LUKE 13:1-9
I HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT
MY FRIEND PHIL FOR YEARS AND YEARS. I THINK I WAS IN THE THIRD GRADE
WHEN PHIL STOPPED COMING TO SCHOOL. WE HEARD HE WAS SICK. THEN WE
GOT INVITED TO A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR HIM. HE WAS IN A WHEEL CHAIR;
HIS HEAD WAS SHAVED; HE HAD A BIG SCAR ON HIS SCALP, AND HE COULDN'T
REALLY TALK, JUST GRUNT. BUT YOU COULD TELL HE KNEW US AND HIS
SMILE SHOWED HE WAS ENJOYING THINGS. A FEW WEEKS LATER OUR TEACHER
TOOK US OUT OF CLASS AND WE MARCHED OVER TO THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH TO
ATTEND HIS FUNERAL. I FELT SAD, BECAUSE PHIL HAD BEEN A FRIEND –
NOT A VERY CLOSE FRIEND, BUT A FRIEND, NEVERTHELESS – BUT I HAD
ANOTHER SENSATION – I WAS GLAD IT WAS HIM AND NOT ME. AND I FELT
BAD ABOUT THAT FEELING AS WELL. I WAS TOO YOUNG TO ANALYZE OR
RATIONALIZE THESE FEELINGS. BUT HAD I BEEN OLDER I MIGHT HAVE ASKED,
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO PHIL AND NOT TO ME? AND I MIGHT HAVE
CONCLUDED THAT PHIL HAD DONE SOMETHING WRONG, OR PERHAPS, THAT I WAS
DOING SOMETHING RIGHT. MY MIND WOULD HAVE STRUGGLED UNTIL I FOUND AN
ANSWER I COULD LIVE WITH.
WHEN JESUS IS TALKING TO
THE CROWDS TODAY, THERE ARE TWO EVENTS ON EVERYONE'S MIND. IT'S KIND
OF LIKE RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN'T TURN AROUND WITHOUT HEARING ABOUT THE
POPE RESIGNING; OR A FEW WEEKS AGO, THE MASSACRE DOWN IN SANDY HOOK
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH PEOPLE IN THOSE DAYS WEREN'T
SO DIFFERENT FROM PEOPLE IN OUR DAY. IF THERE IS A DISASTER, WE WANT
TO HEAR ABOUT IT, PONDER IT, TALK ABOUT IT, AND WE FEEL COMPELLED TO
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, ANYTHING, IF WE THINK WE CAN. IT'S FUNNY THAT
GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPEN DON'T GET NEARLY THE PRESS OR THE ATTENTION.
THERE IS A WORD FOR THIS TENDENCY – OF COURSE IT'S A GERMAN WORD –
SCHADENFREUDE. THIS IS THE COMBINATION OF RELIEF AND GUILT THAT
COMES WHEN SOMEONE ELSE GETS THE BULLET THAT YOU COULD HAVE JUST AS
EASILY GOTTEN.
JESUS UNDERSTANDS US. HE
UNDERSTOOD THE PEOPLE THEN AS WELL. HE TOOK TWO EVENTS THAT WERE IN
THE NEWS – THE SLAUGHTER OF THE GALATIAN PILGRIMS, AND THE DISASTER
WITH THE TOWER OF SILOAM. IN ONE SITUATION, THE PEOPLE MUST HAVE
WONDERED HOW GOD COULD ALLOW SUCH A THING TO HAPPEN IN THE HOLIEST
PLACE ON EARTH, THE TEMPLE? AND PERHAPS WITH THE OTHER, THE EVENT
SEEMED SO RANDOM AND MINDLESS THAT IT WAS EVEN MORE FRIGHTENING; YOU
CAN BLAME PILATE, BUT WHO DO YOU BLAME WHEN A TOWER COLLAPSES?
MAYBE THAT'S WHY, EVEN
TODAY, PEOPLE ARE STILL SUPERSTITIOUS. IT'S A WAY OF FEELING YOU
HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER THINGS WHICH CAN'T BE CONTROLLED.
AND HE SAID, “WHEN YOU
HEAR ABOUT THESE KINDS OF THINGS, DON'T WASTE TIME WONDERING WHY.
INSTEAD, LET THEM REMIND YOU THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU, AND IF YOU
DON'T CHANGE YOUR THINKING, SOONER OR LATER IT WILL BE YOU. BECAUSE
THE FIRST STEP IN GRASPING THE EVERLASTING LIFE THAT IS AVAILABLE TO
US THROUGH JESUS IS TO WAKE UP, CHANGE THE WAY WE LOOK AT THE WORLD,
BREAK OUR DESTRUCTIVE HABITS, BREAK OUT OF OUR ROUTINE. THE WORST
THING, JESUS IS SAYING, IS TO LIVE TODAY LIKE YOU DID YESTERDAY, AND
TOMORROW LIKE YOU DID TODAY. IF YOU STUMBLE THROUGH LIFE, ALWAYS
PROMISING THAT TOMORROW YOU WILL BE DIFFERENT, TOMORROW YOU WILL GET
SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, TOMORROW YOU WILL BE
MORE ATTENTIVE TO YOUR NEIGHBOR, TO YOUR WIFE, TO YOUR KIDS, THAT
TOMORROW WILL NEVER COME. REPENTANCE, CHANGING YOUR MIND, HAS TO
START NOW, OR IT WON'T START. BECAUSE WE CAN ONLY CHANGE THE WAY
THINGS ARE GOING IN THE PRESENT.
