Lent III, Cycle C

"On Standing and Falling"

March 17, 2004

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Lessons:  Isaiah 55:1-9;  I Corinthians 10:1-13;  St. Luke 13:1-9

St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "So, if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall." 

     We have a family joke that has grown out of our real-life experience.  To this day, whenever I'm walking with my kids, Christopher or Rebekah, across a patch of ice, or a snowy sidewalk, they grab hold of me and say, "Watch out, Dad--don't fall!"  And why do they do that?  Are they just that loving and concerned?  In my advancing years, are they worried that if I fall, I will break a bone, and never recover?  No--it's not that--it's this…that when they were kids, when we came to an icy street, or a snowy driveway, I'd take their hands, or hold onto their coats, and say, loving father that I am, "Be careful--don't slip and fall"--and almost always, no sooner were the words out of my mouth, than MY feet would slip out from under me, and I'd fall, full-weight onto the slippery surface, with a big ooompfh!  And a big groan, as I'd get up, brush myself off, and try to walk, with my pride hurting as much as my--body.  It happened so often, and so regularly, that now, it's kind of a family joke--a joke which everyone thinks is funny, but me. 

     And yet, isn't that the way life is?  We can be so concerned for others, that we fail to watch out for ourselves.  We can pre-occupy ourselves so completely with other's welfare, choices, and foibles, that we fail to attend to our own problems, issues, and decisions in life.  We can focus so fully on other's sins--that we miss the opportunity to attend to our own sin and disobedience before God.  That's what St. Paul seems to be warning the Corinthian congregation about, in our second lesson, when he cautions them, "So, if you think you are standing--if you think you are doing quite well, if you think you are fulfilling God's commands, if you think you are measuring up quite nicely, with regard to God's will--watch out, says St. Paul--watch out, that you do not fall."  Which is kind of strange that Paul would say that--because what he'd been saying just before that--was that the Corinthians have already fallen--and they've taken quite a tumble!  St. Paul reminds them that he is fully aware, that these members of the church at Corinth, are Christians--that they are baptized members of the body of Christ.  But, he reminds them, that doesn't mean they are free from sinning, or from the consequences of sin.  Indeed, Paul says to the Corinthians, "don't forget that our Hebrew ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink--as they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, the rock, that was Christ.  Nevertheless--they sinned, and disobeyed, and God was not pleased with most of them", Paul asserts, "and they were struck down in the wilderness." The point Paul was making was this--that just because you are one of the children of Israel;  just because you are part of the Church--don't think you are immune to sin--nor are you excused from repentance for sin--for even among the people of Israel;  even among the Corinthian congregation of Christians--there was rampant idolatry, rampant sinfulness, and so, rampant judgement upon that sin. Remember, Paul warns, some of the Israelites indulged in sexual immorality, and twenty-three thousand of them fell in a single day!  Remember, some of them put God to the test, and were destroyed by serpents!  Remember--these were not pagans and Gentiles--these were Israelites--these were children of God who had been delivered out of Egypt, were being taken to a new life, in a new land of milk and honey--yet, when they sinned, and failed to repent--they were destroyed!  And Paul says to the Corinthians, don't think you are too good to fall into sin!  Don't think you are too good, to repent!  Don't think God won't strike down, cut down, bring judgement upon sinners who fail to repent!  That was St. Paul's message to the Corinthians, and that is Jesus' message to us!

     Thankfully, most of us, today, are past thinking that the victims of disaster and violence, are simply reaping the rewards of their own sinful behavior.  Among the Jews in Jesus' time, it was the popular, widespread belief that when something terrible happened, it happened because of gross, un-repented sin.  When a certain group of Galilean Jews had been killed by Pilate, the prevailing attitude was that they had certainly done something that had brought God's wrath upon them, through Pilate.  When eighteen Jewish people were killed when the tower of Siloam toppled down on them, and they were crushed, bystanders, and others, when they heard of this tragedy, shook their heads and commented, "My, my, what sin and disobedience THEY must have been guilty of, to have such a thing happen to them!"  It was easy for well-meaning Jewish folk to focus on such unfortunates, wondering and asking and wishing they knew just what horrible sin these folks had committed, so that they could avoid such things--and avoid such judgement from God.  But Jesus warns them, and us--"do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you;  but unless you repent, you will all perish, just as they did."  It is as St. Paul warns, as well--"if you think you are standing--tend to yourself, that you not fall;  tend to yourself, for perhaps, you have already fallen"!

     And it's just that kind of attention to self;  it's just that kind of self-examination, that folks today DON'T want to attend to!  Because what Paul, and Jesus, are exhorting us to--is personal responsibility!  They are calling us to look to the log in our own eyes, before obsessing over the speck in our neighbor's eye!  Jesus, and his apostle, Paul, are warning us, telling us, "Do you not realize, that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God?  Do you not realize, that all, continue to sin--and ALL, includes YOU, TOO!?"  And, Jesus says, "you, too, will ultimately, perish, unless you repent."

