Rev. George
Miller
Feb 28, 2021
Luke 13:1-5
So Wednesday was my
birthday, and I had the most unexpected experience- I woke up feeling…younger.
Not like a naïve or midlife-crisis
younger, but more like “I got this and I’m where I want to be” younger.
For me, that’s an unusual
experience. So much of life has been
about running away from reality, not accepting reality, wishing for a different
reality, and feeling a rootless reality.
But Wednesday, it was a “I
know who I am and I’m going to wear purple and a red hat if I want to” kind of reality.
What a great feeling. Had no idea turning 51 can be so liberating.
Then, a random thought
popped into my head. I thought of my
20-something self, trying so hard to live right, living in a simple studio,
going to the clubs all the time, hanging out with drag queens, actors, opera
singers…
…and I said, out loud, “Go
on, George. Enjoy yourself. Have fun. That’s
what your 20’s are for.”
It was so healing, because by
saying that I came a step closer to accepting who I am, all I’ve done, and
further releasing all those shoulda-coulda-woulda regrets that bog us down.
By speaking to my younger
self, I felt my current self…refreshed.
It was an opportunity to realize
my20-something self was simply, truthfully doing the best he could with what he
knew, and the skill sets he had.
Can anyone else here
relate? Can you look back at your teens,
20s, 30s, even your 40s and say “Bless my heart, I had no idea what I was doing
back then?”
What if that’s the main
point of today’s scripture?
Today’s reading tends to give
heartburn to many progressive preachers because Jesus comes across a bit cold
and callous.
Us “We Are the World” type
of pastors aren’t comfortable around words like “repent” and “perish”.
That’s because we don’t really
understand what repent and perish mean. We
have sadly been shaped by the church of the middle-ages which used the concepts
of sin, hell, and satan in ways that were not necessarily true to what Jesus
may have meant.
Today we have mega-church entertainment
centers that use repent as a means of fearmongering to create an us vs. them
mentality that puts butts in the seats and cash in the plate.
What if, when Jesus talked
about repent and perish, he meant it more akin to “You can always grow and change
to experience a better quality of life”?
What if today’s scripture is
not about avoiding hell, but embracing the ways of Heaven in the here and now?
1st let’s do some
seminary-level work.
Although the word “sin” is
not said here, it is hard for our modern ears not to subconsciously apply the “S”
word to this story.
But what is sin? What was the concept of sin back in Jesus’
day?
“Sin” is actually a sport
term. Sin was used in archery to refer
to being “off the mark” and missing the bullseye.
In Golf Hammock terms, sin
means not to get a hole-in-one. That’s
it.
In Katy Perry-Super Bowl 49
terms, sin is just a way of saying “Left Shark.”
Sin is a mistake. As theologian
Thomas Moore states, sin is a “tragic mistake”.
We all make tragic mistakes,
don’t we?
We forget to fully close the
fridge, we accidently turn left into traffic, we say something we mean as a compliment,
but it’s taken as a criticism.
The issue is not that we
have these tragic mistakes, but when we do them over and over again, never
learning, choosing to never learn, or simply not caring about our consequences.
That’s where “perish” comes
in.
Our modern ears hear “perish”
and we think “hell.” But most likely
Jesus was being poetic and over-the-top dramatic (if you can imagine).
In Jesus’ day, life was all
about relationships- being a part of, belonging, being “inside.”
No one is Jesus’ day wanted
to be an outcast, no one wanted to be uninvited to the BBQ, no one wanted to be
on the outside, looking in.
It was all about living
together, dining together, worshipping together.
To be excluded, unwelcomed…that,
that was perishing.
What Jesus is most likely
saying is that life happens- buildings fall, corrupt leaders exist.
But much worse than that is
when we get in our own way and our actions cause us to be excluded from being
part of something bigger than ourselves.
To put this in happy,
progressive words- Jesus is saying “Life is a gift, so do what you can to
embrace it.”
How do we embrace God’s gift
of life?
Repentance.
To repent means to turn back,
to be open to change. To grow; evolve.
That’s it.
No blood sacrifices needed. No magic words. No additional tax to pay.
To repent is to realize the
path your taking may not be the best, so you are willing to be redirected.
To repent is like saying “OK
God, I tried it my way, now I’m willing to listen to the wisdom of others and
the wisdom of Jesus.”
Jesus does not want us
excluded. Jesus does not want anyone
excluded.
Nor does Jesus find joy in
seeing people cast out or not given an invite.
Jesus wants all of us to
come in from the outside, to sit at the table, and to enjoy the banquet.
Jesus isn’t saying “In order
to come in you need to completely change who you are.”
What Jesus is saying is “Come!
Join us! Be the best version of you that
you can be!”
Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that great?
Doesn’t that make you feel
young?
Sisters and brothers,
brothers and sisters, we are home.
We are all doing the best we
can with what we know.
We are the summation of our
past, our family history and the times we are living in.
We don’t always hit the
bullseye, we don’t always get a hole-in-one, and we don’t always get to be
Right Shark.
But we do our best.
We get back up when we fall.
We put another arrow on the
bow. We put another golf-ball on the
tee.
Walking with Jesus empowers
us to do over. The Holy Spirit gives us the
wind and fire to strive ahead.
God watches, listens,
pleased each time we learn from our human mistakes and take another step
towards Heaven’s Kingdom.
Amen and amen.
