Proper 22A
Notes
Transcript
LCMS Lectionary Summary:
OT: Exo 20.1-4, 7-9, 12-20 (this is read Lent 3B so that’s prob why L has Isa 5.1-7, but that is read Proper 22A and 15C). In the RCL OT, God says “I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. The ten commandments given, by cutting out 5-6 which I don’t think we should, maybe include the first phrase of 5 “you shall not bow down to them or serve them.” 10-11 cut as well which is cuttable (but still good).
Epistle: Php 3.4b-14 (same) “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, forgetting those things behind...I count everything as loss for the sake of Christ...being found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own...sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in death that I may if possible attain the resurrection of the dead...not that I have already attained.”
Gospel 278: Mat 21.33-46 (same) parable of householder planting vineyard lets it out to wicked tenants (husbandman) travels to another country. Sent servants to get his fruit, tenants beat one killed another, sent his own son and they kill him so as to inherit (?) the vineyard but the owner will come and put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other servants who will do as told. Moral: the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.
The True Vine Redeems the Vineyard of the Lord of Hosts (this works when L’s OT is Isa 5 but will have to be adapted (see Anderson) if we stay with Exo 20.)
“The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel” (Is. 5:7), which He planted “on a very fertile hill” (Is. 5:1). He did everything for His vineyard, not only clearing it of stones and planting it with “choice vines,” but also building the “watchtower” of His prophets and hewing out the “wine vat” of His priesthood in its midst (Is. 5:2). But when “he looked for it to yield grapes,” there were only “wild grapes” of bloodshed and unrighteousness (Is. 5:2, 7). The Lord Jesus likewise described the unfaithfulness of those who were called to care for His vineyard (Matt. 21:33–35). But in this He also describes His cross and Passion (Matt. 21:38–39), by which He has redeemed the vineyard for Himself. He is the true Vine, planted by death into the ground, and in His resurrection He brings forth “the fruits in their seasons” (Matt. 21:41). Among those good grapes of the true Vine is the apostle Paul. Once a zealous persecutor of the Church, he “suffered the loss of all things” in order to “gain Christ and be found in him,” to “know him and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:8–10).
Summary: The Fruitless Vine
Hymn of the Day: 544 O love, how deep, how broad, how high
sdg: The love of God, so rich and pure, how measureless and strong
Liturgy:
Summary:
Isa 5.1-7
Let me sing for my beloved a love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He digged it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!
FW notes that the opening is a love song, but by verse 3 we enter the courtroom
Psa 80.7-15
Restore us, O God of hosts; let thy face shine, that we may be saved! Thou didst bring a vine out of Egypt; thou didst drive out the nations and plant it. Thou didst clear the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. Why then hast thou broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock which thy right hand planted.
God planted Israel in the land after leaving Egypt, as a grapevine, it's branches spread but now God himself broke down the walls (12)
Php 3.4b-14
Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul, could, if he wanted to, rest on his credentials but all that he sees as worthless. If you don't have Jesus, and you aren't just a "enjoy life" person, you have to rest on something, but they are all empty actually. If you don't see that, then you need to get true perspective.
Mat 21.33-46
“Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but when it falls on any one, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet.
Parable of the Evil Farmers - one of the commentators said that it is not believable that the owner would even let this group of tenant farmers get by with the first murder of the messenger sent, but that doesn't matter because it is in part a parable that addresses our strong desire to get our own way and not do as we are instructed. This is crucially the case in unconverted people because they need to let Jesus sit on the throne of and in their heart. It is a matter of allegiance in the end. And even born again people need to be reminded to "lose their lives" and "die daily."
