Division and Wild Grapes: Last Sunday's Sermon

Old Testament

Isaiah 5:1-7

Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.

He dug 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;

he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,

judge between me
and my vineyard.

What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?

When I expected 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 it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;

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 people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;

he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;

righteousness,
but heard a cry!

The Epistle

Hebrews 11:29-12:2


By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.


The Gospel
Luke 12:49-56


Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:

father against son
and son against father,

mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, `It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

The Sermon

In my office, next to my desk, is a Planters can of mixed nuts. On the front of the can it has a picture of Mr. Peanut along with an assortment of nuts. There are cashews, pecans, almonds, and peanuts in the picture. However if you take off the lid and look inside you will notice that it is about a third full. If you look closer you will notice that the can contains mostly peanuts and a few almonds. Yet, the front of the can advertises that it contains less than 50% peanuts. How can this be? Is it a problem with truth in advertising?

No, you see as I have been sampling from this large tin of nuts, I have been picking out and eating my favorites, namely the cashews and pecans. So, how does this relate in any way to today's readings and my sermon on those readings.

Well, in our church, we have assigned readings for each Sunday and frankly some of those readings are kind of hard to give a sermon on. In a lot of churches the minister is given a choice of which scripture he would like to read and which to ignore. It is kind of like me and my can of nuts. I consume the nuts I like and ignore the nuts that are not as tasty. I am guessing that in many churches today they are not hearing about this gospel lesson from Luke. It is not an easy message to listen to.

The reading from Isaiah it difficult too. Through the mouth of the prophet God tells his people that he has done so much for them. The metaphor he uses is the grape vine. God has done so much to make the vine flourish. He has cleared away the stones and planted the best vines but all he got for his effort was wild grapes. The vineyard he speaks of is really the house of Judah and Israel. God expected justice but saw only bloodshed. God is not happy!

Jesus makes it clear in this reading from Luke that he has not given us an easy peaceful path to follow. He says, “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No I tell you, but rather division. From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two, two against three.”

At the end of this reading he continues with, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'it is going to rain' and so it happens. You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time.?

It was rarely easy sailing for Jesus. He was rejected by many, even whole villages, In one instance they tried to push him off a cliff. In another instance, his own family tried to come and get him because they were pretty sure he had gone mad(Mark 3:21) It would have been considered madness in his world to challenge the powers that be and tell them they needed to change their ways.

In both of these readings change is expected and both readings tell us that change will not be easy or peaceful. The reading from Hebrew's tells us to take heart. The author in Hebrew's tells us that we should “run with perseverance the race that is put before us looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

There was division 2,000 years ago and there is clearly division today. When Jesus saw injustice and cruelty in his world he spoke to it. He called it out for what it was. He wanted his followers to do the same.

He still wants us to speak out against injustice and cruelty in today's world. Speaking out is hard. We have all heard it said that our country is divided. That does not mean that we should not have the resolve to do what is right in the face of adversity.

Yet, I still believe we can find peace. The world cannot give us peace. Knowing that we are doing God's work and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives can give a sense of calm in the middle of the storm that is crashing in around us.

Amen