Any Worse Sinners?

In Luke 13:1-5 (from the Gospel reading from the Lectionary for next Sunday, March 24, 2019), Jesus seems to say that when tragedy comes either by evil violence or random accident, we should not speculate about what may or may not have brought this on those victims; instead, we should focus on our own self-examination and need for repentance.

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

My observation is that when we consider the victims of tragedies to be “like us,” we are more apt to be empathetic than when we consider them to be different that we are in some way: geographically, nationally, culturally, linguistically, ethnically, religiously. If we are to take Jesus seriously, we must guard against insulating ourselves from the call to examen and penance when tragedies strike those with whom we do not easily identify.

Over the years I have frequently been acutely aware how the Lectionary readings and my monthly prayer journey through the Psalms speak loudly to current events and my personal concerns. If I were preaching next Sunday, which I am not, I would be compelled to connect the shooting in New Zealand with this text. I would be compelled to affirm that being humans made in the image of God and loved by God overrides our religious and cultural differences. That is not to say that faith and theology don’t matter, only that if we use that to distance ourselves from these victims, we not only miss but pervert the lesson Jesus clearly said we need to learn from human tragedies. I would have to ask, “Do you think that the 50 who were gunned down in New Zealand were any worse sinners than any of us? No, but unless you repent, you will perish as they did.”