GOD'S WAY WITH PEOPLE Gerald J, Gregg
Luke 13:1-5 Broad Street Presbyterian Church
September 30, 1979 Columbus, Ohio

The Little boy in the hospital bed was worried about something more than his
pneumonia when the minister dropped by. He had been very sick, but he was doing
better now, at least physically, After a little talk about the wonderful way God
works in our bodies to heal a cut finger or mend a broken bone or recover from i11-
tess, the boy suddenly asked the question on his mind: "Did God make me sick because
I was bad?" Then he told the story of his guilt. In brief, he had disobeyed his
mother and his little sister had nearly been injured as a result, Soon after, the
boy became ill, very sexiously ill. Was God punishing him? So the minister took
time to explain that God doesn't work that way.

Children are much more open in asking such questions, of course, but the
attitude even of sophisticated adults often hints at a similar concern, While I was
no great fan of the “Maude” television show, still I can remember one Line that I
heard repeated at least once on each segment I saw. The line was delivered by Maude
whenever husband Walter had done something which especially outraged her; "God will
get you for that, Walter!" Tt was a funny line, but sometimes the audience laughter
seemed a Little nervous and self-conscious,

How dees God treat people? Does He send calamity and illness and strife te
punish us for wrong'doing? The whole life of Jesus answers that question implicitly.
On one occasion He gave a very direct answer. The Gospel according to Luke records
the incident in the thirteenth chapter, beginning at the first verse:

"There were some present at that very time who told him of the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
And he answered them, 'Do you think that these Galileans were
worse sinners than 411 the other Galileans, because they
suffered thus? [ tell you, No; but unless you repent you will
all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in
Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse
offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? Tf tell
you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise parish'."

Some people came to Jesus and cited the case in which Pontius Pilate had
ordered the deaths of some Galileans. He had them killed precisely while they were
in the act of preparing their temple sacrifices, massacred while doing their reli-
gious duty. How does that square with a God of justice? And Jesus replied by
telling about ancther well-known incident.

The tower of Siloam was part of a public works project headed by Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, The population of Jerusalem was growing by
leaps and bounds so the city needed more and more water. Pilate's plan was to get
water from the springs in the hills south of the city. In order to do that, an
aqueduct would have to be built -- an extensive system of pipes and troughs to carry
the water into Jerusalem. The aqueduct had to slope gradually downhili all the way,
which meant that where large hills were in the way it had to go underground. It
also meant that, where there were valleys, tall towers had to be built to support
the water Line at the right slope, While one of these towers was being built, the
tower at Siloam, it fell and killed eighteen of the workmen,

When news of this accident reached Jerusalem, many people thought it had
served the eighteen right, that they had been punished by God for their sins.

a

After all, the eighteen had been working for the hated enemy Pilate, They were even
being paid from the Temple funds which Pilate had confiscated illegally.

But when Jesus heard this kind of talk, He gave a very direct answer: "No."
"Those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that
they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you,
No."" God did not cause the tower to fall on eighteen men in order to punish them

for sinfulness, The fact is that God does not treat people that way.

Now, let's come at the question through a contemporary event ~ just a few years
ago in another city. A man in his early thirties was completely devastated, simply
reduced to tears as he and his wife talked to their minister. The night before,
their three-year-old son had died in the hospital after a jong and valiant struggle
with brain cancer. There had been heroic surgery and radiation and drugs and times
of improvement and hope, but it had all come down to this: their beautiful, bright
son was dead,

The father's grief was more than he could bear, partly because his grief was
complicated by guiit, As he poured out his emotions to the minister, he admitted
he had been an unfaithful father and husband. It was not a case of adultery, but
it was-no less serious, For a long time he had had as little to do with his family
as possible, He provided financially for them ~ quite well, in fact. And he slept
at home every night. But there was not much more. He thought of his family as a
millstone around his neck, greatly restricting his personal freedom, He had known
for a long time that he was being a poor husband and father. It hadn't bothered
him much; he needed his freedom. But now he saw it all differently and he was deeply
sorry. He had seen in a flash of insight what it all meant, or so he thought. And
so he told the minister he knew that God had taken his little son in retribution for
his sins.

