Still, I Want to Tell You This Storythis Morning Because, Like Most Good Stories, There

Down and Out

Luke 13:1-9

There is a story that I have told on my last Sunday at every church I have served. It is a story that I believe needs to be told when a congregation is going through the transition from one pastor to another. I am not telling the story this morning because I am moving next week, or at the next annual conference meeting – at least as far as I know. There hasn’t been any indication that I should be expecting a change in ministry setting this year, but in the itinerant system, you never say never.

Still, I want to tell you this storythis morning because, like most good stories, there is a depth to it that can reveal many truths.

A congregation was having a reception to welcome their new pastor. There was cake and punch and lots of handshaking and welcoming words. Person after person came up to the new pastor, introducing themselves, and telling him what it was they did at the church. Chairpersons of committees, Sunday school teachers, youth workers, UMW circle leaders, and more – all of them telling him their names and what they did, and all of them expecting him to remember it all.

While this was going on, the pastor noticed a man standing in the corner of the room. The man never moved from his spot, and he never looked away from the pastor. When there was a break in the introductions, the pastor went over to this man, introduced himself, and asked him what his job was in the church.

The man paused for a moment, and then said, “It is my job to figure out each and every one of your weaknesses.” The pastor dropped his head and held his breath. The man continued: “Please, don’t misunderstand me. I don’t expect you to be able to do everything in the church well all by yourself. It is my job to see where you need our help, and then to make sure you get it.”

When I tell this story on a last Sunday, I am hoping to encourage the congregation to help their new pastor be their pastor, so that they can have a successful ministry together. I am telling it today because it also illustrates the difference between judgment and discernment. The pastor was afraid he was being judged. The man was trying to do discernment.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, told us to “judge not, lest ye be judged.” (Matthew 7:1 KJV) Jesus had to tell us this because of what happened in the Garden of Eden. The continuing manifestation of eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the sin of judging others. But Jesus tells us not to judge after first preaching on the necessity of discerning our spiritual weaknesses.

Judgment is for the purpose of condemnation;discernment is for the purpose of identifying where we need help to become perfect in love. Judgment seeks to bring people down; discernment seeks to help people out. The Gospel of John makes the same point when Jesus said, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (3:17 NRSV)

We should know this in the church, but one of the strongest perceptions people outside of the church have of Christians is that we are judgmental. Rather than discerning how we can help people out, we have made pronouncements to put people down. We should know better than this, but this confusion between judgment and discernment is nothing new. In fact, this is the issue in our reading for today, as Jesus deals with people who are ready to judge others, but not to discern what is needed.

Jesus has an answer for judgmental people who desire to see evil in others, while absolving themselves. Jesus said, “Do you think that Galileans are worse sinners than you? No, I tell you – you are no better than they were. Do you think your own people who died when the tower fell on them were worse sinners than you? No, I tell you – they were no worse than you.”

This exchange reveals that part of the problem with judging others is the common belief that there is a sliding scale to sin. For example, we think telling a little white lie to protect someone’s feelings is not as bad as telling a bald face lie in order to tear down someone’s reputation. We think killing someone’s chances is not as bad as killing someone’s life. But Jesus made those things equivalent in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount when we discern, rather than judge, the evil.

Still, it can be useful to think of sin on a sliding scale, if only to help us be clear about our own sin, and our need to repent of our sin. William Law, in his book titled, “A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life,” engaged in this thought experiment. He wrote that “[The worst sinner] is not the one who has done the worst thing. It is not the one who has committed the most sins. It is not the one who sins without guilt or concern. The worst sinner is the one who knows better and sins anyway.”

John Wesley, in his sermon “The Spirit of Bondage and Adoption,” expanded on this thought as he identified 3 different groups of people and how they relate to God.

First, there is the Natural Person. This person neither fears nor loves God, and therefore walks blindly in the darkness of not knowing God. This person has a false peace, unaware of the consequences of their sins.This person sins willingly, andneither fights nor conquers sin.

