Normally I’d probably begin a sermon with a personal illustration or some such thing. The reason for that is because I want to build from my personal experiences—from me—to all of us—to we. I want to explain how God has worked in my life and then, hopefully, help you understand how He relates to you in your life. So I move from “me” to “we.”
But today is a bit different. Today there is no “we.” This message is aimed at a single person: me. Only here’s the catch: everyone’s got to be the “me.” This message isn’t for the person next to you . . . it’s not for the person in front of you . . . it’s not for anyone else but . . . “me.” So everyone say it now, “This message is for me.”
Since this message is for “me”, I want every “me” in here today to do a little something. Take out your interactive sermon sheet, grab a pencil, and do a little thinking. I want you to think about a time when you saw something you knew was wrong. You knew it was wrong, and you knew you were right. This might be a response to a news story or something like that, but your reaction was essentially to say, “That is wrong. What they are doing is wrong.”
Now that you’ve got that time in your head, write down four words that describe how you feel about that moment. Four words that describe how you felt at that time, how you felt about it later . . . how you feel about it now. If you’re having a bit of trouble, let me suggest some possible answers: Angry. Upset. Morally superior. Morally indignant. Righteous anger. Confused. Sad. Broken-hearted. Intolerant. Unloving. Self-righteous. Self-loathing. Right. “Moral high ground.”
Depending upon your own time and circumstance, there is no doubt any number of answers that you could put down. But the one common experience we all have in this, the common experience that all the “me’s” have in this, is that we looked at someone else and recognized a behavior or act that God condemns as wrong. No, not necessarily in a self-righteous way, we may have been both correct and humble in our assessment of wrong-doing. But the point is that we looked at someone else and said, “That’s wrong.”
What does Jesus say about that? Well honestly He says a variety of things about that, depending upon what the circumstances are. There are a number of different responses in Scripture to that very scenario. But Jesus has something to say to us today about looking out at others and seeing their sin. Open up to the Gospel lesson, Luke 13:1-9.
Luke 13:1 “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” Now why are they telling Jesus this? Well, to understand that question, we have to understand that the common idea then—as it is today—is that bad things happen to bad people. The very fact that they are telling Jesus this story is an indication that the Galileans in question had done something so terrible, so sinful, that God had exacted His judgment by causing Pontius Pilate to have them bloodily murdered even while they were in the very act of offering their sacrifice to God.
The evidence for this line of reasoning is pretty strong. Let’s add it up: the only city sacrifice could be offered was in Jerusalem. The only place in Jerusalem where sacrifice could be offered was at the Temple—the place where God had promised to literally dwell with His people. The only time that the average person would be offering sacrifice would be at the Passover, the time of year in which God had commanded a celebration commemorating the time when He delivered all of Israel from slavery in Egypt. So if we add all that up, we have some men who are tainted by sin coming at the most holy time of year to the most holy place in the most holy city and offering a sacrifice to God. I’ve got to tell you that God blasting them would be the most likely thing in my mind!
But Jesus’ answer yanked the tale-bearers out of their little gossip party and confronted them with a strong dose of reality. Luke 13:2-3, “2 Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Jesus answers them and says, “Look . . . what are you thinking? That God uses a sliding scale? That some sins—that some sinners—are somehow less offensive to Him than others? That somehow, in all of Galilee, that these were the only guys that had offended God, and that’s why they died? If God doesn’t use a sliding scale for sin, then what do you suppose God should do to you?”
You see, what these tale-bearers forgot is that they don’t have God’s all-seeing eyes. They looked at some outward circumstances and assumed God had seen sin in these people and executed His judgment upon them. They didn’t know if the people involved in these horrible deaths had sinned or not. They didn’t know the status of their spiritual condition. But still they figured God must have seen something sinful there.
But the most important thing that they forgot that God’s all-seeing eye could see them, as well! And the spiritual condition that they assumed to infect others was, in fact, their own ailment. They thought they could look at others through a window, but what they needed was a mirror.
