Sermon for Lent 3. The Tower of Siloam.

Romans 3: 19 – 26

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Luke 13: 1 - 5

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 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? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

The Tower of Siloam can be found in Luke 13, it is mentioned by Jesus to illustrate something he is explaining to his disciples, so let’s have a look at how the Tower came into their conversation.

The passage starts with a somewhat perplexing statement, ‘… there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices’.

The meaning of this involves a little educated guess work. Galilee was a part of Israel, and the Galileans were known as a rebellious bunch. It seems Pilate must have ambushed a group of Galilean rebels whilst they were sacrificing at the Temple, and thus had “mingled” their blood with that of the sacrificial animals. Certainly it reads like Pilate has had a group of men killed in the Temple.

For the Romans to enter the Temple and put to death a group of worshipping Jews would have been exceptionally inflammatory and risked major civil unrest, so Pilate must have thought he had very good reason to act.

The crowd are talking of this incident, and from what Jesus says it would seem the crowd were inclined to blame the Galileans for their own fate, Jesus asks them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?’

In the Old Testament, and in Jesus’ time, people believed that if something bad happened to you then it must be a punishment from God. The argument would have been that as these Galileans had suffered a horrible death they must have been bad people punished by God. Galileans had a reputation for being rough and rebellious, but Jesus challenges this prejudice with humour, asking if they think these Galileans are any worse than any other Galileans?

Remember Jesus was from Galilee, as were most of his disciples. We may presume they had Galilean accents. It’s like a Geordie asking with a broad smile, ‘so you think those Geordies were worse than any other Geordies?’

Jesus’ point is straightforward, these men were not singled out by God, their deaths were a result of their own actions, and those of Pilate.

Which brings us to the Tower of Siloam. Jesus reminds the crowd of a tragic accident when a tower fell on eighteen people and killed them, and he uses this incident as an example to further illustrate his point. He asks if the crowd think those who died when the tower fell were worse offenders than anyone else in Jerusalem at the time?

Had God herded all the worst sinners in Jerusalem to stand near the tower, and then pushed it over on them?

The idea is absurd, but many religious people believe that’s how God works. I think there are two main reasons why people think this way.

The first is religion as found in the Old Testament, and indeed many other religions, actually does seem to teach that God sends specific punishments on the wicked. For instance, one of the major themes of the Old Testament is that the misfortunes that befall Israel can be attributed to God’s punishments for idolatry.

Hinduism has a similar theology in the idea of karma, that a good deed reaps a good consequence whilst a bad deed reaps a bad consequence, and that you may end up reincarnated as a slug, or some such awful thing, because of your bad deeds.

It is a popular theology, even non-religious people say, ‘what goes around comes around’, but it is a harsh theology, logically if God justly punishes the wicked then those who suffer must deserve what they get, and not be worthy of either our sympathy or help.

This is why today’s gospel is such an important reading, it shows that Jesus taught that God does not inflict suffering on people as a punishment for bad behaviour. God does not push towers over on the unrighteous, or arrange for their ambush by legionaries in the Temple. I think the trouble is we can all think of someone we might quite like to push a tower on to, and find it frustrating that God is not of the same mind.

God gives humanity instructions for our own benefit like a parent gives rules to a child, so for instance if a mother tells her young child not to touch the cakes hot out of the oven it is out of concern. The child may well think that no bad consequence will follow snaffling a cake, and that mother is just being downright unfair, and upon receiving burnt fingers jump to the conclusion that mother is furiously punishing him for his disobedience. However, the burning sensation is not a punishment from above; it is a straightforward consequence of the child’s actions and lack of understanding.

If we do not follow God’s teaching, if we disregard God and lie and steal, hate and make war, and relentlessly follow our own selfish desires then we should not be surprised that the world is a worse place for it, but it is not God’s doing – it is ours.

Not all suffering can be traced back to an unwise act, sometimes suffering comes along quite uninvited. Global warming, for instance has human causes, earthquakes do not. In either case, Jesus is very clear, the job of the Christian is to aid those who suffer, not to condemn them, and certainly not to judge them, you are no better or worse than they.

Perhaps the second biggest reason people believe God punishes them is feelings of guilt. Having done something wrong it is natural and healthy to feel regret, not to feel regret is a sign of disturbing moral corruption. The correct response is to seek God’s freely offered forgiveness, and if at all possible to make amends. However, so often guilt intervenes, and people become afraid or too ashamed to seek the forgiveness of God. They think, ‘well, I wouldn’t forgive me – so God certainly won’t!’ In their imaginations is the image of God, waiting with an angry face and a big stick, whereas the bible teaches us that the image of God that we must hold in our hearts and minds is Jesus.

When something goes wrong in a guilty person’s life, an illness or a misfortune, guilt cries, ‘God is punishing me!’ But either the misdeed has brought about it's own consequences, or it is a coincidence which guilt is busily transforming into the wrath of God.

The Devil sells us two lies; firstly, that our sin will have no consequence, that it is trivial, and after, that our sin was so great it is beyond forgiveness.

I once had a conversation with a woman who was struggling with her faith; she told to me that she no longer believed the world could be divided up into good people who deserved heaven, and bad people who deserved hell. I was surprised that she could be so wrong-headed, this woman had spent a life time in church and not heard that Jesus himself taught that you cannot divide the world up into good people who deserve heaven, and bad people who deserve hell.

Everyone needs to turn to God and receive His forgiveness.

Romans 3:23, “…all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” – And we are “… justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

To give a home in your soul to guilt is to judge yourself, to condemn yourself. It is just as destructive as judging others, especially if it causes you to turn from God’s freely offered forgiveness. You are not your neighbour’s judge. You are not your own judge. God is your judge, and He has made known His verdict in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As they nailed Jesus to the cross he prayed, ‘Father, forgive them...’

Jesus said, “...go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” God may not demand a sacrifice in order to forgive, but we do. At the cross Jesus bore the punishment that our guilt angrily demands should be given to our neighbours, and to ourselves. A Galilean was singled out for destruction so that we can know we are not condemned, so that we can know we are forgiven.

Amen.