2015-09-20 Luke 13:1-5 Living on Borrowed Time (2): Don't Wait Until Tomorrow

LIVING ON BORROWED TIME (2): DO NOT WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW (Luke 13:1-5) September 20, 2015 Read Lu 13:1-5 -- Will Rogers once gave a clock to friend with these words engraved: “The clock of life is wound but once, / And no man has the power / To tell just when the hands will stop, / At late or early hour./ Now is the only time we own; / Love, life, toil with a will; / Do not wait until tomorrow, / For the clock may then be still.” You say, That sounds a little morose! But it’s not, Beloved. That’s a reality we need to face daily. Along with the fact that not only will time soon run out, but outside of Christ, we are under a sentence of death – not physical but eternal. Disasters are one way that the Lord graciously reminds us of that truth. This passage has two – one natural and one imposed. But Jesus finds the same warning in both. At the end of Lu 11 He has warned His audience that while they may be great at reading signs of the weather, they do not read spiritual signs well at all. Then He urged them to settle with God out of court for their sinful natures. They respond, “Hey, you’re wrong. We know signs. We know that those Galileans that Pilate killed a few days ago must have done something pretty bad.” They made two devastatingly bad moralistic assumptions that Jesus immediately attacks. They assumed that people always get what they deserve, which is sometimes true and sometimes not in this life. And they assumed that the “good” people – namely them – didn’t need to settle with anyone. They were good enough. So last week, we looked at I. Two Great Tragedies and II. Two Grave Traps – bad ways of explaining those tragedies. Today we want to focus on Jesus’ response which consists of III. Two Gospel Truths. It is another presentation of His core message. III. Two Gospel Truths Note the similarity of Jesus’ response to each tragedy. V. 2: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?” Obviously that is exactly what they thought or Jesus would not have responded in this way. V. 4, “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?” Again the answer was, “Yes.” Their whole theological system was moralistic. They believed that all adversity, all hardship, all disability and all disasters were a direct result of the sin of the person 1 involved. That was exactly what they believed. And, of course, it left them feeling pretty good about themselves because, after all, they had not been slaughtered or had towers falling on them. As we saw last week, that was flawed thinking. But on this occasion, Jesus does not go there. He doesn’t argue that point at all. Instead He just presents the gospel with emphasis on the negative side. V. 3, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” And then for emphasis, He presents it again in v. 5, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” It must be important and it is. It implies two critical truths that these people were not getting that we must all get if we are to ever see heaven. A. We are all living on borrowed time Notice that twice Jesus asks a telling question. V. 2: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans?” And v. 4: “Do you think that they [those killed by the tower] were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?” They would have answered yes, but clearly in asking these questions, Jesus is implying that’s the wrong answer. He is aiming straight at the heart of their whole religious system. They see humanity divided into two groups – the good and the bad. Those who keep the law and those who do not. Judgment falls on those who do not. It was a tidy little system that allowed them to look down on anyone they considered less righteous than themselves. But Jesus comes right out and says, “No! When you see people suffer, that is not necessarily retribution for sin.” Then – He turns right around, tho, and says, “But repent, lest you perish too!” That puts it in a whole different light. If He had only said, “No” everyone would have said, “Oh, that’s great. That’s nice to know, but what does that mean?” It would mean that God is unfair then. Do you see? If He had simply said, “No, no. God doesn’t treat people like that. It’s not punishment for sin,” we’d have to say, “But wait a minute then. Life does stink then, huh? If they don’t deserve that, then what’s going on?” But He doesn’t say they didn’t deserve it. He just says they were no worse than anyone else. He just says it wasn’t the direct result of some certain sin. But He doesn’t say they didn’t deserve it. Instead he turns right around and lays a haymaker on them: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” With those words, Jesus has just thrown everyone under 2 the same bus. He’s saying, “One the one hand, don’t you ever think those people are worse because they suffered. On the other hand, I want you to realize that every person on the face of the earth deserves to