Homily Lent 3C: The link between sin and suffering, sin and repentance

Homily for 3^rd Sunday of Lent Year C 2022

 Exodus 3:1-8a,13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,1-12; Luke 13:1-9

Introduction

What is the connection between sin and suffering?  Often when disasters occur, some Christians rush to the conclusion that the suffering must be punishment for our sins.  They said that recently about the COVID pandemic, they said that 20 years ago after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, they said that after hurricane Katrina.

One priest tells the story of being on a plane coming to New Orleans and the person sitting next to him told him that New Orleans had it coming, because of the debauchery that goes on here.  The priest then asked him, why is it that the French Quarters, the ground central of the debauchery, was spared the damage, but the neighbourhoods, where innocent families live suffered untold damage?

In his answer, the priest was perhaps borrowing from Jesus who in today’s gospel rejects an automatic connection between sin and suffering.

Scripture and Theology

In the first part of today's gospel Jesus speaks about two great tragedies.

1.    The first was the atrocious massacre of some worshippers by Pilate, when as we heard, Pilate mingled their blood with that of their sacrifices.  We can compare this incident to the suffering we experience at the hands of others, like 9/11, school shootings and the unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

2.    The second tragedy was a construction accident at Siloam, where a tower fell and killed eighteen people.  We can compare this second incident with suffering that occurs by accident or by natural phenomena, like hurricanes Katrina and Ida, tornadoes, car accidents, or even plane crashes.

Jesus then asks his listeners if the victims of these tragedies were greater sinners than everybody else!  Of course, his answer is an emphatic "No."  He rejects the one-to-one link between sin and suffering; those victims did not cause their suffering by their sin.  Yes, some suffering is our own doing, like when we get sick because we do not take care of ourselves.  But not all the suffering in the world is caused by personal sin.

The reason Jesus rejects this automatic link between sin and suffering is because it creates complacency in people who are not suffering.  They think, "I am doing rather well, I am not suffering, I am just fine."  To them, both then and now, Jesus says: "I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” 

But don't we all perish?  Don’t we all die?  Of course we do.  But by "perish,” Jesus is not talking about physical death; he is talking about eternal death, separation from God forever and ever.  In other words, he reminds the Jews and us that the punishment for sin is not always given here on earth, but will certainly be given after death.  And so, since we don't know when we are going to die, just like those victims of Pilate and the construction accident, like the victims of the terrorist attack or the plane crash, we must repent. Should any tragedy befall us, while we will die physically, we shall not perish eternally, for we shall be found in a state of grace.

Alfred Nobel, the man who instituted and endowed the Nobel Prizes, was a Swedish chemist who made his fortune by inventing powerful explosives and licensing the formula to governments to make weapons.  One day, Alfred's brother died.  By accident, the newspaper printed the obituary of Alfred instead of that of his deceased brother.  It described him as the inventor of dynamite who made a fortune by enabling armies to achieve new levels of mass destruction.

When Nobel read his own obituary, he got a glimpse of how he would be remembered: as a merchant of death and destruction.   That is when he decided to change and convert.  He took his fortune and used it to establish awards for accomplishments contributing to life rather than death, the Nobel prizes.

If Nobel's example and the tragic examples of Jesus serve as negative incentives against complacency, the parable of the fig tree should be a positive incentive that inspires us to repent. The fig tree is a special tree in Palestine. Every family tries to raise one, showering care and their limited supply of water on it, and expecting to harvest some figs after three years and every year after. The tree in the gospel was in its sixth year and had produced no fruit.  That is why the master is tired and wants it cut down.  But the gardener pleads for the tree and asks for one more year, to tend it a little more, so that it might produce fruit.  The gardener believes that change is possible, that with some more nurturing, the tree will produce fruit.

In this parable, God the Father is the tree owner and he has just about had it with humanity.  Jesus is the gardener, pleading with the Master to allow him try his hand one more time at converting stubborn humanity with his life-giving message.  But now, even the gardener, Jesus, is getting really frustrated especially with the religious leaders who have refused to listen to his message of salvation and who are actively persecuting him.  That is why in very stern words Jesus says to them: “I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish . . . .”

Christian Life

Like a bitter pill, these stern words bear a message of hope for us.  They tell us that repentance is possible, even for the worst of sinners.

You have heard the proverb, "a leopard cannot change its spots."  While that might be true for leopards, for us Christians, Jesus teaches that we can change our spots.  Through the mouth of Isaiah, the Lord says: "Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they may become white as wool" (Is. 1:18).  We must not give up on others and especially not on ourselves.  We must not resign ourselves to our sinful condition, but must always harbour the hope that change is possible, even though it is not always easy.

The fig tree parable gives us three things to help: time, other people, and God.

Change needs some time and work.  That is why the gardener asks for one more year, four seasons for nurturing the tree.  For us Lent can be such a season, when through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we work on our addictions and sinful habits.  Some sinful habits, which are built over time, will also take time to work on; and we should not be discouraged if change is not instant but gradual.

In addition, as much as we need time to change, we need the help of others.  On its own, the fig tree was unable to change; only with the help of gardener, watering it, fertilizing it, would it begin producing some fruit.  This gardener is like the accountability partner or sponsor in many 12-step programs. For us, our gardener could be a spouse, a parent, a teacher, a friend, a co-worker to point out our sins and help us avoid them.  In addition, one more gardener that the Lord left for us is the priest, who through the sacrament of confession helps us with his counsel and advice as we walk away from sin towards God.

But perhaps the most important person we need in our journey of conversion is God himself.  Sin has such a powerful hold on us, that we need a powerful ally.  That is why regular prayer is such an important tool if we want to resist the Evil One, turn away from his allures and turn towards God.  God's help comes best from the sacrament of confession, where the priest says to us: "I absolve you from your sins, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Conclusion

So back to the question I asked at the beginning.  What is the connection between our sin and our suffering?  The simple answer is that it is complex.  Some sins bring suffering for us.  Also, some sins bring suffering for others.  But Jesus rejects the automatic link between our sins and our suffering, since some innocent people suffer and some sinful people prosper in material things.  But the suffering we must really worry about is perishing in the afterlife, and that is why we must repent.