Pent. 17 & Narrative 5: Gifts and What We Do With Them

Isaiah 5:1-7

Psalm 80:7-15

Philippians 3:4b-14

Matthew 21:33-46

Narrative: Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17

First Lesson: Isaiah 5:1-7

Challenges:

There seems to be precious little (if any) grace here.  The “Beloved” Vineyard Owner’s response is a bit over the top if you ask me.  There is no word in this particular passage of a “faithful remnant” or a few “good grapes.” It seems like the whole thing is going to be destroyed.

Also, since we are invited to see the vineyard owner as the ‘Lord of Hosts’ and the vineyard and grapes as “the house of Israel and the people of Judah” this doesn’t give anyone a warm and fuzzy feeling about God, does it? 

What’s to be done?

Opportunities:

I reach the “opportunity” section and echo the question that ended the previous section: “What’s to be done?”

Truth be told, I’m at something of a loss here. Normally there are plenty of “opportunities” in a passage from Isaiah, but they’re hard to find here.  Because no one is paying for this blog I’m going to claim an “out” and say that your best opportunity for Isaiah is to preach on the Gospel or Second Lesson.

Good News:

The good news is that there is more than one lesson offered by the RCL for today.

Second Lesson: Philippians 3:4b-14

Challenges:

We immediately get some terms that are in need of “translation” or at least “context” right from the beginning of this text: what exactly is the significance of words like “flesh” and “circumcision.” Even more important, how much time do you want to take explaining them?

If we’re going to go down that route, how about the meaning of the world “righteousness.”  The quickest definition I have for “righteous” is “right-related” and “righteousness” is “right-relatedness.”

Opportunities:

For all of the Middle School boys out there (and those who share their fascination with bodily functions) the word skubala begs a mention, even if you are not preaching on this lesson. In the NRSV it’s translated as “rubbish” and I’ve also seen it translated as “garbage.” Actually, however, it is much better translated as “crap” or a four letter “s” word with a stronger connotation.

Paul lists quite a few actual, real-life advantages.  This is a great opportunity to come up with you own list of “advantages” for just about any context. What are a list of “advantages” that are worth a lot in your particular town or city (i.e. being related to the right people, living in the right area, having been in the right sports in high school, working at the right company…you could go on and on).  What are a list of advantages that fit with your particular faith community or denomination?  You can start out silly with each list, but by the end you can be dead-serious and really name some things that people keep very close to their hearts.

I love the idea of being “found in Christ.” I sign all of my church-related emails (and many non-church related emails) with the phrase, “In Christ.”  We often talk about Christ being in us, and that’s totally cool, but the idea of us being “in Christ,” is equally significant. I love the idea of being part of something bigger than myself…and if that something is Christ, it’s that much better.

Good News:

It’s hard to know where to start here: there’s almost too much good news to be named!  All of those advantages that we might, or might not, have can fade rather quickly. Many of them depend on circumstances and can change when those circumstances change. Being found in Christ is much more secure.

When you read this passage, it’s very easy to catch the deep emotion that Paul is pouring into his words. This is a very personal section of Philippians: you get the sense that Paul isn’t speaking in the abstract…he’s cutting to the core of his relationship with God in Christ.

Paul talks about how righteousness does not come ourselves (verse 9) but through faith.  There’s some debate about whether that faith is “in Christ” or “of Christ.” Personally, I don’t think it matters. Christ’s faith saves us…and our faith connects us with Christ. It’s a both/and not an either/or situation. 

Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46

Challenges:

This passage is rather heavy on judgment. This could lead to one of two extremes: quite a bit of winger-wagging at your audience…OR…hermeneutical backflips and exegetical somersaults that allow you to show how Jesus isn’t being harsh or confrontational at all. Don’t fall for either trap: it’s not doing the text justice.

Opportunities:

I think this is a great opportunity to talk about the context of this story: Jesus is standing and teaching in the Temple. What’s the big deal about the Temple? Where do you start? Talk about how it was the center of the Jewish World, the BIG PLACE.  Talk about what it had become: a place that made a lot of money for certain people. 

Also, my Grandfather is fond of saying, “No life is wasted: you can always be cited as a bad example.” Perhaps the vineyard workers can be that “bad example” for us, so that we turn away from that kind of behavior.

Also, if he keeps saying things like this, I can see why the religious leaders want this Jesus-guy dead.

