Proper22A, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Moses Lake, WA by
Annette Fricke
In the news, we heard about a
shooting in Moses Lake, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Orlando, a small Eastern
Washington high school, and a stabbing at Federal Way High school. Unlike the other shootings, the shooting in
Las Vegas was such a large-scale event that the US flag was to be at
half-staff, to formally indicate a nation in mourning. On this day, the imagery
of the Gospel text is no different.
Jesus tells a parable handed down to us in such violent language that
one author deems it “murderous hostility.”
Turns out that this type of scenario is the type of thing that really
did happen in Palestine in the first century.
Tenants were not paid weekly or at the end of the harvest, but every 5 years.
So we can understand from an economic standpoint, it was literally a murderous reality
in that day and age for many people.[1]
However, if you think just for a
minute that this story is straightforward, you would be mistaken. It is a mixed bag of reality and allegory
with sentences thrown in that make no sense with the surrounding context.
This is one of several vineyard
stories in Matthew and talks about one of his frequent themes, that of bearing
fruit. It is common knowledge that
Matthew was once used by the early church as a tool of instruction for those
wishing to be a full member of the church.
It was expected by the church that becoming a Christian meant that you were
joining a group of people meant by God to bear fruit. In a very real sense, the early Christians understood
Jesus’ teaching to mean that living as a Christian in God’s kingdom was both a
present as well as a future situation.
This parable paints a bleak picture for those who do not follow Jesus. I
don’t know that I particularly agree with the contrast. But then, this is a standard
way to be presented if the understanding is that the kingdom of God will occur
before the present disciples die. Thus, the continued predictions of the end of
the world and so far, the predictors have not been accurate.
If we are to see the vineyard as the
kingdom of God, this parable implies that God has supplied all that is needed,
for example, the watchtower and the wine press.
God is the owner of that vineyard. Every bit if it is God’s. People are used to the
concept that 10% belongs to God. Not so.
All belongs to God. We are the managers or stewards of all that God
has given.[2]
But there are two meanings of the
word “fruit.” Fruit can mean repentance
as in the case of the baptism which John the Baptist talked about and the other
is producing the fruit of love. Being
loved by God, we are invited to love others. It means that we have everything
we need to produce fruit, yet all goes awry because we, the tenants, want
more. We can be selfish. Whether
intentional or not, God’s goals for the kingdom appear often to be in a state
of sabotage. The servants or leaders
that God sends are killed. The people
somehow do not see how the servants fit into the kingdom and perhaps are not
even thinking about the kingdom or have a different concept of the kingdom of
God. Historically, those sent by God
were the prophets God sent to the people of Israel. In today’s world, they
would be the leadership of the Church.
This is a small congregation and
because it is so small, leadership needs to be expanded to include most of
us. We all have various gifts and talents
that are given to us by God for the strengthening of our brothers and sisters,
to watch out for each other, to build up the church and to support the mission
of the church with UTO offerings, funding the utilitarian boat for Camp Cross, feeding
the hungry, and tending to the decision-making process for the good of the
diocese. If we are not the leaders, our
role could be that of helping the leaders.
It also means evangelism. Reaching out is a natural behavior that
follows all that God has done for us and it will also afford us the opportunity
to grow as a local congregation. If you
have ideas for any of these areas, please share them with the leadership of
this church. Please volunteer your time
and talent. We do want to keep our church.
Yes, the world still has a lot of
violence, even in our own backyards, but we need to overcome the overwhelming
impact and grief that it has had on us.
God is still calling us to respond in love towards our neighbors and to
be a word of peace in a place of turmoil.
God has blessed us abundantly; may we
also be empowered to share that abundance with others. Let’s not keep this to ourselves. Even though
we will sometimes get caught up in going awry and even participate in possible
sabotage, it is our Christian response to God’s love in Jesus Christ who gave
his whole self for us to be Christ to the world.
