Sermon -- 3rd Sunday in Lent (March 23, 2025)

LUKE 13:1-9

THE LORD USES EVILS TO WORK FOR YOUR SALVATION.

In the name + of Jesus.

      People have always wanted to know why God does what he does, especially when tragedies occur.  When you experience some hardship, whether a health-related concern or a natural disaster, you want to know: Did God send it or did God allow it?  Is God responsible, or is it the devil’s work?  The Bible teaches this: “On a good day, enjoy the good, but on a bad day, consider carefully.  God has made the one as well as the other, so no man can find out about anything that will come later” (Ecclesiastes 7:14).  So, we should never get the idea that God lost control and that the devil had his way with us.  Jesus lives and reigns over all things.

     This is not a reason to assess blame.  This is a reason to take comfort.  For, Jesus promises you this: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…  And surely I am with you always until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18,20).  So, no matter what happens, it only happens with Jesus watching over every aspect of your life and, in fact, of this whole world.  Jesus promises you, “Not one (sparrow) will fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father” (Matthew 10:29).  Nothing happens apart from the Lord, whether good or bad.  And nothing happens with Jesus being apart from you.  The Lord uses even evils to work for your salvation.  With this in mind, you can face each day with confidence and peace. 

     Still, we try to figure out what God is doing and why he is doing it.  We long to peak behind the curtain, thinking that we will find comfort and peace if we know the secret things of God.  Well, there’s a reason God keeps them a secret.  It is the same reason parents don’t sit down with their 10-year-old children to explain their credit card debt or the difficulties of their marriage.  The children don’t need to know that.  They only need to know that their parents are with them, love them, and will care for them.  That is exactly what Jesus promises you.  So, fear not.

     “At that time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices” (Luke 13:1).  We don’t know why this bloody tragedy in the temple occurred.  Did Pontius Pilate feel the need to flex some Roman muscles?  Maybe.  Or did these Galileans provoke it?  The Galileans were known for being revolutionaries.  Did some Zealots go to the temple to stage an uprising, causing Pilate’s soldiers to crush it?  Maybe.  Either way, it was a big story, and some wanted to hear what Jesus had to say about it.  Why did this happen?  Why did God allow it?  What was God doing?  Jesus, what do you think?

     Jesus “answered them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things’” (Luke 13:2)?  From Jesus’ answer, we might infer that people thought these Galileans had it coming to them, that they were receiving their just desserts.  Jesus did not fault the Galileans or curse the Romans.  What Jesus’ answer does teach us is that we should not concern ourselves with why tragedies happen to other people.  Is it God’s judgment?  Is it Satan stirring up trouble?  If you knew the answer, would that make you feel any better about yourself?  If so, you missed the point completely.  Jesus warned, “Do you think that (they) were worse sinners…?  I tell you, no.  But unless you repent, you will all perish too” (Luke 13:2-3).  

     Jesus, then, mentioned another tragedy.  This one was not an act of violence but an accident.  The tower of Siloam had collapsed and crushed 18 people.  Jesus had them consider: “Do you think that they were worse sinners than all the people living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no.  But unless you repent, you will all perish too” (Luke 13:4-5).  Once again, people must have been thinking that sudden or tragic death reflects God’s judgment.  But we don’t know the mind of God.  He does not tell us why people die suddenly, tragically, or in infancy.  All our groping for answers produces only frustration and suspicion.  When we speculate, we might conclude that God is wicked because we deserve better.  But if you don’t know why something happened, how can you assess blame?

     All we can know about tragedies is what God tells us.  Job reminds us, “Man born of woman has a few short days, and they are full of anxiety.  He blossoms like a flower, but soon withers.  He recedes like a shadow and does not remain.  …Certainly his days are determined.  The number of his months has been set by you.  A limit is set, which he cannot exceed” (Job 14:1-2,5).  So, we know that life is full of anxiety.  Bad things happen.  We know that all lives end in death, and there is no promise about how many days you get.  Meanwhile, all the days leading up to death are a mix of joy and pain, blessing and suffering. 

