On the Question of the Vineyard of the Lord

Isaiah 5: 1-7

Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend's song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyardon a fertile hillside;
he spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.

Then he looked for the crop of grapes,
but what it yielded was wild grapes.
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 had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?
Now, I will let you know
what I mean to do with my vineyard:
take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!
Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it.

The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his cherished plant;
he looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!

Philippians 4: 6-9

Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.

Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.

Matthew 21:33-43

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.

Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.

Again he sent other servants,
more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.

Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’

They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants
when he comes?"

They answered him,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."

Jesus said to them,
"Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Therefore, I say to you,
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

I'm not at all comfortable with these vineyard stories. God is shown here as the Good Guy who has done all that he can to make one or other of the Vineyards work. In one, the fucking grapes just refuse to be domesticated. In the other, the evil tenants kill all the owners representatives, even his son! God gets to be guiltless. God gets to say, "To Hell with you lot! I'm going out to find a new group of grapes, a more responsive clutch of tenants and THEY can inherit the Kingdom instead of you!"

This may not be what God, or the Church, intend us to hear. But is does seem to be a pretty clear message: Get your shit together, or get left behind!

Perhaps that is a compassionate message. Is the God who owns the vineyard, who sends his own son to it, the same God of peace that St. Paul speaks of?

Hard to say.