Second, there is the Person under the Law. This person fears God, and therefore walks by the light of hell. This person has no peace because of their fear. This personsins, if unwillingly, andfights sin but cannot conquer it.

Third, there is the Person under Grace. This person loves God, and therefore walks in the light of heaven. This person has the peace of God because their heart has been strangely warmed by grace. This person does not sin before God, because they are more than conquerors of sin through Jesus.

In context of our reading, there are people who judge based on what pleases themselves, those who judge based on their fear of God and the law, and those who discern based on the love of Jesus which does not condemn but works to love their neighbor.

In our reading, Jesus is telling them, and us, that it is not our business to judge the evil in others to bring them down. Instead, we need to discern our sin, our evil, so that we can lean on Jesus more for the power of his grace to cast out our sin. This helps us to hear the parable of the fig tree as one of discernment, rather than as one of judgment.

The parable of the fig tree points out that we do not have a fruit problem; we have a root problem. We have not let God nourish our souls with love and grace, so we cannot produce the fruits of the Spirit. God has to work on us, and in us, before we can show evidence of our new life in Jesus Christ. And that work begins when we repent of our sin and turn towards God, who alone can make us fruitful in the kingdom.

This means it is not enough, and it will never be enough, to pray, “I have sinned, God. I am sorry God. I can do better.” Repentance is an admission that we can’t do better, as long as we are in sin. Repentance is when we pray, “I have sinned, God. I am sorry, God. I’ve tried and tried and tried but I just don’t produce good fruit. I can't seem to do better. I need your gardener, the one Mary Magdalene though was a gardener on Easter morning, to work on the roots of my life. Give me a new life, God. Give me your life. I can’t do it in my sin. But I know that You can do it in your grace.”

That is the good news. In God’s justice, we have earned for ourselves the sentence of death as the wages for our sin. We are unable on our own to save ourselves, for we can never fulfill God’s law perfectly in every moment, circumstance, and degree. If we are judged by our sins, we are down and out of the kingdom of God.

Yet, God so loves the world that God gave to us God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us. Jesus has shown us how to live with each other, offering love and acceptance to those who are in need of love. Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins, as the only one who could perfectly fulfill the law of God’s love. Jesus has died our death, and been raised for our new life, as the victor over sin and death. Jesus has promised, and has actually given to us, his Holy Spirit, to guide us and direct us, to convict us of our sin and to help us discern our need for Jesus Christ.

The only condition for receiving this forgiveness and reconciliation is to believe in Jesus Christ. Do this, and you will know that you have been saved by faith through grace. And with this new life, God will work your roots, and nourish your soul, and you will produce good fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is love, joy, and peace. You will produce fruit that leads to patience, gentleness, and goodness. You will share these fruits in meekness, temperance, and in whatever ways you can that brings praise and glory to God.

John Wesley is sometimes described as a practical theologian, and he had some practical advice about repentance. He wrote that we repent to begin this journey of Christian faith, but because we are limited creatures, we do not repent perfectly. Even people who believe in Jesus Christ, and who are led by the Holy Spirit, still sin. Even people who have been saved by grace need grace to go on to perfection in love. The practical thing to do when through discernment we become aware of our sin, is to repent again, imperfect though our repentance may be.

So, when our sins are due to our infirmities and limitations, we are to repent again, even though we will still be infirm and limited. When our sins are known only to us as thoughts and feelings we do not act upon, we are to repent again, until these thoughts have no power to return to our minds. And if we are surprised by a sin that we did not know we were capable of, we are to repent again, so that we may continue to grow in grace and love.

Today is a day of repentance, in a season of repentance and reconciliation which comes as we discern our need before God and our neighbors. Today is not a day to stand in judgment of anyone else, for we are standing only before the throne of God, our only Judge, but also our Savior and Redeemer. May we humble our hearts, feel remorse and sorrow for our sins, repent and believe, so that we may be prepared to receive the precious gift that comes to us at great cost from our Crucified Redeemer.

Hymn “Father, Accept My Imperfect Repentance”