God of mercy and grace, help us to be more merciful and more gracious. Amen.
I saw somewhere once – maybe on social media, or a t-shirt, or bumper sticker, or something like that – it said, “I try to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.”
Michael and I have been pet parents for pretty much our whole lives together. Right now, we have a beautiful little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is 13 months old. I can’t tell you how much I wish I could be who he thinks I am. He sees in me more kindness and love and generosity and joy than I think is probably possible for just about anyone. And, I think it’s true that life with him inspires kindness and love and generosity and joy. Having it assumed about me helps it to become more true within me.
One of the truths I’ve uncovered in my life as a Christian is something that sounds pretty simple: seek, and you will find. I know Jesus said it – I’ve heard those words all my life – so it shouldn’t feel like a revelation. But the revelation is in that I started to see that it was true. The revelation is that I’ve started to believe it.
Now – if we all walk out of here and start seeking winning lottery tickets on the sidewalks, we’re probably not going to find them. If you do, please remember to give to the church. But I really wouldn’t expect it if I were you. At least the “seek and you will find” thing never worked for me that way.
But where it does work – almost every time – is when we think about the spiritual experiences we’re seeking. When we seek things like kindness and love and generosity and joy, we’re so much more likely to find them than if we don’t. When we’re always on the lookout for trouble; when we’re always on the defense against attacks – when that’s essentially what we’re seeking, we’re more likely to find them, too. When we ask God to inspire us – when we invite God into our experience, we’re much more likely to experience God’s inspiration. When we assume we’re alone – when we assume we have no support, that’s likely to be all that we’ll be able to see.
So, if I were to boil down the essence of today’s Gospel reading to a single phrase, that’s probably what it would be: seek and you will find.
What we actually encounter today is Jesus addressing some of the major current events of his time. The events themselves aren’t recorded anywhere else in any kind of history that we can access now, but you can almost imagine Jesus sitting there, at a café table with the New York times spread in front of him, pointing to a headline and saying, let’s look for God here. What can this moment teach us about the way God works in our lives?
It's a great exercise. I encourage you to try it. Find moments in the world that, on their surface seem the farthest from God, and look for God within them.
In these moments, Jesus first points to an event where Galileans – people sort of like Jesus and his disciples – had been worshipping, when their blood was “mingled” with that of their sacrifices. That makes it sound sort of dainty and cordial, doesn’t it? Mingling… But really what it’s saying is that these people, who are just like us, had been slaughtered by the political powers of their time while they were in the very act of worship. They were making their sacrifices to God, but instead, they were sacrificed at the altar of power.
It's an image that isn’t all that hard for us to imagine these days. Thankfully, we’re not usually seeing blood pouring in the streets right now, but we have. Think back to when Black Lives Matter was more in the news. People – black men, specifically – were being sacrificed at the altar of America’s original sin, racism. Now we’re not seeing the blood nearly as often, but there are plenty of people being sacrificed at powerful, unholy altars. Last week hundreds of Venezuelans were deported in violation of a court order. Our trans siblings, always a target, but especially so now, are still being picked away at, and scapegoated for social ills that have nothing to do with them.
What Jesus asks when considering those Galileans who were slaughtered is this: do you think they were anymore guilty than you, or anyone else? Just because they suffered, do you just assume that means they deserved it?
The answer is a flat “no”. Don’t use the sufferings of others to pat yourself on the back. Instead, examine yourself. What does this say about you and your relationship with the world? About your relationship with the powerful – or with the vulnerable? How can you grow in God’s grace by seeing this thing?
And some pretty loud subtext here is: don’t take the oppressor’s word for it when they tell you someone deserves to be oppressed. When people point out an enemy for you, consider what other motivations they may have. Maybe Pilate wasn’t actually worried about carrying out God’s will so much as he was worried about holding on to his own power.
Things feel really unbalanced and unsteady in the world right now, but it’s nothing new. It’s a story as old as humanity. Weak people think they will be seen as strong by beating down vulnerable people. It sometimes works for a minute, but it never works for long. The truth of the oppressor’s underlying weakness always comes through. Jesus is saying: don’t buy it. They’re not that strong.
The next example is sort of the same: a great tower had collapsed and killed 18 people. When those sorts of things happen, it’s only natural to ask why. But the answers that go with “whys” like this don’t always line up. It’s like one of the greatest theological questions there is – why do bad things happen to good people? Too often, throughout history, the answer has been, because those people weren’t good. God punished them. But the real, and probably unsatisfying answer is, bad things happen to good people because bad things happen to everyone.
A lot of what Paul says in this Epistle sounds like it’s standing in opposition to Jesus’ message, but right at the end, he pulls it out. Sure, you’ll be tested, he says. We all are. But even in those trying times, God is faithful and won’t leave you behind. And Jesus says that we should stop blaming God and stop blaming victims simply because it makes it easier for us to process things. Instead, look within. Don’t judge someone else’s trauma – see the world and strive for better.
It reminds me of one of my favorite songs by the Indigo Girls. You’ll hear me reference them a lot – I’ve often said that one of my greatest challenges as a preacher is that I don’t typically preach to people who have studied the music of the Indigo Girls as extensively as I have.
But in all seriousness, I had a period in my life many years ago when I was angry at the church, and because I didn’t know any better at the time, I thought that meant that I was angry at God, so for a few years, the music these women wrote served as my main source of spiritual sustenance. I still give thanks for the ways that Wisdom flows through their minds, their voices, and their guitars.
But the line that came to mind today was from the song “Watershed” – it’s about facing the big moments of life, and trying to learn to recognize them when they come and embrace them for what they have to offer.
The second verse of the song says, “Twisted guard rails on the highway, broken glass on the cement. A ghost of someone’s tragedy… How recklessly my time has been spent. They say that it’s never too late, but you don’t get any younger. So I better learn how to starve the emptiness, and feed the hunger.”
Echoing the teaching of Jesus, they’re saying: when we see the struggles of this life, don’t crumble in fear; don’t disconnect in judgement. Learn its lessons. Grow. Find mercy.
Finally, we come to the story of the fig tree. It’s failing. It’s not living up to its purpose. Maybe we should just cut our losses and tear it down. But the gardener intercedes. Give it some more time. Care for it. Nourish it. Don’t give up just yet.
As we look for the nature of God in the world around us, remember that the example we have been given to live by is to offer another chance. Encourage. Support. Don’t be distracted by the intercessions of bullies. Don’t fall into the trap of blame and judgement. Don’t be lured by the whims of easy answers. Instead, go deeper. Even now, God is going deeper for us. God is trying again, in all the ways that we’ve failed.
There is this social thrust in the world right now to try to keep us focused on blame – to keep us from seeing what’s really going on. But God is showing us another way. God is showing us the way that is true, and that leads to life. God is showing us how to uncover grace and mercy, instead of blame.
Seek and you will find. Seek blame and judgement, and you will find it. Seek truth and life and abundant love and grace, and that’s what you’ll find. Every time. Amen.
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