Luke 13: 1-9 | Why are we here?

WHY ARE WE HERE?

LUKE 13:1-9

JULY 12, 2015

EVERY MINISTER I KNOW, AND PROBABLY MOST OF THE ONES YOU’VE KNOWN OVER THE YEARS COULD TELL THEIR OWN VERSION OF THIS SAME STORY.

THIS PARTICULAR STORY COMES FROM DR. DOUG HOOD, THE PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF DELRAY BEACH AND THE CURRENT MODERATOR OF TROPICAL FLORIDA PRESBYTERY.

THE ACTUAL EVENTS OF THIS STORY HAPPENED IN DR. HOOD’S PREVIOUS CHURCH IN TEXAS.

IT SEEMS THAT THERE WAS ONE PARTICULAR SUNDAY MORNING THAT SIX SEPARATE PEOPLE NEEDED “A MINUTE” OF HIS TIME AS HE MADE HIS WAY TOWARD THE SANCTUARY FOR MORNING WORSHIP.

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT “A MINUTE” RARELY MEANS ONE MINUTE. MULTIPLY THAT BY SIX PEOPLE AND YOU UNDERSTAND HOW HE WAS RUNNING LATE FOR THE START OF THE SERVICE.

SEATED IN THE FRONT ROW OF THE CHURCH WAS A FIVE-YEAR OLD BOY, NICHOLAS, WITH HIS FATHER.

THE ORGANIST WAS DOING A GREAT JOB OF STRETCHING THE PRELUDE WHILE EVERYONE WAS WONDERING WHERE THE PASTOR WAS.

FINALLY DR. HOOD STEPPED INTO THE CHURCH, AND NICHOLAS STOOD IN HIS SEAT, POINTED HIS FINGER AT HIM WITH DRAMATIC FLAIR AND ANNOUNCED WITH NO UNCERTAINTY:

“WE CAN START NOW. GOD IS HERE!”

NOW, WITHOUT SOUNDING IMMODEST, I NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT I MYSELF HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN FOR GOD BY FIVE YEAR OLDS AS WELL!

THIS IS WHAT I MEANT WHEN I SAID PRETTY MUCH EVERY MINISTER I KNOW, AND PROBABLY MOST OF THE ONES YOU HAVE KNOWN HAVE HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE TO THIS ONE AT SOME POINT IN THEIR MINISTRY.

“WE CAN START NOW! GOD IS HERE!”

BUT START WHAT? WHAT DID NICHOLAS MEAN? THE OBVIOUS ANSWER IS THAT WE CAN START THE WORSHIP SERVICE.

BUT THIS MORNING I WOULD ASK ALL OF US HERE TO GO A BIT DEEPER: START WHAT? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE IN WORSHIP, SUNDAY IN AND SUNDAY OUT?

WHAT ARE WE UP TO IN THIS PLACE?

PERSONALLY, I LIKE THE ANSWER THAT DR. TOM LONG, ONE OF MY SEMINARY PROFESSORS GIVES TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT WE ARE DOING HERE IN WORSHIP.

“WORSHIP,” HE SAYS, “IS A DRESS-REHEARSAL FOR LIFE IN GOD’S KINGDOM.”

(AND PLEASE, LET’S REMEMBER, GOD’S KINGDOM ISN’T JUST IN HEAVEN, BUT RIGHT HERE ON EARTH AS WELL.)

1. LONG AGAIN: “IT IS HERE IN WORSHIP THAT WE LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE AND A NEW WAY OF BEHAVING TOWARD ONE ANOTHER.

(THAT, FOR SURE, MEANS IN THE WORLD, BUT EVEN MORE, IN CHURCH, HOW WE BEHAVE WITH OUR FELLOW BELIEVERS.)

1. LONG ONCE AGAIN: “WORSHIP IS WHERE WE LEARN TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE WE ONCE STOOD BEFORE A CONGREGATION LIKE THIS ONE AND SAID, ‘I BELIEVE’ AND WERE BAPTIZED.”

