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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is from the gospel reading you’ve heard read. You may be seated.
Did you hear about what happened when… yeah, isn’t that how we are? Sucked in by that initial statement and we’re going, what? Tell me. And usually, it is done in a way that is either… a little lifting up of ourself and putting down of another. But ultimately, once the person tells us the story, they’re wanting a reaction out of us. And we’re glad to give them an assessment and an appraisal of what was going on. For that’s why their kids are that way. And you know that’s why their parents are that way. And if you really think about it, that’s why that pastor or that church, that teacher is that way. Okay? And you know that’s why our government’s that way and why this world is that way and why my business is that way. We all have our assessment, don’t we?
This is how the gospel reading began this morning. These people come to Jesus and said, “Did you hear about when the Galileans…” And they go on and tell a story. Now this story is pretty remarkable. The Galileans, which is the northern part of that country of Israel… In fact, that’s where Jesus was from, was Nazareth, which is in Galilee. So it appeals to him, and it appeals also to most of the other disciples, because they were also, too, from Galilee. And it was said, those Galileans, and here’s what happened: there was a sacrifice being given to God. And the blood of those animals was all about God. And then Pilate sends soldiers into that very place, slaughters the people so that the blood of their own bodies mix on the floor with the blood of the sacrifices.
About the nearest comparative situation would be if someone came in here while we were lined up at the Lord’s table and taking Christ’s body and blood and opened fire on us, gunning us all down, and our blood mixes with the Lord’s blood and the wine. And then what would be said? See, that’s the temptation. What would be said? Because when the Galileans shared that with Jesus, they wanted basically two responses out of Jesus: to vilify the Romans and that nasty leader named Pilate, to garner support for overthrowing the Romans. And if that didn’t work, to victimize the victims so that we raise the awareness of these poor Jewish martyrs who died doing their religious freedom.
And you know what’s missing, which Jesus brings out? The answer isn’t to vilify the Romans and to create martyrs. The answer is what Jesus said, which was, “Unless you too repent, you will perish.” That’s his answer. Interesting, isn’t it? When he says that such a tragedy has been done to these Galileans, he’s saying these Galileans unto whom it happened were not worse Galileans than these Galileans. But don’t you and I love to be the victim? Because if we’re the victim, people pay attention to us finally. They listen to us. We garner support that way. Or we suffer silently either way. Jesus never gives license for victimization.
Why? Interesting indeed, and that’s something we’re going to wrestle with. These signs that we see today are not because these Galileans were worse than those Galileans. Simply because something happens to you does not mean you’re worse than those that it didn’t happen to. Because boy, does Satan love to pour that on your shoulders, which crushes you. And at the same turn when it happens to someone else and it doesn’t happen to you, Satan’s desire is for you to puff yourself up and say it’s because of my good planning, my education, it’s my discipline, whatever it may be.
And both are wrong, and both are damnable. Because to both did he say, “Unless you repent, you too will perish.” These signs, the sign of the Galileans, and the signs that occur in your and my life are not opportunities for us to either crush ourselves with self-flagellation, nor is it for us to pump ourselves up over those Galileans out there. It’s to repent and believe, just as we sang, “Jesus’ sinners doth receive peace.” Oh, may all this saying ponder.
Well, so Jesus is very equal opportunistic. The exemplary and tragic event that occurred in Galilee occurred in Jerusalem, except there, the names of those people and the numbers of those people are remembered. Because he says, “Oh, those 18,” because everybody knows the 18 that perished in that tower incident in Siloam where they were killed. Were those 18, were this horrific thing that happened to them, were sinners worse than the other people in Jerusalem? And the answer is no. They were exactly the same.
Those who perished were the same damned sinners as those who survived. Right? Those who talked about this event after the fact were the same sinners as those who perished in that accident in Siloam. But when you and I perceive a wrong to us, our flesh already is bent toward victimization and Satan just adds the fuel to that fire. Oh, it’s because of this in my life and it’s because of this in my life and it’s because of this in my life. Every time you say that, you take away his punishment for you. There’s only one judgment.
