The Vineyard
Fr. Dale Matson
There is a common thread to our Old Testament, Psalm and Gospel lessons. Our Gospel lesson is a parable told by Jesus, which draws heavily from the Old Testament.
“Jesus said, "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. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They 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." I’ll come back to our Gospel Lesson in a bit.
I am reminded of God’s command to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28. “Then God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’.” It seems like God is especially upset when His people do not bear fruit. Remember when Jesus cursed the fig tree for failing to bear figs. Adam and Eve were put on this earth to dress and keep the garden. They were put here to cultivate and protect the garden. We were intended to be stewards of this earth. We were to be stewards of God’s creation, not worship God’s creation. A prominent California politician announced recently, “Now, we're, again, breaking records. Mother Earth is angry. She's telling us -- whether - she's telling us with hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fires in the West, whatever it is, that climate crisis is real and has an impact.” I respectfully disagree with her analysis. I believe it is not “mother Earth”, it is our creator getting our attention. In particular, it is the church, the bride of Christ that has turned her back on Christ, the bridegroom. Scripture teaches us that God disciplines those he loves. This is stated in Hebrews (12-6), Psalm (94:12) and Proverbs (3:12) and other versus.
I am somewhat concerned about my role as a Christian and a priest in society today. When should I be obedient and respectful of authority and when should I speak truth to power? I think to myself, is it only my truth and the truth of like-minded folks who are my friends? When should I resist? Should I encourage others to resist? Sometimes I feel Like Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country For Old Men when he said, “I feel overmatched”.
Many of you may know already of Pastor John MacArthur who heads a church with 7,000 members in Southern California. He has been in a running battle with the California governor and mayor of Los Angeles against the Covid restrictions. He has now been cited and fined for continuing to meet inside their building. I asked our Bishop Eric about our role as a church and he responded as follows, “I don't disagree at all that we have turned our backs on God and that we are reaping the whirlwind for it. I believe that the breakdown in society, crime, racism, the police officer who killed George Floyd, these are all a result of sin. I believe that we need to preach against that sin all the time and, indeed I do.” In communicating with Cat Young, about another matter, she stated, “Very distressing to see love grow cold right before your eyes, as prophesied in scripture. Beginning to understand the wisdom in Paul's choice to ‘know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.’ Saves a lot of sifting through garbage news media. I take hope in the nearness of our God, and expect ‘great exploits’ of His church in days to come.” In his sermon last week, Fr. Carlos compared our current culture to Ancient Rome and Greece in moral depravity. Indeed, we as Christians feel ‘overmatched’.
As Anglicans we believe that "...the Church on earth is united with the Church in heaven, ('sanctorum communio'). We speak of the 'Church Militant here on earth' and the Church triumphant in heaven. However, as Anglicans we worship God together with 'angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven.' Is what we do today honoring those who came before us? The church triumphant and the church militant speak with one voice. Are we, as a church, a millstone for our culture or still the salt of the earth? Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churches_Militant,_Penitent,_and_Triumphant
Martin Luther said in his small catechism that we should fear and love God. I believe that the modern church no longer fears God. We once feared God. Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. The Psalmist said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 9:10) Idolatry is not just worshipping false idols and loving things more than God. Idolatry is also fearing things and circumstances more than God. During the Great Awakening, Johnathon Edwards preached his famous sermon, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”. The first verse in the Battle Hymn of the Republic states, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on.” God disciplines the ones he loves.
Instead, the modern church has adopted John Lennon’s song “Imagine”.
“Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can…”
In our Old Testament Lesson Isaiah stated, “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; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. This is obviously a reference to Israel. It is noteworthy that wild grapes can become a noxious weed in an area where it is not native. Israel was not native to the land of Canaan and this is noted in our Psalm. “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *you cast out the nations and planted it. You prepared the ground for it; *it took root and filled the land.” So what good are wild grapes? Wild grapes are hardy and make good rootstock for wine grapes. How ironic it is that Israel would become the rootstock for Christianity.
Jesus also tells this Gospel lesson in Mark and Luke. The account is nearly identical in all three versions. John Wesley states in his commentary on this parable that the fence God put around the vineyard was the Law and His providence. By God’s providence, Wesley means God’s protection and nurturance. The watchtower represented the temple. The servants who attempted to collect the produce from the tenants were the prophets who were abused and killed by the Israelites.
Finally God the owner of the vineyard sent his son to collect and the tenants thought they could not only avoid what was due the landowner, they could get the inheritance that belonged to the son if they killed him. This is an obvious reference by Christ to Himself. He, like the prophets would be killed. In the same Gospel account from Luke the landlord states; “I will send my beloved son.” After the Baptism of Jesus and after His transfiguration, God stated, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They 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." I suppose those that gave this response were bystanders not the scribes and Pharisees for if we look at the passage from Luke, we hear the following. “He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” So, in the same parable in different Gospels we hear both the response of the bystanders and the response of religious people of the day. They knew they were the wicked tenants that Jesus was referring to and they also wanted to kill Him. This parable spoke to the sense of justice of the common man and to the wicked hearts of the religious leaders; the scribes and Pharisees.
The Vineyard is an apt metaphor for us here in the Central Valley of California. One of the largest wineries in the world is the Gallo winery with one of seven production facilities here in Fresno Ca. on Olive avenue. Gallo produces 40 percent of the wine in the U.S. You can drive most anywhere around Fresno and see the grape vines.
I am now age 76. These past few years, the Lord has impressed on me the impermanence of this world. I noticed it for the first time backpacking in the Sierras. The mighty monolithic granite you see when you look at El Capitan in Yosemite is not typical of the Sierra Nevada mountains as a whole. The mountains are crumbling to rubble and dust. When climbers summit many of the Sierra Nevada mountains, they have to initially slog through Talus and Scree and climb huge blocks of granite. The scree, Talus and huge granite blocks are signs of entropy. The mighty civilizations are also crumbling to dust. The world is not evolving. Since the Fall of man, the world is subject to corruption also known as entropy. One understanding of entropy is Entropy is is the general trend of the universe toward death and disorder (James R. Newman). https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entropy
Nothing is permanent except God’s Kingdom.
I am reminded of Paul’s statement in Romans chapter eight. “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Amen
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