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1999 ~ 19th Sunday after Pentecost Anatomy of a Spiritual Disaster 89 days! Do you know what is going to happen in 89 days? We will be at the Eve of a new century -- and more than that -- at the dawn of a new millenium! (In spite of the "wet blanket throwers" who insist that the year 2000 must be completed before a new millenium actually begins. They are the "2001ers" ) As we move through these eighty nine days, you can expect an increasing flood of "millenium fever." We can expect unparalleled hype and hoopla as the countdown progresses. Fortunes will be made, con games will increase exponentially and religious fringe groups will gain more publicity than they have in ages. Some still think planes will fall from the sky, banks will shut down and a giant power failure will darken the globe. There are people who have stockpiled supplies (to say nothing of weapons) to survive the disaster that will come. The backs of magazines carry ads for dried foods and emergency supplies. One ad suggested that people have enough supplies on hand for six months "just in case." On a personal level, I am receiving an increasing number of junk mail ads suggesting that I had better order their material quickly or my personal computer will crash. (Now here -- I'm vulnerable folks! I will in all likelihood order at least one of these programs and so gladly add a few dollars to somebody's pocket! There is no denying -- we will all be affected by the turning of the clock as all four digits on the earth's chronometer roll over from 1999 to 2000. This is a unique and significant time. *** Turning to our gospel lesson for today, the same thing can be said. This is a unique and significant time -- in Matthew's gospel. Over the next few weeks our lectionary gospel readings take us through some dynamic and provocative lessons that come from the time in Jesus' life when the chips were down. It is crunch time! Jesus has entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. This will be his last week on earth. Conflict with religious authorities which has simmered during his whole ministry now erupts into an inferno. He must be done away with. He must either relent in his teachings and go back to the carpenter's shop -- or loose his life! If we did not know the end of this story, it would be a novel described as a "page turner" or a movie that keeps us on the edge of our seats waiting to see what happens. As we move toward the end of this church year, Matthew points us to some penetrating questions.
The gospel readings between now and the end of this church year spell out an Anatomy of a Spiritual Disaster. Those who should have been leading the celebration of the coming of Christ, end up calling for his crucifixion instead. What should have been the bright light of joy and freedom became a cloud of darkness over the holy city of Jerusalem. Hearts that should have been open and accepting were obstinate and acrimonious. Those who considered themselves closest to God became enemies of Christ. "Spiritual disaster" is almost an understatement. Never has there been amore appropriate time to pay close attention to Matthew's words. With our reading for today, the whole movement Jesus began has rounded third and is headed for home. "Official" Israel is fully engaged in the plot to eliminate Jesus. *** The drama begins as Jesus uses his favorite teaching method -- the parable -- to begin to drive home a point that will turn Jerusalem inside out over the next few days. Namely that the Pharisees and those who are the leadership of God's people are not only not serving the Lord -- they are actively working against God! In today's reading, Jesus tells the horrendous story of a renegade group of vineyard workers who decide to keep the harvest for themselves. They reject and mistreat vineyard owner's representatives and wind up killing the owner's son in the mistaken belief that this will enable them to steal the harvest. "Not smart!" most people would be thinking. Who would be foolish enough to believe they could get away with such a dim-witted scheme? "What do you suppose the vineyard owner will do when he comes to town?" Jesus asks the chief priests and elders who have gathered to challenge Jesus. "He will put those miserable wretches to death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time!" Bingo! Jesus hammers home the obvious conclusion that it is them -- the religious leaders themselves who are the renegade tenants. They are stunned! As you can well imagine -- this does not sit well with these priests and Pharisees. If it weren't for Jesus' popularity, they would have arrested him on the spot. They are feeling stung -- they consider themselves faithful servants of God. Yet the upshot of Jesus' parable is that they are not faithful servants at all. They are thieves! They are guilty of stealing from God! This is unimaginable for these officials whose lives are devoted to religious purposes. Now Jesus says they are stealing from God. True enough -- the big sin seems to be that the tenants in the parable mistreat and even kill those who come to represent the vineyard owner -- and they kill the owner's son, but the essential sin is that they desire to take what rightfully belongs to the owner. The owner is God! The owner's son is God's Son! This is a thunderous accusation. There is a wee bit of a shift in the conclusion Jesus makes in his story. "... the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom." God is looking for "fruit of the harvest." The chief priests, Pharisees and religious leaders are not producing any "kingdom fruit." ¹ And so they are stealing from God. If they claim the role of servants of God and do not produce "kingdom fruit", they are stealing from God. How? Authentic servants are by definition those who "bear fruit." Jesus said to his disciples, " I appointed you to go and bear fruit..." (John 15:16) *** How does all of this speak to you and me? We don't steal from God. We do not reject or mistreat God's messengers. Do we? The key to Jesus' parable is that God's people are called to produce "the fruits of the kingdom." If we claim that we are God's people and do not produce this "kingdom fruit," we are impostors at best and thieves at worst. Now -- someone comes along and suggest that we can not be God's people if we do not produce "kingdom fruit." This begs the question. "What is kingdom fruit?" Or to put it another way -- what does God want from us? There are two significant clues to what God wants in these verses from Paul's writings:
God wants to produce the qualities of Jesus Christ in the midst of our community of faith. We are called by God to be a place where people find -- love, joy, peace, patience... and all the rest. Do you see? Mark this down.
