Friends, this past week has been one for the record books. I don’t care which side of the political spectrum you happen to support, what we saw on Tuesday night can only be described as bullying, mean, cruel, and abusive. Such behavior is not ok! It is not ok in public life, it is not ok in private life, it is not ok in civilized society, it is not ok if you have any care for the common good, it is not ok as we live in relationship to others, and it is the antithesis of how we are called to live as people of faith. As I continue to ponder the events of the past week, let alone the events of 2020, I have truly been feeling a deep sense of lament and enormous grief about what is happening in this country. I have also been thinking about today’s readings and, oh my, do they ever speak to us today.
In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah begins by singing a love-song concerning his beloved’s vineyard. When looking at Isaiah’s words, I think he gains the attention of his listening audience when he begins to sing what sounds like a beautiful love-song. And, like us, the people who listened to Isaiah’s song likely expected to hear a ballad with a happy ending. Isaiah sings of how God, his beloved, did everything possible to set up a healthy, thriving vineyard. He tells of how God spared no effort to create an environment conducive to success. The soil was fertile and cultivated; the stones were removed; only the finest quality vines were planted; a watchtower was built in the middle of the vineyard; and a wine vat was built in preparation for the harvesting and processing of the grapes. The love-song is most pleasant to the ears, and listeners’ heartstrings are touched by the nurturing care of the beloved. Yes, the prophet Isaiah is serenading us with such a beautiful love song.
But wait, before you are lulled to sleep with these tender words, listen to what follows. As the iconic Gomer Pyle would say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” Isaiah’s love-song is transformed into a song of hard-hitting judgement and lament. Out of the blue and very unexpectedly, this gentle love song is suddenly transformed into a condemning, raunchy, deafening heavy-metal rock-and-roll song.
In any case, the irony of the song comes to the forefront when Isaiah, speaking for God, asks the people of Jerusalem and Judah to “judge between me and my vineyard.” In other words, the people are asked to judge between God on the one side, and Jerusalem and Judah on the other. In an agonizing song of judgement and lament, God tells the people that there is nothing more God can do to guarantee the success of God’s own vineyard. God had done everything that could possibly be done. And, quite honestly, implied here in the song is the human freedom that God gives us. In the song, God the beloved expects the best from God’s people: “God expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.” And, by the way, a more literal translation of “wild grapes” would be “stinking things.” So, the consequences of freedom being misused or abused is that a well-cared for vineyard becomes neglected and turns into a dried-out wasteland of briers and thorns and stinking things!
The concluding verse of the song makes it abundantly clear that the vineyard represents God’s chosen people. God expected and hoped the people would ensure that there was justice for everyone in the nation. Instead of justice, the wealthy class of politicians and businesspeople were killing society’s weakest and most vulnerable citizens. Blood was on the hands of the rich and powerful members of society because their wealth was gained by cheating and robbing society’s poorest class. God expected and hoped for righteousness from God’s very own people. Instead, God heard a cry from the poor and oppressed. God expected God’s own people to look after the poor and oppressed; after all, those who were now blessed with wealth and the good life – had they and their ancestors not cried out to the LORD when they were poor and oppressed slaves in Egypt? Had God not heard their cries and delivered them from Egyptian slavery? Why now had they abused their freedom and become selfish and greedy? They, with their blood money and ill-gotten riches were no better than their former enemy oppressors – the Egyptians.
In our day and age, has anything really changed? Don’t we hear stories of injustice and ill-gotten gain today? Our planet is moaning and groaning due to the selfishness and greed of a minority of the world’s population. 820 million people in this world experience hunger every day. Increasingly, hateful, venomous words are spoken to others as words become weapons. Empathy for others and care for the common good seem to have become arcane, and a malignant focus on individual freedom is spreading like cancer. We are living through a pandemic in which over 210,000 people in our own country have already died and it did not have to be this way. The plague of racism permeates every aspect of our culture and racism and white supremacy are even stoked by our country’s top leaders. Countless numbers of people are hurting following recent hurricanes and fires. Do we hear the cries of suffering and how do we respond? Are we really a caring society? Quite honestly, it seems there are presently a plethora of wild grapes and stinking things in our vineyard.
God’s love, care, and protection come with an expectation: justice and righteousness. These are the fruits God longs to see flourish in us. The blessings and nurture we receive are meant to result in right social relationships. Justice and righteousness are not things we practice for extra credit; they are the main point. God is not content until the blessings we receive are shared fairly with all people. If this fruit is not produced, the consequences may be that God allows us to have our own way and leaves us to our own devices.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus borrows Isaiah’s words when he tells the allegorical parable of the Wicked Tenants. God, the landowner, has called us to work in the vineyard of the world. But, we decide we want the fruits of the land for ourselves and we refuse to give back to God that which is rightfully God’s. And we beat and mistreat and murder those who would call us to be responsible. And what does God the landowner do in response? God just keeps sending servants, until finally God sends God’s own Son, who also is mistreated and ultimately killed. However, my friends, the good news of this story is that God goes to such great lengths for us because God never gives up on us! This is the amazing part of Jesus’ story, and the part that is too often missed. Like the crazy landowner in this parable, God is constantly working to establish a relationship with us, and God never gives up, no matter how many servants are treated badly. It really does not seem sensible. And, that’s the thing about God’s grace – it isn’t sensible, it isn’t logical – it just abundantly is!
This parable Jesus tells is about the extravagant grace that God has for us and for all people! Jesus is illustrating how God goes to extravagant, excessive, even illogical and crazy extents to shower this love and grace upon us. And no matter how many times we reject God, God keeps at it. God keeps working on establishing a relationship with us!
So, as I continue to reflect upon the events of this past week, the burning west coast, damages from hurricanes and storms, chaos and hatred that daily spew forth from our country’s leadership, the lack of compassion and love as people interact with others, today’s readings not only call all of us to repentance, they also remind us of a God who never gives up on us. God’s Son is continually redeeming creation, and this God never lets us forget that we are the characters in God’s divine love song. God is always showering us with immeasurable grace and love. And, as a tenant in the vineyard, I can only respond by working to bear good fruit. As people of faith, we respond to God’s immeasurable grace by bearing the sweet grapes of love, care and forgiveness, and letting God use us as we work for peace, righteousness, loving kindness, mercy and God’s restorative justice for all people.
