Theological Truth: Repentance isn’t a one-time act. It’s a lifetime practice that makes us aware we don’t get what we deserve, we get God.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Getting What We Deserve
There were some Christians (with a particular and peculiar way of understanding God and interpreting Scripture) who believed that the death and destruction of Hurricane Katrina were God’s punishment for the sins of of New Orleans — that wicked city — a modern day example of Sodom and Gomorrah getting their due.
I had a different take on it.
First, there were a whole lot of innocent people, leading good and virtuous lives, who were devastated by that storm. Second, the seat of iniquity, the supposed center of depravity — The French Quarter — was high and dry. That leaves only two possibilities: either God didn’t give the sinners of New Orleans what they deserved, or God has terrible aim!
Humans have always grappled with this correlation between sin and suffering, evil and death. It is part and parcel to the “memory and reason” God has given us in Creation. The entire book of Job is dedicated to the topic. The disciples in John’s Gospel ask Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”(John 9:2).
In our gospel today, some people hold up the suffering and death of executed Galileans, with either a morbid curiosity or perhaps a moral superiority, assuming that since they suffered they must have been terribly sinful. Jesus says, “No.” And then Jesus offers another example: the 18 people killed by the collapse of the tower of Siloam. Were these citizens of Jerusalem worse offenders than everyone else? Again, Jesus gives the same answer, “No…but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did.”
So, what is the connection between sin and suffering, and how does repenting help us avoid perishing?
In the ancient near east, it was widely thought that there was a direct connection between suffering and sin. And sometimes there is. If I drink a six pack of beer, get in my car, don’t put my seat belt on, go speeding down the interstate at 90 mph and crash into a tree, the connection between my sinful choices and my unfortunate consequences is obvious.
But what about the lung cancer patient who never smoked?
Or the children of Ukraine?
It’s not always so clear cut.
Jesus discounts this human tendency to overstate the connection. God doesn’t cause that suffering, and just because there is suffering doesn’t necessarily imply the victims were sinful. Were they worse offenders than us? More sinful than most? No, but unless we repent we will perish just as they did.
What does Jesus mean by that? How does repentance help us avoid perishing “just as they did”? And what about that fig tree!? It all has to do with getting what we deserve.
It would be helpful in some way to think that those victims had it coming. If that were the case, as long as we never sinned, we’d never experience any pain or suffering. We’d have complete control, confidence, and certainty about our future. Wouldn’t it be nice to be in charge like that?!
A direct correlation between sin and suffering also appeals to our sense of fairness. Getting what we each deserve satisfies our craving for justice. I should get what I deserve. Those people should get what they deserve, especially those bad (sinful) people.
We’d like to think that the corollary is also true: I deserve what I get. I am deserving of all that I have. I’ve worked hard, planned well, prayed fervently, acted virtuously, maneuvered carefully, everyone knows it…and God owes it.
And there’s the catch. We don’t control God. We are not equals with God. We are children of God. Recipients of grace and mercy.
Here’s the gospel truth: we don’t get what we deserve. And thanks be to God for that!
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If you’re having trouble accepting that, read through the Litany of Penance on page 265 of the Book of Common Prayer. We don’t get what we deserve. And we don’t deserve what we get. Grace is defined as unmerited and unearned. That fig tree represents all of us. Fig trees were given three years to start bearing fruit. This particular tree was given three years beyond that. It was wasting the soil. But it didn’t get what it deserved. It got one more year. Fig trees don’t need manure and tending. There’s no other reference to tending to fig trees with manure in the gospels. The fig tree didn’t deserve what it got — extravagant, uncommon loving attention.
Unless we continue repenting, we will perish just as they did, with a lack of awareness of the mercy and grace of God. When Jesus says, “Unless you repent…” the “you” there is plural and the verb tense indicates a continuous action. Likewise the fig tree often symbolizes the people of God. Unless we keep repenting…unless we live lives of repenting…until we open our eyes again and again and turn to the truth that we don’t get what we deserve and we don’t deserve all that God gives us…we will perish without bearing the bear fruits of the kingdom.
But when we continue to repent…to turn to God…to see the redemptive work of Christ…to receive the living Spirit of God as pure gift…then we begin to see ourselves, the world, and all of God’s people, in the light of this truth: We don’t get what we deserve, we get God. We don’t deserve what we get, we get grace and mercy. We get one more year; one more Lent. But what we do with it is up to us.
The Jesus prayer is an ancient prayer practice to help us live lives of repenting that bear fruit. The idea is for this short prayer to become a mantra that we say throughout the day:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
(Repeat).
You can alter it to fit your particular needs, possibly shortening it to omit “Son of God” or “a sinner.” But don’t omit the “have mercy on me.” That’s the crucial part for living lives of repentance. As Frederica Matthews-Greene observes, “God doesn’t need [reminders from us] to be merciful; [God] is merciful all the time, even when we don’t ask. But unless we make a habit of asking for mercy, we forget that we need it.”
Friends, lives of repentance keep us in this habit of asking for mercy. Repenting brings us over and over to the humbling truth that we don’t want what we truly deserve, we want mercy. Repenting gives us grateful eyes to see that we don’t deserve what we get, God in Christ has given us grace upon grace.
As recipients of this generous mercy and merciful generosity, we can then share it abundantly — not when or because people deserve it, but because we know that none of us really do.
We have one more year. Keep repenting.
May the awareness of God’s mercies be like seeds in our souls, bearing fruits of mercy, kindness, and acceptance. We don’t get what we deserve, we get life with God.
— The Rev. William “A.J.” Heine, Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church of Staunton
Readings this week: Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
Third Sunday in Lent, Year B
March 20, 2022
