First Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7
1Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2He 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. 3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
Psalm 80:7-18
7Restore us, O God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved. 8You have brought a vine out of Egypt; you cast out the nations and planted it. 9You prepared the ground for it; it took root and filled the land. 10The mountains were covered by its shadow and the towering cedar trees by its boughs. 11You stretched out its tendrils to the sea and its branches to the river. 12Why have you broken down its wall, so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes? 13The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it. 14Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven; behold and tend this vine; preserve what your right hand has planted. 15They burn it with fire like rubbish; at the rebuke of your countenance let them perish. 16Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, the son of man you have made so strong for yourself. 17And so will we never turn away from you; give us life, that we may call upon your Name. 18Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
Second Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14
4bIf anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46
33{Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people,} “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” 42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” 45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
God Knows
God knows is a phrase we often use to underscore the limits of our knowledge. We use it to describe our lack of understanding, or to try and convince someone of our sincerity. It’s also a way of admitting that we just don’t know everything. Having reached the end of our ability to comprehend a situation, we roll our eyes heavenward and say with varying measures of exasperation, confusion, and bewilderment, “God knows.”
“Only God knows why that happened.” “God knows what I was thinking.” “Only God knows why they did that.” I suppose in one way it’s a statement of confidence: if we don’t know something, at least God does. “Only God knows how I’m going to get out of this.” “God knows I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.” Maybe it’s a way of deflecting blame. Maybe it’s an attempt at a distraction. Or maybe, we do this to comfort ourselves. “God knows. I don’t, but God certainly does.”
Indeed, the fact that God knows all things is one of the foundational understandings of our Christian faith. It’s also a source of comfort. God is indeed all-knowing, “Omniscient” if that’s the word you prefer. God knows because God is God. There are things we don’t know because we are not God. We may be extremely smart, we may be wise in many ways, but we’re certainly not omniscient. Yet God is all-knowing and more. This is what we believe. This is what we teach. This is one of the foundational assertions of our Christian faith. But what about our First Reading for today? What is God saying through the prophet Isaiah?
In our Old Testament passage, God’s words through His prophet seem to paint a picture of mystery or confusion on God’s part. His words to His chosen people would seem to indicate that there are times when God doesn’t know all things. Here in this text, it seems that even God, at times, is baffled. Now before you jump up and ask Trent and Wade to cast me from the Synagogue, let me explain. Before we continue to examine our first reading, we must concede that God has given us free will. Free will is the gift, and a burden, that means we choose between God’s will and our will. But the subject of Free Will isn’t so easy to understand.
God in His infinite wisdom chose to allow us to have a measure of control over our lives. We all know that there’s no such thing as absolute freedom of choice. We must acknowledge that there are forces at work that restrict, temper, or moderate our ability to choose. But for the most part, we are free to make choices that affect our lives, not only today, but we are free to make choices that impact our future. We commonly refer to this gift as “Free Will”, but we know that there are limits and restraints. This is true for both our secular lives as well as our spiritual lives.
Free Will has been a heavily discussed topic in theological circles for centuries. There are those who teach that we are free to choose salvation, and we are free to choose destruction. God has no influence. And then there are those who teach that our eternal destiny has nothing to do with us. God has already for-ordained who is to be saved and who is to be lost. We have no choice. In between these two teachings Luther wrote that while we do have Free Will, that will is corrupted by sin. Our ability to choose righteousness over unrighteousness is corrupted by our sinful nature and without the help of the Holy Spirit, we would never be able to choose the path of righteousness. Luther called this work, the Bondage of the Will.
I won’t attempt to go into the details of Luther’s writing; it took him over 300 pages to explain it. Suffice it to say, without God’s help we can only make self-centered choices. Without the Holy Spirit, we would never think of our neighbor, unless it benefited us, nor could we choose the things of God. Our Free Will is corrupt and without God’s help, we are lost. In his explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, Luther wrote, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”
I brought this up to say that the fact that our will is heavily affected by sin must be considered when we read our Old Testament lesson, and for that matter our Gospel lessons for today. God does indeed know everything, but because He gave us the gift of choice, means there can be more than a single outcome. It means that at times even God is baffled by the result of a situation.