AND THEN JESUS GOES
FURTHER. IN THE PARABLE ABOUT THE FIG TREE, HE ASSURES US THAT THE
MOMENT WE DO MAKE UP OUR MINDS TO REPENT, TO CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK,
TO CHANGE THE WAY WE DO THINGS, HE WILL BE THERE TO HELP. AND I
THINK EVERY ONE OF US HAS HAD THAT EXPERIENCE SOME TIME OR ANOTHER –
A TIME WHEN WE STOPPED THINKING ABOUT OURSELVES, OUR AMBITIONS,
WHETHER WE HAD ENOUGH RETIREMENT INCOME, WHAT KIND OF NEW CAR WE WERE
GOING TO BUY – AND STARTED THINKING OF SOMEONE ELSE AND THEIR
NEEDS. MOST OF US WHO HAVE BEEN MARRIED EXPERIENCED THAT AT LEAST
DURING OUR COURTSHIP AND HONEYMOON – A TIME WE REMEMBER AS BEING
VERY HAPPY, AND MOSTLY BECAUSE WE TOOK DELIGHT IN SHOWING OUR SPOUSE
THAT WE LOVED HIM OR HER. THAT'S WHAT BEARING FRUIT IS ALL ABOUT.
JESUS HIMSELF TOLD US THAT WHAT REALLY MATTERED IS WHETHER WE GAVE
FOOD TO THE HUNGRY, DRINK TO THE THIRSTY, VISITED THE SICK AND
IMPRISONED. BUT IT ISN'T JUST A MATTER OF DOING THESE THINGS; IT IS
DOING THEM WITH A CHANGE OF OUR MIND – DOING THEM OUT OF LOVE,
DOING THEM BECAUSE WE HAVE GENUINELY CHANGED OUR MIND SO THAT WE HAVE
THE MIND OF JESUS WHO CAME TO SERVE, NOT TO BE SERVED. THAT IS WHAT
REPENTANCE IS ABOUT, CHANGING OUR MIND.
I THINK THIS GOSPEL TELLS
US THAT JESUS IS ALWAYS WILLING TO GIVE US A SECOND CHANCE; AND
PERHAPS A THIRD AND A FOURTH; MAYBE THERE IS NO LIMIT TO SECOND
CHANCES – WHILE WE LIVE. AND MAYBE IF WE DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
THE CHANCES WE ARE GIVEN, WE WILL STOP NOTICING WHEN THEY ARE GIVEN
TO US.
I THINK ABOUT MY FRIEND
PHIL, THOSE MANY MANY YEARS AGO. HE'D BEEN BAPTIZED, HE'D MADE HIS
FIRST COMMUNION AND HIS FIRST CONFESSION, AND PERHAPS MANY MORE –
IN THOSE DAYS CATHOLICS USUALLY WENT TO MASS EVERY WEEK AND
CONFESSION AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH. AND EVEN AT THAT YOUNG AGE, HE AND
I WERE GIVEN SECOND CHANCES, CHANCES TO CHANGE OUR MIND TO THE MIND
OF CHRIST. OF COURSE WE WERE JUST LITTLE KIDS AND OUR IMPACT ON THE
WORLD, EVEN ON OUR IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS COULD NOT BE VERY GREAT AT
ALL. BUT EVEN THEN, WE WOKE UP, WE MADE CHOICES, WE DECIDED WHETHER
WE WERE GOING TO BE OBEDIENT TO OUR PARENTS, WHETHER WE WERE GOING TO
BE PEACEMAKERS OR TROUBLEMAKERS AT SCHOOL, WHETHER WE WERE GOING TO
PUT EXTRA EFFORT INTO OUR HOMEWORK, OR JUST GET BY – EVEN THEN WE
HAD A CHOICE TO PUT ON CHRIST AS MUCH AS WE LITTLE CHILDREN COULD.
AND I REMEMBER PHIL AT HIS BIRTHDAY PARTY, UNABLE TO TALK, UNABLE TO
GET OUT OF HIS WHEELCHAIR, BUT WITH EYES STILL BRIGHT WITH MAYBE A
LITTLE SENSE OF MISCHIEF; AND A BIG SMILE ON HIS FACE. AND I LIKE TO
THINK HE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HIS SECOND CHANCE BEFORE HE HAD RUN HIS
RACE AND FINISHED HIS COURSE.
AND TODAY I HOPE EACH OF
US CHANGES OUR MIND – BECAUSE WHILE WE ARE ALIVE, WE CAN ALWAYS DO
BETTER, WE CAN ALWAYS LOVE MORE, SERVE MORE, BECOME MORE AND MORE
LIKE CHRIST.