NOW AS MUCH AS I RESPECT A PERSON’S RIGHT TO BELIEVE AS THEY WANT TO BELIEVE, AND EVEN NOT BELIEVE, IF THAT IS THEIR CHOICE;

THERE IS A FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE WHO SAY THEY BELIEVE IN THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, OR NOT; AND THOSE WHO STAND BEFORE A CONGREGATION LIKE THIS ONE AND SAY, “I BELIEVE” AND ARE BAPTIZED.

FOR INSTANCE, I BELIEVE THAT IF I DROP THIS HYMNBOOK IT WILL FALL TO THE GROUND. I BELIEVE IN GRAVITY, BUT IT DOESN’T REALLY CHANGE HOW I CHOOSE TO LIVE.

BUT SOME OF THE THINGS WE CHOOSE TO BELIEVE DO CHANGE HOW WE LIVE.

SEVERAL DECADES AGO NOW I STOOD IN A SANCTUARY IN CHATTANOOGA, TN AND MADE A BUNCH OF PROMISES TO THAT WOMAN OVER THERE.

I PROMISED HER I WOULD LOVE HER AND BE FAITHFUL TO HER ALONE. I PROMISED HER IF WE WERE POOR OR EVER GOT RICH, AND WHEN WE’RE HEALTHY AND WHEN WE’RE SICK, THAT I WOULD BE THERE FOR HER;

AND SHE PROMISED ME THE SAME THINGS.

WE MADE A DECISION THAT WE WOULD LIVE DIFFERENTLY IN MARRIAGE.

SO WHEN SOMEONE, WE, STAND BEFORE GOD, AND GOD’S ASSEMBLED PEOPLE IN A PARTICULAR PLACE AND SAY, “I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST” AND RECEIVE BAPTISM, IT IS A DECLARATION THAT WE WILL LIVE DIFFERENTLY.

WE WILL LIVE LIFE IN A MANNER THAT PLEASES GOD.

WHENEVER WE RECITE THE APOSTLES’ CREED, AS WE WILL DO IN A FEW MOMENTS, IT IS A RENEWAL OF OUR BAPTISMAL DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF AT LEAST SOME OF THE CORE VALUES OF OUR LIFE.

SO, WHAT ARE WE UP TO HERE? ARE WE REHEARSING FOR LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD? ARE WE PRACTICING OUR BEST “KINGDOM” BEHAVIOR?

ARE WE SAYING TO THE WORLD, AND TO EACH OTHER, MUCH AS WE MIGHT HAVE SAID ON THE DAY WE GOT MARRIED, THAT WE WILL LIVE OUR LIVES IN CERTAIN WAYS BEFORE GOD AND WITH ONE ANOTHER?

ARE WE TELLING OURSELVES, AND EACH OTHER, AND THE REST OF THE WORLD THAT WHAT WE DO IN HERE MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN WHAT WE DO OUT THERE?

THAT WHAT WE DO HERE ON SUNDAYS, MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN WHAT WE DO EVERY OTHER DAY OF THE WEEK?

OUR PASSAGE FOR THIS MORNING GETS AT SOMETHING OF THIS, AS THOSE WHO WERE WITH JESUS BEGAN TO ASK HIM ABOUT CERTAIN EVENTS, PAST AND PRESENT, HERE AND THERE, AND ABOUT THE PEOPLE INVOLVED, AND ABOUT GOD’S WILL IN THESE EVENTS…

WHILE THE QUESTIONS ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD ENOUGH, SOUNDING QUITE INTELLECTUAL ON THE FACE OF THINGS, I HAPPEN TO BELIEVE THAT THEY COME FROM A BUNCH OF NOSEY NELLY’S AND GOSSIPY GOOSES AND GANDERS.

HONESTLY, I THINK THOSE ASKING THE QUESTIONS ARE DOING SO AS A WAY TO VALIDATE THEMSELVES; TO MAKE THEMSELVES LOOK BETTER THAN OTHERS.

ANYTIME SOMEONE POINTS OUT ANOTHER’S SINS OR SHORTCOMINGS, ESPECIALLY PUBLICLY, YOU CAN BE PRETTY SURE THEY ARE DOING IT AS A WAY TO MAKE THEMSELVES LOOK BETTER.

