A sermon by Senior Minister John B. McCall, March 11, 2007
Isaiah 55:1-9
Luke 13:1-9
[Moving from self-centeredness to compassionate service]
We all struggle with the question “why?” Why is there evil? Why do children die of starvation? Why do people hurt each other? Why do terrorists fly airplanes into the Twin Towers?
The question is so important, so common, that it has a name – theodicy. It’s from the Greek and means “the justice of God,” or it might mean “justifying God.” Theodicy asks the question of why people suffer and looks for possible answers. One answer is that God loves us and wants to protect us from suffering but can’t. Another is that God can protect us from suffering but doesn’t choose to – perhaps even causes us to suffer as punishment for our sins.
Either way, Houston we have a problem! We know we have a problem because we still don’t have an answer to our question of “why?” Even Jesus didn’t untangle the riddle. That’s the background for this snippet of the Gospel from Luke 13. Jesus was teaching and healing and some people in the crowds tossed him the hardball – two events that may have been in the headlines of the Jerusalem Post. I should add that scholars haven’t found any historical record to corroborate the two events, but they certainly put a fine point on the issue.
Jesus, they said, help us understand why these things happen: when Pilate’s soldiers slaughtered a group of devout Jews making sacrifices at the temple; and when that tower at Siloam fell on a group of workers and killed eighteen of them.
It’s pretty common to ask why bad things happen to good people. And it’s pretty common for us to ask “why me” when it feels as though life is piling on the pain. This rises out of the natural, though precarious, idea that everything is measured by its effect on my life. If it’s bad for me it’s wrong, and if it’s good for me it’s right. Bad things should happen to other people. Someone like me deserves only the best life has to offer.
A couple of weeks ago, a California psychologist released a study saying that today’s college students are more self-centered and narcissistic than ever… that years of hearing “you’re special” from parents and teachers has pushed a whole generation in a bad direction. YouTube, Facebook, and American Idol all scream “look at me and tell me I’m wonderful.” The report is based on nearly 17,000 questionnaires comparing responses today with those of a generation ago.
Only time will tell the long-term impact. We eventually realize that the question “why me” is a dead end. There isn’t any enduring answer. So, instead of giving an answer Jesus asked a question: “do you suppose those who died were any more sinful than the ones who escaped?” And without taking a breath he said “No – but unless you repent of your sins you’ll perish just as they did!”
What was the significance of his answer? Well, he immediately dismissed the idea that we can correlate our suffering to our sin. Really, he reframed the whole question. When something terrible happens, repent. And when something wonderful happens, repent. In all times and places, turn yourself towards God’s will. Let every occasion point out our universal need to seek and follow God’s purposes in the world.
When we face suffering and loss, when we feel our faith challenged and stretched, we know that any event can push us to take a careful and honest look at our lives. Whether we feel blessed or cursed we need the wisdom to do our best to live in rhythm with God’s will.
I think Jesus’ message points us beyond the question of “why me” and helps to move us from self-centeredness to compassionate service.
The second question beyond “why me” is “why not me?” This question comes from a sense of gratitude. Why should I be immune to the struggles of life – the losses and sadness, the illness and the suffering that flesh is heir to? If bad things happen, how can I presume they should skip over me and hit someone else?
Many of you knew and loved Les Andrews who died a few weeks ago after a healthy life of nearly 97 years. Talking with his family they remarked that the only time they remember him saying “why me?” it was with a sense of amazement at how blessed his life had been. “Why me, God… why have I been so fortunate?” is another way of saying “why not me?”
The third question moves us from looking inward to looking outward. It rises out of a sense of community. “If not me then who?” [or is that whom?] In the great sweep of humankind we are incredibly blessed. But the majority of God’s people have much less. Will we say “I’m blessed,” and stop there, or will we pay attention to the needs of others?
Did you hear the report this week that right here in Cumberland County one person in ten worries about having enough food, and in Portland proper the number is one in five? That should shock every one of us.
Even when you and I hit a tough patch, we’re pretty sure we know where our next meal is coming from. Even when we face the end of our lives, or feel the gnawing sadness of losing a loved one, we recognize that we enjoy a measure of safety and security that most of the world’s people can only imagine. To ask Jesus’ question, is that because they’re any more sinful or less deserving than the rest of us. Of course not!
Why me? Why Not me? If not me, then who? These questions lead us to the fourth: When bad things are happening to someone else, what can I do to help? This is the question from compassion. It’s not enough to see that life causes pain, or to recognize how blest we are. We know there’s suffering and Jesus calls us to ask how we can ease the burden. One of my favorite bumper stickers from the United Church of Christ says: “To believe is to care, to care is to do.” Prayers of gratitude aren’t enough.
Think for a moment of the extraordinary life of Hanley Denning “the angel of the dump,” who died tragically in a car crash in Guatemala in January. She was raised in Yarmouth, Maine, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1992, and went to Central America to improve her Spanish. In 1999, just days before heading home she was urged to see the plight of the dump-pickers in Guatemala City. She saw and she was changed forever.
She returned home, sold her car and computer and tapped out her savings. With $5000 she returned and soon opened a school with 40 children from the dump – most the first in their families to have any schooling at all. That was the beginning of Safe Passages – a dream that grew from a passion to care for the last and the least. Hanley’s tragic death 7 weeks ago leaves many in mourning but the vision continues because she was able both to serve and to be an advocate for justice.
The second part of today’s reading from Luke is Jesus’ parable about the fig tree that wouldn’t bear fruit. For three years the land owner had seen a fruitless tree and finally decided to have the gardener cut it down. But the gardener, better understanding the ways of nature, persuaded the owner to wait one more year so there’d be time to feed and tend the tree – then if it failed to produce it could be cut.
This parable doesn’t really seem to fit logically with the preceding questions about senseless suffering and tragedy. But either Jesus or Luke had a reason for putting these stories together.
They can certainly remind us that we lie fallow at times. We bear no fruit. Maybe it’s because we’re experiencing a winter of the soul. Maybe it’s because we haven’t been pruned or watered or fertilized. The consequence is the same. We’re live but we just aren’t bearing anything.
Then, in a flash, life changes. We draw a really deep breath. It may be a great joy or a great sadness that cracks open the shell. It may be life gets turned upside down – or right side up. Whatever the cause, it’s as if winter gives way to spring and the lifeless limbs sprout new life.
Jesus says to his disciples then and now: live in a deeper awareness of life’s tragedy and beauty. Let each reminder of our frailty and vulnerability lead us to repentance – to an honest reassessment of where our lives are going and what it’s all about.
The struggles of life need not leave us desolate and afraid. They can lead us to a more faithful place as we ask life’s more persistent questions:
• Why me?
• Why not me?
• If not me, who?
• What can I do to help?
Jesus didn’t answer the question “why me.” Instead he calls us to move deeper, step by step, from self-centeredness to compassionate service. And somehow, when we find a meaningful way to serve, I think we’ll find the answer that satisfies.