There’s only one judgment. And it’s not on you, brothers and sisters. It’s not on you and your children. It’s on him. And it better stay on him because he’s the only one who bore it. You’ll never bear it. God be praised, but you’ll never bear it. Take not the judgment of God from this one cursed for you. Let him be the judgment. God does not judge you. You are innocent. He gives mercy to you.
But boy, does Satan love to let that victimization be a part of our reality. In everything we do, we think in terms of, “I deserve this.” And that takes away from what truly you and I deserve, which was never given to us. And the reverse is true. When it doesn’t happen to us, you and I cannot say, well, it’s because the signs that we see in other people’s lives as well as the signs that we see in our lives are meant for one thing only: unless you and I repent, you and I will perish.
Jesus’ sinners doth receive. All of these signs lead us to see the great need to repent today. We are sinners who live in a sinful world and we have sin done to us. You and I cannot assess because it seems as if more sin is done to this person than to that person that there’s a difference in sinfulness. And you sure and I cannot judge what God thinks of you because this happened to you and it didn’t happen to them. That is Satan’s playground.
And you bear the scars of playing in that playground just like I bear those scars. You’re not going to come out of that playground without them. Don’t go there. There’s only one who bears scars in heaven, and that is your Lord. He took that rascal to the grave and damned him and buried him so that no judgment falls on you. You see, when we think in terms of judgment and mercy, mercy’s not given because we deserve it because of these events that have occurred in our life and we’ve been victimized.
Good grief. That’s righteousness by works, isn’t it? That’s reward because of suffering. And that’s not grace and that’s not mercy. It ceases to be such. Mercy is given because you don’t deserve it. Mercy is given because you don’t deserve it. And your life is not your life because you’ve done it, and your life is not your life because it’s been done to you. Your life is your life because it’s been done to him, and mercy is given to you.
How do we know this meaning? Because after Jesus explains the Galileans and the Judeans in Jerusalem, he then tells them a parable. And what’s the point of this parable? In this parable, the man who owns the vineyard is God the Father. The vineyard plant is one of the people for whom he has bled and died, that is the vine dresser, Jesus. So the Father wants to get rid of this plant, this vine, and Jesus, who is constantly praying for you, constantly interceding for you, because he bore your judgment, not you, he prays for you that God gives you time to repent.
It’s not as if repentance is a one-time, one-shot deal. Repentance is every day, always. Because every day you wake up, that beast is right there with you, your flesh. And every day you wake up, Satan is there stoking the fire to try to get you to play with him on the playground of reason and rational thought and not stay in the womb of the word. Stay in the womb of the word. Don’t play on that playground. You already bear the scars of your attempts to play and you know the pain.
Let his scars be that which brings healing to you because his scars bring mercy. It flows from his hands, doesn’t it? It flows from his head. It flows from his feet and it flows from his side. Mercy, not judgment. Mercy, mercy, not judgment. He says to you in that parable, he’s gracious. He’s going to give you time. Repent, repent.
Do not allow victimization to be the theme of your life, the theme of your existence. Do not allow always trying to correct the wrong and make right the wrong the theme of your life. There’s only one who has corrected the wrong and it’s there on that cross. And there’s only one true victim and it’s there on that cross. And you’re not on that cross. And if you’re not on that cross, then there’s nothing but mercy for you.
For he only gives his children mercy, not judgment. He wouldn’t be much of a father and that wouldn’t have been much of a sacrifice if he gave you anything else other than mercy because judgment’s been rendered. What did Jesus say with the very last possible breath of his life so that you know it’s finished? “It is finished,” he said. Judgment’s been rendered, sacrifice complete.
The suffering Christian meets the suffering Savior only at that cross, and the suffering Christian, the suffering sinner, who sees the suffering Savior says, “I repent.” There’s the judgment, not on me, on him. And if there’s the judgment, and it’s not on me, then what do I have to receive from God but mercy, mercy.
Hmm. God be praised for such mercy for such people as we. Rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. In the name of Jesus, amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting, amen.
