Luke 13 1-9 2007
Lent 3
Luke 13:1-9
March 14, 2007
Yes, But How?
Introduction: A man borrowed a book from an acquaintance. As he read through it, he was intrigued to find parts of the book underlined with the letters YBH written in the margin. When he returned the book to the owner, he asked what the YBH meant. The owner replied that the underlined paragraphs were sections of the book that he basically agreed with. They gave him hints on how to improve himself and pointed out truths that he wished to incorporate into his life. However, the letters YBH stood for "Yes, but how?"
Those three letters could be written on the margins of ours minds: "I ought to know how to take better care of myself, but how?" "I know I ought to spend more time in scripture reading and prayer, but how?" "I know I ought to be more sensitive to others, more loving of my spouse, more understanding of the weaknesses of others, but how?" These are all good qualities and we know that, but how do we implement them into our lives? As Christian people we know the kind of life we ought to live, and most of us have the best of intentions to do so, but how? We are afraid because we know where the road paved with only good intentions leads!
This morning we hear Jesus' parable of the fig tree, telling us to repent and bear good fruit. We know what the Christian life requires of us and yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we also know how far short we fall.
It's a dilemma that has confronted God's people throughout the ages. Even Saint Paul found himself trapped. In Romans 7 St. Paul writes about his predicament and ours: It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God's will so far as my new (redeemed Christian) nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my sinful nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind, I want to be God's willing servant, but instead I find myself enslaved to sin. So you see how it is; my new life (the redeemed life in Christ) tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me (my sinful human self) loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in! Who will free me from this slavery to sin? Thank God! It has already been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free!
"Repent," Jesus says. "Acknowledge your sinfulness." That's the first step in beginning to live the Christian life. None of us is without fault. And yet how difficult it is for us to admit that. We know better than to openly admit our wrongs. If we want to get ahead in this world and be accepted by others, it's generally better to conceal our shortcomings and put on a good front for others.
Who goes into a job interview and declares, "I have to tell you. I have a habit of missing work, of criticizing my supervisors and others, and I enjoy listening to office gossip?" Who goes on a date and confesses to the other person, "Listen. I have to tell you I tend to be difficult to live with and I can be a real bore at times"?
However imperfect we may be, we've learned from life around us that it's better not to parade our imperfections out in public. As the little girl said to her classmate who had to sit in the corner, "To err is human, but to admit it is just plain stupid!"
How strange it is then, that Jesus would tell us to repent. Instead of offering a word of understanding for our all-too-human tendency to sin and cover up our wrongdoings, Jesus tells us to unveil the evil within us, to admit that we have failed. The apostle John tells us the same thing very clearly when he writes, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
All the while, while we try to hide our own faults we almost go out of our way to find fault in the people around us. How often do we point out when another person fails? It’s kind of related to Jesus comments after He was told about the stories of the people who had the tower fall on them, or the people that Pilate had killed. In these cases Jesus answers their questions without them even asking it. What is their question? What do you think Jesus; surely these people must be terrible sinners for them to have had such a terrible things happen to them? Behind this question is the accusing finger pointing away from themselves and pointing to other people, their faults and their sins. Behind this is the prideful thoughts of people that think that they aren’t doing so bad, that they are not so bad after all. Jesus does not fall for such a subtle trap. He looked them in the eye, just as His Word pierces our souls today, and says, do you think these other people were worse sinners, do you think other people are more guilty than you, “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” This is the reward of sin. This is the reward for even one transgression against God’s Holy Law.
Whoever we are, whatever we do, we all share one thing in common and that is that we are sinful. Saint Augustine once wrote, "Whatever we are, we are not what we ought to be." Mark Twain, with his characteristic sense of humor, tells us how he understands that when he wrote, "Man was made at the end of the week, when God was tired."
Repent, Jesus says, for that's the first step in the Christian life. Confess your sins before God and receive God's forgiveness. In that sense, confession is good for the soul, true confession, not the kind of glib admission that says, "Sure I've sinned. Who hasn't?" True confession begins with a heartfelt remorse, a feeling of failure to live up to God's love and a desire to reform. "Blessed are those who mourn," Jesus said, and part of what he was speaking about is those who feel the pain of a guilty conscience and grieve in the awareness that we have failed to live up to the expectations of God and those around us.
Most of us are willing to confess our sins as long as we don't have to change. We are willing to admit to a blemish or two on our moral complexion but nothing that can not be cosmetically covered up with a coating of good manners. None of us wants to admit that our sinfulness may require reconstructive surgery! After all, we like to think that God is happy with us the way we are and really only wants to make us happy with ourselves.
But the truth of our moral and spiritual condition becomes evident only when we compare ourselves to Jesus. In the light of his life, our lives look awful! Sure, terrible wrongdoing, grisly crimes, sins of passion and violence may not be part of our personal history -- but what about our neglect of the poor, our passive acceptance of injustice toward others, our silence in the face of hurtful gossip, and our failure to reverence God as we ought? When we look at our lives in the light of Jesus' love, even our best, our righteousness is, as the Scriptures tell us, like "filthy rags."
Confession is good for the soul, we know that, and it is the beginning and end of the Christian life, it is the Christian life. Sin is taking poison into our lives, and the only antidote for sin is repentance. We need to repent of our sinfulness, receive God's forgiveness, and produce the fruit that God desires.
Yes, that’s the rest of the story and the story that Jesus tells right after His call to repentance for everyone. He tells the story of the fig tree. “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.'" What is the fruit that He is looking for? It is the fruit of repentance and of faith in Him. It is also the fruit of good works that follow repentance and faith. Jesus came to turn us away from our sin. He came to turn us towards Himself with the power of His Spirit filled Word. He is long suffering and patient. He is the man that says, “Leave it alone for one more year. He is the one that says let me work with it, take care of it, dig around its roots, fertilize it so that it might proper. He is talking about you and me. He comes to give you life, not death.
Through His power God releases us from the power of sin. And only when we are free from sin do we have the possibility to become who God has created us to be -- children of God, young and old, each able to produce the fruits of faith. Remember Saint Paul's words: "What a terrible predicament I am in! Who will free me from this slavery to sin? Thank God! It has already been done by Jesus Christ my Lord. He has set me free."
That's the key to our dilemma, the answer to our question, "Yes, but how?" How do we live the life of faith we are called to live as followers of Christ? How can we do what we ought to do? The key to living the life "worthy of our calling" as children of God is to remember that God has already set us free! Because God sent His Son to die on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, through faith in Christ Jesus we are free! We are free to be who God has made us to be.
It is this freedom that we are celebrating today as our Ladies Aid celebrates 60 years. Freedom to love, freedom to help, freedom to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 60 years of God’s grace poured out on them and in turn on the rest of us. It is Christ’s love that compels them. That is why, the members of Immanuel’s Ladies Aid what they do. They give of their time and their talents and their financial resources to make the proclamation of the gospel a reality in out fallen and suffering world. They show the love of Christ, that has been given to them in their acts of compassion.
They are an example to us today as we talk about the Christian life and how it is lived. When our hearts and minds are joined to God by the Spirit of Christ, when we have been released from sin by repentance and forgiveness and faith, when we hold steady the example of Jesus in our lives, our hearts and minds will be moved by the melody of God's love. The key, however, begins with repentance and confession and faith in Jesus Christ. For there we receive the release we need, there we are filled with the power of forgiveness, there we find the answer to the question that plagues us, "Yes, but how?"[i]- Through Jesus Christ our Lord and by His amazing grace. In Jesus name, of course. Amen.
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[i] Lee Griess