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As October smiles in, hillsides all across New York are overflowing with ripened grapes! Mostly Concord & Riesling, yet some other varieties, they’re just now being gathered and readied for pressing. I don’t know much about grapes, ‘cept that I recently squeezed one and it let out a little w(h)ine… Our readings for this World Communion Day honor the Grower of Grapes with two readings about a Vineyard and a personal introspection about vintage.

Isaiah’s famous Song of the Vineyard (5:1-7) is a divine lament over Israel, God’s “pleasant planting”. The Vintner went to a great deal of trouble to create the Best Vineyard Ever — cultivation, selective planting, a vat & tower, all the amenities– “he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded WILD [sour] grapes”. What more could he do? In disgust, he wrecked it and gave it over to wasteland… “for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!”

St. Paul had good roots. Circumcised, “a Hebrew born of Hebrews”, a Pharisee, blameless under the Law. (Philippians 3:4-6) But having known Christ, he considered all these fruits as “rubbish”, as wild grapes. Giving further credit to the Grower of Grapes, he says that he has “not …a righteousness that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.” (v.9) Ah! God must be reworking the old Vineyard.

Matthew remembered a similar Vineyard story told by Jesus to the Scribes & Pharisees (21:33:41). The landowner made a nice vineyard and, in his absence, leased it to tenants. When he sent for his share of the produce, his messengers were abused and killed. Finally he sent his son; but he also was mistreated and killed by the tenants. “Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” “Therefore,” replied Jesus, “I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”

These readings pretty much speak for themselves. The task of the Preacher or Teacher is to remind the rest of us that this isn’t just Ancient History, or an anti-Semitic rant; it’s really about honoring God through responsible and worthy lives!

God Bless Us, Every One! Horace Brown King

PS — My Lectionary friends suggest that appropriate hymns might be, “Grape Is Thy Faithfulness”, or “How Grape Thou Art”. For What It’s Worth… HBK

I kept my badge behind the sun-visor. It was always there when I needed to visit someone in Bassett Hospital. It was a nice badge: had my picture, my name spelled right, maybe some other important information. When I wore it, Security would know that I was OK to be there; it was my authorization. Credentials are necessary to be at schools, government offices and some church meetings. Without a passport, international travelers are grounded and maybe locked up! Do I have a right to be who I am, to do what I do?? Who sez?

During services of this coming weekend, we’ll think about Authority: many will challenge a commission–or ordination!–of holiness, however that’s read…. Ezekiel speaks on behalf of Yahweh, “Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine…” (18:4) This comes within a wisdom-speech about sin not being passed from one generation to the next, and refutes the idea that children are accountable for the misbehavior of the whole family. God’s Authority AND GRACE deal with each individual on their own merits.

Paul’s Letter to the Christians of Philippi includes a hymn to Christ which may already be popular in that city. In 2:9-11 we read of Christ Jesus, “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Wherever Jesus has been, says the poet, he has carried Supreme Authority: he is The LORD!

Matthew remembers the time when Jesus was teaching in the Temple and was carded by the priests and elders. (21:23-27) “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus turned it back on them, of course, by asking about John the Baptizer’s empowerment to baptize: “from heaven, or was it of human origin?” An anti-Church acquaintance made a similar statement to me, just the other evening: “These rules, you know, are all man-made.” Where lies the Gospel?

Deep within the Last Century, Bishop J. Gordon Howard draped a stole around my neck and said, “Take authority for the work of an Elder, preaching the Word of God and administering the Holy Sacraments.” I’ve been proud of and humbled by this Ordination: it is a credential which I take very seriously–and I believe that it comes from God. Do I jealously protect “my” turf from unauthorized yet obviously accomplished newcomers? What IS this authority??

God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King

Indignation. It often gets the best of me, and seems to be a major driver in international history. When I know that I’m right, it becomes RIGHTEOUS indignation. However, when it’s YOU, I easily dismiss it as your incomplete knowledge. Indignation can keep me awake during the wee hours, and clouds my disposition. Indignation grows in me much more than it’s source is worth, and preoccupies my sense of “fairness”. This weekend’s readings involve folks whose indignation spoils their sense of compassion…and God’s rehabilitation processes.

We look first at Jonah: whether or not he was an actual person, this is a crackin–good story! You probably remember about the Big Fish that God sent to give Jonah a second shot; and about how he really did go to Ninevah to proclaim God’s displeasure. To his great amazement, the citizenry from the King on down DID re-think their brokenness! This disgusted Jonah, who wanted a nuclear air-strike to fix ’em. Pouting, he built a shelter to watch–and God sent a nice vine/bush to give him shade. But the next day, God also sent a cut-worm; the bush/vine shriveled, and again Jonah was indignant. “Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow….And should I not be concerned about Ninevah, that great city?'” (4:10-11)

St. Paul’s Letter to the believers at Philippi is an encouragement to cling to the Christian teaching and ethic in the face of other competing (and pleasurable?) world-views. He encourages them to stand side by side for the faith–which seems like good advice to any congregation, then and now. He is concerned that they “are in no way intimidated by [your] opponents….And this is God’s doing.” (1:28) Indignation may seem like fun…until we get ulcers and depression. What IS God doing?

