Sermon Manuscript031107 - "Fair Is Fair, But God Is God"
Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript
Robert L. Hutcherson, Jr.
Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church
Sermon Preparation/Delivery
Luke 13:1-9
“Fair Is Fair, But God Is God”
The Rev. Karla J. Cooper, Pastor
March 11, 2007
Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript
AUTHOR
1. Who wrote (or is credited with writing) the text?
LUKE (PERSON) [Gk Loukas (Λουκας)]. A physician and “fellow worker” with the apostle Paul (Philemon 24; cf. Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11). Luke apparently accompanied Paul on his journey to Rome, and is the reputed author of the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.[1] We find Luke’s claim to be a historian recorded elsewhere in Luke-Acts, namely in the use of the first person plural or the so-called “we passages” in Acts 16:10–17; 20:5–8, 13–15; 21:1–18; 27:1 to 28:16. The reader can and should conclude from these passages that the reporter of these events was himself involved in them. Yet the “we” in these passages is intended to indicate merely a walk-on role. It implies and is intended to imply only that those involved (above all Luke himself) frequently traveled by ship and in the process endured all of the things that went with maritime travel in those days, e.g., storm and shipwreck. For it is only in conjunction with maritime travel that the “we” references occur. What initially appears to be an idiosyncrasy of the author has the deeper purpose of demonstrating his role as a historian. He wants to be taken for well-traveled, especially by ship, in order to prove that he has the experience necessary for him to be considered a pragmatic Hellenistic historian. Travels were an important part of the historian’s expected range of experience [2]
We now come to the early years of the second century and the closing years of the first century - roughly speaking, the twenty or twenty-five years which followed the death of St. John. Here, as might be expected from the comparatively few remains of Christian writings of this very early period which we possess, the evidences of the existence and recognition of St. Luke and the other books of the New Testament are more rare. Yet even in the scanty fragments still remaining to us of this very early period, we find traces of the inspired writings of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.
We have now traced the Third Gospel back to days when probably John was still living, certainly to a time when men who had listened to John and Peter, to Paul and Luke, were still living and teaching.
2. From what perspective does the author write?
It is certain that in the Church of the first century he exercised a powerful and lasting influence. Various ancient writings have been preserved bearing his honored name. Of these only the first Greek epistle can be confidently pronounced authentic; it has been variously dated, A.D. 68, 70, 95. Whichever of these dates be accepted, its testimony will be the witness of the belief in the years immediately succeeding the martyrdom of Paul, when certainly many of the pupils and disciples of the twelve still lived and worked among men.
TEXT
"Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were {greater} sinners than all {other} Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were {worse} culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And He {began} telling this parable: A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, {fine;} but if not, cut it down.'" (Luke 13:1-9 NASBR)
BODY
The famed poet Edgar Guest wrote a poem for people who felt down on their luck, cursed their fate, and wished for better fortune.
Hard Luck by Edgar Guest
Ain't no use as I can see
In sittin' underneath a tree
An' growlin' that your luck is bad,
An' that your life is extry sad;
Your life ain't sadder than your neighbor's
Nor any harder are your labors;
It rains on him the same as you,
An' he has work he hates to do;
An' he gits tired an' he gits cross,
An' he has trouble with the boss;
You take his whole life, through an' through,
Why, he's no better off than you.
If whinin' brushed the clouds away
I wouldn't have a word to say;
If it made good friends out o' foes
I'd whine a bit, too, I suppose;
But when I look around an' see
A lot o' men resemblin' me,
An' see 'em sad, an' see 'em gay
With work t' do most every day,
Some full o' fun, some bent with care,
Some havin' troubles hard to bear,
I reckon, as I count my woes,
They're 'bout what everybody knows.
The day I find a man who'll say
He's never known a rainy day,
Who'll raise his right hand up an' swear
In forty years he's had no care,
Has never had a single blow,
An' never known one touch o' woe,
Has never seen a loved one die,
Has never wept or heaved a sigh,
Has never had a plan go wrong,
But allas laughed his way along;
Then I'll sit down an' start to whine
That all the hard luck here is mine.
(Original Text: Edgar A. Guest, Just Folks (Chicago: Reilly & Lee, 1917), p. 26-27.
Do you sometimes scream that life is not fair? The rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer, and the middle class gets soaked? And why some people are surrounded by love, absent of struggles, and likely to luck out? Some people have nine lives, others get second chances, and you are punished for every mistake you make.
Jesus addressed the issues of slain Galileans whose blood were spilled upon the altar by Pilate, eighteen man randomly killed walking by the Pool of Siloam, and you can ask about other victims of death – shocking or violent death, famous or unknown individuals, and innocent or culpable matters.
On the surface, we ask, Is this fair? Where is justice? Why so wasted? Jesus talked about what makes life equal, the world go on, and God’s foresight in three situations: the Galileans’ planned death, the random death of Jerusalem walkers and the guarantee policy of Jesus Christ.
He said, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Why do we need to repent and save ourselves quick? Turn from sin and turn to God? Change your thinking, actions and devotion?
The first reason for immediate repentance is this, Life is harsh, and people are mean.
LIFE IS HARSH AND PEOPLE ARE MEAN. 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. (13:1-2)
I sometimes think to myself, Boy, we are just a step away from losing our job, losing our house, losing it all. Our stability is exaggerated, la vida dolce -- the good life -- is a myth, and we stand on shifting sand.
Life is really harsh and people are often mean.
