March 11, 2007, Lent 3

Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

The God of second chances

President Bush died and went to heaven. He saw Moses and went over to talk to him, but Moses turned away and wouldn’t say anything. Finally, George insisted, “Moses, why won’t you talk to me?” Moses turned to him and replied, “The last time I talked to a bush, I ended up wandering in the desert for 40 years.”

I wanted to preach on the answer God gives to Moses when Moses asks him his name: I am who I am. I wanted to talk about what that implies – such as – “I am the god who exists…” I am the god who causes all to be – who creates…” and “I am the god who is mystery.” This is a god who refuses to fit any known category. That’s what I was going to preach, but somehow or another, my sermon is intended to go elsewhere.

In our gospel lesson, Jesus tells us not to look for a connection between human sin and tragedy. To put it in modern day terms, “were those who perished in the twin towers of the World Trade Center on 9 – 11 by the hand of Al Qaida more sinful than all the other people in New York City?” Or how about natural disasters – “were the people in New Orleans who perished in Katrina more sinful than those who managed to survive?” You and I both have heard people make those assertions. According to Jesus’ own words, those are false assumptions.

Human nature, when it hears of tragedies like these, tries to find a reason – like the sinfulness of those who perished. And it’s just plain selfishness or self-preservation that entices us to make those assumptions and assertions. Because if we can convince ourselves that the people who suffered or perished deserved to suffer or perish, then we can feel safe and secure – isolated from their pain - because we are not like they are. And the truth is that people, people just like you and me, perished in those disasters. They didn’t deserve it anymore than we do. I think what Jesus is saying here is that we all are sinners – and if they deserve death, then we all deserve death. So Jesus tells us to repent while we can because we never know when or how our time will come to go home to the Father, and we need to be ready, with a clean heart and a clear mind.

If you have a question about the existence of God – don’t look in the Bible for proof of his existence. The Bible assumes the existence of God – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Virtually every translation is the same – the existence of God is given and then much of the Bible is given to establishing who God is and then trying to explain his nature. God is like…

o God is a consuming fire, a jealous god…

o God is a merciful god…

o God is your refuge and strength…

o God is my rock…

o God is with us…

o God is spirit…

o God is gracious and compassionate…

o God is mighty…

o God is a righteous judge…

o God is my help…

o God is a sun and shield…

o God is holy…

o God is my salvation…

o God is merciful and forgiving…

o God is truthful…

o God is faithful…

o God is just…

o God is light and in him there is no darkness at all…

o God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him…

In our lesson from Exodus, God has confronted Moses in a classical call narrative. God shows certain characteristics in this call – I have seen the plight of my people and I have heard them call out… Here God shows himself to be a god who sees our suffering and who cares. When Moses argues with God, “Who am I that I should go..” God tells him the most important thing about God… He says, “I will be with you.” That is the promise we have from God’s own mouth – the one we can hang on to… “I will be with you”… regardless of what happens to us, regardless of what we do… regardless of where we go… God will be with us.

And that is the promise that Jesus hung on to during the time he walked this earth – Jesus was Emmanuel – God with us – even when Jesus hung on the cross and cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Even then God was with him and in him – and he suffered the fate of sin without having ever sinned.

So, if we go back to our gospel lesson and the idea of suffering for our sin… Jesus has told the people that those who died through attack from enemies or through natural disaster are no different from any of us. He implies that we are all sinners and we will all die – and that before that time, we need to repent of our sin and be ready to meet our God.

But Jesus doesn’t leave us there. He goes on to tell a parable – and it’s a strange little parable. The owner goes to look for some figs on a fig tree and finds it bear. He wants to cut the tree down – it’s not only not bearing fruit, but it is using soil, water and nutrients that could be used by bearing trees. There is a juxtaposition here between the gardener and the owner. It is the owner - the prosecutor - bringing charges against the tree, “look, it doesn’t bear fruit, why should it live?” And the gardener represents our God, saying, “I’ll work with it for another year to see if it bears fruit.”

Our God is holy and to stand before our God, we need to strive for holiness. Part of that striving is to confess our sin and to intend to lead a new life. When we sin, when we fail to live up the standards of holiness, God gives us a second chance to confess that sin and to turn our lives around. How are you going to use your second chance?

Please feel free to email me with comments at nan@doerrworks.com