Who do you think you are?

There are two common reactions when disaster strikes.  These do not reflect the feelings of those directly affected - no, they come from observers - people on the fringe of the fight, or on the other side of the world.  The first can sound like sympathy, but thinly disguised; ‘How could God/fate/the universe allow this?’ At its best, it is offered in the sense of ‘there but for the grace of God ..’  There can also be a hint of disgust with ‘God/fate/the universe’ and leads to the follow up statement ‘I could never worship a God who allows…(fill in the disaster of the day).  The second, a much less honourable idea, is usually offered in an ‘I told you so’ fashion; ‘If only they had (insert life-saving pre-emptive measure) this never would have happened.” 

We’ve heard responses like this a lot lately - after shootings, cyclones, and even political decision making…I’m not suggesting that any of these things are equal in significance - they are not.  I am curious about the way we justify our impulse to feel…superior.  That’s what it feels like when you’ve been spared by the rush of water over the land, or the earthquake doesn’t level your home, or the shooter is in some other progressive western nation…

Superiority is the underlying feeling - and Jesus is doing his best to expose it and eliminate it in his disciples.  The talk has turned to current events - recent political intrigues (Pilate’s cold-blooded murder of a group of worshippers) and industrial accidents (the collapse of a tower in Siloam).  The suggestion in the conversations seems to be that, whoever these people were, they had it coming.  “Do you think they were bigger sinners than all the rest of the sinners?”, asks Jesus…Do you somehow imagine that they deserved to die as they did? And do you really think that it can’t (or shouldn’t) happen to you?   There is a sinister edge to this conversation that really gets our attention.  And often it feeds the worst of our impulses.

“Repent or you will perish as they did…”  There’s urgency to Jesus’ words because the details of these events are fresh in people’s minds.  It could happen again - and will unless they repent - that is the quick and dirty decision we make at first glance.  But is that enough?  Is it right?  Is there something else to consider?

The phrase ‘repent or perish’ has become a threat in our minds - words aimed at the unlucky by the righteous.  They are too often used with an attitude of superiority; code words for a secret club.  Those who use them in this way have no interest in telling us what repentance looks like - they want to terrify people into looking, sounding and acting like them.  That is not how Jesus uses it. 

Jesus has done everything in his power to tell (and show) what repentance looks like.  This conversation about the nature of disaster interrupted a lesson on reconciling with an opponent before going to court (Luke 12: 57-59).  Jesus will continue to offer up examples of reconciliation as a way to show what it means to have a change of attitude - which is what repentance is really all about…repentance isn’t a safety net against disaster, it is a response to grace - and grace is what Jesus offers in the strange parable that closes our gospel reading.

A barren fig tree.  A frustrated (or perhaps frightened?) farmer.  No figs mean no profit - or perhaps, no food.  We don’t easily make room for non-productive things in our lives.  We deserve better - we have needs - we expect success…you know the arguments.  But the gardener has an answer.  The gardener knows the value of patience.  The gardener can produce a change in the otherwise barren tree. The tree is worth the effort, not because it’s a tree, but because of its potential.  The ‘change of attitude’ in a barren tree is not because the tree tried harder upon the threat of death.  The tree thrives in response to the care is is given. 

People die every day.  They die from natural and unnatural causes.  There are events beyond our control - hurricanes, fires and floods - and there are instances of cold human calculation that prey on the innocent and the guilty alike.  And we are human enough to want to find a way to keep ourselves safe - to learn a lesson from such disasters.  I think that’s what Jesus’ friends were looking for - the formula; the ritual; the worship hack that would keep them consistently among the survivors.  And Jesus calls them fools for not seeing the truth.

God is not engaged in some sort of cosmic lottery.  God is quietly, patiently offering grace - in the words and actions of Jesus; in a long, troubling journey towards death and resurrection - and on every step of the way, we are given the chance to respond to that grace.  Our superiority is overshadowed at every instance by God’s desire to change us – our self-importance is always overshadowed by the presence of God; always patient.  Always willing to remind us what is really important.