Knowing Christ Jesus – 8 October 2017 – 18th Sunday after Pentecost/ Lectionary 27

Human action is grounded in what honors our own selves rather than in what does honor to God. We need constant reminding that it is God who gives the necessities for life: a place to plant, the food that grows, and the peace of mind and heart that comes from being known, loved, and forgiven.

In homiletical reflections from 2005 in Homily Service, Aaron Couch sets the readings in context and Ron Anderson asks a question that may help the preacher guide listeners to reflection on their own ways of living their faith.

Matthew 21:33-46

The gospel text for today is characterized as a “parable,” but is in essence an allegory that casts the religious authorities as rebellious tenants.

Imagery for the parable may have been drawn from Isaiah’s “love song” concerning his beloved’s vineyard. Just as Isaiah announced God’s judgment on the leaders of Jerusalem in the eighth century B.C., so Jesus. . . believes that the temple authorities are devoted to their own power and privilege rather than to God.

The parable becomes a telling of salvation history, with the landowner’s slaves representing the prophets sent by God. The story reaches its critical turning point with the arrival of the son, who represents Jesus himself. While it is unlikely that there were any circumstances under which actual tenants could have taken an inheritance by killing the rightful heir, historical plausibility is not the parable’s purpose. Instead, the story functions to condemn the Jewish leadership for rejecting Jesus as Messiah. . .

. . . It is important to resist reading this parable in any manner that suggests the church will supersede and replace Israel as God’s covenant people. Certainly the church’s history of persecuting Jews calls for a different reading of the text. In addition, the parable itself is not concerned with the status of God’s covenant with the Jewish people. Jesus directs his words specifically against the temple authorities, not the Jewish people. Unlike Isaiah 5, judgment does not fall on the vineyard itself, but rather on the rebellious tenants. –– Aaron J. Couch

Isaiah 5:1-7

The “song of the vineyard” . . . suggests a tragic story of romance ending in betrayal. The hearer might suppose at first that the vineyard represents the beloved’s bride, who has been unfaithful. The beloved makes accusations and demands an explanation for his disappointed hopes.

The poem effectively hides its true meaning until the end, when it is revealed that the vineyard represents the kingdom of Israel. In this way, the poem delivers the announcement of judgment with devastating power. Isaiah of Jerusalem denounced the betrayal of covenant loyalty on the part of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the eighth century B.C. The prophet’s consistent themes are summed up in parallel accusations in verse 7: no justice, no covenant fidelity (righteousness). Instead, violence and oppression are the norm for the covenant people’s life. –– Aaron J. Couch

Philippians 3:4b-14

Paul offers his own experience as an indicator of the true value of faith in Christ and encourages the believers in Philippi to live with the same devotion. The enemies of the cross, whose god is the belly and whose glory is their shame, could potentially be libertines devoted to sensual pleasures. –– Aaron J. Couch

The RCL reading from Philippians suggests that the vineyard might be worthless apart from knowing Christ Jesus as LORD. As Isaac Watts wrote, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

In what ways do we express our desire to know Christ today? What “value” do we place on knowing Christ? —E. Byron Anderson

E. Byron Anderson is the Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Worship and the Director of the Nellie B. Ebersole Program in Music Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. 

Aaron Couch is a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.

Homily Service 38, no. 11 (2005): 3-14.

Always Expanding the Base – 24 September 2017 – 16th Sunday after Pentecost/ Lectionary 25

Matthew 20:1-16

As is often the case in Matthew’s gospel, there is no clear context for the parable. Nor is there a parallel to this parable in another gospel. We may guess that in telling this parable, Jesus was responding to criticism that he was paying more attention to those outside the law (e.g., tax collectors, prostitutes) than to those who abided by the law of Moses. . .

The evangelist gives his own interpretation by locating the parable after the exchange between Jesus and his disciples about what the disciples will receive for having left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus promises great rewards to his disciples, but he also adds the warning: “many who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (19:30). The parable of the laborers in the vineyard reminds the original twelve that other disciples will follow them, and God’s generosity is such that they all receive the same reward: eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. . .  

The . . . parable is neither a lesson in economics nor in morality. It is about the generosity of God’s grace to the last as to the first. –– Frank C. Senn

Jonah 3:10––4:11

The prophet Jonah had been called to proclaim to the great Syrian city of Nineveh that unless the city repented of its evil ways, God would destroy it. After evading God’s call once (and being thrown into the sea and swallowed by a great fish), Jonah did the job God had given him. . . and the whole city repented. . .

Jonah is angry that God relented and did not punish the Ninevites. God uses the bush that shades Jonah and then withers (further angering Jonah) to make a point:

. . . If Jonah cared so much for the bush, which he didn’t even cause to grow, why should God not care for the great city of Nineveh?

Since Nineveh was a gentile city, the whole story of Jonah can be taken to be an expression of God’s concern and grace for God’s gentile children, with the implication that God’s Jewish children ought to . . . sympathize with . . . all God’s wayward children. –– Frank C. Senn

Philippians 1:21-30

Remaining faithful in the absence of the apostle to lead them must have been an issue for this church since Paul’s letter emphasizes persistence in the faith in the face of opposition. This opposition perhaps came more from the pagan society of Philippi. . . than from opposing parties in the church since Paul does not get into particular theological controversies in this letter but does make the Christian faith a life and death matter.

Since Philippi was a military town, the Roman civil religion probably flourished as strongly as any local cult. We are aware that Christians were not considered good citizens because of their refusal to participate in emperor worship. . . .

Perhaps in this context, Paul presents the example of his own situation as an encouragement to the Philippian Christians. Paul is apparently under armed guard, but this has given him an opportunity to witness to Christ. He . . . sees positives no matter what happens. If he lives, he continues to witness to Christ. If he dies, he gets to be with Christ. . . . The bond between apostle and church is that they suffer together because of their faith in Christ. –– Frank C. Senn

Frank C. Senn, an ELCA pastor who served Immanuel Lutheran Church in Evanston, Illinois, from 1990-2013, has also taught liturgy courses at a number of seminaries and divinity schools and published thirteen books mostly on the history of the liturgy.

Homily Service 38, no. 10 (2005): 33-45.