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Psalm 80:7-14; |
October 6, 2002 Proper 22, Year A;
The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector
While
on vacation in Hawaii a minister went on a tour through the Dole pineapple
processing plant. As the tour
began, the guide explained to the group of visitors that field-ripe pineapples
were fed into the machine at this point, pointing to a bin. The machine then cleaned, cut, and
processed the pineapples, sending them out of the machine at the far end of the
building in cans. As the group
walked alongside the giant stainless steel machine it began to whorl and churn. When the group got to the far end of the
building the minister noticed that there was nothing coming out of the
machine. Somewhat, surprised, he
asked the guide why no cans of pineapples were coming out. The guide responded, “Sir the reason is
quite simple. Nothing is coming
out at this end because nothing was put in at the other end.”[i]
Common
sense. If you don’t put anything
in, you won’t get anything out.
Relationships
are like that also. If we do not
put anything into them, they quickly disintegrate and end. What we put into a relationship will
determine whether it will grow and flourish or die. But then we all know this.
Our
reading from Isaiah this morning begins by expressing the love affair God has
with the people of Israel. “Let me
sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard…” Vineyard is a commonly used symbol in
the Bible for the people of Israel.
From the time of Abraham, when God made a covenant with him and said, “I
will take you for my people, and I will be your God,” a love affair existed
between God and the people of Israel.
It was a relationship that was cherished by God and the people of
Israel. Yet there were times when
the relationship was pushed to the breaking point by the actions of the chosen
ones.
One
of the points that I stress with couples during premarital counseling is that
in order for them to have and maintain a healthy marital relationship for the
rest of their lives will require a lot of hard work. As a matter in fact I believe it is probably the hardest
work that any two people will ever undertake together. I use the word “work” because I believe
it describes what we must do. We
must work at overcoming our selfishness, to consider “we” instead of “me” in
all decisions that are made. We must
work at avoiding complacency and taking each other for granted, continually
striving to improve the relationship and never being satisfied with the
intimacy level we have reached.
And we must work at staying tuned into one another through open and honest
communication.
“What
more was there to do for my vineyard that I have done in it?”[ii] When a relationship that we cherish is breaking up, we often
ask ourselves the same question, “What more could I have done?” Sometimes no matter what we say or do will
make any difference, because the other person has different ideas about the
relationship or has lost interest in us.
Isaiah
goes on to describe the actions of God toward the people of Israel. Since they have abandon the
relationship by their immoral behavior, killing and sinning, he will not just
remove his divine protection from them, but tear down their defenses, and they
will be ravaged by other nations.
Isaiah depicts an angry God getting back at the people for the hurt that
they have inflicted on him. To be
honest with you, I have difficulty with this picture of God. Even though there are times, like 9-11,
that a God of vengeance would be welcomed, in the end God has to be better than
us. If God is a God of vengeance
instead of a God of mercy and forgiveness then we are all in trouble.
I
am drawn to Christianity exactly because the God that Jesus Christ revealed is
a God of mercy and forgiveness.
In
his parable for this morning Jesus recounts the struggle that God has had with
his partners, the nation of Israel.
The servants in the parable are the prophets, like Isaiah, sent by God
to try to restore the relationship that has become very rocky.
What
surfaces in the parable is that the relationship has become lopsided. The tenants, Israel, particularly the
Jewish leaders, want control, they want the relationship on their terms. They are so insistent that they are
willing to beat up, even kill any counselors who would try to show them their selfish
and inappropriate behavior in the relationship. We all know the rest of the story, the owner, God, sends his
Son, Jesus Christ, and they figure if they kill him, then they will own or have
control over themselves, and as implied by this thinking, they will then be
able to dictate the terms of the relationship.
I
don’t know about you, but I have been in relationships where the other person
tried to control the relationship for their own purposes. The relationships were not very
satisfying or fun.
I’ve
come to the realization that I have not only been on the receiving end of these
types of relationships, but that there have been times when I dictated the
terms of how the relationship would be.
As
I think about my relationship with God, I have come to the realization that
there have been times when I am like the Israelites. There have been times in my life when I was more like the
wild grapes than the good succulent grapes that God had planted in me. Even though I have never beaten up or
killed anyone, there are times when I have ignored the prophetic voices calling
and inviting me to renew my relationship with God. All of this has caused me to wonder how many times Jesus has
come to me and I did not even know it because I was busy doing something
else. I wonder, is God patient
enough with me that he will keep trying?
I certainly hope so.
I
remember once when I was little of getting a bubble gum machine that was also a
piggy bank. The theory behind it
was that you had to put a penny in the slot in order to get a piece of bubble
gum out. The penny then went down
inside the machine, into the ‘bank.’
It was suppose to help me save money, and it did, that is until one day
I figured out how to open the ‘bank.’
From that moment on I just kept reusing the same pennies over and over
again to get all of the bubble gum I wanted.
Our
relationship with God is like the bubble gum piggy bank. We can cheat and not put much effort
into our relationship with God, but in the end we are only cheating ourselves.