The Grapes of Wrath

Isaiah 5:1-7

1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then *he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.  3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? 5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”  7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

On the Internet this week was a real news story about the funniest joke in the world.  More than 40,000 jokes from 70 countries and two million critiques later, they came up with the funniest Joke in America and the world.  The Funniest in America goes like this: "A man and a friend are playing golf one day. One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course.

"He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer. His friend says: 'Wow that is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen. You are truly a kind man.'

"The man then replies: 'Yeah, well, we were married 35 years."'

That is the same kind of sentiment that the prophet Isaiah was referring to in our OT lesson.  He used the story of the Vineyard owner and his vineyard to make a point.  God is the Vineyard owner who creates and puts tremendous effort into making his vineyard the best. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.  He only asks that we produce good grapes, i.e. good works.  But instead all we can do is give a passing nod to God and his work for us and then produce a crop that is better known as the grapes of wrath i.e. our sinful actions.  Rather than thanking God and rejoicing in the blessing we have, of forgiveness, life, peace, Joy, protection, we would rather make a show of respect, all the while not letting God interfere with the rest of our lives.

“In sin did my mother conceive me, I have been sinful from birth.”  Our corrupted nature prevents us from living the Christian life that God intended.  We sin against God in our thoughts:

"Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other man pulls out his phone and calls emergency services.

He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator in a calm, soothing voice replies: "Take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead."

There is a silence, and then a shot is heard.

Back on the phone, the hunter says, "Ok, now what?"

 (In case your were wondering that was classified as the World’s Funniest Joke)

            The reality is that we think we know what God wants of us.  Our tainted mind believes that we must please God by our behavior in order to be saved. That some how it is up to us to be good enough to get to heaven.  And when we understand that we can’t keep the Ten Commandments we re-write them so fit what we think we can do in order to feel better about ourselves.   

          The value we place on our faith and relationship to God is best seen in comparison to the value we place on other things. 

          Several dollar bills 5’s 10’s 20’s 50’s were sitting around the table talking about what they had done for summer vacation.  The 20’s and 50’s bragged about going to Hawaii and the Caribbean and Europe.  The 10’s and 5’s said they had gone to the amusement park and a Cubs game and to see the soon to be World Series champions St. Louis cardinals.  Then they all asked the 1’s what they had done.  They frowned and said all they had done was go to church, and go to church and go to church.

          I wonder how our commitment to Christ and His church would stack up against the other things in our lives?

          Thanks be to God that he does not treat us the way the Vineyard owner treated his vineyard.  I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated,

and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”  Although this is what we deserve, God took his wrath out upon His Son.  On the Cross he was destroyed, at Golgotha He was trampled, in His crucifixation He was laid waste.  It was not rain that poured down but rather the blood of the Lamb of God. 

            Each of us have been buried with Christ in our Baptism.  We were put to death and have been given new life.  We no longer look at God as a nuisance or as a separate part of our lives, but by faith we have received His salvation and Christ becomes the center of our lives.  We want to produce the Fruit that is pleasing in His sight—the fruit of the Spirit; Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness and Self-control.  These are seen in the way we love and honor and praise God and the way we love one another.

The other day I ran across a letter written by a student that put into perspective what it means to resist the grapes of wrath and produce the fruit of the Sprit.

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."  I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face.  It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.  Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.  Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. By responding to the Love in Christ that’s in each of us we can change this community one life at a time.  The Grapes of Wrath when nurtured by the blood of the Lamb can be come the Fruit of the Spirit.

Amen