That’s what Jesus was saying about the Galileans who were probably zealots ambushed by Pilate’s troops in the temple, and blood from the carnage spilled onto the altar, possibly mingled with worshippers offering sacrifice then. The question is not “Why those folks?” “What about Bob?” “Where is God?” but “Why not you?” “Who are you?” Where is it written, I am indispensable, I have a right to heaven, I can come and go as I like?”
Jesus said, You are no more righteous than the dead, repent or perish. Howard Whaley said, "There are two kinds of sinners in the world: sinners who are condemned and not yet saved, and those who are saved." All sin is equal, and one sinner is like another, zero degrees separate us.
Pilate may be a tyrant, the Galileans may be a nuisance, but only Jesus Christ offered the even truth about life. He refuted any superstition about death, obsession with life, and uncertainty about life beyond. Jesus Christ himself was among the wrongful dead, took care of our fears of dying, and brought correction to creation.
Now that we have seen how harsh life is, and how mean people can be, and the second reason for repenting quickly is this: Life is unpredictable, and you are frail.
LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE AND YOU ARE FRAIL. 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."
Have you ever said, “How unlucky?” That’s how people felt about the eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them.
Life is unpredictable, and man is frail by birth.
Jesus asked, Were the Jerusalem walkers more guilty? Did they offend anyone? Owe God a punishable debt? Largely no. Some people die for their sins, we all die from the wages of sin, but the most important thing is, you do not have to die in your sins. Life is unpredictable, you may get caught, who knows where the next natural disaster hits?
If the winds and the floods do not get you, the, the storms and the sun will get you. And if they don’t, the stock market, neighborhood crime, and world war will. Repent. Jesus can save us from eternal torment -- a death more painful than dying, the sorrow of eternal separation from God, and the destruction of the soul.
We live precariously. Life is harsh, and people are mean. Life is unpredictable, and people are frail. The third reason for instantaneous repentance is this: Life is fleeting, and Jesus is coming.
LIFE IS FLEETING AND JESUS IS COMING. 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.'" (13:6-9)
Life has an expiration date, a shelf life, a customer service number. You won’t get a rain check, a warranty, or an encore. Don’t admire mean people, curse the weather, pity the dead, or be proud if you are a survivor.
Unless Jesus Christ is your Savior, it gets worse, judgment day is coming. It may be here anytime, maybe after three years, and hopefully not after I paid my mortgage! You cannot say, I don’t know, 5 more minutes, or nobody told me.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) said:
“If God had wanted to overcome the obstinacy of the most hardened, He could have done so by revealing Himself to them so obviously that they could not have doubted the truth of His Being -- just as He will appeared the last day with such a clap of thunder and such an upheaval of nature that the dead will revive and the blindest will see.
It is not in this way, however, that He willed to appear at His gentle coming: because so many men had made themselves unworthy of His mercy, He willed to leave them deprived of the good which they did not desire. And so it would have been fair for him to have appeared in an obviously divine manner, absolutely capable of convincing all men.
But also it would not have been fair for Him to appear in a manner so hidden that even those who sincerely seeking Him should not be able to recognize Him...So he has tempered his knowledge, by giving marks of Himself which were visible to those who seek Him, and not to those who seek Him not
A few months ago, a young believer asked me these questions: Why did God give Adam and Eve the freedom to choose and placed the tree of good and evil before them? If God knew they would sin, why bother? And why should we suffer for their consequences of Adam and Eve?
I tried my first answer, “God did not want us to be like robots, He wants us to obey Him willingly.” The young man had a blank look. He was right, it didn’t make sense. And then I told him this and his face lighted up: “You are right. What God did made no sense if the only reason was to see if they would obey or fall, but God had a plan at the same for us to return to Him through the death of Jesus Christ.”
The question to Jesus’ coming is not if but when is He coming, who He will come for, and what will you do now that you still have a chance?
Conclusion: Plato said, The unexamined life is not worth living. Do people die because they are deserving, God is powerless, or life has no value? Generally no. People die whether they are in Galilee or Jerusalem, in the temple or on the streets, Christian or not. Life is a hazard, You can only worry so much, the only way out is the way up. God has conquered death, triumphed over evil, and the world in His hands. You need God’s mercy, grace and help every day just to go on. He demonstrated how to live when life seemed unfair, troubles were everywhere, and people mortal after all.
Let us pray…
CHILDREN’S LESSON
Order of Worship
Sunday March 11th, 2007
11:00 A.M.
Opening Hymn……………………” I’ve Seen The Lightning Flashing”, Hymn 441
Doxology………………………………………………..All
Call to Worship……………………………….Bro. Robert Hutcherson
Hymn…………………………………“Master, The Tempest Is Raging”, Hymn 462
Prayer…………………………………………..Bro. Robert Hutcherson
Prayer Response………………………………….Give Us This Day”
Scripture Reading……………………………..Bro. Robert Hutcherson
Decalogue………………………………………Bro. Robert Hutcherson
Gloria Patri………………………………………….Congregation
Sermon…………………………………………Bro. Robert Hutcherson
Invitation to Christian Discipleship……”I Need Thee Every Hour”, Hymn 327
Altar Call/Offertory………………………………………All
Offertory Response……………………………”All Things Come Of Thee”
Affirmation of Faith…………………………………Congregation
Benediction……………………………………..Bro. Robert Hutcherson
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Gk Greek
cf. confer, compare
[1]Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (4:397). New York: Doubleday.
e.g. exempli gratia (for example)
[2]Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (4:398). New York: Doubleday.