Being True to the Gift

 HOMILY, ST. PAUL’S, FOLEY – PROPER 22, YEAR A

OCTOBER 4, 2020 (First Sunday of morning services)

 

TEXT:                        Matthew 21:33-46

 

 

The Gospel lesson today – the Parable of the Vineyard – is a well known but a widely misunderstood teaching.

 

Popular understanding has been that this parable is an allegory – meaning that Jesus’ teaching anticipated his death and the son who was killed by the wicked tenants of the vineyard.  That interpretation has led to a vilification of the Jewish people.

 

A more accurate and faithful interpretation is broader and more general.  And, like many of Jesus’ teachings, its truth is particular to its time, but also transcends the many centuries to potentially judge us today.

 

You know the story.  The landowner leases the vineyard to some tenants.  They refuse to pay the lease with a portion of their produce. The landowner sends slaves to collect the produce. The tenants beat and throw them out.  So, the owner sends his son – assuming that the tenants would respect him.  They do not. Instead, they kill him.

 

Jesus goes on to quote the 22^nd verse of Psalm 118: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”  I would contend that it is not the Messiah the religious leaders rejected, but the timeless holy call – spoken by God through his word and the prophets – that Jesus was saying they ignored.

 

Yes, it stung the ears of the chief priests and Pharisees.  They knew he was talking about them.  They knew that he was alleging that they were emphasizing minor points at the expense of major points.  They were trying to remove a speck from others’ eyes while ignoring the beam in their own eyes.

 

It is important that we be mindful of this teaching.  The key words in Jesus’ confrontation of the religious leaders were these: “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.” That warning could be just as cogent for us as it was for the religious leaders to whom Jesus addressed it.

 

We need to always be mindful that what we do – as individuals and as a parish – emphasizes the essence of the way of salvation.  And, as Jesus noted, it is not always the way we think that is true to the Gospel.