Good News:

The “good news” here will depend on where you stand. If you are one of the people who has been shut-out of the Vineyard/Temple/Religious In-Crowd, this story provides very good news indeed. It gives you something to faithfully anticipate.  As I mentioned in the ‘Opportunity’ section, this story can give us some ‘bad-examples’ for our instruction. Perhaps it’s good news that we have been given this story as an opportunity for redemption, transformation and repentance.  The words of Jesus give us an opportunity, an opportunity we can grasp with the Holy Spirit’s help.

Narrative: Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17

Challenges:

Two Challenges rear their ugly heads at this point:

The First:

Many people see these commandments as archaic, out-of-date, and regressive. Bill Maher, an atheist comedian, has made it very clear that he thinks they are worse than useless. He said, “And at least half of the Commandments are stupid...If you were going to make a list of like the ten things you absolutely can't do, wouldn't you put on there rape, incest, bestiality, slavery? But, instead, they have things like "Don't swear," you know, "Don't build statues to other Gods," obviously the ideas of primitive man living in primitive times, and this is what you look up to.”

While I personally dislike Maher’s disrespectful, mean-spirited and snarky approach to things he doesn’t like, his point needs to be considered. How would you answer a question like this?

I approach his response by looking at what Jesus and Paul said about the Ten Commandments and “The Law” in general.  If you want to hear Jesus’ take see Matthew 22:37-40, and Luke 10:25-28: Love the Lord your God with everything you have (paraphrase) and your neighbor as yourself.  Paul says something remarkably similar in Romans 13:9, “The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall nor murder, You shall not steal; You shall not covet” and any other commandment, summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

These commandments will never be out-of-date.  And if you hear this and want a definition of who our neighbor is…check out what Jesus says in Luke 10:29-37 (aka the Parable of the Good Samaritan).

And Second:

The Faith Tradition of which I am a part (Lutheranism) seems to have a love/hate relationship with the Ten Commandments. On one level, they are very important: they are a part of Luther’s Small Catechism which most middle school students get to suffer work through before they are confirmed.  They are a prime example of what we Lutherans call the “THE LAW,” which is given two (or three) uses in our “Book of Concord.” 1) 2) and 3)

I have experienced many Lutherans leaning heavily on #2 to the point where the Ten Commandments seem to have no use other than to lead us to grace. Since we can never live up to them completely, they stop being useful advice, or practical ways to set up a community.  When this happens, I believe we are missing out on a great opportunity to find practical advice for living a life of faith/trust.  People are eager to find a way to live a Godly-life.  These commandments can be helpful ways to live out the new relationship with Christ that we are given through grace.  In essence, they help answer the question, “Now what?”

Opportunities:

A true-life story about parenting with the Ten Commandments:

My father tells a story about one of his God-sons. Will was a very intelligent, precocious child.  As a preschooler he had a difference of opinion with his mother concerning his lunch. Will felt that he should be able to eat a lunch entirely consisting of marshmallows.  His mother felt his lunch should be more…shall we say…balanced, with a complete lack of marshmallows. When his mother’s way prevailed, Will said in exasperation, “Why do we have to do what you say!?!?!” Will’s mom took him over to the bookshelf, pulled off the family bible and showed him Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” 

Because this was not the first time that Will had seen the Bible, or talked with his mom about God and faith, this commandment made him very thoughtful. He became so impressed with the commandments that he asked to take a copy of the Ten Commandments to his preschool for Show-and-Tell.  When his mom picked him up from school that day she asked why the copy of the commandments had disappeared. Will’s teacher said that after Show-and-Tell, Will had discovered that sitting on the Ten Commandments had helped him go down the slide faster during play-time. The piece of paper hadn’t survived the experience, but had made the day a fun one.

Good News:

As our congregation uses the Narrative Lectionary this year, I am encouraging people to use two different “Lens” with which to view our scripture lessons. One of these is the concept that we are “blessed to be a blessing.” We saw this explicitly in week 2 with God’s promise to Abram, but it appears over and over again.  For instance, through God’s blessing of Joseph, many people were saved from famine.  Last week, God “blessed” the people of Israel by saving them from slavery and Pharaoh’s chariots at the Red Sea. This week, God gives them these commandments to follow so that they will have a blessed community.  Their freedom will give them the chance to be a blessing.  Our own “life in Christ” is a blessing that allows us to bless others around us.

Think of it this way: how amazing would it be to live in a community where you didn’t have to fear your neighbors because they were following these commandments? God is giving us a way to live. We won’t be able to follow them completely and if we look at them like some sort of “challenge” with a “commandment average” similar to a “batting average,” we will always fall short. Instead, let’s acknowledge our short-comings and then turn to these commandments as a helpful guide for Christian living.