Jesus’ response brings the focus of His hearers back to where it needs to be: on their own relationship with God. On their own need to repent. Jesus tells them, in effect, “Were those people sinners? I don’t think that matters right now. The question is . . . are you? Don’t worry about them. I’ll worry about them. You worry about you. Unless you repent, you too will perish.”
But this message isn’t for first-century Jews. Today’s message is for . . . who? Right, “me.” Today, Jesus tells us—I mean me—that unless I repent, I too will perish.
Whenever I see an act of sin somewhere “out there” Jesus today tells me in this Gospel lesson that I must not through the window, but into the mirror. I must look into the mirror and see what He sees: a sinner. In this lesson He doesn’t ask me to judge the presence of sin in other’s lives. He doesn’t ask me to confirm tragedies as evidence of His judgment. He doesn’t ask me to compare myself to others. What He asks is that I acknowledge my own sin.
This is tough! I know God’s Laws, I try to live by His commands. I try to be a good person. And so, when I see someone else that’s not living according to God’s ways I’m tempted to call His attention to it. When I see that scantily dressed young woman in the supermarket I’m tempted to write her off as someone possessing less moral virtue than I. When I the drunk staggering out of the bar I’m tempted to dismiss him as having less Christian character than I do.
And it goes on and on. I read the news and hear about the “Barbie Bandits”—who, it turns out, worked as strippers before their little bank heist—and I look down on them. The teenagers who gave the toddlers some pot and laughed while the 2 and 3 year olds got stoned . . . the pop star diva running around, checking in and out of rehab . . . I read about these people and I’m tempted to tell other people so that we can shake our heads together. I’m tempted to tell God and point out what great sinners these people are.
And when I see these people, if my nose so much as even tips—just even tips—upwards, then Christ’s words convict me. His words convict me as a sinner, not them. See, God can’t deal with a “them.” He can only deal with a “me.” And the “me” that He wants to deal with is the person who’s talking to Him right now. And to that person, to that “me”, He says, “Unless you repent, you too will perish.”
During this Lenten series, we’ve been talking about how Jesus Christ becomes our Savior. But today it’s even more personal than that. Today I learn about how Jesus becomes my Savior. He deals not with “them,” but with me. We’ve learned before that “it’s not about you.” Well today it is. When it comes to sin, when it comes to what stands between me and God, it most certainly is about me. And when it comes to sin, Jesus deals with me only on a one-to-one basis. When it comes to sin, Jesus doesn’t deal with a “them” . . . He only deals with me. And my sins are worthy of condemnation.
And yet Jesus offers me hope. Read the last few verses of the Gospel lesson. Luke 13:6-7, “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
In this parable, I am the fig tree. God the Father is the owner of the vineyard. He looks to me for good fruit, but I don’t bear any. He looks to me for repentance from my own evil actions, but He can find none. And since He can’t find anything in me that is worth saving, He condemns me to be cut down. I will become fuel for the fire.
But what happens? The caretaker intervenes on my behalf! Luke 13:8-9, “8'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'”
Jesus Christ sees my sinful life, He sees that I have no good fruit, but still He steps in between the Father and I and offers to work on my behalf. He goes to the Father, asking for patience. “What you say is true, Father . . . but let Me work with him. Let Me nurture Him. Let Me cause him to bring forth the fruit of repentance.”
And then Christ goes to work on me. He cares for me, He bears the weight of my sin. He goes to His own tree and offers Himself to the fire. All this He does because He is still working with me on a one-to-one basis . . . all this He does so that He can have me in His garden. All this He does so that He can be my Savior. And because of His work, when the Father looks over His garden again, He will look at me, see the work of His Son, He will be pleased, and I will be saved.
Today Jesus asks you to be a “me.” Not looking at anyone else, just to Christ. Jesus Christ wants to deal with you on a one-to-one basis. And unless you repent, you too will perish.
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