Lent: Journey According To LukeSample

WHO IS TO BLAME? DEVOTION A common reaction when a disaster strikes is ‘Why did this happen?’ If we are honest, we often attempt to reassure ourselves that the disaster has human causes that would never happen where we live. But when a disaster strikes at home, or to us, we are shocked and our common reaction is ‘Why did this happen to me, and who is to blame?’ If we believe the Bible, there is an event coming one day that will be to many people catastrophic eternally. In this passage Jesus is once more calling people’s attention to the need for honest, urgent action. Our action needs to be honest because we are all so good at deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:8) The crowds around Jesus consoled themselves that when bad things happened to other people, it was because they were really sinful (unlike themselves!), and deserved it. But Jesus tells them, ‘don’t think that the poor victims of various disasters are more worthy of death and judgment’. He makes the point that we all are in the same situation. God’s day of judgment is coming, and our honest response should be: We are at fault. So we must put our trust in Jesus. Our action also needs to be urgent. In the little parable of the barren fig tree, we easily assume that the man who owned the vineyard represents God. But in fact the vinedresser is the one who urges patience for a little while longer. This is the divine reaction that Jesus is pointing to. The fruitfulness of repentance and faith is what Jesus came for, and it is what God looks for in us all. God is still patient for a time. But time is running out for us and everyone to be found fruitful in this way. FOR REFLECTION Is there some aspect of your life where you can see that you judge others more harshly than yourself, or worse, excuse yourself altogether? Is Christian fruitfulness something you seek from God regularly? PRAYER Lord Jesus, I accept that I easily defer any sense of guilt for sin in myself but am quick to judge others for the same things. Please forgive my hypocrisy and make my heart more sensitive to your grace today. And give me today a due sense of urgency for those around me who do not trust in Jesus.