Matthew 21:28-46 & Isaiah 5:1-2 October 1, 2017 A+D
The Parables of the Vineyard
+ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. +
Are you a sour grape? Are you a wild grape? Isaiah prophesied, and Jesus later used as His illustration of the ungrateful tenants in the parable of the landowner:
"Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He 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; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes."1
It’s grape harvest time all over! Grapes have been part of our food and culture for thousands of years. We have dozens of vineyards and wineries just in our corner of Northeast Ohio. Hundreds of varieties exist. There are all kinds of flavors to enjoy. A bunch of grapes sounds a lot like a congregation, doesn’t it? We come together – all different, each with unique gifts – but united in our common confession of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jesus spoke of grapes many times with His Church in mind. Jesus reminds us that He grafts us to Himself, the true vine.
Each vineyard yields different fruit. Within a single vineyard, each vine varies due to sunlight, water, and fertilizer. Just within a single bunch, each grape can be a little different. Like apples, one bad grape can spoil an entire bunch. Give well-fed grapes sun and space, and they become plump and sweet. Make juice out of them, and all by themselves, they will eventually become wine. If you try to force the growth of too much fruit – going for quantity over quality, the grapes won’t produce enough sugar and turn out sour.
We don’t want to be a sour grape, do we? When we let our sin get the best of us, we become sour. Sour grapes get thrown away. Fortunately for us, we have the opportunity to become sweet instead of sour. When we confess our sins and receive forgiveness, God sweetens us and makes us good fruit.
Wild grapes with no one to tend them might be edible, but there’s no comparison to a well-cultivated and cared-for vine that bears abundant, sweet fruit. Wild grapes are threatened by thorns trying to steal their soil and water. It’s challenging to be a wild grape, and wild grapes are often sour.
It’s no wonder God spoke through Old Testament prophets like Isaiah as well as His Son Jesus to us about the Church and compared Her to a vineyard. We Christians are to improve as we mature in faith, learning to trust in God’s promises. We cluster in a bunch where God gives us faithful vine-dressers to care for us. God’s vineyard is the place to be to receive the gifts He has to offer to bear abundant fruit.
Master vintners spend a lifetime finding the right combinations of grapes to produce the best wines, which improve with age. Fruit, juice, jam or wine – if not properly preserved will spoil. The Church is the same: God grants us the time and space to become plump and juicy and sweet as He feeds us with His Word and Sacraments. The vineyard of the Church is where Christ is present for us. The fruits of the Spirit water us, and the thorns of sin are torn out by the roots and burned by His precious blood – given for every one of His precious grapes. We cannot help but bear good fruit in the presence of such tender care as long as we do not let our sinful nature inhibit the Holy Spirit’s nurture.
Grape vines look pretty much the same to outsiders from year to year, but the vinedresser knows His vines. He sees the changes in each branch, both good and bad. He continues to care for them. Unlike a grapevine, we can choose to be wild or stay with the group. God’s gifts will transform us into fruit that attracts the wild grapes. Perhaps the wild grapes will see how well cared-for we are, and allow themselves to be planted beside us to receive that same care from Jesus.
Just as rain, heat, and soil change the grapes from crop to crop, so also does the Church transform over time. The Church flourishes, or the Church struggles. Some years have a banner crop; others are quite small. No matter the harvest, God promises the Church will endure to the end. If there is one thing that the farmer expects from his work, it is fruit. He is always seeking an abundant harvest.
St. Paul reminds us: one will plant, one will water, but only God grants the growth.2 The world is God’s vineyard. He is the one who guides us toward the harvest. We cannot force the Church in one or another direction. So often, we set our personal goals and earthly desires at odds with His eternal goals. Our selfishness gets in the way of the Holy Spirit’s work, and we find ourselves at cross-purposes. Only Christ’s cross can point us back to the straight path from the crooked one we find ourselves on. All we can do is work with the abilities God has bestowed us to do His will.
We are only tenant farmers guided by the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the spirit are a precious spiritual commodity. We might not see the benefits, in fact, we may see hard times indeed. We are beginning to see persecution and intolerance of Christianity here in America. Like the dust bowl farmers, it can appear as though we stand to lose everything. And yet, the Church endures. God has promised that it will. We must stand together on the secure foundation of Jesus Christ, give Him the glory, and trust that He will provide. The direction He guides us may not align with our way of thinking, and we are stubborn and resist change. We must remember that He will carefully guide us toward the harvest. Every time we share the word, we are working toward His eternal goal. If we prevent the word from being heard by those in need, we place our feelings above God’s will. We turn back to wild grapes, bitter and sour, turned in on ourselves in selfishness.