     But that would mean taking responsibility for our own sin and disobedience.  That would mean accepting responsibility for our own behavior, and the consequences that flow from it.  That would mean, for example, that we confess our sexual immorality--our adultery, our sexual improprieties, our impure thoughts and deeds, and repent of them, and accept responsibility for their consequences.  That would mean, for example, that we would have to confess our shady business practices, and repent of them, and yes, make amends for them.  That would mean, for example, that we would have to confess that we have spoken unkindly of others, intentionally stirred up trouble, by our gossip and telling of half-truths--that we would have to repent of them, and go, and sin no more.  That would mean, for example, that we would acknowledge responsibility for our problems and our unhappiness and the reasons we abuse alcohol, and drugs, and people--no longer blaming our addictive behaviors on our bad parents, unbearable peer pressure, the ills of the society in which we live.  To repent, means to acknowledge that we have fallen--that we have sinned--that we have disobeyed God, turning away from His will for us.  To repent means to accept responsibility--for our fall--and then, once Jesus sets us on our feet, again, through forgiveness, we are to go in a new direction, in life.  In Jesus' own words, we are to repent, to be forgiven, and then, to go, and bear good fruit!

     As hard as repentance is for us, it's just as much of a challenge, for us to bear good fruit.  Once we are on our knees, and repent, we rejoice to receive forgiveness--we walk away from confession, free, relieved, feeling better about ourselves.  But Jesus reminds us--repentance and forgiveness doesn't end with us feeling better about ourselves--it continues, with a new, renewed, different life.  Dying to our sinful selves, with Jesus, on the cross, is a critical step for all who would be His faithful disciples--but rising with Him, on Easter morning--rising with Him, to live a resurrection life, here and now, is a critical next step, for all who would be Jesus' faithful disciples.  Because, discipleship is not just about repentance and confession;  discipleship is not just about dying to self;  discipleship is not just about what's good for me--all of this aims to bring us to the point, where we live, not just for me, but for God, and for others!  That's what bearing good fruit is really all about--doing good, for God, and for others!  And that, Jesus says, is what comes, naturally, after repentance and forgiveness.  What comes next, is bearing fruit for God.   What should come next, is doing good, for God, and for others.   And what if we repent, and confess that we have fallen…what if we receive forgiveness, and stand, basking in the wonderful light of the freedom won for us by Jesus Christ, but do nothing?

     It is a false understanding of Dr. Martin Luther, and the Gospel--that some Lutherans have come to the point where they assert, "Being a Lutheran means you don't have to do anything!"  To the contrary, Father Luther, in a sermon to the Wittenberg congregation said, "God does not want hearers and repeaters of words, but doers and follower who exercise themselves in the faith that worketh, by love."  Luther also wrote, the Christian life, "is that which comes when the Holy Spirit gives people faith in Christ--that is, He makes heart, soul, body, works and manner of life new and writes God's commandments, not on tablets of stone, but on hearts of flesh…thus he gives true fear and love of God, so that we…love, praise, thank and honor him…this is a new, holy life in the soul…in the body, it is his gift that we willingly obey parents and overlords, conduct ourselves peacefully and humbly, we are not to be wrathful, or revengeful, or malicious;  we are not to be lewd, adulterers, unchaste, but pure and chaste;  we are not to steal, take bribes, cheat, etc., but work honorably, supporting ourselves honestly, lending gladly, giving and helping whenever we can.  Therefore, we do not lie, deceive, back-bite, but are kind, truthful, faithful, reliable, and do whatever else God's commandments require."  These, according to Dr. Luther, are to be the fruit of the Christian life.  These are to be the fruit which we bear, after we repent of our sin, and have been forgiven, set free, for, the Christ-like life.  Certainly, God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.  Certainly, God waits a year, and another year, and yet a third year for us to respond to the gift of forgiveness, with faithful fruit.  And if still, we are doing nothing, in our Gospel-freedom, Jesus, the gardener, comes, and tends to us, and spreads manure on us--and waits yet a fourth year.  But ultimately, those disciples who bear no fruit, are no disciples at all.  Ultimately, those who say they are disciples, but are not do-ers, are of no earthly good to God, and they will be removed from God's vineyard, to make room for fruit-bearing disciples.  But the message today, is not that you are going to be cut-down, and cleared out of God's garden.  The message is--unless you repent, you will perish--so, now is the time for repentance!  Now is the time for confession and forgiveness!  Now is the time to live in that forgiveness, by bearing fruit--good fruit--by loving God, and loving our neighbor.  By loving God, and loving our spouse, our children, our families, our co-workers,  our classmates, our business associates--whomever are, our neighbors in life!  That is the message of Lent, and that is the message of God, for us, today.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.