Jesu Juva
“A Strongly Weak Life”
Text: Luke 13:1-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
A volcano erupts deep under the Pacific Ocean and a tsunami wipes out an island.
A crazed man decides to invade another country and bombs start raining down on it.
A tornado strengthens to a category 5 and takes out everything in its path.
A gunman shoots up an arena filled with concertgoers, leaving blood and death and carnage.
An avalanche high up in the mountains crashes down and swallows up a village.
A tiny virus infects the world.
A hurricane makes a sudden and unexpected turn and smashes into a city filled with people, leaving many dead and even more homeless.
A bunch of misguided religious fanatics fly planes into buildings.
A wildfire rages out of control and consumes an entire neighborhood.
A freak storm dumps many inches of rain and floods take out farms, businesses, and whole communities.
A construction error causes a structure to fall, crushing many people under its weight.
All of these things happened in the last 20 years or so, within many of our lifetimes. And what else? What other natural disasters, tragedies, evil?
When they do, how do you react? There but for the grace of God go I many say. Which is true, but not enough. Some on television, radio, or podcast claim they know why these things happened - that these people were unbelievers, or that they or their countries were desperately sinful, and so God was punishing them. But is that true? And then there are those who would chalk it up to fate, or chance, or just plain ol’ bad luck, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Today, Jesus tells us how we should react: I tell you . . . unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. When these kinds of things happen, it is an opportunity for us not to look at them and try to figure out why it happened to them, what’s wrong with them . . . but to look at myself, and what’s wrong with me, and know it - and even worse - should have happened to me. It is an opportunity for us to pray: Lord, have mercy on me. I am the sinner. I am the one who deserves death. Or as we confessed earlier: I, a poor, miserable sinner . . . justly deserve Your temporal (Your earthly) and eternal punishment.
For the grace of God we really need isn’t just to avoid some hardship, unpleasantness, or tragedy here and now, in this world and life, the grace we really need is the forgiveness of our sins, so that we need not fear the eternal consequences of our sins. For that is far worse. We don’t always think that way, but we should. Between physical death and spiritual death, spiritual death is far worse.
So these things that happen remind us of the sin that is in the world - that the world is broken and out of joint and does not work as it was created to. These things remind us of the sin that is in people - that hatred and revenge often drive our actions, and that even our best intentions fall short. But most of all, says Jesus, these things remind us of the sin that is in me. That I am not the person God created me to be. That wrong motives often drive my actions. That even my best intentions fall short.
When Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, this is the point he was making with them. He points back to Old Testament Israel and all that God had done for them: His presence leading and protecting them, dividing the Red Sea so they could pass through, the manna that God gave them every day, the water from a rock . . . they were blessed in so many ways! Yet what did they do? They were idolaters, they were sexually immoral, they doubted God and tested Him, and they grumbled. A lot.
How should we react to those things? In astonishment and incomprehension? That they were worse sinners than us? Wonder how they could be so stupid, ungrateful, and rebellious? No, Paul says. But realize we are just the same. We who have the presence of God here with us, who have passed through the waters of Baptism, who are fed with the bread of life and drink of the living water of God’s Word, and yet . . . do we not have idols, too? People or things in this world that we fear, love, and trust more than God? Do we, too, not have sexually impure thoughts, desires, and actions? Do we, too, not doubt God and His love and test Him? Do we, too, not grumble and complain against God when things aren’t going our way, or the way we want or think they should?
When those things happened to Old Testament Israel, God disciplined them because He loved them! To turn them back to Him in repentance. So take a lesson, Paul says to those Christians. Take a lesson, he says to us. Repent, Jesus says. Because I love you.
And then Paul adds to that, saying let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. That is, don’t think you are beyond the reach of sin, temptation, and satan. Don’t pat yourself on the back for how good you are doing and that you’re not like others. To think like that puts you in a dangerous place, taking your eyes off the danger and relying on your own strength. And when you do that, you are ripe to fall.
But the news is not all bad. Take heed, be aware, Paul says, yes - but then this, too: there is a way of escape. Now, if this were science fiction, that would be a wormhole. If this were a spy movie, it would be a secret passage. If the Civil War, the Underground Railroad. But what door, what passageway, what avenue of escape is there for us? To get away from satan and his temptations? To escape the danger? For us sinful humans beings, there is only one thing it could be: the cross. God is faithful, Paul says. He will not leave you on your own. There is a limit, too, a leash on satan and how far he can go. But the way for us out of sin, out of death, and out of hell, is not the strength of God, but His weakness. God showed His strength to Israel in Egypt and the wilderness and still they rebelled. And it is not His might, but His mercy. For God’s might is terrifying. But His mercy is comforting. So the way for us out of sin, out of death, and out of hell, is the cross of Jesus, His love for us there, the forgiveness He won for us there, and the new life that is given to us when we are baptized and die and rise with Him. It is the cross of Jesus, when He looked at His most helpless and weakest and there was no escape, that has become our strength and help and way of escape.
Which is something we are constantly learning. Because away from the cross is where satan is constantly tempting us. That when we are tempted, to rely on ourselves and our own strength, our own will power and faithfulness - which, as you well know, sometimes may work, but often times it does not. That’s why Paul doesn’t point to our faithfulness or strength, but to God’s. God’s faithfulness shown to us on the cross, where all His words and promises to us are fulfilled. Where He is strongly weak for us. How’s that for an oxymoron! Strongly weak.
But so it is, with Jesus, with the cross. For as Paul told the Corinthian Christians in his letter before this, the weakness of God is stronger than our strength (1 Corinthians 1:25). So if we are relying on our strength, be it our physical, mental, or spiritual strength, we are weak. But if we rely on Jesus’ weakness, on His cross, on His victory there, then we are strong. We are strong when we rely on our baptism to know who we are. We are strong when we rely on Jesus’ forgiveness as our confidence. We are strong when we feed on Jesus’ Body and Blood for the nourishment we need. The nourishment from Jesus’ tree that will make us good trees bearing good fruit. The good fruit of repentance. The good fruit of forgiveness for those who sin against us. The good fruit of lives lived in Jesus.
Maybe Jesus will have to dig around in your life to give you that nourishment you need . . . when you neglect it, when you’re not bearing good fruit, when you’re relying too much on yourself. Which might not be pleasant, but it will be for your good. For He loves you; He doesn’t want you to be cut down. So He was cut down for you, on the cross. Giving His life for you, to give you His life now.
So living in a sinful world, that is broken and out of joint and does not work as it was created to . . . and living in a world of sinners who sin against us . . . and living ourselves as sinners in this world sinning against others . . . we’re either going to destroy ourselves and our world, ourselves and each other, or we need a Saviour. Someone from outside this sinful world to set it right. And this Lenten season, that is who we see. We fix our eyes on Jesus (Gradual). And when all those disasters, tragedies, and evil befall us - and more - we fix our eyes on Jesus, hanging on the cross, enlightening the darkness, and calling us to hope in Him and not despair. Calling us to repent and find our life in Him. So do that. Fix your eyes on Jesus. And not just this Lenten season, but as this Lenten season trains us to do. Fix your eyes on Jesus and feed on Him with your ears, your eyes, and your mouths, and then live the life He has given you. A strongly weak life. A life of repentance. A life of forgiveness. A life filled with the fruits of faith, hope, and love.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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