What do you picture when you think of someone who is privileged? We may admire the one who is privileged and rejoice that they are so fortunate. Now, picture someone you think is “entitled.” The word “entitlement” produces a strong reaction in us today. Someone with the attitude that the world owes them everything without having to earn it sets our teeth on edge, at the very least. We picture people who believe they somehow have the right to all the extras life has to offer, just because they want them.
We tend to look down on those who have a sense of entitlement, those who have the attitude that the world owes them everything while not contributing much to society. Now apply that same thinking to the kingdom of God. Are you a privileged Christian, or an entitled one?
We aren’t entitled to anything, are we? We are like the bad tenants in Jesus’ parable3, who try to keep the profits for themselves and don’t give the landlord his rent. We’re squatters on a farm that doesn’t belong to us. We often display a sense of entitlement, thinking that somehow God owes us something because of our actions – but He doesn’t. It is only through His mercy that we are privileged to stand in a state of grace. We are entitled to only one thing: death! Entitled to be nothing more than a wild, sour grape to be cast into the garbage. Too often we are the son who says “Oh yes, father – I will go work in the field!” and doesn’t.4
We are richly blessed and privileged to be grafted to the True Vine, gifted with whatever small part God chooses us to play in the wider plan of bringing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ into the world. We are richly blessed to say “I will not go!” and yet able to repent and go out into the field to work. And what about the rent? What do we have to pay to enter into this magnificent vineyard? Nothing. It’s all a free gift. We are given Jesus, who pardoned all our many offenses to Him and given the ability to live lives of contentment in service to Him because we know what we will enjoy in the life to come. As the hymn says, “May we grow ‘till harvests cease; Till we taste, in life unending, Heaven’s love and joy and peace.”5
We are richly blessed in the face of powerful storms, and earthquakes, men killing believers for no good reason – even here in America, diseases, and troubles beyond measure that take you to the breaking point. Yes, even in the face of such tragedy, change, and hardship, we are privileged. Such times draw us closer to one another and remind us of all we have for which to be thankful. Such times remind us of the joy of sharing that with which we are so bountifully blessed.
We are thankful for God’s Holy Word and a place in which to gather to hear it. Sometimes church membership can seem to be a burden – there is always work to be done in addition to your daily vocations. We don’t always get along with each other. But the Church is a family. We all know that some of the toughest relationships you have are with your own family.
When you’re faced with setbacks in life, no matter how difficult, it is most often family and friends that help get you through them and point you back to the source of all good – Jesus. Your church family is no different, in fact in many ways it is better because we gather in the very presence of Jesus Himself. There’s no need to be a wild grape when God surrounds you with so many other grapes. Look down the row at the other vines in the field. Look at the productive harvest God desires from all those vines! We support each other on our corner of the vine, on the vines down the row, and even the wild grapes we encounter. Everything we can offer one another is a gift, as St. James reminds us: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”6
Everything we receive here reminds us that Jesus came into this world to suffer all the evil fruits that sin and death produce so that we can be sure we will go out of this world into eternal life with Him. We are not entitled to one bit of these abundant blessings in this life and the next. We are privileged to receive everything, through the work of Christ. We are privileged to have those seated to your left and right to serve and be served, to mutually support and encourage because God first planted you in His vineyard. Ever since that day, He promises to sustain it. Who wants to be a sour grape with a gift like that?
+ In the Name of Jesus, Amen. +
Now may the peace which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and your minds focused on Christ Jesus.
+ Amen +
πᾶσα δόσις ἀγαθὴ καὶ πᾶν δώρημα τέλειον ἄνωθέν ἐστιν καταβαῖνον ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν φώτων, παρ’ ᾧ οὐκ ἔνι παραλλαγὴ ἢ τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα. (James 1:17)
1Isaiah 5:1-2 (ESV).
2I Corinthians 3:7
3Matthew 21:33-46
4Matthew 21:28-32
5Lutheran Service Book, Hymn #691: Fruitful Tees, The Spirit’s Sowing, v.4.
6James 1:17 (ESV).