good job now you’re safe, now you can go rest.” The Law always sits there, accusing you, watching you, demanding righteousness of you. Even if you did its demands (and you don’t), you would not be at rest. The Law would merely watch and wait until you failed. You did the demands? So what? That’s what you were required to do. Now do it again and again and again, and if you stop for even one second YOU WILL PERISH.

And so Paul says; all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. And so we were. BUTChrist redeemed us from the curse of the law by becomingthat curse for usand then marching straight to His death, that our sin might be blotted out along with His life, that our wickedness might be buried in the ground with His corpse for our sake. THAT is the good news. The threat of the Law has been suffered by Christ for you. The wrath of the Law was poured out on Christ in your place. He died your death. He suffered the wrath that belonged on YOUR SHOULDERS. And He left you with only one thing in its place – His righteousness. Sothat BY FAITHwe might receive the promise of the Spirit. So that, by grace apart from works, apart from any goodness in us, in spite of our sinfulness, we might receive the gift of salvation. By grace God justifies the ungodly. And counts as righteous those who are evil, and clean those who are filthy, and whole those who are broken, and that in all His declarations His Word might be true.

What needs to be repented of is not sins – but our very selves. God is not merely calling you to turn away from your sins, to stop doing them, or to work your own righteousness. He’s calling you to turn away from your attempts to justify yourself by your works. Turn away from your works, your hands, and whatever change you think you see in your hearts towards the work of Christ’s work for you. There only do you find forgiveness. There only do you find salvation. For if your death was not died through the flesh of Christ, then it will be died through yours. Repent of yourselves, repent of your hope for a second chance, repent – or you too will all likewise perish

In the name of + the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.