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This Week's Sermon THE THIRD SUNDAY in LENT 07 March 2010 "Repent or Perish!" Luke 13:1-9 LSB Series C Pastor Philip G. Meyer Soli Deo Gloria!

It surely seems that God has been trying to get the world's attention with the Haitian earthquake and then the stronger quake last Saturday in Chile. When the devastating earthquake struck Haiti televangelist Pat Robertson showed himself once again to be a false prophet. He said that the reason that the earthquake struck this island nation was that they had practiced voodoo, and that if they had been Christians, this judgment would not have fallen on them.

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," Robertson said. "They were under the heel of the French ... and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.'"
"True story," he continued. "And the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another." [CBS News, January 14, 2010].
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/14/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6096806.shtml

Robertson contradicts our Lord's own words here because he seems to think that others who are worse sinners get punished while the rest of us do not. How much more blunt could Jesus get? He says it not once, but twice!

"No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3, ESV)

Our world is full of such tragedies as the ones in our reading. There are earthquakes, tsunamis, devastating storms, accidents, mishaps, plane crashes, auto accidents, accidents at sea, violence against others, sudden death. Our twenty-four hour news organizations keep us well-informed, perhaps better informed than we care to be, hearing of one tragedy after another. Luther remarked about these things:

Even though many are now going their way unconcerned, do you not suppose that God may be postponing His punishment until a time when they have long forgotten the sin?¹

When such things happen to us we think that we didn't deserve it. It often happens that some people lose their faith when such things happen. They get angry at God because they don't believe themselves to be deserving of such punishment. Other people seem more deserving. "Yeah, he got what he deserved," we say. But, of course, we never put ourselves into the category of getting what we deserve. Perhaps we should hear some other words of Jesus,

"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7, ESV)

"No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3, ESV)

These are Christ's own words. Who would dare ignore them? The Pharisees believed that God was punishing the Gentiles for their sins, but Jesus was warning them, too. Specifically and emphatically Jesus was pointing at the most godly people in Jewish society, at least outwardly so. Jesus asks us to make a comparison, too. "Do you think that other people are worse sinners than you because these things have happened to them?" Here is an introspection that we are not happy to do. Of course, you could be presumptuous and conclude that other people really are worse sinners than you, but that would be like spitting into the wind.

We tend to condemn others for the sins we see in them but fail to see the ones we have. It's what Jesus described as trying to take the speck out of your brother's eye while neglecting the log in your own [Matthew 7.3]. Jesus refocuses the discussion upon us when he says again and again, "you . . you . . you. . you . . you . . you . . you . . . you." Eight times Jesus uses a word you cannot escape! You can run but you cannot hide from God's judgment. In the end no one escapes punishment.

God does not distinguish sins. You and I do. We consider some less serious than others. Murder is considered worse than lying. Liars are seldom put in jail while murderers may receive the death penalty, a life sentence, or a long prison term. Adultery is considered a worse sin than cursing, but God does not distinguish between sins. As we heard last Wednesday, God considers sins against his name as worse than murder and adultery. Sin is sin no matter what you and I think is a worse one. Sin deserves to be punished. How can God not punish sin and be God? Listen to this devastating accusation by the Apostle Paul:

"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man-you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself-that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed."(Romans 2:1-5, ESV)

Such tragedies are meant to bring you to repentance for your own sin. You should not think that you will escape if judgment falls on someone else. Luther wrote:

Outstanding is also the statement of St. Gregory: "When we see anyone sin, we should first weep over ourselves in their calamity, because we have either fallen like them or we can fall." Someone has summed this up in the following lowing verse: "We either are, have been, or can be what this man is." A person recorded in The Lives of the Fathers said, when he had heard of the lapse of a brother: "He yesterday, I today."²

All such events are meant to bring you to repentance. Unless you repent, says Jesus, you cannot escape the final wrath of God over your sins. All such tragedies are opportunities for repentance! Do you hear the enormity of that? Think back to as to how many of these instances you hear about with our modern technology! There should be constant repentance, constant reminders that you must repent if you are to escape the wrath of God.

You cannot presume that because you are a member of the Church, that you have your name on the Church's roster, that you are thereby exempt from repentance. If anything, because you have been baptized you should be repenting constantly. It is the daily living of your baptism, the daily repentance and the daily fleeing again to Christ for forgiveness and refuge. On these Sundays in Lent the appointed readings bring us the demand for repentance. It is the reason why Lent is called a penitential season. It is the reason we began on Ash Wednesday with ashes on our foreheads and the confession of our sins.

Consider the First Commandment again. Do you fear, love, and trust in God above all things? Have you been able to do that? Or the Second Commandment. Have you kept God's Name holy as you should? Do you think that you shall escape when God himself says that he will not hold a person guiltless who abuses his Name? We really don't need to go any further, do we? That fact that tragedy hasn't befallen you does not mean that you are holier than those people in Haiti or Chile. It merely means that God has patience with you and is waiting for your repentance.

This is the day of grace, my friends. God's grace covers you in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, Holy Communion. Repentance is necessary to receiving the blessing of forgiveness. You cannot have God's forgiveness if you do not repent.

Look at what befell our Lord! There is the "tragedy" of the cross. Of all people in this world only Jesus did not deserve what happened to him. He had no sin of his own, yet he carried all the sin of all the world, your sin and mine, in his own body. And God punished him for "the iniquity of us all" [Isaiah 53.6]. All of God's righteous judgment fell on him. Only in him, then is your refuge. That is why his call to you to repent if a gracious call. You do not have to die in your sins because he has atoned for them. His one payment is enough. Such love is meant to move you to repentance. There is no other way.

The parable of the barren fig tree, which concludes our reading, is meant to show you that God's patience does have an end. While he deals patiently with you now, calling you to repentance, the day is coming when the barren fig tree will be cut down and cast into the fire. Jesus' call to repentance is urgent. Now is the time, now is the day. "Repent or perish."

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

¹Martin Luther, vol. 28, Luther's Works, Vol. 28 : 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 15, Lectures on 1 Timothy, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works, 28:159 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1973).
²Martin Luther, vol. 9, Luther's Works, Vol. 9 : Lectures on Deuteronomy, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works, 9:102 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1960).