Does God push old ladies down church steps? Lent 3
Luke 13: 1 - 9
It was a Sunday morning during Lent when leaving her church, a woman fell and broke her hip. She was rushed to hospital where she failed to recover from surgery and died a few days later.
The night before the funeral, people came to the family home where they offered sympathy to the bereaved husband who was accompanied by the minister. As he stood there, the minister became concerned at some of the things he heard;
“God must have had a plan for this so accept it.”
“It was God’s will and we must live by it.”
“God planned this to test your faith so be strong.”
“There’ll be a greater good come out of this so look for it.”
The minister went home that night with a great sense of anger at what he described as “babbling.” So he went to his study and rewrote the beginning of his funeral sermon. The next day that sermon began with the words;
“My God does not push old ladies down church steps!” before explaining that God cannot be blamed for all the brokenness of the world.
And to that I say a loud “Amen!” In the next fortnight, Bideford Methodist Church will be the venue of two of the saddest funerals in its history. If I believed that either had anything to do with the will of God, I would chuck this dog collar away and join the likes of Richard Dawkins in the world of atheism.
Our Gospel Reading this morning takes us very much into the theodicy question - namely if God is all powerful and good, why on earth do bad things happen to innocent people. This was the question which was asked 300 years ago after the Lisbon earthquake and again after the Holocaust. In face of tregedy it continues to be posed by all sensitive people. It is a huge question and for many has led to a suggestion that God in some ways limits God’s power. I think that such is a feasible view although it is not always satisfactory.
The Deuteronomic view which developed during the time of the Babylonian exile seemed at least from a national angle to point to a view that history showed God rewarding faithfulness whilst punishing rebellion. It goes without saying that such a view as an explanation of suffering, can lead to seeing God in a very harsh manner. And precisely this was at the heart of the dialogue into which Jesus was drawn.
The background is that there had been two disturbing events. One of these was a killing of worshippers by Pilate with the compromising of their Jewish identity by the mixing of their blood with that of the animals sacrificed. Such would have been an insult to their Jewish identity. We do not know for sure the historicity of this event but we know that such an action was taken by Pilate against the nearby but hated Samaritans so it would be in Pilate’s character if it was not a direct reference to that event. As for the building at Siloam. Here sympathy may have been muted towards the victims. A likely explanation is that this Tower was part of Pilate’s aqueduct project, a project which was financed by the seizing of money from the Temple treasury. These victims may have been seen a somewhat traitorous. And so the question of whether this was God’s judgement arose.
Now Jesus does not provide an answer to the theodicy question. But he makes it clear that their deaths had noting to do with them being outside the favour of God. No worse than others, their deaths could not be laid as the responsibility of God. For God is truly misrepresented when we talk of God as if God were the forerunner of Arnold Schwarzengger’s “The Terminator.”
And to see God in such a manner is truly to be resisted for not only does it give rise to immense pastoral insensitivity but it dents the message that is at the heart of the Gospel that God is love, that God is love for all!
And because God is love for all, God far from being the author of our tragedies, is the God who is present in the places of suffering. Elie Wiesel in his book "Night" which tells of his experiences as a Jew held at Auschwitz tells the stort of how the Germans carried out a reprisal hanging of three people including a young lad who had theface of an angel. As the lad struggled for breath, a voice asked the question "Where is God?" The answer offered was that God was present on the gallows. For when tragedies arise, God far from being absent without leave is present in the suffering and God’s heart is amongst the first to break. Far from pushing old ladies down church steps, God shares in our weeping.
So when youngsters say in that time honoured way, “It ain’t fair” they hit the nail well and truly on the head. Life is not fair and to say otherwise is to enter a self delusional state. Our responsibility as followers of Christ is to be a healing presence in an unfair world. That is what Jesus is reminding us when he moves the dialogue on to the illustration of the fig tree. Here, we are reminded of the need to produce fruit in our lives. Recognising that our very lives are the consequence of the gifting nature of God, we have a responsibility to use them well. This is a calling not to exercise judgement over others but to demonstrate in our relating to others, something of the gentle, loving qualities that we find in Jesus. We are to be life affirmers rather than life destroyers following the lead of Jesus who constantly builds up those who had need.
And finally, it needs to be noted that just as the landlord persists with the fig tree, so God persists with us. On the basis of justice, we like the fig tree might well be cut down but instead we see a patience with the fig tree even when it is failing in its purpose to bear fruit. What is deserved becomes of no relevance for the picture set before us is a picture of Divine patience and grace. And that grace is the very centre of our hope today.
Our world is far from fair yet this does not mean that God is disconnected. God’s love is very real and is without ending. It is the love that works through people and which through the Spirit sustains us at the very hour of midnight. It is the love that no extremity, even death itself, can separate us from. And in the darkest of hours, this ever patient love far from pushing old ladies down church steps, alone keeps us from total abyss, even as a bridge over troubled waters.
