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Pentecost 11
15 August 2004
Is. 5:1-7; Ps 80:1-2,8-19; Heb 11:29-12:2; Lk12:49-56
In my first parish of Te Kuiti there was a woman who had a devastating chest complaint which, over the six years I was there, steadily worsened. When it was time for me to leave I went to the hospital to say goodbye. She was lying prone, unable to lift her head. We spoke of the difficult years of her illness and I tried to say how sorry I was that it was so difficult for her. She said: “It is difficult, and I don’t know why I have to suffer so much; but now I see only puzzling reflections in a mirror; but one day I shall see face to face. It’s all right. Goodbye.”
Isaiah 5:1-7
This is one of the most skillful poems in the Old Testament. It begins as a love song — to my beloved. What is expected after such loving and such careful attention to growth is a crop of edible grapes. But it yields stinkers — literally the stink of rotten fruit. Later the same term is used of rotting fish. Ugh!
The inescapable conclusion is put to the watchers — Israel — there is no more to be done. The mood of the owner is of puzzled painfulness. Why did all the care yield such stinkers? All protection is to go! Briars and thorns will come. It is clear that God is bringing judgment to the nation.
Note that the voice in v.7 is different from that in vv3-4 or in vv5-6. Is the final voice that of the prophet himself? Yet the mood is still more of sorrow than of anger.
The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is Israel,
Judah the plant he cherished.
He looked for justice but found bloodshed,
for righteousness but heard cries of distress. (REV)
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
The judgment on the vineyard pronounced in Isaiah’s poem has happened. All the patient nurture that makes for growth and fruitfulness has been given, but why, then, have the walls been broken down so that all who pass by can pluck its fruit? There is no answer. So the plea is for God to repent. The only human response to that hope is to stand nearby ready to move into the loving embrace of God..
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Is the theme ‘endurance”? It seems to me that the point of the race is not to be first. To “win”: may mean to go the distance, wherever that may lead. It is also a journey in company, not only of those who also endure, but of those who have endured.
That is especially true of a sharing in the journey of Jesus. His journey took him through many aspects of a familiar journey for us. It covers family, friends, the kind of company we choose, the standards we adopt, the difficulties and antagonisms we encounter. And finally? For Jesus it was “It is finished!” What will it be for you and me?
O Lord, support us all the days of this life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and our work is done. Then, in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest and peace at the last: through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Luke 12:49-56
“Ouch!” And “Oh Dear!” Whoever thought of this as the primary reading for the day. Shouldn’t we just stick with the triumph of Hebrews 12:1-2? Surely Jesus is the home-maker not the home-breaker!
Obviously, Jesus is addressing a time of crisis. When is there not a time of crisis? He is demanding a change of life-style to deal with it and not finding much evidence, at least among those who should be aware.
What is the fire Jesus wishes to kindle? What is the baptism that causes such anxiety? Wherever he goes, and whatever he says, Jesus provokes opposition and division. Why?
Remember Simeon in the Temple, cradling the infant Jesus and saying “This child is destined to be a sign that will be rejected...”
The crisis continues. Remember stories about the marches against Springbok tours where family members came face to face on opposing sides. Recall the recent hikoi on the foreshore and seabed issue where Church and government came face to face in opposition.
It seems there can be no peace without conflict, no salvation without rejection.
And people used to reading the times fail to see the actual crisis.
See Colin Gibson’s hymn “Is there no other way?” Alleluia Aotearoa 73
Prayer
Lord,
help us to see in the groaning of creation
not death throes but birth pangs;
help us to see in suffering a promise for the future,
because it is a cry against the inhumanity of the present.
Help us to glimpse in protest the dawn of justice,
in the Cross the pathway to resurrection,
and in suffering the seeds of joy.
- Rubern Alves, Brazil.