God’s perplexity is highlighted in the story of a vineyard owner who does everything right. He cleared the land on a fertile hill and selected choice vines to plant. No shortcuts were taken; no expense was spared. Nothing but the best was invested. In addition to ensuring the excellence of soil and plants, the owner has spared no expense or effort in constructing additional features to enhance the enterprise: a watchtower is built, a wine vat is constructed.
Everything about the vineyard, it would seem, is perfect; good land, good soil, good vines, good security, good facilities. In a real sense, the vineyard had become an object of devotion and affection for the owner. Its success is a driving force, the passion of His soul. He knows that the venture will take years of time and resources, but He is willing to invest the time, resources, and energy into what He hopes will be a profitable endeavor. Having invested much of Himself and much of His resources in it, the vineyard owner sits back and awaits the harvest, naturally expecting a healthy return on His investment. God knows He deserves it.
God knows He’s done all that he can. Amazingly, astoundingly, the vineyard owner’s expectations are unfulfilled. In place of fine grapes, the vines produce only wild, unmanageable grapes. He can’t believe it. He did everything right for that vineyard, yet it failed to produce. How could it happen? How could this be? Only God knows. But in this story, God is still the baffled owner of the vineyard and the vines that failed to meet His expectation are His chosen people. God gave them all they needed.
God freed them from captivity. He saved them from the pursuing Egyptian Army. God fed them heavenly food in the desert and provided water in the desert. He drove out their enemies before them. He led them dry shod into the Promised Land; a land filled with milk and honey. A land complete with houses they did not build, wells they did not dig, and vineyards that did not plant. God spared no cost, no effort, no love. God gave them the best of everything. Yet God’s chosen people could only produce wild grapes, fruit not fit for anything but the wild animals. God’s beloved people choose to not live up to the promises they made.
Upon seeing the result of all His efforts, the vineyard owner asks in exasperation, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?” (5:4). Even God can become frustrated by our decisions. God feels the pain and disappointment of seeing all His efforts wasted when we choose ourselves over Him. God, in giving us “Free Will”, limits Himself because He knows you can’t force someone love you. If you think religion is just about rules and regulations, then this passage forces you think twice about that.
For those who believe that God is some kind of super-puppeteer, who pulls each string and effects our every move, then this passage calls that belief into question. If you understand God to be an unmoved taskmaster without feeling or concern or interest, then this passage forces you to reevaluate that assumption. God willingly made Himself vulnerable. God chose to give us the ability to choose between Him and ourselves. God loves everything He has made and God longs for that love to be returned, aches for potential to be realized, and yearns for righteousness and justice from those He created. Certainly, God has expectations. He expects good results from all the effort and expense He has invested. And anytime expectations are not met, God feels pain, frustration, and disappointment.
We know what that’s like, don’t we? We know what it’s like to give ourselves to another and have that love rejected. We know what it’s like when someone we care about disappoints us. We know what it’s like when even our best efforts fall short. As any gardener knows, sometimes the plants just don’t grow. You prepare the soil correctly. There’s enough sunlight, water, and care. But the plants just don’t grow. Is that the gardener’s fault? The same is true for people.
Sometimes children make bad choices. Is that the parents’ fault? Sometimes a spouse makes a wrong decision. Is that the partner’s fault? Sometimes a friend takes a mistaken course of action. Is that your fault? The vineyard owner did everything He could for His vineyard. The grapes were still wild and unmanageable. Is that His fault?
No. No, it’s not. Because God gave us the ability to choose, we must accept the responsibility for what we’ve done or what we haven’t done. At some point, we must accept responsibility for the mistakes we’ve made.