     But now, the why.  Why do sorrows and sufferings occur?  Because it is a sinful world and we are sinners in this sinful world.  Sin corrupts everything.  Sorrow and suffering are evidence of it.  They are reminders that the end of our lives and the end of the world is coming.  If we are continually reminded that all that we see and possess and experience will come to an end, we will be forced to look for comfort and peace from somewhere outside ourselves and from outside this world.  We will also learn to not be attached to this world or attracted to its blessings.  While we can appreciate the blessings, they are temporary.  The happiness they bring is temporary.  It can be destroyed without notice—like a tower collapsing on eighteen people in Jerusalem.  If you want lasting happiness, it must come from somewhere else.  God uses evils to highlight this and to work for our salvation.

     The only lasting happiness, in fact, ever-lasting happiness, that you will find is through Jesus Christ.  Jesus promises you a joy that cannot be killed off by death.  Jesus issues a sentence which wipes away all guilt.  Jesus gives you a treasure which never loses its value and a peace which will never be interrupted by war, terror, or tragedy.  Although we are familiar with such evils in this world, Jesus will bring you into a kingdom that will be forever free from them all.  The evils you experience here make you long for what is better.  So, God uses these evils to work for your salvation.

     God used evil to secure your salvation.  Although Jesus only ever did good to the people he encountered, he still gained enemies.  They tried to trap him in his words so that they could accuse him as a false teacher.  They slandered him and plotted against him.  They arrested him without charges and unjustly sentenced him.  His death sentence was not done for the sake of justice but for the sake of appeasing an angry mob.  All these evils piled up against Jesus, but all were used by the Lord to work for your salvation. 

     At the cross, a strange justice was carried out.  It has the appearance of evil because the innocent are not supposed to be condemned and the guilty are not supposed to get off scott free.  St. Peter wrote, “Christ suffered once for sins in our place, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  So, the righteous, innocent man was condemned and the unrighteous have been set free.  This shows you God’s love for you—that he was willing to have his only begotten Son slain for you so that you will not perish but have everlasting life.  That love remains, that salvation stands, that mercy endures even when tragedies and sufferings strike.  Even though they are painful, those hardships are temporary.  God’s love, however, endures forever.  He promises an eternity whose joys are beyond comparison to any sufferings we face here.

     While it is true that Jesus has done all things that need to be done to win your salvation, the Lord still looks for repentance in your life.  Repentance and faith are not merely mental exercises.  They do not just lay there; they produce results.  Repentance puts to death the sinful desires that bring on God’s judgment.  Faith produces a life that does what is good, honorable, generous, and pure.  The Lord looks for these things which prove that our repentance is genuine.

     To make this point, Jesus told the parable about the fruitless fig tree.  The man said, ^“Look, for three years now I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I have found none.  Cut it down.  Why even let it use up the soil” (Luke 13:7)?  Just as you plant a fruit tree to enjoy its fruit, so the Lord has planted you in his kingdom to do works that he delights in.  He has planted faith in you so that it will produce fruits which are evidence of your faith.  If the Lord has been pleased to set you free from all the curses—and eventually all the consequences—of your sins, then the Lord has also set you free to live a life that renounces those sins and lives a life that is godly, productive, and beneficial to others. 

     And he has made this promise to you: “I am the Vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit” (John 15:5).  So, if your faith is being informed by God’s word and being fed by God’s sacraments, the good works will come forth.  For “it is God who is working in you, both to will and to work, for the sake of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).  Just as Jesus provides the very righteousness you need to stand before the Father at the final judgment, so also Jesus produces in you the very fruits the Father delights to see in your life.  As long as you are being nurtured by God’s word and sacraments, the good fruits will come forth and prove your repentance and your faith to be genuine.

     Even while you strive for good, bad things will still happen to you.  In a sinful world, it is inevitable.  Just as good works are evidence of a living faith, so also tragedies and suffering are evidence of a sinful world.  But God uses these evils to work for your salvation.  They cause you to focus on the glories of the heavenly kingdom.  They also give you opportunities on earth to love and serve your fellow man in his need.  Tragedies experienced by others are ways for fruits of faith to be seen in you.  And tragedies that you experience are ways for you to confess your confidence in God’s promises. 

     So, do not fear.  Jesus lives and reigns in you and for you.  Nothing happens apart from Jesus.  And nothing happens with Jesus being apart from you.  Therefore, you will not perish.  God works all things for your good.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.