“MARCH MADNESS”
“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or 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? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
– Luke 13:1-5
Most folks who know me well have a clue that I’m a huge basketball fan. In high school it could have been said that my relationship with an orange bouncing ball and 10 guys running up and down a hard wood floor shooting it into an orange ring with a cloth net ten feet off the ground all day was an idolatrous way of life. I spent way more time playing at the park courts or area gyms than I ever did reading my Bible or praying for myself or others. I went to worship weekly with my family and yet in those days… basketball was life.
So… welcome to March madness… not the basketball kind but the intrusion of Jesus kind and the message of Lent… that time of the year I’m called to look inside with honesty about how things are going between me and God having a greater impact than the final scores on my brackets for the NCAA tournament. And even if the time of Lent… those 40 days before Easter… is not a thing for you… looking inside yourself is a good practice at just about any time of the year or month or week or day… or like right now. Even the birds from up north know when to fly south and when to return. Life has cycles. Faith matters.
St. Luke wrote about Jesus going around from town-to-town making his way to Jerusalem preaching about the Kingdom of God and healing the sick and teaching when someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
And why did they ask Jesus this… ? Because just before he was preaching about the Kingdom of God and healing the sick Jesus said… “unless you repent… you will perish”… or in a modern way of thinking… unless you turn your life around… you will wither away… you get to choose… and he quoted a recent story from the news… the one about those 18 people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them… asking… do you think they were more sinful… more guilty than all the other people in Jerusalem? A rhetorical question if there ever was one… ‘heck no”… Jesus thought… calling out the perpetual condition of humanity…. that we are all less than what we think of ourselves… or as St. Paul wrote to the Romans… all have fallen short of the glory of God… we don’t do what we want; and we do what we don’t want to … which is where the madness of March actually begins or for that matter any other month or week or day of the year!
So… what do we make of these kinds of words? Stuff happens? Sure. Life is hard? Life is difficult? Of course! This is why we need each other. We need community. I think that’s the good intention Jesus meant by saying words like… turn around and walk away from your burdens… your troubles… or your life will wither away (perish) if you don’t. Because more than life being hard… we cannot control it… yet there is a life in each of us dying to come out to participate in God’s kingdom… God’s goodness… God’s preferred life where we all take a seat at the table of grace. Perhaps the late Fr. Mychal Judge’s prayer can help… “Lord, take me where you want me to go; let me meet who you want me to meet; tell me what you want me to say; and keep me out of your way…”
Life… like basketball… has many missed shots and with each one a rebound. Who’s your coach?
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