BY THE ANSWERS HE GAVE, OR DIDN’T GIVE, AS THE CASE MAY BE, I BELIEVE JESUS THOUGHT THAT’S WHAT THEY WERE DOING TOO.

YOU SEE, THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT OUR PASSAGE FOR THIS MORNING IS THAT JESUS IS QUITE TIGHT-LIPPED WITH HIS ANSWERS, AND INSTEAD, IMMEDIATELY TURNS THE QUESTIONS BACK ON TO HIS INQUISITORS?

FIRST THEY TELL JESUS ABOUT A GROUP OF GALILEANS WHO WERE MASSACRED BY THE ROMAN AUTHORITIES WHILE THEY WERE IN THE MIDST OF WORSHIPPING AND MAKING SACRIFICES.

“DO YOU THINK,” THEY ASK JESUS, “THAT BECAUSE THESE GALILEANS SUFFERED IN THIS WAY THEY WERE WORSE SINNERS THAN ALL THE OTHER GALILEANS?”

“NO,” JESUS SAYS, “BUT UNLESS YOU REPENT, YOU WILL PERISH AS THEY DID.”

I’M GUESSING THAT’S NOT EXACTLY THE ANSWER THEY WERE LOOKING FOR, AND NOWHERE IN THEIR QUESTION WERE THEY BRINGING UP THEMSELVES.

SO THEY QUICKLY ASK JESUS ANOTHER QUESTION, ABOUT ANOTHER GROUP OF PEOPLE, THIS TIME, SADLY, THE VICTIMS OF AN ACCIDENT.

“OR THOSE EIGHTEEN WHO DIED WHEN THE TOWER OF SILOAM FELL ON THEM – DO YOU THINK THEY WERE WORSE OFFENDERS THAN ALL THE OTHERS LIVING IN JERUSALEM?”

“NO,” JESUS SAYS, “BUT UNLESS YOU REPENT, YOU WILL ALL PERISH JUST AS THEY DID.

THEY STOPPED ASKING HIM QUESTIONS.

THERE’S A LOT HAPPENING IN THESE TWO QUICK QUESTIONS, JESUS’ ANSWERS, AND THIS BRIEF INTERACTION.

IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEY ARE THEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. WAS GOD PUNISHING THESE PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY WERE WORSE SINNERS THAN OTHERS? “NO,” JESUS SAYS.

AND WITH THAT JESUS ANSWERS ANOTHER UNASKED QUESTION: DID GOD CAUSE THESE THINGS TO HAPPEN? “NO,” JESUS SEEMS TO BE SAYING.

PILATE’S MEN DID THE KILLING IN THE FIRST INCIDENT. AND IN THE SECOND, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT; AND ACCIDENTS HAPPEN; AND LOTS OF THINGS HAPPEN OUTSIDE OF GOD’S PURPOSES.

THIRDLY, WHEN ASKED TO WEIGH IN ON WHO ARE “BETTER” OR “WORSE” SINNERS – JESUS TAKES A PASS – AND INSTEAD OF LABELING, HE TURNS THE QUESTIONS BACK ON TO THOSE ASKING THEM, AND ASKS THEM TO CONSIDER THEIR OWN SINS INSTEAD.

FINALLY, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, PERHAPS, IT SEEMS, JESUS IS SUGGESTING THAT THE PEOPLE ASKING THE QUESTIONS MIGHT WANT TO SPEND LESS TIME ASKING ABOUT THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO OTHERS;

AND IN PARTICULAR, TO OTHERS THAT THEY DEEM “MORE SINFUL” THAN THEM; AND SPEND MORE TIME WORRYING ABOUT THEIR OWN LIVES AND SALVATION.

TWICE JESUS WARNS THEM THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHERS COULD HAPPEN TO THEM – THEY MIGHT BE KILLED; THEY MIGHT DIE IN A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT; WHO KNOWS?

THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION IS – WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?

QUIT WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING, OR WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THEM, AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE WORSE SINNERS THAN EVERYONE ELSE, AND START WORRYING ABOUT YOURSELF.