And so, Jesus' parable -- as harsh as it may have seemed to those people -- way back then -- just might rattle our cages today. It calls us to take a look within. His words call us to do a bit of self examination. They cause me to do a bit of self examination. Is our church a place where people find these qualities? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." If for instance, a church was known for its conflict, or judgmental attitudes or rigid expectations, people whose lives were in turmoil and pain would not be drawn to such a place. There would be no harvest of people flocking to the conflict or rigid expectations. God would not have much of a harvest in such a place. It may seem harsh, but could we not say that a group which called itself a church and yet was known for these negatives qualities was stealing from God? "... the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom," Jesus said. And then I bring all of this down to a personal level. Does my life reflect the "fruits of the kingdom?" Do I have a reputation for, "... love, joy, peace, patience..." Ouch! Of all the things I want my life to be about -- and I trust of all the things you want your life to be about -- stealing from God is not one of them! Until I did some deep reflection on this parable, I had never thought of myself as anything but a faithful servant (or "tenant?") of God. Now I have some questions. And that's a good thing. I hope you have some questions to ask yourself. Questions that would go something like:
Once we have been able to look at ourselves individually in light of Jesus' powerful parable -- we can bring the question of faithfulness in the vineyard to our life together as a church. May God give us grace to ask ourselves the most difficult question of all. "Am I a faithful producer of kingdom fruit -- or am I stealing from God?" ¹ [Exactly what this fruit God wants will become evident as the weeks go by and Jesus addresses himself to his followers.] Discussion and Reflection on The Texts Connections in the Text Matthew and Isaiah both speak of vineyards. There are two different points however. Matthew speaks of those who were supposed to care for the Vineyard on behalf of the owner and see to it that the owner would reap a harvest. The sting of the parable addresses the spiritual leadership of Israel and their rejection of the One who comes on behalf of God. Isaiah uses the Vineyard as a symbol of God's people who do not act like God's people, but are instead unjust and callous toward God. In both cases, God does not receive the harvest that is due. The reading from Psalms is a lamentation about the condition of the vine (Israel) that God planted. There is a cry for salvation, but the condition of the vine is a result of the behavior of the vine. Paul's comments relate in that his life prior to Christ was an illustration of a vineyard that was fruitless. He did not think so at the time -- but in retrospect, he was an example of what both Matthew and Isaiah are pointing to. He was "religious", but not "fruitful." The texts offer an opportunity to raise the question of "spiritual harvest" in our lives today. Are we bearing fruit? Is God receiving the rightful harvest from our living? It would be important to point out that the answer to these questions needs to come from "self-examination" and not from "other-examination." In other words, you can not be a "fruit inspector" for my life -- nor I for yours! Matthew It is important to read this parable in its context as one of a series that leads to the final conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities. The parables are strong and pointed. Jesus' earlier parables were stories that taught the people. As the end approaches, the parables are specific and aimed at the hypocrisy of the leaders. There is a strong message in verse 45. "...they realized that he was speaking about them." What a great statement to apply to our lives today. There are so many times when people have said to me, "What a great sermon pastor. If only my husband (wife, son, uncle, neighbor, etc.) had been here to hear it!" This would be a good time to address the issue of "selective" hearing. We've all seen it in children -- the child who can't hear a thing when we talk about household chores, but can hear two blocks away when we whisper to our spouse, "Shall we take them to McDonalds?" Sometimes it seems as tough my hearing is better when the message is about your shortcomings. One of the damning sins of the religious leaders of Jesus' day was their "selective" hearing of God's message." William Barclay points out that this parable lifts up the issue of human freedom. We are free to render the harvest to God -- to serve God or to refuse. Yet, it also makes the point that there are consequences for our actions. Isaiah There is a complete discussion of this text at: Alternate Full Text Sermon on Isaiah 5:1-7 - "Love Songs" Beyond this sermon, there is an additional layer of support for the theme of human freedom juxtaposed with the theme of God's judgment. Our relationship with God is based on the grace of God -- but the grace of God is not license for a "fruitless" life. In context, this would translate to: I do not produce a harvest so that I can become a child of God, but rather, the harvest comes as a natural result of being a child of God. Philippians The question that underlies this text is, "What impresses God?" The answer is, "Certainly not those things that impress people!" Paul's "resume" would have impressed those who looked to external religious things. In the final analysis, however, it is "knowing Christ" that counts. It may be important to point out that Paul's experience is unique. He goes from persecuting Christ to serving Christ. He has discovered his life's greatest desire, namely, how to get close to God. As it turns out, it is nothing he can do through his own poor human efforts, but a gift that comes from God. The "rightness" he wants can not come through his struggles, but comes through the "rightness" that comes from Christ. Our listeners have not likely had these extreme experiences in their living. They have never "persecuted" the church or experienced religious "perfection." Nevertheless, all of us know what it is like to give ourselves to things that don't count and neglect the things that do. We might introduce the question of what it is that really counts and how we can raise our relationship with God a few notches up the priority ladder of our life. An Illustration: What really counts? Bonnie Combe is a woman who lost her husband in a plane crash in Alaska. During her journey through grief, a friend asked her, "Did your husband enrich your life?" "Why, of course," she answered. The friend came back to her with something that changed her life, "Well then -- what are you going to do with those riches?" That statement became the ground of her recovery. [Told on ABC Nightline, 7/21/99 during a discussion of the John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crash] So also, Paul had to decide what was really going to count in his life. What were his riches? What are the riches that should change the priorities of our living? Call To Worship (Based on Psalm 80) Leader: We come to you O Lord, for
restoration. A Prayer of Dedication Help us today, Our God, to look very closely at
what we have This is a new addition -- more or less regular -- we will pass on items that come to us occasionally. No extra charge -- but a "for what it's worth" item. If you can use it great. If you have items to share we will use them. Here's this edition's contribution. The Wedding |