There is precedence for a clergy to sit down
because there are some references in the New
Testament where it says that Jesus, seeing the
crowd, sat down and preached. Now, I don't want
to establish a precedence here because That has
to go through the rector. Glory be to Jesus Christ.
Glory forever. Yes, glory be to him who has revealed
the light and truth through Jesus Christ, the
heavenly giver. There is no better way for us
than to follow Christ's way. There is no better
way to walk than to walk in the wisdom of the
Lord. There is no greater joy. and blessing that
can come our way than being obedient to what
God has revealed in Christ. Some years ago, we
had a young man in our parish who went to study
abroad. And when he came back, he became the
self -appointed, sophisticated agnostic of the
parish. And at one of those social events, he
said to me, do you think I'll ever find God?
I said, I can't answer that question. But I can
say to you, declaring independence from God is
synonymous with death. Listen very carefully,
I said to him. You will find God. sooner or later.
He relocated and after a year or so he sent me
a letter in which he said that there were some
setbacks he endured. And he said something very
interesting. I felt God's right hand and his
left hand. I presume he experienced God's love
and judgment. At the bottom of the letter, in
big letters, he said, Glory be to Jesus Christ.
Now I mention this event because, dear people,
sometimes we get in the way of God's way. Think
about that for a moment. We get in the way of
God's way. Sometimes we are blind to God's blessings
and presence. Sometimes we lean too heavily on
our own human limited logic and reasoning and
not enough on embracing the eternal love of God.
The parable which we heard today is taken from
the 23rd chapter of Matthew. And the hearers
knew very well what Christ was saying. But for
us today, the references are not that clear.
And so let me restate the parable in these words.
The vineyard which Jesus spoke refers... to the
nation of Israel. The owner of the vineyard is
God himself because it was God who chose the
Jewish people. And the tenants were the religious
leaders who were charged with the responsibility
of ensuring that the people would grow spiritually
and in the direction which God had established
for them. The prophets were those sent by God
to remind the nation that they were standing
in the way of God's direction. And we are told
that Even though God sent the prophets periodically,
they were not only rejected, but they were killed.
And the scripture tells us that finally God said,
I will send my own son. Surely, surely they will
receive him. You know the outcome. he too was
killed. The evangelist John, in his first chapter,
sums up the tragic history of the people of Israel.
And we hear this passage on Pascha night, interestingly
enough. John Mike's Christ came to his own and
his own received him not. By rejecting Christ,
the leaders brought about a serious consequence.
By their own rejection of Christ and his teachings,
They forfeited the right, forfeited the right
to call themselves the chosen people. As a result,
the Old Testament church comes to an end and
the New Testament church is established. Here
the question must be raised. If God expected
from his own people the fruit of spiritual living
and obedience, will he not expect the same from
us who have become the chosen people? The New
Testament. The new vineyard. The parable gives
a very vivid description of how God cared for
his people. He cared with patience and love.
He gave them ample opportunities and extracted
them from many unfortunate circumstances. Yet,
They turned their back on God. They stood in
the way of God's plans. Sin has very many definitions.
But basically we could say it means being in
opposition to God. To the will of God. Or in
the words, Of the crooner Sinatra. Who sang.
I'll do it my way. And we keep doing it our way.
Don't we? We say in our prayer. Our father. Thy
will be done. But is that true? We often say.
My will be done. To profess God. In one. but
to live in another way causes a sense of distortion
and imbalance. There is one element or teaching
in this parable which certainly we should apply
to ourselves. It's the principle of leadership
which the tenants of the Old Testament vineyard
miserably failed to practice. It's interesting
that we who have been baptized are the new tenants.
The stewards of Christ. His vineyard. Both clergy
and laity. At the hierarchical liturgy. The bishop
blesses the congregation with this prayer. Look
down from heaven. Oh God. And visit. this vineyard
which thou hast planted. My dear people, we can
only convince this unbelieving world of our faith
by being true stewards, true witnesses, true
collaborators and cultivators of the vineyard.
Let our lips and our lives express the gospel
that we profess. Or as our dear Lord said, let
your light so shine before others that they may
see your good works and glorify your Father in
heaven. Glory be to Jesus Christ.