Lent 3 C + God with us + 3.20.22
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Saints, Oxnard
(Exodus 3:1–15; Psalm
63:1–8; 1 Corinthians 10:1–13; St. Luke 13:1–9)
At that very time there were some present who told Jesus
about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He
asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this
way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? “
We have all heard them. The theological interpretations of
why natural disasters have occurred, usually taking on a more conservative
lens. If only people were more well-behaved, and followed more “traditional
values,” this hurricane, flood or other disaster would not have happened.
It is very easy for us to look down our noses at such interpretations of our
current events as they appear to be based on overly simplistic theology,
theology many Episcopalians would view as backward. But these statements often
arise from a very deep theological query- the age-old question of why God
allows bad things to happen to good people.
The question posed to Jesus in today’s gospel is no
different. Some Galileans have been killed and Pilate has mixed their blood
with the sacrifice they made – a tragic event that is not recorded elsewhere so
we don’t know exactly what happened. But it was clearly not only scary due to
loss of life but it also affronted the devout Jews, whose sacrifice was made
unclean. People are asking Jesus if this happened because those people were big
sinners. And an answer that should echo through our ears is his resounding
“No.”
He says that neither were they worse sinners, nor were the
victims of the collapse of the tower of Siloam, which crushed eighteen people. Instead,
he directs us to work on ourselves. Repent, he says, which literally means to
turn back to God- to reorient towards God. We do not grow spiritually by
judging others and the horrible things that happen to them. We only grow by
getting our own spiritual house in order. As Barbara Brown Taylor describes the
need to turn to God in this passage: “What we can do is turn our faces to the
light. That way, whatever befalls us, we will fall the right way.”[1]
My spiritual director joked the other day that if Jesus was
around for longer, he probably would have been clearer in his instructions! I
resonate with the truth under that joke because here Jesus does not fully
answer the question of why tragic things happen to good people. But the good
news is we have the breadth of scripture to help us understand what role God
has in helping us deal with such events.
And that is where our reading from Exodus comes in. Moses is
minding his own business when he runs into unequivocal evidence of God’s
presence- the bush is literally aflame! And God tells Moses that God will use him
to set God’s people free. God has seen the suffering of God’s people and will
not leave them unaccompanied. This tells us that God is an active participant
in our lives. God will not prevent us from suffering because that would remove
our agency- our ability to make choices. But God does desire to help us through
that suffering. Yet God needs our help, too. It blows my mind; the omnipotent
God could impose on us but does not impose on us. God invites our
participation.
Moses was not just an incidental part of the liberation of
the Israelites, but a key partner with God. Jesus reminds us that God asks us
to turn back and be in relationship again. In our passage from the First Letter
to the Corinthians, we are once more called to turn back to God. This is a
passage that has been used wrongly over the years to exclude those whom we
perceive as immoral in some way. In fact, we must return to Jesus’ message of
not judging others’ actions and instead focus on how we can live the right way.
But here too we have some reassurance: “God is faithful, and he will not let
you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide
the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” Speaking of this passage,
Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber points out that we should adjust our perspective. While
we may feel like we are given more than we can handle individually, we are
never given more than we can handle when supported in the community of the
faithful.
Because God needs our help, and by that token we need each
other’s help. We cannot do this alone. We have nothing inside ourselves to help
ourselves, says the collect. And at first that seems at odds with the other
messages we hear today. But the thing to remember is that, while the change
begins within, with a repentance and turning to God, the true living out of
faith is done in community. We can do anything we desire to do, together.
Lastly, the fig tree. At first this passage and the passage
about the poor souls dead by violence and natural disaster seem to be
unrelated. But as I heard one person describe it this week, they are connected
by ties of grace. By God’s grace, we can turn back and be saved. And by God’s
grace, we are each like this fig tree. We may not be bearing fruit right now,
but God and God’s helpers will tend to us, and we will be given time to bear
fruit.
However, the veteran gardeners among us will remind us that gardening is not a
clean activity. And neither is life. Just as the fig tree will be dug around
and have manure placed around it, we will experience root-shifting moments and
have stuff thrown at us. Stuff we may not want to endure. But with God’s help
and in community, it will make us stronger. And perhaps even better, with God’s
help and in community, even the stinky, seemingly no good stuff of life may end
up helping us bear fruit. Fruit to feed a world in need of good news.
Amen.
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