The minister asked for the family Bible. It was not his usual counseling
technique, but he remembered something specific. He turned to Psalm 103, the same
one we read responsively a few minutes ago, and he quietly read these words: "(The
Lord) has not treated us as our sins deserve or punished us for our misdeeds,..As
a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on us. For he
knows how we were made, he knows full well that we are dust." Then the minister
tried to say in his own words that God deals with us, His children, in Love, not
im vengeance.

It is a truth which needs to be emphasized again and again, My experience is
that many people think God sends trouble as repayment for their sins. [¢ is true
that some persons, like this father, have been shocked into a better way of life
because of a tragic experience. That is to the good. But that is not to say that
God sends trouble to teach us what we would not otherwise learn. The way I see it
is that He permits us to get into trouble. That is far different from saying that
He wishes it upon us, And therein is a basic key to life.

The best explanation I know runs like this: in the process of putting people
on earth God gave us sufficient freedom to make our own moral choices. God vol-
untarily restricted His own omnipotence, voluntarily limited His Limitless power.
He drew a circle around an area of life and made mankind responsible for it and
refused ever after to intrude upon it. This defined, sacred area He placed com-
pletely in the hands of humans. He did this because there was no other way by
which people could grow to spiritual maturity.

-~3-

This involved a great risk on God's part. If He had not taken that risk we
would have been denied the only experiences which make personal growth possible.
All parents know that there are risks involved when they give their teenagers their
car keys for the first time, no matter how well they have done in drivers’ training.
But parents also know that if they do not take that risk, they will keep their son
er daughter from learning the proper use of a car. There may well be some accidents.
In fact, some parents spend a lifetime of regret wondering if they should have
allowed as much freedom as they did, cars and otherwise. And yet, painful as taking
the risk of freedom may be, the alternative 1s much worse. It is very difficult,
perhaps impossible, for children ever to become responsible adults if their parents
consistently refuse them the opportunity to use their freedom.

Now, let's deal with imagination for a moment. Suppose that God had chosen to
create man without this freedom. The Almighty could then have manipulated people
the way a puppet is moved around by strings held in the puppet master's hands.
Man-the-puppet would have been safe. He could not wander far away from his heavenly
Master. He would be sure to do God's will, because he would have no choice, Mankind
would have been a perfectly tamed, obedient creature and God would have been the
complete master of the world’s affairs.

What a relief that would have been! There would have been no painful accidents,
no sinful rebellion by men. The world could have been spared all manner of strife
and war. Everything would have been peaceful and perfect. Only one thing missing -
human freedom, But that is the one ingredient which could uot be omitted if man wag
to have a chance to become spiritually mature.

Did God give us, His children, too much freedom? Would this world have been a
happier place if He had held the reins a little tighter? The Old Testament suggests
that God himself had second thoughts about His creation. The writers of Genesis
portray Him as seeing the rebellion of Adam and Eve, watching with horror Cain's
murder of Abel, and wondering whether He had given His creatures too much freedom.
As early as the sixth chapter of Genesis, we read of God's discouragement: "The Lord
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil constantly. And the Lord was sorry that
He had made man on the earth." Then follows the story of Noah and the ark ~ God's
decision to make a fresh start by causing a great flood in which all other people
perish,

But the story of the flood confirms God's original decision: that human
freedom is right and good. God admitted He had been impatient with His people and
vowed never to let that happen again. Genesis has God saying to Noah after the
flood is over, "I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh
be cut off by the waters of a flood." According to the ancient writers, God had
decided once and for all that, though there were great risks in giving people so
much freedom, it simply had to be that way if people were to grow spiritually.
There would be strife and selfishness and war; but without the possibility of all
those evils, men and women would never have the chance to grow into a full, deep,
loving relationship with their heavenly Father, Without freedom a human could ba
a puppet, but he could never be a person. Without freedom, there is no other way
by which children can become responsible, loving adults; no other way men and women
can become truly sons and daughters of God.

~ hin

So, we affirm that God has given His people a freedom and a power because He
loves us and desires our freely~offered love of Him. That God loves us is the
very essence of our faith, That is God's way with people; love, not vengeance.

Our heavenly Father, thank you for your love which transcends all the pain
and turmoil of the world, Thank you for proving that love by giving the Christ
to a sinful humanity. Thank you for daily signs of love offering us power to
become fully human, May your love be the vision which makes us free to love in
return, the vision of living to our full potential in Christ's name,

Amen,