“Rethink or Perish”
In today’s text (Luke 13:1-9), I hear Jesus saying:
The people (those Galileans) who perished at the hands of Pilate or the people who perished when the tower of Siloam fell on them – it is terrible they were not able to live a full life. Likewise, your not being able to live a full and fruitful life (a kingdom of God kind of life) because you have not had “a change of mind and heart”* would be even more terrible.
And yet, a patient God gives all of us (fig trees), even those of us who have yet to produce, the opportunity to live the kingdom life and to be fruitful – from here on out – and that is the good news I share!
The ones who died by Roman hands, and in the collapse of the tower, died suddenly, unexpectedly, and undeservedly. They perished, these people, because they lived in a world of earthquakes and evil people. It wasn’t a matter of their sin. They didn’t bring it on themselves. God didn’t punish them. Their deaths shouldn’t have happened, but they did. Their lives should have been lived, but they weren’t. All that potential, snuffed out in the blink of an eye. What a waste. Jesus reminds his listeners that death can come to us, right now, in the same way. That too would be terrible.
Jesus has been teaching the people “the kingdom is near, as close,” he says, “as my standing here before you – in the ‘kingdom life’ I live.” Come over,” he says, “here with me, and God’s kingdom will be yours. It would be terrible for you to miss out.” The question for all of us today is this: have we moved closer to God or do we hesitate like those who first heard his story of the fig tree and the new life God offered? And do we, like them, run the risk of missing out on something that could be ours now because of our thinking?
It seems pretty clear Jesus is saying, “Repent or perish.” He is very definite that our whole being is at risk if we don’t turn and do something different. There is no question about what he says, but only what his words mean? We probably have a number of ideas what he meant by ‘repent’ and maybe almost as many definitions of ‘perish.’ We might even agree, some of us. And then there may be those who are not really sure what they mean.
If a little word study would be helpful, then please note that ‘repent’ comes from the Latin, "repense." As pense is the root for pensive – thinking, thoughtful, we can assume correctly that implied in the notion of repent is “to rethink.” The Greek word from which the Latin ‘repense’ was translated is metanoia, a compound word meaning “to perceive or think differently after” - a change of mind, a rethinking, with a change of behavior. So, basically, and literally, to repent is to rethink.
That puts a different light on things, doesn’t it? There is no mention about feeling sorry for things done or the regret of things left undone or disappointment with our selves. No mention of sins or personal faults needed to be changed. These are all important in setting things right, but its not really what Jesus is talking about. He’s not talking about my “not being what I should be” but rather my not being where I need to be - “in the kingdom of God that is near.” That requires a “rethinking” of things, doesn’t it? It requires our getting our minds around the idea that Jesus came not to get us into heaven but to get us into God’s kingdom – where we belong – living a ‘kingdom life’ in the here and now - and embracing its possibility. That though requires rethinking what is required of us and for what purpose. It requires us, as Jesus said, to “repent or perish.”
Anglican Reverend Anne Le Bas, reflecting on the Parable of the Fig Tree and our own productivity says, “We are, in a sense, hampered by our "here-and-nowness" - we see the world with a limited view, limited by where we are, who we are, when we are, and it takes real courage to put that aside and consider where others are, what the world looks like to them, or what will happen beyond our own lifetimes.” Imagine, God’s time might not be ours! I don’t know if she would agree, but I might suggest, in the story of the fig tree, Jesus is saying in God’s kingdom, placing our life under the care of the ‘gardener,’ and living life as we are intended to live, our potential to be fruitful will be realized.
The promise of God’s kingdom people is found in the water of baptism – the promise of light, of rainbow, of freedom, of a promised land, of an anointed Son, savior of all the world, of cleansing, of righteousness and of a final victory. It is also found in the bread and the cup of the Lord’s Table – the promise of communion, of sacrifice, of love, and of forgiveness – for all, not because of what we have done but to make us one. Paul writes: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” – 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Rethink. Look around. The kingdom is near.
[*Brian McLearen, A New Kind of Christianity, writes: “Repent means, literally, become pensive again or have a change of mind and heart.”]
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