The Vineyard

                  25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

We have to remember that the prophets of the Old Testament were not so much tellers of the future but perceptive commentators on their own times. Isaiah was no exception. In today’s first reading he is telling the Israelites living in captivity in Babylon that it is hard for them to see the big picture.

 

Indeed, just like us the Israelites in Isaiah’s day seemed to identify their thoughts and ways with the will of God. Especially in an election year politicians and political commentators of all persuasions insist that their ideas and programs are certain to lead us to the promised land. 

 

Even though we believe that we are made in the image of God, in actual practice we tend to talk and act as if God was made in our image. Yet in today’s reading we hear the Lord say,

 

      My thoughts are not your thoughts,

      Nor are your ways my ways.

 

Is there an other place in the Gospels where the disparity between the Lord’s ways and ours is more pronounced than in today’s reading from Matthew? I’m sure that most of us sympathize with the workers who had been toiling in the vineyard all day but then get the same pay as those who only worked a short time. If we were to take a poll I think that an overwhelming majority would say that the landowner was being unfair and unjust.

 

Commentators on Matthew say that in this parable the evangelist is making a point that newly converted pagan Christians will have as much right to enter the Kingdom of God as the initial Jewish Christians. 

 

Nevertheless, it might be a good idea to take this parable in its context. In the passage immediately before this parable, Matthew had recorded these words of Jesus:

 

“But many who are first now will be last, and many who are last now will be first.”

 

Then Jesus tells the parable and ends with the same words, “Even so, the last shall be first, and the first last.”

 

Matthew then recounted an incident that occurred immediately after. The mother of James and John, two of the first apostles called by Jesus, asks Jesus to place her sons in a place of honor in his Kingdom. Apparently she has not understood the parable. Jesus explains that she does not know what she is asking for, and tells all the Apostles that true greatness lies in humility.

 

“Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; even as the Son of man has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

 

The parable then would appear to be a warning against complacency. Because many of us have toiled years in the vineyard of life, it does not mean that we can take on airs or assume we are better than anyone else. Even the best of us can trip and fall. And the least of us can experience a miraculous recovery.  

 

Those who have trouble with this parable should consider that the opportunity to work a long time in the vineyard is a great gift. Working in the vineyard is its own reward. The more we work in the vineyard the more we will understand the concern and love of Jesus for those who have fallen away. In the gospels there are so many examples of the Father’s love for those who have returned even at the last minute. 

 

Perhaps the greatest example occurred on the Cross when Jesus promised the Good Thief that “this day you will be with me in Paradise.”  

In sports we all know that it’s not how you play the game, but whether you win or lose. In baseball a pitcher can be throwing a perfect game but then lose the game with one bad pitch. A batter can go four for four but then strike out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to cost his team the victory. Who will remember his earlier hits?

In today’s passage from the letter to the Christian community at Philippi St. Paul says that though he longs to die and be with Christ, he is content to keep working in the vineyard as long as the Lord requires. “If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.” 

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Reading 1. Isaiah 55: 6-9

Reading II. Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

Gospel. Matthew 20:1-16a (the last will be first).  

The Vineyard

                   Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

 

In both today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, and the gospel account from Matthew, we hear about a vineyard. In particular, it is a vineyard that is not bearing much fruit. Isaiah makes it clear that the vineyard is a metaphor for the House of Israel.

 

The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel,

And the people of Judah are his cherished plant…

 

Nevertheless, even though all was done to make the vineyard productive, something went wrong. The Lord expected justice and harmony to grow among his people but only found bloodshed and dissension. Jesus was well aware of this passage from Isaiah. Even today’s Psalm, which any good Rabbi would have memorized, echoes the vineyard theme. 

 

In today’s gospel Jesus refers to the tenants who had been put in charge of the landowner’s vineyard. When it was time for the vintage or harvest, the tenants manhandled the landlord’s servants or agents who had come to collect what was due. The greedy tenants, anxious to keep all for themselves, beat, mis-treated, and even killed one of the servants. They even killed the landlord’s son when he was sent to them.

 

It seems obvious that, like Isaiah, Jesus used the vineyard as a metaphor for the House of Israel. The servants represent the prophets who were often ignored, scorned, and beaten. The son represents Himself who would shortly be arrested, subjected to a mock trial, beaten, and crucified.

 

Jesus directs this parable to the leaders of the Jews of his time, the chief priests and elders. Perhaps some have used the harsh words of Jesus against the Jewish leaders as an excuse for anti-Semitism or hatred directed against the Jews. I believe that this would be a great mistake. Jesus was a Jew. He was a Rabbi intimately connected with the Jewish people. Jesus was not critical of the Jewish leaders because they were Jews; he was critical of them because they had failed to live as true sons of Abraham. They were not Jewish enough. By their words and deeds they had fallen away from the covenant, and lost sight of their mission. 

 

No one ever accused Isaiah of being anti-Semitic but he castigated his own people severely for their failure to be true to their Jewish beliefs. In the same way, Jesus criticizes the Jewish leaders because they had substituted slavish following of rites, rituals, and laws for the true spirit of the Law. Just before this passage Jesus had driven the moneychangers from the Temple because they had profaned his Father’s house.

 

I believe that whenever we can we should put ourselves in the gospel scene. So, when Jesus is talking to the Jews, we must take his words to heart, not as an indictment of someone else, but as directed to us. We may believe today that we Christians are the heirs of the Kingdom, but we are always in danger of losing it. 

 

Sometimes, we, our families, our friends, and neighbors reject their heritage suddenly and dramatically but more often there is a slow and gradual erosion of faith and commitment. We live in a society that regards Christianity as either irrelevant or pernicious. It is so easy to go along rather than rock the boat. We read the same news, watch the same TV shows, listen to the same music, and go to the same movies together. 

 

Holy Scripture is not about some far off time and place. We are the vineyard and the Kingdom has been given to all those who believe whether Jew or Gentile. No one understood this better than St. Paul. In today’s passage from his letter to the community of Philippi he states that by their conversion, they have been given a great gift but that they must be careful to treasure it.

 

Finally, brothers and sisters,

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

Whatever is just, whatever is pure,

Whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,

If there is any excellence

And if there is anything worthy of praise,

Think about these things.

 

Isn’t this the life we want? A life of truth, honor, justice, purity, loveliness, and graciousness. Why would we exchange it for lies, dishonor, injustice, impurity, and ugliness? None of these things will bring us real happiness and peace.

 

Paul urges the Philippians and us to keep on working in the vineyard.

 

Keep on doing what you have learned and received

And heard and seen in me.

Then the God of peace will be with you.

 

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Reading 1. Isaiah 5:1-7

Reading II. Philippians 4:6-9

Gospel. Matthew 21: 33-43 (the stone that the builders rejected)