Eucharistic Gospel Reading for the Third Sunday of Lent: Year C
“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” (Luke 13: 3 &5 NRSV)
These words are found only in the Gospel according to Luke. Verses 3 and 5 say the same thing about people being killed. Some were caused by human evil from Pontius Pilate, and some caused by an unexplained mishap. In any case, bad stuff happened that caused human loss of life. We don’t know if, or when, we may fall victim to either. Repentance is vital to our eternal life in order to avoid forever perishing.
A word or two about what it means to perish, before we look into what repentance is all about. To perish here means to cease to exist. It is not the being brought into the heavenly realm promised to those who believe and repent of sin. To perish is the opposite of eternal life. Repentance avoids perishing. I don’t think a loving God would have us to exist in some kind of eternal hell full of suffering for all eternity. No, God brought us into being from nothingness, and to nothingness we return if we don’t accept God’s invitation into eternal life. Such an invitation is accepted by repentance of both kinds of sin.
There are sins of commission and of omission. Sins of commission are the ones most often thought about, that is, what we do wrongly to, or against our neighbor. Omission, on the other hand, is witnessing the evil or wrong, and saying, or doing nothing about it. Both trouble our conscience. We can, and should repent from all sins, known and unknown.
Denial, minimization and even retaliation, are sometimes the reasons we feel we don’t have to repent. Denial of wrongs we have done or left undone does not alleviate or lessen the wrong done or not done. It still happened. It is what God is aware of and we have to own it. Then the process of repentance can begin.
Minimization is the act of reducing the damage done in our own minds so that we don’t feel so bad about the harm done to others. Minimization is the act of lying to ourselves. We must empathize with the one we have impacted and get their feelings into our head. Only when we become the victims we created will we fully understand the damage caused.
Retaliation, or eye for an eye, is no excuse for evil done to another. Judgment belongs to God, we are not God. There is no excuse to perpetrate evil of any kind. We are Christians, retaliation is not what we are called to do.
The point of this Luke reading is repentance, and to repent as early as possible. Whether it’s human fault or natures fault, it makes no difference. This very evening is not promised to us. Are their acts, words, and/or thoughts that we wish we had not committed? The time to set it right is now.
The tree in the story is a metaphor for us as we are given yet another chance for repentance with the help of a pastor or in prayer with Jesus. This holy helper (Jesus) will assist us in turning back to God. Thanks be to God. Thank You Lord Jesus.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray: (BCP p. 218)
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
onewhoponders 