Mulligans and Do-Overs

By Steve Leininger

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102420.cfm
Ephesians 4:7-16
Psalms 122:1-2, 3-4AB, 4CD-5
Luke 13:1-9

A mulligan is a second chance to perform an action, usually after the first chance went wrong through bad luck or a blunder. Its best-known meaning is in golf, whereby a player is informally allowed to replay a stroke, even though this is against the formal rules of the game.

One story on the origins of the term, according to the USGA (United States Golf Association) suggests that that the term derived from the name of a Canadian golfer, David B. Mulligan (1869-1954), one time manager of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, who played at the Country Club of Montreal golf course, in Saint-Lambert near Montreal during the 1920s. One version has it that one day after hitting a poor tee shot, Mulligan re-teed and shot again. He called it a "correction shot," but his friends thought it more fitting to name the practice after him.

When we were kids, my friends and I would have called this a “do-over.” One might ask for a do-over during an impromptu rock-skipping competition down by the lake, claiming that you lost your footing or were distracted by a fish. Or a really too late realization that the last checker move you made would cost you the game. I need a do-over! A teacher might give you a second chance to turn in your homework if you could convince her that your dog ate it.

What other “do-overs” would we like to take advantage of? You don’t get a chance to do over your childhood, but you might be able to re-take piano lessons and really put some effort into it this time. You might reach out to an acquaintance or family member that you have lost touch with and share some memories and catch up on how things are going “in these difficult times.” Use these second chances to mend bridges and renew old friendships.

In today’s Gospel reading, we have Jesus responding to two current events in which people’s lives ended abruptly, through no fault of their own. The first event was the Pontius Pilate’s slaughter of Galileans attending worship services at the temple. The second event was the collapse of a tower in Siloam, a town south of Jerusalem, which killed 18 people.

In each of the incidents, Jesus asks rhetorically if these people were “more guilty” or “greater sinners” than their neighbors. In both cases, he answers his own question with “By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” [Luke 13:3 and Luke 13:5]

People died without warning in both events, but Jesus assures us that they did not die because their own guilt or sin. One minute they were alive, and the next they were dead. Sometimes things just happen. Then we get to the real point Jesus was making. “If you do not repent, you will perish as they did!”

Jesus did not have to explain what “repent” meant . . . it was a common theme in the Old Testament. The word “repent” actually means to turn, as in “turn your life around” and “turn towards God.” The primary dimension of repentance then is a moral one that results in individuals and the nation of Israel turning back to the law of God in order to share in his holy character.

So, what happens if you don’t repent and get right with God? Jesus said you will perish as the worshipers at the hands of Pilate’s men or the folks under the rubble of the fallen tower perished. He can’t be saying that we will die in a sudden and unexpected violent tragedy, is he? Repentance will not keep you from eventual physical death. He must be talking about the promise of being saved, the good news of everlasting life. There is almost no mention in the Hebrew Bible of Heaven as a possible afterlife destination for human beings. The only two possible exceptions to this are Enoch, who is described in Genesis 5:24 as having been "taken" by God, and the prophet Elijah, who is described in 2 Kings 2:11 as having ascended to Heaven in a chariot of fire. The good news that heaven is available to all was a unique and underlying message from Jesus.

Let’s look at the parable from today’s reading and see if there are any other clues providing clarification.

“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, 
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree 
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also, 
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
[Luke 13:6-9]

The person who owns the garden is God. You can see that he is disappointed with the fig tree. Perhaps like God can be disappointed in a person’s lack of following his commandments, directives, and other wishes. He is ready to give up on the tree. The gardener could be Jesus, a disciple, or other person that takes on working with the person for that second chance to “bear fruit in the future”, to be pleasing in the eyes of God. The gardener says, “Give me some time for this change to happen, to turn things around. If the tree does not bear fruit, you can cut it down.” 

This is exactly what Jesus is saying when he proclaimed, “If you do not repent, you will all perish.” A longer, less eloquent exclamation would be “If you do not repent and turn your life towards God while you still have time, you will cease to exist when you die and you will not have eternal life. The time to act is now!”

We have all been offered a mulligan, a do-over, a second chance to change our lives for the better. Are you taking advantage of the time you have left to get right with God? 

Repent or perish!