Everyone enjoys a good story. During gatherings with friends and family, stories are retold again and again. They grab our attention, and engage our imagination, our hopes, and our dreams. Stories make us laugh and cry and generate a wide range of emotions from great compassion to deep-seated anger. Stories can become excellent teaching tools, because they provide a vantage point from which the listener may examine and accept or reject the thrust of the story. We continue to tell the parables (stories) of Jesus over and over again because they help us discover not one answer, but layers of meaning that shock us, disturb us, and make us ponder. Our Sacred Scriptures contain an abundance of these stories used by Jesus and the prophets to open our minds and hearts.
Isaiah used the story approach to shake-up the people of Israel. His provocative story, retold in today’s first reading, reminded his people that they had squandered God’s precious gifts. The story recalled God’s countless attempts to love them, and the many times they did not respond to that love. Isaiah’s story was a wake-up call designed to prevent his people from sliding further into decline. It was not difficult for Israel to understand the thrust of the story: ”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!”
Those who first heard today’s Gospel story recognized the centuries-old vineyard tale told by Isaiah, but did not expect the surprise ending. Added to the tale were the tragic death of the owner’s son and the leasing of the vineyard to new tenants. Jesus pointed out to the spiritual leadership of his day, and to us, “Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” This vineyard is not merely property to be loaned by an absentee owner, but a cherished gift given by its Creator, who is generous in giving us the vineyard. Sadly, God sounded like a rejected lover angry over his unfaithful beloved. The real tragedy of this story is that the people who schemed to get rich quick, never realized the wealth that was already theirs.
This Gospel story is about God’s actions, God’s love, God’s challenge to us and not to the people of 2000 years ago. It asks us, what is the status of the vineyard today? If Jesus checked it out, what might his response be? Has it made any difference that ownership in the kingdom is now open to everyone? What might he say about the large number of hungry children, about the thousands who die each day, about areas of the world where many die because they lack simple and inexpensive medical treatment? As the people of God, are we blinded by first-world living, and refuse to share the many blessings given to us?
The last chapter of the vineyard tale has not been written. We are called to live gracious and productive lives, striving to work for the blessings of the vineyard, and share in the joy of the harvest. Whatever our failings, God sends his beloved Son to claim our hearts. Until then, we continue to labor in the vineyard until the last chapter is finished and we recognize the role we have played. Until then, there is much to do!
----Deacon Wilson Shierk