WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:02.669 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:02.669 --> 00:00:06.730 of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. 00:00:08.089 --> 00:00:12.849 We have an interesting liturgical coincidence 00:00:12.849 --> 00:00:18.309 this morning with the gospel reading, of course, 00:00:18.329 --> 00:00:23.210 about the cross, because last week we celebrated 00:00:23.210 --> 00:00:26.250 the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross. 00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:29.859 And as a reminder of the importance of the cross 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:33.399 in our life, it is placed for the whole week 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:36.380 after this feast in the center of the church, 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:40.560 as it is done also during the middle of Great 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:44.920 Lent after the Sunday of the cross. And then 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:50.939 we have the familiar gospel parable of the vineyard, 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:56.469 which you've heard before, and believe me, this 00:00:56.469 --> 00:01:01.789 idea of the vineyard was even more familiar to 00:01:01.789 --> 00:01:06.849 the Jewish people. What is a coincidence? Because 00:01:06.849 --> 00:01:11.709 at the conclusion of this vineyard, after the 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:17.790 tenants take different servants and stone them 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:20.689 and beat them up, then they say, here's the heir, 00:01:20.829 --> 00:01:24.909 let us kill him. The stone... which the builders 00:01:24.909 --> 00:01:28.989 rejected, Jesus reminds his hearers, has become 00:01:28.989 --> 00:01:32.150 the headstone of the corner, and this is the 00:01:32.150 --> 00:01:36.030 Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:43.069 There could be no more vivid expression of the 00:01:43.069 --> 00:01:47.530 rejection of this cornerstone than the crucifixion 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:51.810 of the Savior, the Messiah, the promised one. 00:01:53.549 --> 00:01:58.870 the stone which the builders rejected. Now I 00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:02.909 want to focus our attention primarily on the 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:06.750 gospel passage about the vineyard. As I said, 00:02:06.769 --> 00:02:10.550 this is a familiar one. It occurs a number of 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:14.569 times in the Old Testament, and I want to call 00:02:14.569 --> 00:02:18.909 our attention to two specific ones which I think 00:02:18.909 --> 00:02:26.439 are of primary importance. The first one is from 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:37.219 Psalm 80. This, of course, is God leading the 00:02:37.219 --> 00:02:40.659 Jewish people from the captivity of Egypt to 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:44.460 the promised land. Thou didst bring a vine out 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:48.879 of Egypt. Thou didst drive out the nations and 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:53.159 plant it. Thou didst clear the ground for it. 00:02:53.710 --> 00:02:58.889 It took deep root and filled the land. The mountains 00:02:58.889 --> 00:03:02.409 were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars 00:03:02.409 --> 00:03:07.789 with its branches, and it sent out its branches 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:12.349 to the sea, and it shoots to the river. Then 00:03:12.349 --> 00:03:18.629 the mood becomes more ominous. We have a wild 00:03:18.629 --> 00:03:24.659 boar which comes in. The psalmist is referring, 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.860 I believe, quite clearly to the same prediction 00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:33.979 that Isaiah has in his parable of the vineyard 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:39.000 that we'll look at momentarily. The wild boar 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:44.060 is the impending invasion of the Babylonians, 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:48.659 whom God sent as chastisement. to the Jewish 00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:52.099 people because of their sinfulness and their 00:03:52.099 --> 00:03:59.680 infidelity to him. So, after we see how he's 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.979 taken care of the vineyard, then the mood changes. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.439 Why then hast thou broken down its walls, so 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:11.719 that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:17.149 The boar from the forest ravages it. and all 00:04:17.149 --> 00:04:21.670 that move in the field feed on it. Then there's 00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:26.149 another shift in mood. Turn again, O Lord of 00:04:26.149 --> 00:04:30.810 hosts, look down from heaven and see, have regard 00:04:30.810 --> 00:04:35.170 for this vine, the stock which thy right hand 00:04:35.170 --> 00:04:40.750 planted. And I also draw the connection between 00:04:40.750 --> 00:04:46.410 the bishop's blessing of the congregation at 00:04:46.410 --> 00:04:49.870 the entrance, the beginning of the liturgy, in 00:04:49.870 --> 00:04:56.129 the pontifical liturgy, when he has his three 00:04:56.129 --> 00:04:59.569 -branch and two -branch candelabra, the dikiri 00:04:59.569 --> 00:05:03.550 and trikiri, and he blesses the people. And what 00:05:03.550 --> 00:05:09.050 does he say? Look down from heaven, O God, upon 00:05:09.050 --> 00:05:13.389 this vine which thou hast planted with thy right 00:05:13.389 --> 00:05:18.759 hand. and establish it. So the vine which God 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:24.540 has planted is this congregation. We are branches 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:28.819 of this vine, and this vine is one of the many 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:32.180 vines in the vineyard of the Lord, the church. