Lectionary 27 October 5, 2014
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie G. Hutson
Isaiah 5: 1-7 + Philippians 3: 4b-14 + Psalm 80: 7-15 +
Matthew 21: 33-46
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
When I served North Salem Lutheran Church in Upper Sandusky Ohio, I was privileged to live in their parsonage. It was a lovely, comfortable home with a giant yard and a garden patch out back. Next to the garden patch was a trellis enclosed sitting area with grapevines growing up it. When I first moved into the parsonage I was intimidated by the garden patch, but I was enchanted by the trellis with the grapevines. It was like my own little secret garden space in there and I soon put a lovely wooden bench underneath the vine covered trellis where I sat for many, many happy hours reading and praying and pondering.
I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with the grapes that were growing there. Initially I thought I would just eat them, you know, right off of the vine, which is what I tried. Let’s just say they weren’t those kind of grapes. They had a unique sour taste to them – I wasn’t sure how they would be useful for anything other than to look good.
As the first year of living in the parsonage went on , each season yielded the discovery of many different kinds of plants that were growing, not only in my little vineyard, but all around that space. It sent me to garden shops and the internet and the library in search of some clue, some hint….how do I care for what is growing around me?
Jesus uses the language of the vineyard or the fields to describe the kingdom of God and to make his point. He does it a lot. Our Gospel readings in Matthew have been describing life in the vineyard as life in the Kingdom for several weeks. And here we are again today. And together with the Gospel reading, both the Old Testament reading from Isaiah 5 and the Psalm speak of God’s people, Israel, as the vineyard.
What we hear in those two readings is about the unfaithfulness of the vineyard, or of God’s people. In the reading from Isaiah the expectations were that the vineyard would yield grapes and instead it yielded wild grapes, likely grapes that tasted like those grapes growing in my backyard. And it’s important to note that what God had expected from God’s people, from the vineyard, was justice and righteousness. And instead there was bloodshed and a crying out.
You see, God had been very clear about what was required of God’s people. The prophet Micah reminded them that all that was required was that they do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. But doing justice is hard. It is hard every day. It is hard on a personal level and it is hard on a national level, but it is what God has called us to.
The Psalmist laments the demise of the vine, that was so tenderly planted. It has been ravaged and is no longer the strength that it once was and the Psalmist pleads for the preservation of the vine.
And in the Gospel reading Jesus tells the Pharisees and the leaders of the church a story that once again reminds them of their unfaithfulness in tending the vineyard. It is a bitter lesson for them to hear and in fact, they want to arrest him for telling it, but are afraid of the crowds following him.
So what do we do with these vineyard stories? What can we learn from those who preceded us in the vineyard and what can we learn from our own work there?
This week I met with a group of church leaders to talk about the rising and sometimes overwhelming need that is present in our area. We had gathered with a practical intent: to share lists of resources and ideas to help the many who are hungry and homeless and right under our noses. As these things go, we also ended up talking about life in the church – the struggles our congregations are experiencing – the shared, though still discouraging drop in people in worship, folks in fellowship. And one person made this observation: The Church is not doing a very good job of carrying the love of God into the world and what we are experiencing now is the consequence of our failure to care for anyone other than ourselves. So, other communities pick up the slack. People find God’s loving kindness and justice seeking and humility somewhere else. In places where those who gather seek a broader common good.
That was a heavy note for us to hear. A hard pill to swallow. I felt something like those Pharisees must have felt when they heard Jesus tell this parable about the wicked tenants.
As our conversation continued, many of us shared a common frustration: we are not social workers or case managers. We are pastors. We are trained to understand and interpret Scripture and to administer the Sacraments. As far as the Church is concerned, if any of us have wider gifts than those, it’s a bonus. So the work that we are finding ourselves doing day in and day out – the work of finding shelter and food and medical care and mental health facilities and a place folks can shower and a way they can get downtown to the social security office and a way they can sleep at night without being afraid and clean socks and a hat because the weather has turned cold – that work is actually not what any of us expected in the vineyard. But it is what is growing there.
So what do we do now? We have been called, not just the clergy and the leaders and the Pharisees….but every one of us….we have been called to tend to the presence and the potential of the Kingdom of God. God has called each of us to tend something that we did not plant. Something that is beyond our control. We don’t know what the yield will be, whether it will be grapes or wild grapes or peonies or dahlias or collard greens, but God has called us into this vineyard, here on this corner, and said “Tend the vineyard.” And we have no idea what will grow here.
About a week and a half ago I met Ron and Kellie. They have been homeless since September 3rd. They heard, through the grapevine, if you will, that they could get food here. They are faithful believers and begin and end every day with prayer. They have asked me to pray with them and they have prayed for our congregation. When they first became homeless they were downtown because it seemed that many services were available to them there, but it was not safe there. So they made their way to Broadview, where they’ve found it somewhat safer to sleep, although many nights they still sleep in shifts. Last Wednesday they were at our lunch window as soon as we opened it at 9am. They sat out front to eat their tuna and SPAM and I went out to talk with them. They were exhausted and Kellie was sick. They were starving because they had not eaten since the sack lunch they’d received from us almost 24 hours earlier. It was easy to see that they were at their breaking point. In addition, their bank card had been damaged, they showed it to me, and it would not run, so they had no access to the little money they have. I verified this through their bank. And, the bank said, they’d need to mail them a replacement. You see the problem with that? And of course, they couldn’t walk around with cash, that’s too dangerous. And besides they had no way to actually get to the bank. Combine those challenges with hunger and no sleep and you can imagine their hopelessness. I was so sad for them and so frustrated with myself because I am a Pastor – I could not solve their problems. But you, people of God, you did make it better. Because of your gifts to Helping Hands, I could get them a warm meal in a restaurant and give them money for the bus and get them two nights in a hotel on Aurora Ave that I would not want to stay in. But the other hotels won’t take “these kinds of people.”
We have been called to tend to the presence of the Kingdom, as it comes to us each day. Searching for kindness, which we must share; searching for justice, for which we must work; and searching for someone to share God’s love with them.
And we are called to tend to the potential of the Kingdom. How can we use what we have in the work of the vineyard, given to us by a God of mercy, by a God who calls us to justice making, to share with those around us?
People of God, put on your work shoes, we are heading into the fields to see what’s growing there. Thanks be to God. Amen.