Disasters and Repentance

For 3/3/2013

Major disasters, mass killings, and other seemingly inexplicable events raise so many heartfelt questions; how can this be explained, how could God let this happen, were those who died being punished by God? Think about your reactions and let us hear the question everyday people brought to Jesus after a mass killing:

Luke 13:1-5 About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.”                             The Message Version             

· What is Jesus answer to people who are asking both why do bad things happen to good people and from the predominant theology of the time - were these people being punished by God? What does Jesus say about the victims?

· What does Jesus want us to learn about God as related to the tragedies? Did the events occur as a form of punishment? How do you think that the God you worship is present in such tragedies?

· Think of seemingly random bad things that occurred in your life, how was your relationship with God affected? Was it changed in any way? What spiritual insight did you receive?

· What point is Jesus making in telling of these two events,? What is he speaking of when he says that, “you, too, will die”? What must be done to avoid the type of death he is speaking of? John's Gospel has some thoughts on real life:

John 5:24 “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.                       The Message Version

· Jesus' point in the story is to tell us to "turn to God" or in many translations to repent, what does it mean to ‘repent’ and how do we go about it? What is changed about us when we repent?

· Do you associate repentance with Lent? What spiritual practices do we associate with Lent? Is reflection and seeking forgiveness part of your Lenten season?

There are a number of directions a discussion of this scripture could go - one of them is to look at the nature of God and the tragedies and disasters that are part of life. Job's story is famous for confronting us with this conundrum and here is another from Isaiah 55 as God speaks:

8-11 “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work"... “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.             The Message Version

· What does the Psalmist give us as God's words about the mysterious nature of life? What is the essence of the scripture? How do you react to it?

· These words are open to a wide range of interpretation - God's hand is in everything, everywhere, all the time - God chooses when to get involved - God may just let things happen. Where do you stand, how does your God touch real life?

· In the end all we may be left with is that we cannot fully understand anything about God - how do you feel about that? Does it make sense to you? Go outside and stare into infinity some night - it may help your perspective - it did the writer of Psalm 8.

We might also think about repentance which is where Jesus goes after his observation observations on disasters from Luke's gospel above:

Luke 13:6 Then he told them a story: “A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren’t any. He said to his gardener, ‘What’s going on here? For three years now I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?’ 8-9 “The gardener said, ‘Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.’”’                  The Message Version

· What is the owner's problem and what is his recommended solution? What is the recommendation of the gardener? What is the point of this parable? For Jesus this is about spiritual things so what might bearing fruit have to do with us? Jesus put it this way in John's Gospel:

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.New English Version

· How do you feel about Jesus’ words in the Luke parable and in John’s gospel? Does it seem that making a difference based on the presence of the Spirit in our lives is optional? Does this seem threatening, a basic truth, or something else? Do you feel empowered by your faith?

· Repentance; setting a new direction, changing our focus seems to run through Jesus' teaching and here is an homily on repentance for your consideration -at do you think:

Repentance is not a fruit problem; it is a root problem. It is the root of who we are that is a problem in God's eyes. So repentance cannot be composed of "I can" statements. "I have sinned God. I am sorry God. I can do better." Repentance, rather, must be composed of "I can't" statements. "I have sinned, God. I am sorry. God, I've tried and tried and tried but I just don't produce good fruit. I can't seem to do better. I need your Vinedresser to work on the roots of my life. Give me a new life, God. Give me your life. I can't. You can."

                                                                   Richard Jensen Preaching Luke's Gospel

Closing Prayer

We pray that we’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength You give. Strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking You who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that You have for us.  Amen.      From Colossians 1:9-10 The Message Version

 

 

Next Week’s Scriptures: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Psalm 32, Joshua 5:9-12