Untitled Sermon (3)

Luke 13:1-5

As I’ve listened to the recent news of the collapse of the condominiums in Surfside Miami I was lead to our text tonight.

The last numbers I read was 16 people confirmed dead and 147 still unaccounted for. 

Very sad and tragic event.

Tonight we will read the text, pray, and then I will have an involved introduction (which will be about half our teaching time). Then we will finally get to this short passage.

Read Luke 13:1-5

Pray

Introduction -

When you walk into a supermarket you will be expose to hundreds if not thousands of products.

-You will see scores and scores labels plus advertisements.

-90% of what you see you will quickly ignore.

You will see products and brands and in a millisecond your eye will go to something else.

In 2007 it was estimated that each person, during their every day activities, saw up to 5,000 ads a day.

In 2021 it is estimated that we see 6,000-10,000 ads everyday.

-Your mind has to process thousands of ads.

-How do you survive a day and have any brain power left?

-Just to survive and have attention where it needs to be you have to learn very quickly to ignore.

-You have to learn to process very quickly what to focus on and what to ignore.

-Hang on to this idea...

“-You have to learn to process very quickly what to focus on and what to ignore. “

-If you don’t you’ll be stuck in the ads, get overwhelmed, and getting nothing done.

Here is the key I want you to hold on to ...

The skill of ignoring is a double edge sword.

-It really helps us, and it really hurts us.

How does it hurt us?

We live in a context where we have access to be confronted with tragedy all the time.

-Our TV’s, Tablets, and phones fill us with news of tragedy.

Examples - Hurricanes, school shootings, racially motivated killings, bombings in Syria, people in our own area getting cancer, and dying.

-We even entertain ourselves by watching people and animals fall or get hurt.

-We learn to be uncompassionate toward those who are hurt. Pause.

-To protect our psyche from depression and despair we are required to not process the tragedy.

-You have to keep tragedy at arms length.

-If you do process a little bit of all the tragedy you are exposed to it has to be nameless and faceless.

-It cannot be allowed to get inside your mind and heart.

-If you took into your mind and heart all the tragedy that you see and hear, it would psychologically damage you.

BUT

There is some necessary tragedy that has to get in and we have to process.

-Difficulty in our own life.

-Struggles with children and grandchildren

-Sickness with friends and family.

-Financial stress

Summary - So, some tragedy gets in (and we are more than full of what we can handle). Other tragedy gets ignored.

Transition - There is a danger in this ignoring tragedy.

Ignoring tragedy is a double edged sword.

It protects our psyche, but it also blinds us.

Here we have our passage today.

I’m going to read these 5 verses again.

Read Luke 13:1-5

Galileans who blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

We believe this event happened during passover when Pilate was in Jerusalem.

Passover is the most Holy of all Jewish celebrations.

Every active Jew would celebrate passover.

Passover was a time where the city area swelled to over a million worshipers.

A quarter of a million animals were sacrificed in the Temple in just a few days time.

-The temple grounds would smell like a slaughterhouse with a disturbing amount of blood everywhere.

-Galileans were know for their rebelliousness to Rome and to Pontius Pilate.

-Apparently there were a group of Galileans that had become a stench to Pilate.

-Pilate decided to make a statement of this group of Galileans no one would forget.

-During the worship of God in the temple dirty Gentile soldiers enter the temple grounds and kill a group of worshiping Galileans.

-Their human blood would pour from their bodies and mix with the blood of the sacrifices to God.

-This was one of the worst things that Pilate could have done.

-Not only kill Jews. But kill Jews during passover, in the temple, so near the alter that their blood mixed with the sacrificial blood to God.

-Pontious Pilate desecrated the temple and worship of God.

-The Jews would never forgive Pilate for this.

Jesus asks this question

“Do you think they were worse sinners?” because this happened to them?

Pause

Then Jesus addresses a second tragedy.

There was a building project in Jerusalem.

-We think it was a tower that was connected to an aquaduct that brought in water to the city.

-There were workers, most likely hired by the government to improve the city.

-Tragedy struck, The tower fell, 18 were killed.

Jesus asks this question

“Do you think they were worse sinners?” because this happened to them?

Why would Jesus ask this question?

Because Jewish theology taught that these people who died, deserved to die because of some kind of sin.

The theology of the Israel.

-You are a chosen and blessed people.

-If something bad happened to you, it was because you brought it on yourself.

-God was judging you.

-Your sin was the cause of your suffering.

Example of Job -

He looses his family, his house, his fortune ...

Job’s 3 friends tell him that he has sinned and brought this on himself.

What we now is this ...

God was using his suffering for a purpose.

For centuries Job has encouraged billions of Christ Followers that,

“God has purpose in suffering... many eternal and powerful purposes, in suffering.

The theology of Jesus.

In our passage today - Jesus shows a specific purpose in large scale suffering.

God uses these big tragedies to remind us of an important truth.

Today’s passage clearly states it.

“unless you repent, you will likewise perish”

Tragedy is an earthly sign of eternal truths.

Large scale suffering warns us of the judgement of God to come.

Jesus says, “repent or you will also perish”

What is repentance? Completely turning from you sin.

What is perishing?

The condemnation of God to eternal death in hell.

Pause

Illustration - Sometimes it is hard getting old and watching people get old.

There are 2 blessings that I can think of to the body breaking dow as we get older.

Humility - As you get older we are to gain both wisdom and humility. Broken bodies help keep us humble.Broken bodies are a tragedy that keep reminding us to ready ourselves for eternity.

To repent, to make sure our hearts and lives are

ready.

What is the right response to large scale tragedy?

-Compassion and prayer

-To earnestly prepare yourself to meet a God that will judge the living and the dead.

-Will you make sure your heart and life are prepared to meet Him?

-When large scale tragedy strikes, will you take a moment and see that God is communicating something very important to a lost and dying world?

Pray