ACTUALLY, JESUS EVEN GIVES THEM ANOTHER CHANCE TO CONSIDER WHAT HE’S SAYING BY PROVIDING THEM WITH A PARABLE.

THERE’S THIS FIG TREE, SEE, AND IT DOESN’T BEAR ANY FIGS, AND THE LANDOWNER IS TIRED OF IT TAKING UP SPACE AND TELLS THE GARDENER TO CUT IT DOWN.

BUT THE GARDENER WANTS TO BUY THE TREE A LITTLE MORE TIME AND BEGS THE OWNER TO GIVE IT ONE MORE YEAR – EVEN PROMISING TO GIVE THE POOR LITTLE TREE SOME EXTRA ATTENTION – DIGGING AROUND IT, FERTILIZING IT, WATERING IT A LITTLE MORE, AND THEN LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

IF IT BEARS FRUIT NEXT YEAR, WELL AND GOOD; BUT IF NOT, YOU CAN CUT IT DOWN.

NOW WE KNOW JESUS ISN’T TALKING ABOUT FIG TREES, HE’S TALKING ABOUT US.

WE BECOME SO WRAPPED UP IN WONDERING WHY GOD ALLOWS THIS OR THAT TO HAPPEN; OR WHO’S BETTER OR WORSE THAN WE ARE; AND WHO’S SINNING AND HOW; AND WHETHER OR NOT WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE IS GOD’S PUNISHMENT;

THAT WE PAY LITTLE ATTENTION TO WHETHER WE ARE PERSONALLY ADVANCING GOD’S PURPOSES.

ARE WE PRODUCING FRUIT FOR GOD’S KINGDOM?

GOD EXPECTS THOSE WHO DECLARE, “I BELIEVE,” AND WHO ARE BAPTIZED TO PRODUCE FRUIT; TO PRODUCE EVIDENCE OF OUR CHANGED LIVES.

NICHOLAS POINTED AT DR. HOOD AND ANNOUNCED, “WE CAN START NOW. GOD IS HERE!”

START WHAT? IT IS A GOOD QUESTION, AND GOD IS MOST DEFINITELY HERE.

ACTUALLY, IT IS A GREAT QUESTION. IT IS THE KIND OF QUESTION, “START WHAT?” WE CAN ANSWER TOGETHER AND SEPARATELY.

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? – THERE’S A SMALL GROUP OF INTERESTED PEOPLE IN OUR CHURCH WHO ARE ASKING AND SEEKING ANSWERS TO THAT QUESTION RIGHT NOW AND WE SHOULD BE HEARING FROM THEM SOON.

BUT THERE IS ALSO THE QUESTION, “WHAT AM I DOING HERE?”

ME, PERSONALLY, INDIVIDUALLY, AND TOGETHER WITH EVERYONE ELSE TRYING TO ANSWER THE SAME QUESTION FOR THEMSELVES TOO: “WHAT AM I DOING HERE?”

AM I REHEARSING FOR HOW I LIVE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD? AM I LIVING OUT A CHANGED LIFE? PRODUCING FRUIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

AM I KEEPING MY PROMISES TO GOD, AND, SAY, TO MY MATE, MY FAMILY, MY CHURCH, OTHERS? AM I HERE SHOWING THE WORLD “WHOSE SIDE I’M ON”?

I KNOW I’VE TOLD YOU THE STORY BEFORE ABOUT THE OLDER GENTLEMEN WHO NEVER MISSED A SUNDAY. HE COULDN’T HEAR A THING; COULD BARELY SEE A FEW FEET IN FRONT OF HIS FACE; AND GOT AROUND WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY.

FINALLY SOMEONE ASKED HIM WHY IN THE WORLD HE BOTHERED COMING TO CHURCH IF HE COULDN’T HEAR, COULDN’T SEE, AND COULDN’T PARTICIPATE IN MANY OF THE ACTIVITIES?

“I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHOSE SIDE I’M ON,” HE ANSWERED.

WHY ARE WE HERE?

IT’S A QUESTION WORTH ASKING OURSELVES INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY.

“WE CAN START NOW. GOD IS HERE!” START WHAT?