There’s a lot of speculation going on as a result of the sequestration that went into effect at midnight on the 1st of March. Our government has failed to work out a solution agreeable to all, and so there will be consequences that will be uncomfortable for a good many people. It’s a hot topic wherever people gather, and there’s a lot of complaining about the government, the incompetence of our elected officials, and so on. I’m reminded of something Winston Churchill said whenever I get too negative about our government: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
We all complain, and sometimes I’m just like the next person who thinks things are going to hell in a hand basket (By the way, I googled the origin of the saying, “Things are going to hell in a hand basket,” and it said clues to the origin of such sayings are as scarce as hens’ teeth, but that the saying means that things are going to hell quickly and easily, because a hand basket is light and easy to carry.). I am not suggesting that we don’t have serious problems, but let’s put them in perspective. Don’t you have countless blessings for which to be thankful? Where else in the world would you rather live? What other time period in the history of the world would you prefer?
Would you like to live in Palestine as a Jew in the 1st century A.D.? Or worse still, as a Christian in that place and time, when Pontius Pilate was the governor? The Roman government had a sophisticated legal system, but if you got on the wrong side of the law, you could find yourself suffering the same fate as the fatted calf in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Some Galileans were executed by Pilate in the Temple. There was a prevailing attitude in that day among the Jews that people who suffered unusually or who died premature and tragic deaths had been greater sinners than others. Jesus said that wasn’t so. Likewise, a tower in Siloam, which was in Jerusalem, fell and killed 18 people. Jesus said that these persons didn’t die prematurely because they were greater sinners than anyone else. Yet, in comparison with both instances, Jesus said his hearers would perish if they did not repent.
Jesus didn’t mean that if they didn’t repent, Pilate would execute them or a tower would fall on them. He was using physical events to teach about a spiritual reality. He was telling them that the way they were living would end in spiritual death. Now these people were probably basically happy with themselves. They had complaints, of course. They hated the government and being under Roman rule. They hated paying taxes. They had the usual problems making ends meet, controlling their children. Some of them were in marriages that had gone sour. But basically life was all right. They knew they were far from perfect, but most of them didn’t feel like they were terrible sinners who deserved the wrath of God. Now this prophet Jesus tells them that unless they drastically change the way they were living they will perish. How can they hear this message?
There’s a story about a captain during naval maneuvers who receives a message that is difficult for him to absorb. During the maneuvers, the ensign races to the bridge. “Captain, there’s a message for you from the admiral.”
“Well, read it!” says the captain.
The ensign reads, “Of all the blundering, bone-headed nincompoops, you take the cake!”
The bumbling captain looks puzzled for a moment, then orders: “Have that decoded at once!”
It is so hard to accept the truth about ourselves and our lives—harder, still, to change our lives in the face of such truth. (from Connections, 23 June 1996).
Let’s look still more closely at what Jesus is saying and to whom he is saying it. His audience is large. Earlier St. Luke referred to Jesus’ audience as a multitude numbering in the thousands. He doesn’t say to this large gathering, “Some of you are on the right track and others of you need to repent.” He says to all, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Just by the law of averages, there had to have been some people there who were more spiritually alive than others. There had to have been some pretty saintly people, who worshipped daily, who were generous to a fault, who never spoke unkindly about another person, along with people who had no thought about God, who didn’t share what they had with others less fortunate, and didn’t understand the spiritual side of life. Yet, Jesus lumped them all together, saying they all would perish if they did not repent.
What this suggests to me is that repentance must be a part of the life of every human being, no matter where the person is in his or her spiritual journey, and that there are dangers all along the way, no matter how far a person has progressed in his or her walk with Christ.
I was in high school when Apollo 8 was launched on the 21st of December in 1968. It was the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth’s orbit, reach the moon, orbit it, and return to Earth. It had a three astronaut crew: Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders. These three astronauts were the first humans to travel beyond the low Earth orbit, the first to see Earth as a whole planet, and the first directly to see the far side of the moon.
Apollo 8 took three days to travel to the moon. The crew made a Christmas Eve television broadcast in which they read the first ten verses of Genesis. It was one of the most exciting events that has taken place during my lifetime. (facts about Apollo 8 taken from Wikipedia).
I mention this to you because a little known fact about that journey is that Apollo 8 had to make several midcourse corrections in order for it to reach the moon, orbit it, and return to Earth. Do you care to guess how many midcourse corrections it had to make? 21,000. If any of those midcourse corrections hadn’t been made, the mission would not have been successful and quite possibly could have ended in disaster, with all three astronauts perishing.
That makes Apollo 8 a good metaphor for successful living. Wherever we are in our lives, whatever age we are, whatever circumstances in which we find ourselves, the danger of getting off the right track, of focusing on the wrong things, requires that we stop and make midcourse corrections all along the way. That’s what repentance is—looking back to see where we made a wrong turn, and looking ahead to make sure we’re back on track, keeping God as our final destination. God wants us to have life that is as full as it can be right now, and he wants us to live with him forever. Repentance is a key element in reaching that destination.