The wild, unmanageable grapes are not the fault of the vineyard owner who did all that he could. The child’s bad choice is not the fault of the parent who did all they could. The wrong decision by a spouse is not the fault of their partner who did all they could. The mistaken action of a friend is not your fault if you did all you could. God knows it’s not your fault. God knows it’s not His fault either. Our Bound Will is the explanation, but not the excuse. We all must accept responsibility for the decisions we make and take responsibility for the outcome.
We, each of us, are responsible for what we do, what we say, and who we are. We are responsible to ourselves, responsible to each another, and we are responsible to God. Responsibility is one of our least favorite words, because we cannot shift the liability. We’d much rather cast blame than accept responsibility. “It’s my parents’ fault.” “It’s my society’s fault.” “It’s my friend’s fault.” “It’s my enemies’ fault.” “It’s the government’s fault.” “It’s the system’s fault.” “It’s God fault.” Just fill in the blank. We do it all the time. As someone has said, it’s a lot easier to point the finger than the thumb.
However, sooner or later, we must realize that we are who we are because of what we’ve done, or failed to do, because of the choices we’ve made, and actions we’ve taken. We’ve chosen to follow the twisted paths and to worship the false gods, and as a result, we’re the ones responsible for what we’re going through. God knows there wasn’t anything else to be done for those grapes. They came out wild and unmanageable, despite the vineyard owner’s best efforts.
There are consequences to the wildness of the vines, just as there are consequences to the waywardness of our lives. Our bad choices and poor decisions and mistaken actions have consequences. A big part of accepting responsibility for what we’ve done is understanding that there will be consequences. Oftentimes, those consequences will be difficult to accept.
In this passage, the vineyard is torn down and trampled. The protecting walls are removed. God knows the consequences of failing to meet the vineyard owner’s expectations can be quite severe (5:5-6). Bad choices can end relationships. Poor decisions can wreck families. Mistaken actions can ruin lives. Bowing down to false gods can deplete our souls. Worshiping idols can destroy us. There are serious consequences, God knows. The consequences are serious, yet we are feeble.
Our best efforts are frequently ineffective. Our good intentions are seldom enough. Despite what we’d like to do and what we try to do, we’re only human, our will is captive to sin, and we cannot free ourselves. But God also knows that there is no consequence that cannot be redeemed; no choice so bad, no decision so poor, no action so mistaken that God cannot forgive it and even use it to transform us.
The vineyard owner, baffled and puzzled by his unproductive vineyard, will not give up on the idea that vines can be grown that will bear good fruit. Heartbreak and disappointment compel Him to tear down the vines that produced only wild grapes. That’s where this passage ends, but the story goes on.
Love motivates the vineyard owner to plant anew. Growing fine grapes is His life’s passion and the vineyard owner will not be thwarted. God knows that an unruly people can be made whole and complete, that the corruption of sin can be taken away, that lives can be changed. In the rubble of this failed attempt to grow fine grapes, the persistent vineyard owner starts again with a new vine, a vine that cannot be found anywhere else, a vine that He fashioned himself. We can even say it was a vine that came from His very heart.
In the rubble of our failures and mistakes, the God who will not give up sent Jesus Christ, a Savior to help, a Teacher to learn from. God sent His only Son, to bring peace and salvation. God planted Jesus in the vineyard of the earth, and Jesus says to all of us under the burden of responsibility and consequence, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). At last, the vineyard owner has found a way to grow good grapes.
At last, there is a way for us to flourish as our creator intends. At last, there is a way to redeem our failings and restore our souls. At last, there is a way to escape the tyranny of idols who demand so much but provide nothing. At last, the vineyard is beautiful and productive, as the grapes are formed and nourished by the vine from the very heart of God, Jesus Christ. Our Free Will is bound, but God has provided the means to free that will and when we are grafted into the True Vine, we will produce fruit that pleases God.
Amen