This sermon was preached at Alwington Methodist Church on March 11th 2007 at the end of a week of bad news. Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Waters" was played in a time of reflection after this sermon
It was a Sunday morning during Lent when leaving her church, a woman fell and broke her hip. She was rushed to hospital where she failed to recover from surgery and died a few days later.
The night before the funeral, people came to the family home where they offered sympathy to the bereaved husband who was accompanied by the minister. As he stood there, the minister became concerned at some of the things he heard;
“God must have had a plan for this so accept it.”
“It was God’s will and we must live by it.”
“God planned this to test your faith so be strong.”
“There’ll be a greater good come out of this so look for it.”
The minister went home that night with a great sense of anger at what he described as “babbling.” So he went to his study and rewrote the beginning of his funeral sermon. The next day that sermon began with the words;
“My God does not push old ladies down church steps!” before explaining that God cannot be blamed for all the brokenness of the world.
And to that I say a loud “Amen!” In the next fortnight, Bideford Methodist Church will be the venue of two of the saddest funerals in its history. If I believed that either had anything to do with the will of God, I would chuck this dog collar away and join the likes of Richard Dawkins in the world of atheism.
Our Gospel Reading this morning takes us very much into the theodicy question - namely if God is all powerful and good, why on earth do bad things happen to innocent people. This was the question which was asked 300 years ago after the Lisbon earthquake and again after the Holocaust. In face of tregedy it continues to be posed by all sensitive people. It is a huge question and for many has led to a suggestion that God in some ways limits God’s power. I think that such is a feasible view although it is not always satisfactory.
The Deuteronomic view which developed during the time of the Babylonian exile seemed at least from a national angle to point to a view that history showed God rewarding faithfulness whilst punishing rebellion. It goes without saying that such a view as an explanation of suffering, can lead to seeing God in a very harsh manner. And precisely this was at the heart of the dialogue into which Jesus was drawn.
The background is that there had been two disturbing events. One of these was a killing of worshippers by Pilate with the compromising of their Jewish identity by the mixing of their blood with that of the animals sacrificed. Such would have been an insult to their Jewish identity. We do not know for sure the historicity of this event but we know that such an action was taken by Pilate against the nearby but hated Samaritans so it would be in Pilate’s character if it was not a direct reference to that event. As for the building at Siloam. Here sympathy may have been muted towards the victims. A likely explanation is that this Tower was part of Pilate’s aqueduct project, a project which was financed by the seizing of money from the Temple treasury. These victims may have been seen a somewhat traitorous. And so the question of whether this was God’s judgement arose.
Now Jesus does not provide an answer to the theodicy question. But he makes it clear that their deaths had noting to do with them being outside the favour of God. No worse than others, their deaths could not be laid as the responsibility of God. For God is truly misrepresented when we talk of God as if God were the forerunner of Arnold Schwarzengger’s “The Terminator.”
And to see God in such a manner is truly to be resisted for not only does it give rise to immense pastoral insensitivity but it dents the message that is at the heart of the Gospel that God is love, that God is love for all!
And because God is love for all, God far from being the author of our tragedies, is the God who is present in the places of suffering. Elie Wiesel in his book "Night" which tells of his experiences as a Jew held at Auschwitz tells the stort of how the Germans carried out a reprisal hanging of three people including a young lad who had theface of an angel. As the lad struggled for breath, a voice asked the question "Where is God?" The answer offered was that God was present on the gallows. For when tragedies arise, God far from being absent without leave is present in the suffering and God’s heart is amongst the first to break. Far from pushing old ladies down church steps, God shares in our weeping.
So when youngsters say in that time honoured way, “It ain’t fair” they hit the nail well and truly on the head. Life is not fair and to say otherwise is to enter a self delusional state. Our responsibility as followers of Christ is to be a healing presence in an unfair world. That is what Jesus is reminding us when he moves the dialogue on to the illustration of the fig tree. Here, we are reminded of the need to produce fruit in our lives. Recognising that our very lives are the consequence of the gifting nature of God, we have a responsibility to use them well. This is a calling not to exercise judgement over others but to demonstrate in our relating to others, something of the gentle, loving qualities that we find in Jesus. We are to be life affirmers rather than life destroyers following the lead of Jesus who constantly builds up those who had need.
And finally, it needs to be noted that just as the landlord persists with the fig tree, so God persists with us. On the basis of justice, we like the fig tree might well be cut down but instead we see a patience with the fig tree even when it is failing in its purpose to bear fruit. What is deserved becomes of no relevance for the picture set before us is a picture of Divine patience and grace. And that grace is the very centre of our hope today.
Our world is far from fair yet this does not mean that God is disconnected. God’s love is very real and is without ending. It is the love that works through people and which through the Spirit sustains us at the very hour of midnight. It is the love that no extremity, even death itself, can separate us from. And in the darkest of hours, this ever patient love far from pushing old ladies down church steps, alone keeps us from total abyss, even as a bridge over troubled waters.
This sermon was preached at Alwington Methodist Church on March 11th 2007 at the end of a week of bad news. Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Waters" was played in a time of reflection after this sermon
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