have a tower fall on them. Don’t you dare feel smug. You deserve to have a tower fall on you just as much as they did. If God gave you what you deserve, you’d have a tower fall on you too!” Sounds harsh to us. And it was not calculated to win friends and influence people – but it was calculated to bring reality into the tidy world of these people. It was calculated to bring them face-to-face with their own condemnation. Like most people, these had never considered they might be that bad. They were Jews. They brought their sacrifices and attended the yearly feast. They kept the law outwardly. But they had a fatal flaw. Their hearts were far from God. They were trusting in what they did rather than in a God who wanted to chance their heart. Jesus is trying to startle them into a true look at themselves. He is urging them to realize that they are living even now on God’s mercy, but judgment it coming. They are living on borrowed time. He is urging them as He urges us, “Don’t look on your works. Look at your heart. Think of all the lies you’ve told that you never got consequences for. Think of all the stupid choices you’ve made that you got away with. Think of every time you’ve betrayed a friend, coveted what someone else has, lost your temper, taken revenge, harbored bitterness, chosen your way over God’s. See yourself for who you really are from the inside.” No one has ever received even a fraction of the consequences for the stupid, wrong, proud and selfish things they’ve done. God is graciously again and again and again, day in and day out NOT giving us what we deserve. Our hearts are filled with denial and excuses, but if we saw them as God sees them – saw all the pride, alienation, hatred, murder, immorality and idolatry as God sees them, we’d realize – borrowed time! We’d realize how patient God is as He urges and waits for a broken and contrite heart. That’s the sacrifice He seeks. He yearns to be gracious. Here’s the truth. The gospel is that we are much more flawed and much more lost than our heart dares believe. But we are also much more loved, much more cared for, much more protected than our heart will believe either. If we weren’t we’d already be gone. God’s patience causes us to think our outward righteousness is the source of our good fortune. But the truth is, if we got what we deserved, the tower would have fallen long ago. It is only God’s mercy that keeps us alive the next minute. We are equally deserving of God’s judgment. 3 We all fall short of the glory of God. James 2:10: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” How can God say that? Did you ever consider that? How can God say such a thing? How can a simple swear word be as bad as murder? Here’s why, Beloved. It’s because the law is not a simple list of do’s and don’t’s. It is something much more profound than that. It is an expression of the character of God. So breaking even one point is a violation of His whole person, and, of course, the truth is, in our hearts we violate every point on daily basis. We’re living on borrowed time. A police officer pulled over a distinguished-looking woman and asked, “Where’s the fire? You were 15 MPH over the speed limit.” The old gentleman in the passenger seat laughed and said, “Well, young man, we were speeding to get where we’re going before we forget where we’re going.” They at least realized they were living on borrowed time and better made the best use of what they had. But that’s exactly why Paul advises in II Cor 6:2, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Not tomorrow, today, Beloved. Now. Every natural disaster, every human tragedy should remind us – you’re on borrowed time. B. Our only hope is repentance So, we’re on borrowed time. So how do we respond? What do we do? Jesus gives a one-word answer. Repent. Repent. The word repent literally means to turn around – you’re going toward Cheyenne and you turn completely around and head toward Denver. Only this is speaking of your life direction. It involves two things – turning away from our innate sinfulness and turning toward God. We could turn from one idol to another. But repentance is turning from all of our idols to the one true God – from our heart! That’s repentance. Now, keep in mind, Jesus is not saying this about or to people who at the moment are being buried by towers. He’s not saying it to people who are going thru suffering and financial strain. The Bible addresses those. Jesus addresses those, but not here. His audience is people who doing okay. This is His counsel to people whose lives are trouble-free at the moment. No towers falling. And they are some of the most righteous people on the planet – going to synagogue, saying their prayers, following all the rules. But Jesus is saying just when things are really smooth and your are feeling most self-satisfied – 4 that’s when you are very dangerous territory spiritually. And Jesus is saying, “Watch out. You’re going to perish. Look out! You need to repent!” Jesus is pointing out a very