Who sinned, and what should we do about it?

Isaiah 55:1-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

… Today, we get the news in at least a dozen different ways. When an airplane and a helicopter collided at Reagan Airport, it seems the whole world knew about it in seconds. Of course, the people at the airport knew, but within seconds, it was on the TV news, cable news, on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and it was texted and shared between friends. And already, as soon as the news was out, people wanted to know who messed up, who was at fault.

People were sharing the bad news with Jesus. Roman soldiers had killed some Galileans and mingled the victims’ blood with blood from sacrificial animals. The Jews were appalled at this sacrilege. Others reported that a tower fell on a bunch of people and killed them. Everyone wanted to know if those who died in these circumstances were sinners, and if their sin caused these tragedies. Jesus replies, “they were no more sinful than you are. And you all need to repent, or you will perish just as those folks did.

“However, let me tell you a story. There was a man with a vineyard, who decided he wanted some figs, too. But, year after year, the tree had no figs on it. He told the gardener to cut it down, to get rid of it. But the gardener asked the man to wait a year. He would pay some special attention to the fig tree and then, in a year, if there were still no figs, he would happily remove it.”

… We all want to hold people accountable. We want to know that the money we are paying for a particular item or service is worth the expense. We want to know that the people we hire are doing their job well. We want to know that people who break the law are duly punished, with a fine or jail time. We especially want to know that God will punish people who disobey the 10 Commandments. And we want to know that God knows that we didn’t disobey them.

This attitude is not new. The belief in ancient times is that sin causes bad things to happen. Sin is passed on from generation to generation. You are poor because someone in your ancestry sinned. You are deaf or have a skin disease because one of your ancestors sinned.

At the same time, the 10 Commandments are taken literally. I worship weekly, I haven’t said God’s name, I respect my elders, I haven’t stolen, I don’t covet my neighbor’s maid. So I am not a sinner.

… Jesus disagrees. In other stories, Jesus clarifies the meaning of obedience to the commandments: visiting the sick or imprisoned; feeding the hungry, and so forth. In other words, loving the neighbor as much as you love yourself. Since we can never do this perfectly, we are all sinners, and we need to repent. And then, there is grace, the grace of second or third or thirtieth chances to repent and be forgiven.

Let’s not think that this belief that our individual behaviors cause bad things to happen is ancient, and we are not guilty of it today. The belief that some group or other is sinful and causes bad things to happen pervades our world. People talk about whatever happened: men caused it; women caused it; gay people caused it; people of color caused it; the Democrats caused it; the Republicans caused it; the immigrants caused it; etc. It’s easy to blame others and not take responsibility for ourselves.

…We are sinful people. And we are forgiven, God-graced people. God seeks every possible opportunity to dig around in our hearts to soften them, fertilize us with some nutritious love and forgiveness, and water us with extra chances to turn to God and ask for forgiveness.

Isaiah tells us what grace is like: all the bread and wine and milk you can eat and drink for free. A covenant relationship that has lasted for centuries, available free for the asking. God’s grace is free forgiveness, ours for the asking.

But sometimes, we are reluctant to ask for forgiveness because we don’t think we have done anything wrong. We claim we don’t need forgiveness or grace. We may be like the people Paul is writing about. He reminds his readers about the folks with Moses in the wilderness who were not obeying God’s commandments. Be careful that you are not similarly sinful.

… I once heard a presentation by Timothy Wengert, the author of a recent translation of Luther’s Small Catechism. He says we often imagine that we are on a ladder. There may be some people who are less sinful than we are, and they are on the top step of a ladder; we are somewhat sinful, and on the middle step of the ladder; and then there are some people who are more sinful than we are, who are on the ground or perhaps the first step.

But, Wengert says, in truth, we are all on the ground, each of us as sinful as the next person. We are all sinners, none of us more or less sinful than anyone else, all of us in need of repentance and forgiveness.

… Today, we remember that God is faithful and merciful, present with us even when we are struggling through hard times. And we remember that God is with us through the compassion shown by people, with a hug, a casserole, a bottle of water, a loving word, a message of forgiveness.

Let’s be kind to ourselves, and to everyone else, because we are no more or less sinful than they are. And we are all granted God’s gift of grace, even if we don’t think we deserve it.

As usual, I suggest you probably have a story to tell. I’d love to hear it. Amen