Author: Rosemary

Readings:  Isaiah 5, 1-7; Psalm 80; Philippians 4, 6-9; Matthew 21, 33-43. 

Isaiah:

• The biggest of the big 3 prophets not only because of the book's volume, 66 chapters, but because of the beauty of some passages. 

• Time written: before the Babylonian Captivity (ca. 590) chapters 1-39 seem to have been composed by the prophet.  After the Captivity (ca. 540) at least two followers seem to have composed chapters 40-66.

• Today's selection: talks about a vineyard worker who labors carefully to bring forth good grapes, but gets only weeds.  What does he do with the vines?  This story matches up with Matthew's parable.

The Parable of the Landowner with a Vineyard

Sometimes I encounter a parable that I find really difficult to understand.  This is one of them.  I wonder why the landowner would send his son to the tenants after twice they had killed his servants when they went to collect the produce. 

Obviously, as in the case of all parables, we are faced with multiple layers of symbolism.  Of course, the landowner represents Yahweh.  The tenants are the Jewish people.  Remember Matthew is writing both to Jews and Gentiles. He is warning the Jews that they are going to lose their preferential place in Yahweh's plan if they do not accept Jesus as The Savior. 

The son is Jesus, the savior, the man the Jews criticized and condemned to death.  But why would He send his son? 

I have one story about this that gave me an insight into the mind set of Yahweh and Matthew's intention with the parable.  You may have heard me tell the story three years ago, but it is all I got even to this day.

It concerns a red oak I planted years ago on the corner of Willow Lane and Inwood.  This is the south eastern corner of the Jesuit property.  I had just started planting trees in Dallas.  It may have been fall of '87 or fall of '88.  I planted a whole row of trees on both Inwood and Willow, edging the campus. 

On the Inwood side of the corner is a bus stop and students from various schools used to catch the bus there.  The winter after I planted the five gallon red oak, it was pulled out and thrown away.  I replanted.  Later in the year it was pulled out and thrown in the creek again.  I was hurt, mad, and especially frustrated because it was the tree on the very corner, Willow side.  It one day would shade the bus stop, in fact.

I waited.  I reflected.  Eventually I decided to plant again in the fall, but this time I was going to plant a tree two times the size and two times the cost.  I thought, 'maybe the kids will respect the bigger tree.  I really hoped to have a nice tree some day shading the people waiting for the bus. 

So I planted.  And waited some more.  Today a beautiful red oak shades the people waiting for the bus.  It is almost twenty years old.  

The parable of the landowner presents the man as somewhat idiotic but also ready to take revenge on the tenants who killed his servants and son.  I think I see two levels of symbolism.

On one level the landowner represents Yahweh who has, first, tried to deal reasonably with the tenants.  Then, secondly, Matthew indicates that Yahweh will put the wretched laborers to a wretched end, meaning the Jews are going to get it.

I see a second level of symbolism, which maybe Matthew did not intend.  The landowner who seems so idiotic represents a Yahweh who is truly idiotic.  But he is idiotic over his people because He loves them.  We are his people.  We are the tenants.   

My experience with the tree showed me that I can do idiotic things to make our place a better place to live in.  I was fortunate. 

What is your image of our God?

AUDIO: sorry, none today.

Readings:  Ezekiel 18, 25-28; Psalm 25; Philippians 2, 1-11; Matthew 21, 28-32

Ezekiel: One of the Big 3, along with Isaiah & Jeremiah.   This is mostly due to the fact that these three books are bigger than the other, smaller books.

• Time: ca. 585, the time of the Babylonian captivity.

• Place: probably composed in Babylon

• Most famous story: the valley of the dry bones that take on life because of Ezekiel, chapter 37.

• Today's message: the wicked will perish, the good will have life.  Is the life metaphorical?

Working the Vineyard

Last Friday I was back in the grocery story again.  This time it was the Kroger's on the corner of Maple Ave. & Douglas in the Oaklawn area near downtown Dallas.  Fridays I visit a lady in her 90's who is finding it more difficult to get around.  Many of you know her, Elizabeth.  Because of her limited mobility, I buy groceries for the week for her.

On this particular trip in the late morning, I was pushing a cart from the parking lot and entered the store through an initial area where the carts are stored.  A small, middle aged Hispanic lady was sweeping up in the middle of the space.  I stopped while she finished where I wanted to pass.  When she realized that she had been responsible for my waiting, she humbly apologized.  I responded, "No problem, thanks for what you are doing."   Her smile in return was touching.

The day before Rosemary was walking in the neighborhood in the evening.  She has a favorite house because it has a beautiful flower display.  This particular evening she sees the lady from the house and compliments her on her work.  The lady is delighted and thanks her for her compliment.

I think of these simple small events when I hear the story of the two brothers.  Of course, you have heard me talk for years about either or spirituality, namely one brother or the other.  But in fact, there is no either or spirituality.  We are both.

What I would like to explore today, however, is the vineyard.  Obviously, this parable is metaphorical, that is, symbolic of something bigger than two boys, a father, and a vineyard.  The boys symbolize you and me and all people, the father is God, and the vineyard–what is it?  I would suggest that the vineyard is a labor with at least at least three parts. 

The first part is the world, beginning with our local world.  The job is to make it better because of my presence.  When I was a kid and we used to go camping as Boy Scouts, my dad and others used to teach us, 'Always leave your campsite better than you found it.'  An equally popular teaching is, 'Bloom where you are planted. 