important truth here. Repentance is not primarily about breaking the rules. Of course it is that too. If you lie, it you lose your temper, if you cheat, if you rob a bank, if you gossip, you need to confess your sin and abandon it. But that is not the essence of repentance. Because the essence of sin is not breaking the rules. The essence of sin is violating God by replacing Him with self. The essence of sin is putting yourself or something you want or desire in the place that only God should have. The essence of sin is being your own Savior – not looking to Him but doing it yourself. And it’s in trouble-free times that we are most likely to do that. Society helps us convince ourselves we have no sin. Naturalism tells us that what we call sin is merely the residue of an evolutionary process that rewards aggression and for which I am not responsible. Psychology tells us that what we call sin is merely an overactive conscience and all we need to do is get rid of the guilt feelings. Liberal theology tells us that sin is merely low selfesteem and the solution is to find and heal the inner child that was abused by restrictive parents. Moralists tell us that sin is a list of do’s and don’t’s and the solution is to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Notice that none of these have any reference to God. The Bible says that sin is replacing God with self. It doesn’t matter whether it is Lucifer saying, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isa 14:14), or Adam and Eve falling for the line, “when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Gen 3:4), or the people at the Tower of Babel saying, “let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4), the essence of sin is always the same – replacing God with self. So Jesus is saying, “Don’t think you are better than those who were killed by Pilate or crushed by the tower. Don’t think your goodness is saving you. The only reason you have not been crushed is God’s grace in giving you more time. But you must use that time to repent of your self-centeredness, your self-justification or you will also perish.” So how could Jesus offer pardon for repentance when the sin had not been paid for? Here is why, Beloved. If you don’t get anything else, please get this. The reason Jesus can say, if you repent, towers won’t fall on you is that He was even then on His way to have the ultimate tower fall on Him. The reason that the best person, the only perfect person, had the worst life is because He 5 willingly accepted being crushed by the ultimate tower. The tower of God’s judgment must eventually fall on all sin. But the reason it does not have to fall on me is because He let it fall on Him. He took my place under the tower of God’s judgment so that I don’t have to. And when I repent I am acknowledging that He has paid the price for me and I am accepting that. To repent is to acknowledge that all our good works are wonderful as the expression of a broken and repentant heart, but that they are useless as a means to earn God’s favor. God looks not on outward appearance but on the heart. That’s exactly why Paul, the most outwardly exacting man of his time came to this conclusion: “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:4-8). That’s repentance. Turning from self to God. It’s a lifetime commitment. When Jesus says, “Unless you repent, you will likewise perish, he used a present tense verb – not one-time, but ongoing action. Lifetime commitment. Conc – Repentance is at the heart of the gospel, Beloved. Jesus death and resurrection is only good news for those who repent. That’s always been the message. Noah’s message from the steps going up to the Ark was not, “Something good is about to happen!” Amos was not confronted by the high priest of Israel for proclaiming, “Name it an claim it!” Jeremiah was not put into the pit for preaching, “I’m O.K., you’re O.K.!” Daniel was not put into the lion’s den for telling people, “Possibility thinking will move mountains!” John the Baptist was not forced to preach in the wilderness and eventually beheaded because he preached, “Smile, God loves you!” The two prophets of the tribulation will not be killed for preaching, “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world!” The message of all these men was the same as that of Jesus – “Repent!” It was only when Paul repented his perceived goodness that he found peace with God. Until that happens, we are living on borrowed time. And the hammer of eternal judgment could fall any time. Borrowed time ends with physical death. God says in Heb 9:27, “It is appointed unto man once to die and after than comes judgment.” There are no tomorrows then. You must be ready. God uses human calamity to remind us what Jim Elliott, the missionary 6 who was martyred in Ecuador in 1956 once said: "When it comes time to die, make sure that all you have to do is die." How do you do that? Live a life of repentance. Do not wait until tomorrow, / For the clock may then be still.” Let’s pray. 7