High-Minded Love V

Luke 13:1-9

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, there were many pulpiteers who proclaimed that God had carried out judgment against that city, just as in the days of Sodom and Gommorah. I do think we need to take the Genesis story of the destruction of those cities seriously. We have responsibilities as citizens and leaders (especially as Christians who have the kingdom of God as our model for individual and corporate life) to see that our communities are just and loving. I also believe there are judgments built in when we choose to build society around things that are unjust and harmful to the well-being of people. I could write a whole sermon at this point, but I will resist. But it is quite another thing to pronounce judgment on other communities from a distance when disaster hits. In the case of New Orleans, there were other areas (Mississippi, Alabama and many other Louisiana communities) who were hit just as severely by Katrina (who did not have the questionable lifestyle attractions of "the Big Easy"). Was their suffering due to their proximity to sinful New Orleans just bad luck on their part? Is there collateral damage when God does judgment or is God more accurate than that? And what about the geological factors involved: building a city at below sea level right at the emptying point of a lake above (and we are rebuilding at the same locale - human ingenuity, right?). The judgement was built in, and human error was all over it. Let's not blame that on God.

The passage in Luke describes two tragedies, but they are not due to weather. The first one is due to the tyranny of Rome and the second is due to faulty construction, human sin or error involved in each case. I heard pulpit judgments against New York and our national institutions when the World Trade Center was struck on 9-11. Human sin was the cause, rooted in hatred and a failure on many sides to build religious and political conversation between competing evangelistic faiths. There was judgment alright, but it was built into the behaviors of everyone involved. And when humans are involved there is lots of collateral damage. In the case of the Galileans, most southern Jews didn't like them anyway - a real problem for Jesus ("Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"). Galilee was a racially mixed ("clean and unclean"), poverty stricken and violent area of Israel, so it was easy to pronounce what was actually a bigoted judgment. The collapse of the tower of Siloam reminds us of what is happening to our aging bridges aorund the USA. We have major infrastructural issues whith our transportation systems that will cost a fortune to address. In tragedy, we tend to look for some ultimate divine cause or purpose. We don't want to admit that we are human people who are subject to human error that can cost other people's lives. It's easier to blame God or pronounce the judgment of God and blame others.

Jesus counters the tragedies as divine judgment by appealing to common sense. It couldn't be proven that the Galileans and the people on whom the tower fell were any more sinful than other Galileans or Jerusalem citizens. Jesus did not say why these events happened. Again, he left them with their vulnerability and the ambiguity of life (no easy answers). What he did was correct their tendency to judge from a distance and told them their own need to repent. In pronouncing their judgments on others, they were hiding from their own unjust and unloving behavior and attitudes. The parable in verses 6-9 tells us that each day is our opportunity to look within and make a change in our ungodly attitudes and behaviors, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. Corrupt leaders make power plays and anybody could be killed. Towers can fall and the concrete and steel can fall on anybody. Everybody's at risk. So we are called to seize the opportunity of today to become new with God and with the people around us.

Philippians 3:12-4:1

In Paul's writing, we return to another part of the Christian mindset - determination. The gospel says of Jesus that "he set his face toward Jerusalem," where he would soon die for the sins of the world. He was determined to fulfill his destiny - knowing Christ fully in both the triumphs and losses of his life. He is not there yet, but he is on his way and will not be denied. He presses on. I picture this as a marathon race in which Paul hits the wall at mile 19 and, in the midst of the agony, continues on to finish the 26+ mile race. But to press on, he must do something that is so very difficult.

In the movie The Lion King, Poombah the warthog says to Simba, "In the words of my friend, Timon here, 'You've got to get your behind in your past.'" Timon replies, "No, dummy. I said, 'You've got to put your past behind you.'"

Regrettably, most of us have some areas where our behinds are in our past (past hurts, failures, tragic experiences) that keep us from embracing the opportunities and relationships of today. We replay them in our minds and we feel the emotional pain as if it was happening today. We do learn from history, including our own. But where our history becomes a millstone around our neck holding us under water, we must learn to prayerfully put those hurts, failures and tragic experiences in the hands of the LORD. And please note: we have a lot invested there and for many of us those hurts have become energizers for our lives. We are afraid if we let go that we will have nothing. But letting go of that which is toxic (the negative adrenaline rush, the energy of anger, bitterness and regret)is our opportunity to receive a whole new chapter of our lives. It is risky to let go and absolutely crucial.

Verse 17 contains a bold and possibly presumptuous statement: "...join in imitating me and observe those who live according to the example you have in us." I'm not sure that I want everybody imitating me, for there is a lot that no one should follow. But people do follow us. What parent among us has not experienced a child repeating some negative thing they learned from us? I hate when I see that happen. Children and even adults who follow us also repeat some of our good patterns. We certainly live by the patterns of others who we respect and love. So the question from Paul for us is, "In what people see in you, what would you like them to imitate?." Sorry Charles Barkley and other athletes and entertainers who argue to the contrary, you are role models in one way or another. People are really watching us, particularly when we are under stress or experience defeat. Because they know that someday that will happen to them and they're looking for resources. In contrast, Paul briefly talks about negative role models in verses 18-19, and the damage they do. Bad faith role models have done huge damage in our generation, making it difficult for many to come to Christ. They give me pause, because any of us are vulnerable to do and say the things they have. Another translation of verse 17 is, "Follow me as I follow Christ." That gets it said and should be the motto of every Christian parent, grandparent, teacher, coach, boss, employee, counselor and friend.

Paul finishes this passage with an appeal to the second coming of Christ. We have discussed this before. He reminds them of their great future and it gives them hope and strength in their present difficulties. As we seek to "love the LORD our God with all our mind," we today are given major guidelines: suspending judgment from a distance and instead looking within to see where our sins and growth areas are, letting go of the weight of our past so we can embrace God's greater future, and committing ourselves to being a multipliable, imitatable follower of Jesus Christ. Have a great day. Tomorrow's passages and Sunday's worship will be a marvelous finish to this week's journey.