Psalm 69: 1–20; Isaiah 5: 1–7; Mark 12: 1–12
Vineyards
I have a cousin who grows grapes. Sadly, for me, and also for the grapes, he doesn’t grow grapes in a vineyard in France or Italy or Australia – and he doesn’t make wine with them. He grows grapes in his back garden in Hillingdon and he makes jam with them. They’re much too small and too sour to be worth doing anything else with. We may not be in the best country for wine production, but we’re certainly in the territory of viniculture this evening, in both of our readings. In our first, the Song of the Vineyard from Isaiah, God features as the disappointed gardener. “What did I do wrong?” he asks, sounding almost like a questioner at Gardener’s Question Time. “I planted the best variety of vines for making wine – but look what came up – wild grapes”. No use at all. The Song is a very clever piece of writing. It has the metre of a love-song but moves like a lament. The vineyard stands for God’s beloved people, Israel. They have disappointed.
So what fruits does God look for from His vineyard? What does He hope for from us?
Isaiah is concerned with the kind of society he sees around himself. God expected justice and righteousness; His people were to reflect His order, mercy and love, in their relationships with one another. He found only bloodshed and cries as the strong took advantage of the weak and some people sought gain at the expense of others. Social justice ought to be a priority for God’s people.
Taking the garden produce metaphor to the New Testament we find the fruits of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5: 22 – 23). Such fruits are the natural result of the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon His people. God is often much less interested in our good works than we are. But much more concerned with our attitudes – who we are and what we’re like – whether we’re growing the fruits of the spirit. Because if we’re beginning to show those fruits our actions will fall in line with them. Perhaps this is what it means to have God’s law written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). Personal transformation will lead naturally to a concern for social justice and to much more as well.
I wonder, do we really believe that God is slowly transforming us, from the inside out?
Jesus’ parable of the vineyard which was our second reading builds on Isaiah’s Song but also foreshadows the Passion narrative. The precious only Son is rejected and killed. The story is placed within a series of challenges and controversies which Jesus faced and which centred on His authority and His relationship with the religious powers of His day. The tenants are the scribes, Pharisees and elders with whom Jesus has been in debate. Rather scandalously, they’ve not been paying their rent, in produce, to the master. How could they possibly now be so presumptuous as to think that they would inherit the vineyard if they killed the owner’s son? The theme is power and its misuse. The religious elite refuse to recognise Christ, to whom the ordinary people flock in droves. Instead they’re threatened by Him. They have too much invested in the system and in their collaboration with the Romans. They don’t want anything or anyone to disturb this – even God.
This is not a parable directed only against Jewish leaders. It applies equally to church leaders, many of whom down the ages have faced similar dilemnas. To collaborate with oppressive regimes or to stand out against them? To keep rigidly to the rules or to recognise that the Spirit of God works both within and despite the institution of the church. The notes to the 1599 edition of the Geneva Bible make this sobering comment. “Those men are often the cruellest enemies of the Church, to whose faithfulness it is committed: But the vocation of God is neither tied to time, place, nor person.”
All of us, but especially any of us in positions of leadership in the church need to ask ourselves on a regular basis, “Who or what are we seeking to serve?” Is it really Christ, or is it something else? Perhaps this is especially appropriate with the APCM approaching. We can’t ever hope for our motives to be entirely pure, but we can at least pray for our hearts to be set in the direction of Christ.
The parable tells us that God is bigger than the Church. He’s in charge and He will rescue His people if need be just like the owner of the vineyard. For Christ will always be both the cornerstone and the rejected stone, or the stumbling block. As Paul puts it,
“we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1: 23 – 25).
We’re all tempted, in our own ways, to reject Christ, not to allow His rule in our lives. As we follow the events of Holy Week, let us draw near to Christ and to His Cross. Let us acknowledge His Lordship of our lives and of the Church and ask His forgiveness for all that limits our response to His love. Let us ask too that we may grow in grace, producing more of the fruits of the spirit. Then our church will become like a fruitful vineyard, heavy with good ripe grapes ready for the Master.
Amen