Now look! This parable of Jesus is patently un-American, goes against all of our system of reward and hard work! It’s found in Matthew’s account, 20:1-16. You know, about the vintner whose crop came in all at once, and he had to go back to the labor exchange all through the day to recruit more and more day-workers. He agreed with the first crew for a denarius–a day’s wage–but at the end of the day, he gave EVERYBODY the same!! “No fair! We worked harder & longer; we should get a bonus!” Indignation, again. “Qwitcherbellyakin'” , they were told. “I’ll run my shop as I please!” Kinda deflates our illusions about Bigger Mansions in a heaven where even kings cast their own crowns before the throne of the one true King. Equality? This is God’s doing.

We’ve been reading for several weeks now about building the Faith-Community. Certainly indignation is one of the major demons which destroys trust and compassion. I can be like Jonah and sulk; or I can build a bridge and get over it. Not everything is “fair”, we tell our kids. Yet this, too, is God’s doing: will it work in our churches??

God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King

“Heh-heh”, I chuckle cynically, “THAT’ll fix ’em!” when one of Those Awful People get their (deserved?) come-uppance. I sadly realize that this is about all the laughing I do. As an old curmudgeon, I’m full of intolerance and vindictiveness. Present world news and emerging cultural trends blend with never-released old grudges and childhood disappointments to become a demon which has banished my enjoyment. Over-serious and righteously indignant, I stand up with Don Quixote against daily windmills: who do I think I am?

The Lessons for the upcoming weekend are intended especially for me, but you can listen along if you’d like…. Genesis 50 finds the brothers of Joseph begging him for grain; he’s the Prime Minister of Egypt, and they’re in the midst of famine. The problem is that they sold him into slavery, a long time ago: will they find family reconciliation? or will they be hacked into pieces on the spot?? “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” (v.15) Joseph coulda, but he didn’t. Declining retribution, he asked, “Am I in the place of God?”

The last part of Paul’s Letter to the Romans contains “rules” of behavior peculiar to Christian ethics. In Chapter 14 he writes, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?” (v.10) It seems that God’s People were squabbling about silly stuff–whether to eat meat, and when to eat it; or if the Sabbath were better than any other day. Calling these things “opinions” (and not theology) he asks, “Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?” (v.4)

You probably know Jesus’ parable of the Two Indebted Servants (Matthew 18:21ff). One owed the king an astronomical amount, like unto the National Debt! When the king called him on the carpet, our man dissolved in tears, said he couldn’t pay it, and begged for mercy. Out of pity, the king forgave him the whole thing! BUT on the way out, this same guy met one who owed him some lunch-money. Forgetting how fortunate he was, he put the hammer on the second slave, and threw him into debtors’ prison! When the king learned about this, he rescinded his mercy and sent the errant slave likewise to debtors’ prison! “Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?” (v.33)

So do we act as if we were in the place of God? Thanks to the Southern Poverty Law Center, I took an online test to see if I had hidden biases. (tolerance.org/hiddenbias) I’m not really surprised to find how intolerant I am. I’ve always claimed to be a Liberal/Progressive; but now I find that I’m a bigot inside, despite my outer profession of Peace on Earth, Good Will to All… Maybe I can yet re-learn the joy of Laughing WITH, instead of Laughing AT! After all, am I in the place of God?

Henri Nouwen said that all evil can be traced to Greed and Anger. Perhaps that’s too simple–yet these two demons seem to lurk near the surface of our social injustice and discriminatory issues; and on the world scene, our pushing and shoving about borders and religious entitlements. The People of God are not immune: I confess my own misbehavior, whether actualized or merely fantasized. Readings for the coming weekend hint at such cosmic conflict.

Ezekiel’s oracle (33:7-11) first reminds the prophet of his/her responsibility to speak a warning to the errant community: “their blood I will require at your hand.” (brrrr!) And then a psychological insight, “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them.” Even well-begun nations always waste away, as do individuals who’ve lost their expectations of holiness. The Church becomes prophetic by denouncing Greed and Anger.

We’ve been journeying, this Summer, with the Roman Believers as they’re growing the Church. Paul continues to spew gems of both behavior and attitude: “Love does no wrong to a neighbor.” (13:10) He takes religion and spirituality beyond the individual into the life of a practicing community. We learned in psychology that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. This works when we “live honorably…not in quarreling and jealousy.”(v.13)

How vindictively we misread Matthew 18:15-17!! Telling your neighbor about a real or imagined offense is making a positive opportunity to contain and resolve the problem! Even taking along a posse is a form of mediation: how much better this is than to fume to your cronies and engage in a whisper campaign! “The Church” to which this problem is told is the ideal community of forgiveness and toleration, a covenant group which values each member with love. ONLY THEN do you give up on a friendship, for reconciliation is better than divorce. Notice that it’s the aggrieved party who is supposed to take the initiative toward arbitration and resolution.

There’s very little in scripture about individuality in faith and salvation. Rather this is the story of the development of the People of God, a faith-community finding new horizons to practice from one generation to the next. Until Advent, we’ll be following Matthew’s account of the Gospel as Jesus is building his Church on the foundation of love and mutual encouragement, “not in quarreling and Jealousy”.

God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King