Making Sense of Tragedy

Written by Ed Allen
 Sunday, 22 April 2007 07:30

General Sermons

mp3

Sermon Notes

Some common responses to tragic events

  • Horrible tragedy must signify terrifying randomness.
  • Horrible tragedy must signify lack of care/initiative by the victim.
  • Horrible tragedy must signify the need for revenge.
  • Horrible tragedy must signify the inevitable complement to great good.
  • Horrible tragedy must signify a horrible villain.
  • Horrible tragedy must signify horrible guilt.

Jesus' response to a similar situation

Luke 13:1-5

1Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them?do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

  • People reported to Jesus that Pilate had mingled the blood of some Galileans (whom Pilate had massacred) in with their sacrifices.
  • Jesus sees in this incident a reminder that all of us need to repent.

Why does Jesus use this tragedy as a call to repentance?

  • Certainly not because he related tragedy directly to the wrongdoing of the victims.
    • He doesn't release the victims of guilt but points to the guilt of all of us.
  • Certainly not because He was insensitive to the kind of pain caused by such a tragedy.

Parable of the fig tree that didn't bear fruit

Luke 13:6-9

6Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' 8" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "

Some definitions:

Sin:
(humartia) trespass, debt, violation of rule (see John 5:42, Matthew 9:12-13)
Repentance:
(metanoia) change of direction, change of mind
Perish:
(appolumi) destroy, lose, die or perish (Matthew 5:29, Luke 4:34, Luke 5:37, Luke 9:23-24)

The Meaning of the Parable

  • The owner didn't threaten to cut the fig tree down because it was dead, but because it was fruitless
  • Evidently for Jesus death was not the real tragedy. The real tragedy was living fruitlessly.

We have to see our lives in the larger context » we are going to live forever — either with God or apart from God.

After we come to the end of our shocking grief, Jesus would have us know that this week's tragedy – indeed all tragedy – is a reminder to us to turn our lives toward God and to live fruitfully in His power.

What does “Living fruitfully” mean?

We will explore that in two assignments this week:

  1. Meditate this week on these passages that explore fruitfulness.
  2. Repent!
    • If you have some debilitating habit:
      • Confess
      • Repent
    • If you are tired, burned out, or dead:
      • Seek Him (Matthew 7:7-12)
      • Rest in Him (Matthew 11:25-30)
      • Study Him / learn His ways

Closing Note

Jesus doesn't answer the question in this instance of how or why, but puts the attention on us. He says your lives are lived in a much larger context. And what you do here matters for eternity. The real tragedy is not when or how you die, because that time is coming for all of us. The real tragedy is to live without that view in mind, to live without reference to the larger context, to try to be the word “water” without any larger context and to think that that is sufficient. And of course, it isn't. We always, and only, find our meaning and purpose in a larger context.

Small Group Questions:

Read Luke 13:1-9

Icebreaker: Have you ever seen a magic trick that you could not explain? Tell us what the trick looked like.

Worship: Read Psalm 93 and thank God for some of the qualities that He reveals about Himself in the Psalm.

Small group study questions:

  1. When you face tragedy which response do you most often think is the cause?
    • Horrible tragedy must signify terrifying randomness.
    • Horrible tragedy must signify lack of care/initiative by the victim.
    • Horrible tragedy must signify the need for revenge.
    • Horrible tragedy must signify the inevitable complement to great good.
    • Horrible tragedy must signify a horrible villain.
    • Horrible tragedy must signify horrible guilt.
    • Other ___________________
  2. The real tragedy for the fig tree was not that it was dead but that it was fruitless. Is that the true measure of our existence as well?
  3. What does it mean to live a fruitful life? Read and come up with some fruitful life thoughts:
    • John 15:1-17
    • Galatians 5:16-25
    • Micah 6:8
    • Hosea 6:6
    • Matthew 9:9-13
  4. What keeps you from a fruitless life?
  5. Is there any thinking or actions you need to change to live a more fruitful life?
  6. Pray for one another that God would bear fruit in our lives.
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