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Sermon: The Second Sunday in Lent (C) - 28th February 2010
St Alban's Anglican Church Epping
Readings: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:1-9
One of my favourite shows on TV is Australian Story. I guess that shows my age. Some weeks we see people who have achieved so much in their short lives. They are truly remarkable. But every now and again, they tell another kind of story – the story of people who’ve undergone the worst of suffering – incredible pain. Yet in spite of this, these people have not given up. They aren’t bitter. They don’t blame the world. They are people who continue to make the best of the lives they have. And by the end of the program I find myself asking if I would cope as well as they have? Perhaps its not until we’re in that situation do we discover what resources, what inner strength we have to manage in a crisis.
Sometimes, though, when we hear of people going through bad times we can experience the temptation of wanting to say, “If they had been more careful, it probably wouldn’t have happened.” They really brought it on themselves. In some sense, they were really asking for it. If only the Haitians had built their houses better they might not have suffered so much through their earthquake. If only people had fewer children they might not suffer such crippling poverty. Some politicians in Victoria have said if Indian students dressed poorly or didn’t use mobile phones, or didn’t work late shifts resulting in them coming home after midnight they wouldn’t be attacked. It’s a very simple solution to blame the victim for the crime. Just like girls, who wouldn’t get attacked if only they learnt to dress properly. Its some strange leap of logic that somehow it’s the victims fault not that of the violent perpetrator. Strangely the Victorian politicians don’t see it as their duty to keep their streets safe, even at night. Its much easier to blame the victim.
This was Jesus point in our gospel reading today. The crowd told Jesus of an incident where some Galileans had been slaughtered by soldiers while they were sacrificing in the Temple. The crowd assumed that these people must have been under some sort of curse. They must have done something really bad for them to suffer in that way. They brought disaster upon themselves. Jesus’ point is that life is not like that. He used the example of the eighteen who died when a tower fell on them. They weren’t uniquely bad people.
But even today, we can be tempted to think like that, particularly when something very bad happens to ourselves. We can assume we must have done something very bad for us to be suffering in this way. If only we had lived a better life then we might have escaped the suffering. But that simply isn’t true. Rather, the truth is that bad things still happen to good people. We can be tempted into the superstition where we try to do our very best because we think we can ward off all the bad things, all the evil things. But in spite of our best efforts the project is doomed to failure. The truth is that no matter how hard we try, how often we go to church, how often we pray or try to live a good life, bad things will still happen to us.
Some people try to treat life like the book of Proverbs. There we read advice like “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” From that some people assume that corporal punishment is guaranteed to bring success in parenting. If only life were so simple!
When I began teaching we had a boy at the school who was a champion axe man. He went in all the competitions. He was also a handful in the classroom. He really wasn’t interested in anything we wanted to teach him. But his hands were so calloused from the many hours of labour from his axe. We all knew it was pointless to cane him. He would barely have noticed it. So there are no simple solutions to success in life. No rituals that will guarantee safety and protection. Bad things will continue to happen to good people.
As a result, some may say, why bother to pray if it won’t make any difference, if it won’t protect us, if it won’t ward of the evils of life. But in the end, that is not the point of prayer. Prayer doesn’t change our lives, it changes us. It draws us closer to God. It matures our understanding of God. In deepens the mystical relationship. In a practical way, it demonstrates our dependence upon him. And this is significant because we need to consider how we will respond when bad things happen to us.
One temptation is to become bitter against God and pour out all our anger on him. If only God would hear my prayers! If only God would rescue me! If only God showed me some consideration! This might give us some short term relief but it gives us no long term solution. What Jesus is encouraging us to do in this reading is to continue to trust in God. That’s easy to do during the good times, when everything is going smoothly. But Jesus is calling us to a life of faith no matter what our circumstances.
And here he tells the parable of the fig tree. Fig trees were one of only a few fruit trees that could grow in Israel. They were vital for food and as a source of vitamins. Any fig tree that didn’t produce fruit were a drain on the farmer’s resources. In the parable, the fig tree represents the nation of Israel. The fig tree is planted, it is nurtured and watered. But in the story the tree produces no fruit. The owner wonders what to do. The decision is to nurture it for one more year and if it still remains fruitless then it is to be cut down.
The point of the story is that Jesus is telling the crowd that he had come to Israel expecting to find a nation trusting in God. He expected to find a people of faith. But instead he found the national leaders ingratiating themselves with the Romans while ignoring the people of Israel. They were not leaders of faith. They were not people characterized by faith. Jesus point is that if they continue to live like that they won’t be prepared for the demands of life. They will fail to develop any godly wisdom to understand their world and their place in it. They seemed to know nothing of the life of faith.
[When I worked at Braeside Hospital I saw people facing the biggest crises of their lives. It was a hospital for the dying. You can imagine the distress some people went though when they were admitted to our hospital. On admission they had to sign a statement where they declared they understood that in any medical crisis they would not be resuscitated. You can imagine how confronting that was. Yet I met so many Catholics who faced their death with such courage. Each morning they had their missal with them. They went through the readings of the day and the prayers for that day. The comfort that simple ritual brought was palpable. Each day they seemed prepared spiritually for whatever that day might bring. They were people of faith who could express it in such a simple and such a practical way. Yet through that practice they had matured in their faith. The impact ran deep. They were prepared for whatever was to come.]
[[ And this is what our service is all about today – this baptism service. Cienna has been brought here today for baptism. This is just one small step in her life and in her life of faith. This service gives us the opportunity to pray for her as she grows up. No doubt her parents will supply her every physical need. No doubt she will grow up in a family that loves her deeply. And yet they know that that is still not enough. They know of the essential importance of addressing her spiritual needs as well. And so today, she comes for baptism and for prayer that she will grow in faith and come to maturity in faith, that she will bear the fruits of faith in her life. ]]
So the parable of the fig tree is for us as well, for us to consider the fruit we are producing. Jesus aim, his hope is that each one of us will also grow to maturity so that whether we go through good times or bad, and the bad times will surely come, that we will have confidence in our heavenly father who loves us, who cares for us, and who will never leave our side. So we can stand with King David and say with him, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.