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Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 4 2020
Isaiah 5:1-7
Let me now sing of my friend, my friend's song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines;
within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes.
Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?
Now, I will let you know what I mean to do with my vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be trampled!
Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it.
The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his cherished plant;
he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!
Psalm 80
O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
you who lead Joseph like a flock:
enthroned on the cherubim, shine forth
upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.
Rouse up your might and come to save us.
O God, bring us back;
let your face shine on us, and we shall be saved.
How long, O Lord, God of hosts,
will you be angry at the prayer of your people?
You have fed them with tears for their bread,
an abundance of tears for their drink.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbors;
our foes mock us among themselves.
O God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine forth, and we shall be saved.
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
Before it you cleared the ground;
it took root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shadow,
the cedars of God with its boughs.
It stretched out its branches to the sea;
to the River it stretched out its shoots.
Then why have you broken down its walls?
It is plucked by all who pass by the way.
It is ravaged by the boar of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.
God of hosts, turn again, we implore;
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted,
the son of man you have claimed for yourself.
They have burnt it with fire and cut it down.
May they perish at the frown of your face.
May your hand be on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have confirmed as your own.
And we shall never forsake you again;
give us life that we may call upon your name.
O Lord God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine forth, and we shall be saved.
https://mbreal23.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/revised_grail_psalms_psalter.pdf
Matthew 21:33-46
The Parable of the Tenants.
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
We are quite familiar with the very old metaphor of the vineyard.
The three versions we have in today's readings vary most in terms of their severity. The psalm is content to say the people have failed but forgiveness and a new start are possible. Isaiah sees the vineyard abandoned and let go to ruin, such is the disappointment of the Lord. Jeshua ups the ante and lays blame squarely on the leaders and their attitude.
Commenting last week on the parable of the two sons who were asked to work in the vineyard Marian posed the question why prostitutes and tax collectors were ready to change while spiritual leaders weren't. In today's passage, coming just a little further along in Matthew's narrative, Jeshua puts the question: what would a landowner do about dishonest tenants who were prepared to murder his son to gain possession of the vineyard for themselves. As Matthew tells it, the leaders are condemned out of their own mouths: 'He will bring those wretches to a wretched end.'
I can think of many leaders brought to a wretched end in recent centuries. 'Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.'
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I'm afraid I don't know where to go from here. There seems to be nothing more to explain, nothing obscure that needs clarifying. The next step is to apply the lesson, and each of us has to do that personally, each for ourselves.
But for that we need to identify why someone would commit murder just to gain possession of the property they already have full use and enjoyment of. All that is asked of them is to give the owner a fair share, to simply pay the rent when it is due. There's no indication in the story that the owner is screwing them for more than is fair, or that he is forever looking over their shoulder, telling them how to do their job, goading them to resentment. Rather he has been patient with them, just sending another delegation to convince them of the need to pay their dues. Finally he sends his own son who should have more persuasive power, and we are shocked to read that they kill the son just to get the property in their own name.
Is it greed? They have so much but they want more. Would this apply to the chief priests and leaders who were targeted in the gospel? Does it apply to our bishops today?
Is it envy? Are they jealous of the family belonging that the son enjoys? It seems to put him in a class above them, so they decide to bring him down. If they kill him it will show he is not greater than them. Envy seems determined to destroy that which it cannot legitimately be equal to. Knock the heads off the tall poppies and we'll all be on the same level, never mind how reduced it is. Do our bishops silence potential leaders out of jealousy? Am I jealous of God?
Is it lust for power? Power corrupts, but why? Or exactly how? What is it that corrodes the inner self, our very conscience, when we get the power to make the final decision that no one can challenge? How is our humanity so easily corrupted when we can manipulate others to our advantage, and not care about the disadvantage, even the acute suffering we impose on them? How is it these tenants would kill the son just because they could?
Finally is it pride? Is it another instance of that famous rebellion: I will not serve? For this there is no explanation for it makes no sense at all, yet is the most common twist that makes us do evil things to others. We think we're better than them, smarter even than the boss, than the creator, than the very Ground of our being from whom we have existence, life, and love that we find hard to believe, hard even to imagine. Pride is really silly, but oh, the harm it does. Is there a bishop so proud he could close down his conscience just for the satisfaction of being the one on top?
If we follow through this meditation, what light does it throw on the coming Plenary Council and how it might succeed or fail? To make it fruitful they, the leaders, will need to be without greed or envy, not throwing their weight around to show their power, and not proud but thinking of themselves always as the last and least important persons in the assembly, in the Australian Church, in our whole community.
Any good leader must be free of greed, envy, pride and the corruption that power rots our conscience. But a spiritual leader of the christian community sees Jesus of Nazareth as the model: the Son of God who emptied himself, taking on the form of a lowly man, a simple tradie. Our ideal leader will make that his standard measure in every task and role. Presiding over a great assembly the leaders will listen sensitively, not just hearing a rational argument but feeling the urgency of the issue, the pain that cries for recognition, and the hope.
Above all else the christian leader will be one who like Jesus listens to the Spirit with an open heart ready to say Yes, and with a sensitive conscience watchful of the sneaky encroachment of the ego.
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I think there must be other things that others would see and want to share. Let's see if we can sketch an outline of attitudes and behaviours that would make the Plenary Council fruitful. Let's pool our ideas...