Rev. Franke's Theme Thoughts

Proper 22, Series A October 2, 2011

Lessons for The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 5:1–7 ~ Israel, like a carefully prepared vineyard that yielded only bad fruit, would be destroyed.
Psalm 80:7–19 [Antiphon: Ps. 80:7]
Philippians 3:4b–14 ~ St. Paul didn’t count on his accomplishments after he came to know Christ as Lord.
Matthew 21:33–46 ~ Jesus warned that tenants who do not produce fruit from their vineyard will lose it.

GATHERING THE TEXTS: We Owe God our Lives and our Love.
Israel in Isaiah's day was like a vineyard that had enjoyed the careful pruning and cultivating of a loving landowner, but in an act of defiance, refused to produce good grapes. Such a vineyard is as ungrateful as the tenants Jesus described, who killed the landowner's son in an attempt to secure the vineyard for themselves. St. Paul reminds us that everything we have accomplished on our own is worth nothing compared to the righteousness God has given us in Christ through faith. Our lives are dedicated to God and reflect his love for the people of this world.

PRAYER BEFORE THE SERVICE: Gracious God, You have planted me like a vine in a vineyard to bear good fruit for You in this world. Help me recognize opportunities to show Your love to my neighbors so that I may live as a good citizen of Your kingdom. Amen.

STEWARDSHIP THOUGHT: Christ Jesus has made us His own through His sacrifice; He calls us to bear fruits of righteousness for Him, restoring those who are alienated and giving aid to the helpless, because in them we see the face of Christ.

OFFERING PRAYER: In Your Vineyard, gracious Lord,
Use these gifts to spread God’s Word.
Turn our hearts and willing hands
To the tasks His love demands. Amen.

CONVICTION AND COMFORT: We are confronted by our failure to produce the fruits of God’s kingdom in the nurture and care of the dispossessed and helpless in our communities and recognize that rejecting them is the rejection of Jesus (cf. Matthew 25). But we are also reassured that the opportunity to work in God’s vineyard is a free gift from God (“he will give it to others”) and that the fruit we are called to produce is his, secured for us by the death of his Son. And that is the only thing we can count on!