Love and the Landowner - A Sermon for Sunday October 8 2023
FIRST READING: Isaiah 5:1-7
A reading from Isaiah.
The prophet sings a sad, parable-like love song about the relationship between God and Israel. In this song Israel is compared to a promising vineyard. Despite God’s loving care, the vineyard that is Israel has brought forth “wild grapes” of injustice and distress, when fine grapes of justice and righteousness were expected.
1Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
4What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL: Matthew 21:33-46
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus tells a parable to the religious leaders who are plotting his death, revealing that their plans will, ironically, bring about the fulfillment of scripture.
[Jesus said to the people:] 33“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?
43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Pharisees are the ancestors
for modern day Rabbinic Judaism.
Jesus was hard on them,
we tend to be hard on them,
but we ought to give them some credit.
They preserved the Hebrew faith,
they were seeking to be faithful Jews,
they were made in the image of God,
just like you and me.
So let’s put ourselves
in the shoes of the Pharisees for a minute.
How might the Pharisees hear this parable from Jesus?
They would have heard this parable
with the first lesson from Isaiah in mind.
When they hear a parable about a vineyard,
they would immediately understand
that it is about Israel:
The people of God in the land God has given them.
When they hear about the fence around the vineyard,
they would liken that to the law -
this incredible gift from God
that sets them apart as a people,
offering them a way of life
that shows gratitude to God.
And they hear about the watchtower,
and they don’t worry about a magazine
from a difficult and persistent religious group,
Instead they link the watchtower with themselves.
The Pharisees are the religious leaders
who are in charge of watching over the flock of Israel,
like Moses & Aaron in many generations past.
In the Pharisees eyes,
they are doing what they are supposed to do,
what they are called to do
as a priestly people.
But then they hear Jesus say
They’re the tenants in the parable
that beat and killed the landowner’s servants
and son.
“the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people
that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”
Ouch.
That moment of realization -
Jesus, this troublemaker,
who has been messing with our
political-economic system,
teaching another way
in our Temple and synagogues
tossing temple tables,
rallying support from common folk,
not to mention tax collectors
and sinners and outcasts:
this Jesus is saying that we are not producing good fruit?
No wonder they ask the question:
What gives you the right?
No wonder they wanted to arrest Jesus,
Who does he think he is???
They can’t arrest him now… but that time is coming.
They’re brooding,
they’re simmering,
they’re getting hot under the collar, so-to-speak.
These Pharisees,
human beings,
saints and sinners,
like you and me,
set apart for ministry,
to be like a watchtower
over the workers in the vineyard,
they wouldn’t like this blame one bit.
I wonder though,
did even part of them
believe that Jesus was right?
Would they look around
in their nation,
in their religion
in their hearts
and, to use the language of Isaiah 5:
did they see good fruit
or wild grapes?
God did sing a song for God’s beloved -
a love song concerning Israel,
God’s vineyard.
God declares through the prophet Isaiah,
centuries before Jesus,
God planted this vineyard,
the people of Israel,
God expected justice,
God expected righteousness,
but instead got bloodshed and tears.
“I expected a yield of grapes,
but instead came wild grapes.”
So God is going to tear the vineyard apart.
And it happened
as Israel was exiled into Babylon.
Jesus is saying to the Pharisees
that not much has changed.
In Jesus’ words,
the vineyard will be taken from them
and given to people who produce good fruit.
Jesus was not telling this parable to the crowd,
although I’m sure others heard it.
Jesus was pointing the finger at the religious leaders.
2000 years later,
There’s a message for today’s religious leaders,
people like us.
When we hear this now,
when we think of ourselves as the church,
as the body of Christ,
as followers of Jesus,
when we look around our city
our neighbourhood,
our hearts:
Hear the warning;
Are we yielding good fruit,
or wild grapes?
I look around our congregation,
and I see good fruit.
I see the face of Jesus
in caring ministries,
in our ministry with young people
in our worship,
in our leadership,
I see Jesus in you, Advent.
I see good fruit as we discern what God is doing in our midst,
I see good fruit as we tangibly care for the needy.
We talked stewardship last week,
that we are called to care for,
to steward God’s gifts:
Creation, wealth, time, talents.
God is at work in you.
Trust this.
Follow the good fruit.
But we can also take the warning seriously.
As much as I’ve seen good fruit in our midst
sometimes I see a wild grape or two.
I see it in me,
and I’ve seen it around me.
I’m no Vinegrower,
and I’m no wine-maker,
but I’m thinking that wine just doesn’t taste as good
when a couple wild grapes sneak in.
Look for the good fruit.
God’s Spirit is there.
We also ought to keep an eye out
for the wild grapes in ourselves.
Thanks be to God,
we are not defined by those wild grapes
in our hearts and minds
in our action and inaction.
Thanks be to God,
we are defined by our Baptism into Christ.
This is a baptism that says
You are a beautiful child of God,
you are made in God’s image
you are claimed, adopted by God,
you are filled with the Holy Spirit
You are equipped and enabled
to worship God,
to love neighbour,
to work for justice and peace.
Your baptism into Christ
says those wild grapes are daily tossed in the compost
daily you are forgiven,
daily you are set free
daily you are given new life.
Rejoice, and give thanks!
I say compost because, well,
the wild grapes are still there.
When we participate in injustice,
in oppression,
in action and inaction that further perpetuates
poverty,
when we hurt others
by word or deed,
those wild grapes don’t just disappear.
God forgives us,
yet we still have an active role to play
in restoration,
in reconciliation,
in equity
to make things right for our wild grapes.
Wild grapes in compost
will break down
along with the other food scraps
and grass trimmings
and by God’s design,
good fruit can come forward
when we use a little compost.
Our God is in the redemption business,
reconciliation,
resurrection,
Our God saves the best wine for last,
Our God can find a way
to bring new life out of our wild grapes.
By God’s grace,
the Lord of Hosts is singing the love song
concerning God’s vineyard.
Like the faithful of ancient times
we too are invited into the vineyard of God’s creation
to be the church that is needed in this time,
to be the faithful that is needed in this time.
The harvest is plentiful,
but the labourers are few.
God is looking for labourers
to go into God’s vineyard.
Forgiven and set free by God’s grace,
May we say “Here I am, Lord, send me.”
May we plant seeds of compassion,
seeds of kindness, righteousness,
seeds of forgiveness,
and seeds of justice and equity.
May God’s creative Spirit
toss our wild grapes into the compost
and bring about new life in and through us.
And May God’s kingdom come
in and among us.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
