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The Gospel of Matthew Bible Studies
The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
The Book of Acts Bible Studies
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
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The 3rd Sunday in Lent (C) Today’s gospel deals with an issue that we have all wrestled with in our lives and in the world at large. WHY do bad things happen? WHY do people inflict suffering and death upon others – as Pilate did to the Galileans, or as terrorists do to many innocent victims today? WHY are there accidents and natural disasters – such as what happened to eighteen persons during the collapse of the Siloam tower in Jerusalem, or what has happened to people in Haiti and Chili during the recent earthquakes there? WHY is there suffering in our world? Many Jews (and, to be honest, many people today as well) believed that suffering was deserved. Suffering was regarded as being God’s punishment upon sin. It was held that God would surely bless and reward the righteous – and punish the wicked. To think otherwise would be to accuse God of being unfair. Therefore, if something bad happened to a person or a group, it was obviously because of some sin that they had done. In other words, their suffering was always deserved! So – in the minds of most of Jesus’ contemporaries, those Galileans deserved what had happened to them, and so did the victims of the Siloam tower accident in Jerusalem. God had visited these disasters upon them (or at least had allowed them to happen) because of their sins. This kind of thinking is still manifested by many people today. The “700 Club” broadcaster Pat Robertson, for example, on the day after the Haiti earthquake said that it had happened because their ancestors had made “a pact with the devil” when rebelling against the French 200 years ago. In the past he has also made other rather strange statements about disasters – trying to show that they were the result of various sins. Most of us won’t go quite as far as that, of course, but we do have a tendency to try to assign blame. Especially if it doesn’t involve us! And when we do that, it is easy for us to come to the logical conclusion that we are better and more righteous than those who suffer. Jesus, however, refuses to go there. Bad things often happen even to people who are innocent because this is an imperfect and sinful world – and it is not up to us to try to assign certain sins as being the cause. And Jesus specifically warns us against ever thinking that we are more righteous than people who experience tragedies. As he states, the Galileans who suffered were not any worse than other Galileans who didn’t – and the eighteen who died in the Siloam tower accident were not any worse than the others living in Jerusalem. So what is Jesus’ point? Simply that we ALL are sinners who “deserve” to suffer and die. The fact that we may not be experiencing tragedy right now does NOT mean that we are more righteous than others. It is rather God’s undeserved gift to us so that we can have the opportunity to repent and begin living new lives of love and service to him and our neighbors. Jesus illustrates this with his parable of the fig tree in today’s gospel. The fig tree had been planted in the vineyard for one purpose – to bear fruit. After three years of not doing so, the owner was ready to cut it down because it was taking up valuable space and because it was also absorbing nutrients which the other fruit-producing vines needed. The gardener, however, asked the owner to give the tree one more year. The gardener promised that he would give the fig tree his special care of digging around it and fertilizing it. Not because the tree deserved it in any way, but simply as a gift of undeserved grace. The gardener was going far beyond the norm of trying to help that tree bear fruit. But eventually, if it didn’t, it would be cut down. So it is with us! John the Baptist back in the third chapter of Luke’s gospel warned his listeners that “even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees – every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!” (Lk. 3:9) Yes, the axe is ready – but God – like the gardener – is not yet ready to give up on us. We may all “deserve” to be cut down – we may all “deserve” suffering and death like the Galilean victims and tower victims in our gospel – or like what happens to people every day in tragedies great and small – but today God is giving us an extension. In that sense, God is not “fair” – but is beyond fair! How would we live if we knew that we were going to die soon – a year from now, a month from now, or even tomorrow? What priorities would change for us? What would we do the same and what would we do differently? That is what Jesus is calling upon us to consider. We do not know when the “axe” may strike – that is in God’s control, not ours – but we CAN decide how to live today. Today’s gospel is calling upon us to examine our hearts and our lives. Are we bearing the fruit of love and forgiveness, and of sharing God’s joy and peace with each other? If so, well and good – we are ready for whatever may happen – even death. And if not, now is the time – the “extra chance” time – for us to repent and refocus our lives so that they are “in tune” with God. That’s the message of our gospel today and of this season of Lent in general. May we see this day as a gift of grace from the God who loves us, and use it as a new opportunity to live – to truly LIVE – as his people. May it be so, in Jesus’ name! Amen! -------------------- Pastor George Karres 418 W. Main St. Sidney, MT 59270
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