This may involve nothing more complicated than picking up trash in the street or park.  Inspiration from these teachings was what got me started planting trees in Dallas back in '88, and even before that in Tanzania & Kenya.  About a year ago when Ron Kovatis was in charge of the Great Trinity Forest, we had a big crowd of the community tackle the litter & trash in the forest.  One of our community, my bicycle partner, Bill Hammond, even works on the Richardson Beautification Committee.

There is a second labor in the vineyard: people.  Helping others to get through this life.  Teachers do it professionally, coaches & scout leaders do it often freely and with great influence.  Parents obviously.   I am grateful to Tom & Lynda Fleming for inviting us and challenging us to help with local Habitat houses.  Julia and Al Grenier's astounding work in setting up the Collin Co. Adult Clinic.  How many totally poor people get medical help on Thursday evenings!  It is a privilege to help the clinic with our outreach contributions.   

The third labor in the vineyard: myself.  To treasure the gift of myself.  This may take work.  I both treasure the gift and improve it.  Planting trees at middle schools and high schools is often pretty daunting because of vandalism.  How many times watering the trees at Plano Senior do we see a tree whacked off or pulled out.  I know so well that the kids doing this are certainly not seeing themselves as a treasure.  They are usually angry and underneath are hurting.  Consequently, I don't get wigged out about the vandalism.  If the tree is gone, I give it a year, hoping the kid grows beyond the anger and hurt.  Or graduates!  Then I replant.

The vineyard is there, folks, all three parts, all needing attention.

How is the work going in your vineyard?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-09-28.mp3

Readings:  Isaiah 55, 6-9; Psalm 145; Philippians 1, 20-27; Matthew 20, 1-16

Isaiah:

• Time: Isaiah himself may have lived ca. 750 B.C.  The book was written and put together from what seems to be 3 sources (chapters 1-39; 40-56; 57-66) after the Babylonian Exile ca. 550 B.C.

• Message: Isaiah criticizes strongly the corruption of the ruling class & wealthy and condemns them for their lack of concern for the poor.

• Today's reading: a somewhat mild criticism of the scoundrel & the wicked.

Celebrating the Gift of the Moment

Two stories exemplify the meaning of today's gospel. 

Just a while back I was on the DART train again, headed downtown in the middle of the day.  As usual, I was in car #1 because I love to watch where we are going.  I was on the right side about row 4, on the aisle.

Across from me in the first seat on the aisle was a mother with two little kids, one in a stroller, the other by the window.  Behind her was another mother on the aisle likewise with a little kid sitting next to the window.  Both mothers were young, both kids next to the windows were girls about 5.  The mother & kids in the first seat were white, the mother & daughter in the second seat were black.

As I watched, the girl in the first seat, who was blue eyed, blond pony tailed, and blessed with a terrific little smile, she looked around the left edge of her seat, saw the little black girl, and turned around so she could kneel on her seat and look over the seat top. 

The little girls started talking a little bit at a time.  They continued to talk, the white girl leaning over the back of her seat, the black girl with little pig tails sitting.  The black girl seemed to be doing the majority of the chatting while the white girl would ask a question and smile.

This continued all the way from Forest Lane to the Thanksgiving Square stop where I got off.  As I left, they were still into their conversation. 

I was so touched.  The kids are color blind, I thought.  They just enjoyed talking with each other and their mothers let them go at it.  For me it was a special gift of the moment.

The second story.  Yesterday morning, Saturday, I was walking back home from the Tom Thumb store at Royal & Preston.  I crossed Preston and was passing in front of the corner Starbucks.  It was early, about 6:30, and hardly anybody was moving around, not even at Starbucks. 

In front of Starbucks, however, was one guy in his late fifties or middle sixties, perhaps a little younger than I.  He had a baseball hat on & shorts.  He was facing me as I approached and I caught his eye for a second.  I said, "Morning!"

……  Nothing.  When I spoke he looked away with a face of no affect. 

Well, this type of thing can get me going.  I wanted to go back and turn his table over.  At least, say, "Hey, man, I said 'Morning.'"  Get in the guy's face type of response. 

What I did actually was nothing.  Nothing but think about the event and my response.  Who am I to judge?  Maybe he was just laid off this week, or last year, and last night could not sleep for worrying?  Maybe his wife & he had a falling out?   Whatever the case, this may be as big a gift of the moment as  the two little girls on the DART were.  I could easily see how the girls were a gift.  Maybe the guy gave me a challenge gift of the moment. 

Matthew tells us that all the laborers who worked in the vineyard got paid the same wage by the landowner, whether they had worked 8 hours or 1.  I read that I want to say "injustice!"  How can this parable make any sense.  Three comments.

1. First, we may be comparing the dynamic of the kingdom with that of contemporary labor relations.  In the kingdom we meet a landowner, God, who is universally generous and treasures each of us with magnanimous acceptance.  He does not portion out wages.  Justice is not his criterion.  He invites everyone into the banquet

2. Secondly, we are all the workers of the last hour.  In fact, we are really the non-workers.  We say to ourselves today, well what about that person who was good all his life, that priest who gave it all up, that nun who spent her whole life working with the destitute in Calcutta?  Don't they deserve more?   Question: is virtue its own reward?

3. Thirdly, we are invited into this banquet today, not just at the end of it all.  The Challenge: to accept the the gift of the moment.  The gifts are abundant and the feast is daily. 

I look at the two encounters I had as gifts of the moment.  Granted, the second gift I call a challenge gift, but still special. 

What was your gift of the moment this week, yesterday?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-09-21.mp3