We Still Have Time

Based on Luke 13:1-9

If it bleeds, it leads. We all have heard this truism. Even the “breaking news” screen on the TV news is red, the color of blood. It seems the news is just one story of violence, loss, and tragedy after another. Not always. Occasionally something good will happen that will grab the headlines: a sports team that wins the championship, a peace agreement that is signed to end a war, the announcement of a massive deal that promises to bring thousands of jobs to Central Ohio. But usually the leading story is about some scandal, or a fire, a crash, or too often a shooting.

A couple days ago was one of those headlines. An 18-year-old boy was found shot on the south side. He was rushed to the hospital but didn’t make it. His death was the 25th murder so far this year. Too many of these murders have been kids shooting kids. We should never get used to this reality. Also this past week in Texas there was a multi-vehicle crash that killed nine people. A van carrying a coach and team of golfers from the University of the Southwest, a small, Christian university located in Hobbs, New Mexico, were driving down a rural highway when suddenly the person driving a pickup in the other direction suddenly swerved in front of them. A fiery crash led to the death of the driver of the pickup and the one riding with him, as well as the coach and six members of the golf team. It is unknown why the pickup suddenly veered in front of the van but the driver of the pickup was only 13 years old. A terrible tragedy.

Tragedy, of course, is nothing new. In the scripture reading for today we get two stories of tragedy. There were people in the crowd around Jesus that told him, or reminded him about, what happened to a group of Galileans. They had travelled from Galilee to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. For reasons we do not know, Pilate’s soldiers entered the Temple, drew their swords, and slaughtered those Galileans, causing their blood to be mixed with the sacrifice they offered. What a ruthless violation. Not only was it a violent loss of life, but the Temple itself had been violated. It was a violent disruption of the worship life of Israel. They could not offer any sacrifices for some time until the procedures had been followed to purify the space. There have been too many experiences where people of faith have been killed in their sanctuaries, by militias or by individuals blinded by hate. This example brought to Jesus’ attention is shocking.

Jesus returns the favor by reminding them of another recent tragedy. Along the walls of Jerusalem is a spring fed pool, called the pool of Siloam. At this pool there once stood a tower. Perhaps it was a warm day and families were gathered at the pool relaxing and enjoying the day, when all of a sudden the tower collapses, falling on those gathered at the pool. Eighteen people are killed. It would not be a surprise if some who died were children. It was a sudden and shocking tragedy.

What is curious though is the question Jesus asks in reference to these two stories. After describing each tragedy, Jesus asks the crowd, “were those who suffered this way worse sinners than anyone else?” What a peculiar question. What does the sinfulness of the victims have to do with anything? In the first case, when the soldiers killed the Galileans in the Temple, surely the guilty would be the soldiers, not the victims. When the tower collapsed, how are the victims to blame? It was simply an unfortunate event. Where is Jesus coming from with this question?

We could look to this idea of justice, that the wicked get what they deserve. When God established the covenant with Israel, God said to them that if they follow faithfully all God’s laws and commandments, then they will be blessed with abundant harvests, large families, and peace. But if they are faithless and do not follow God’s laws and commands then their land will be barren, they will be struck with pestilence and be occupied by foreign armies. In other words, the righteous are blessed and the wicked are cursed.

But we know this isn’t true. Good and faithful people experience intense suffering and tragic deaths. Over and over innocent people are suddenly taken from us. There are plenty of people who, if we are honest, we wish suffering on them in retribution for their meanness and abuse but nothing seems to bother them and they succeed in everything they do. Life is so unfair in so many ways. Maybe when Jesus asks the question about whether those who died were worse sinners than others was an attempt to undermine the idea that only bad people get what they deserve and if you are doing ok you must be ok, the righteous prosper and the sinner suffers. Jesus puts the lie to that thought with his question.

The answer to Jesus’ question should be obvious. No, those who died in the Temple and those who died at the pool of Siloam were not worse sinners than anyone else. But then Jesus strikes with that statement, “If you don’t repent, the same will happen to you.” The same thing? If we don’t repent we will experience a tragic death? That seems pretty extreme. Let’s stay with this and reflect on what Jesus is trying to say.

First, let’s acknowledge that all this bad news we have heard so far in this message is a reminder that life is precious and fragile. Our lives can be taken from us in shocking and sometimes violent ways. Tragedy could strike any of us. That’s pretty sobering.

So, since life is precious, the question is, what are we doing with the time we have? The ready reminders of the tragic loss of life can serve us as inspiration to make the most of each day we are blessed to have. The next one isn’t promised. I don’t mean to add more stress to your life. I am inviting you to appreciate the life you are now living. People sometimes joke, “Any day above ground is a good day.” There’s some truth to that. It is good simply to be alive.

Now Jesus prods us to stew on what it means to repent before it’s too late by telling the parable of the barren fruit tree. We can relate to the man who was getting frustrated with that fig tree that has not borne any fruit for three years. The tree is taking up space. If it isn’t going to produce fruit then it does need to be removed and another one planted. This is a vineyard after all, a working farm. The man has been more than fair, waiting three years for some fruit. But the gardener, the one who is actually in the vineyard doing the work of caring for all those fruit trees, has a bit more grace. He really wants this fruit tree to succeed. So he makes a deal. “Let me give this tree some extra attention. I will give it more manure, pamper it, make sure it is well fed and watered, just one more year. And then, if it still won’t produce any fruit, then I’ll cut it down.” The tree has a little more time. Will it use the time given?

None of us want to be like that barren fruit tree just taking up space. We want to be productive. We want to be useful. We want to give something of ourselves that blesses other people. What does that look like for you? Surely it looks different as time goes by. Our bodies and energy levels impact what we are able to do. For those of us who are older we can’t do the things we could do when we were younger. On the other hand, we have gained knowledge and skills so that we can do things now that we had no idea how to do when we were kids. What we can offer to bless others can change over time. We have to make adjustments along the way. But whatever we do, Jesus reminds us to keep bearing fruit. Make the changes and adjustments necessary, in other words, repent, so that you can keep serving, keep blessing, keep showing God’s love in tangible ways.

I encourage you to stay focused on the mission, living the life of a follower of Jesus Christ, and bear fruit, do what you can so that others can be blessed. Yes, there’s a lot of bad news out there. We are awash with tragedy, violence, and bitter sorrow. We still have a job to do. We still have good fruit to bear.

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with someone who has lived on the Hilltop for many years. He is well in to his 70s. He told me about how things used to be and grieved how things are now. Before, neighbors knew each other and looked out for each other. Good paying factory jobs were available. There was a strong community bond. But now it’s different. Neighbors don’t know their neighbors. People keep to themselves. Kids are trying to raise kids. There’s a lack of good paying jobs. The drugs. The violence. We know this story. He said to me that we have got to get back to the way it was. We need to get our neighborhoods organized. We need neighborhood captains who go door to door saying, “We are trying to build our neighborhood back up, can you help us/” We need to look out for each other. He said that if we don’t do that, then we are all going down.

The man said to the gardener, “Cut down this tree, it’s just wasting space.” But the gardener said, “No, let me give this tree extra attention. Let’s give it one more year.” We have time to bear fruit. We have time to look out for and care for our neighbors. We have time. Let’s use the time we have.