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:42.040 Then the second one is from chapter 5 of Isaiah. 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:48.389 This is right at the beginning of Isaiah's ministry. 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:54.129 Isaiah says, let me sing for my beloved a love 00:05:54.129 --> 00:05:58.689 song. Notice the intimacy here between God's 00:05:58.689 --> 00:06:03.649 love for the vineyard, God's love for Israel. 00:06:04.290 --> 00:06:09.089 When he speaks in these terms, a love song concerning 00:06:09.089 --> 00:06:15.629 his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard. on a 00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:19.769 very fertile hill. He digged it and cleared it 00:06:19.769 --> 00:06:24.810 of stones and planted it with choice vines. He 00:06:24.810 --> 00:06:29.870 built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed 00:06:29.870 --> 00:06:38.370 out a wine vat in it. And he looked for it to 00:06:38.370 --> 00:06:43.949 yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. Aha! 00:06:44.620 --> 00:06:49.120 Mood's going to change again. And now, O inhabitants 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:53.579 of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray 00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:59.079 you, between me and my vineyard. What more was 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:03.779 there for me to do for my vineyard that I have 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:08.279 not done for it? When I looked for it to yield 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:18.160 grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.079 I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:27.019 I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured. 00:07:27.339 --> 00:07:31.019 And I will break down its walls, and it shall 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:35.360 be trampled upon. And I will make it a waste, 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:47.939 and it shall not be pruned or hoed. Briars shall 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:53.420 grow from it. I will also command the clouds 00:07:53.420 --> 00:08:00.199 that they rain no more upon it. This is, again, 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:04.639 the coming of the Babylonian invasion. And then 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:08.540 our Lord makes it very clear. The vineyard of 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:12.319 the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:16.730 the men of Judah are his pleasant planting. And 00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:20.389 he looked for justice, and behold, bloodshed, 00:08:20.389 --> 00:08:26.810 and for righteousness, and behold, a cry. So 00:08:26.810 --> 00:08:29.670 this parable, this delightful parable and story 00:08:29.670 --> 00:08:35.769 of Israel as a vineyard, was very familiar to 00:08:35.769 --> 00:08:39.009 the Jewish people. It was a warning to them, 00:08:39.070 --> 00:08:44.929 and I would say it's also a warning to us. We 00:08:44.929 --> 00:08:48.629 who are the modern day vineyard of the Lord. 00:08:49.309 --> 00:08:55.190 And what could it be? It's a wake up call for 00:08:55.190 --> 00:08:58.370 Christians as well as for each and every one 00:08:58.370 --> 00:09:05.990 of us individually. Is there a wild boar which 00:09:05.990 --> 00:09:11.370 can attack us and the church? The wild boar, 00:09:11.450 --> 00:09:13.649 of course, for us individually is temptation 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:19.269 to fall away and to sin. And I would say the 00:09:19.269 --> 00:09:24.370 wild boar, which is one of the many temporary, 00:09:24.549 --> 00:09:28.870 hopefully, chastisements which God has for his 00:09:28.870 --> 00:09:35.570 church, the wild boar nowadays in our Western 00:09:35.570 --> 00:09:41.649 society is secularism. This sort of rejection 00:09:41.649 --> 00:09:46.149 of Christianity. The stone which the builders 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:49.710 rejected. So many people, it appeared. There 00:09:49.710 --> 00:09:53.450 are many good people, obviously. But religion 00:09:53.450 --> 00:09:58.210 does not pervade our society as it once did. 00:09:58.909 --> 00:10:02.690 And I think it's a call for the church and for 00:10:02.690 --> 00:10:08.960 us individually to be vigilant, to bear... Real 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:13.159 grapes, not wild grapes. And how do we do that? 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:19.600 By leading holy, pious lives. To be an example 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:24.600 to one another and to the people we meet on a 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:28.440 day -by -day basis that Jesus Christ and his 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:34.980 church mean something to us. We want to be fruitful 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:41.519 vine. in his vineyard. And so whatever this impending 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:45.919 wild boar might be for us and for the church 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:52.000 collectively, let us be on guard and reform our 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:57.559 ways as Isaiah and the psalmist advised the Jewish 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:02.320 people to do, lest there be a Babylonian invasion, 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:09.909 an invasion of rejection of the church. God grant 00:11:09.909 --> 00:11:14.710 that this does not take place and to give us 00:11:14.710 --> 00:11:17.330 strength if it does. Amen.