Quite some time ago, as president of your own company, you hired some trusted
friends to work for you. They needed the work; the job was within their
abilities; the pay was good; and, the job description was clear. However, once
hired, they thought they had a free ride with no accountability. When the job
was nearing completion, you sent your assistant to check the progress. He was
treated rudely by your employed friends, so you sent your vice-president to
find out what was going on. She was insulted, abused, and given no progress
report. You were getting the impression that the job was either behind schedule
or of poor quality. How would you react to all of this? At the very least, you
would consider firing these employees and hiring replacements.
Also,
imagine your feelings! Not only did it seem that the job progress and
quality were being covered up, but your employee-friends were offensive to your
assistant and afterwards abusive to your vice-president. You wonder what went
wrong. At the outset, the whole arrangement seemed so right for everyone
involved. And, then you face the hurtfulness of a breach, the unexpected
resistance to accountability, and a search for new employees who will continue
the job.
The
implication of the Parable of the Vineyard Workers (Matthew 21:33-43) is this:
Israel’s role as the people of God has not been faithfully discharged;
indeed, God’s servants have been rejected by Israel, which is soon to
reject God’s own Messiah. In the same Spirit, the reading from Isaiah
(Isaiah 5:1-7) speaks of the failure of God’s people’s to be
faithful.
At
first, it might seem an exaggeration to claim that tonight’s readings and
my somewhat analogous story incorporates the worst sin in the Bible. Many of us
would suspect the most serious sin in the Scriptures would be something sexual.
Not so!
However, at the core of every transgression
(including the failure to carry out one’s responsibilities as a Christian)
is betrayal. In the Genesis folklore we learn of Adam and Eve's betrayal of the
Creator, the God who invited them to be guests in the Garden; but Adam and Eve
violated their stewardship and were expelled. Delilah betrayed Samson. Judas
betrayed Jesus. Isn't it the case that traitors are usually despised, because
they have done the worst that can be done to anyone, regardless of the form
their betrayal takes? An affair uncovered; a personal confidentiality
needlessly broken; a nation's secrets compromised; a company's production plans
sold to a competitor; greedy owners victimizing their investors; the trusted
tenants’ behavior in the vineyard - all forms of betrayal. Moreover, it is
the betrayal itself that often hurts more deeply than the specific deeds; it is
the betrayal that leaves us stunned and empty, and even angry. Yes, the worst
sin in the Bible is BETRAYAL.
You
and I are the ones who can offend God the most, because we are part of that
historic people to whom God has unveiled his sacred purposes, his Word, in the
life and ministry of Jesus Christ; we are God's new and inspired creation. You
and I are the tenants in today's vineyard. And we individually and as the
church constantly betray God’s purposes for us. As a faith community, we
provide ceremonies and niceties, but fail too often to carry out ministries of
mutual love in our various circumstances, even among ourselves. God's tough
love is such that others could be raised up to become more faithful disciples
than ourselves. In Jesus' words, "I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken
away from you, and given to a people that produces fruits of the Spirit."
In
“The Catechism” of The Book of Common Prayer (page 855) the
question is asked, “What is the ministry of the laity?” The response
is this: “The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his
Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the
gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the
world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the
Church.” There is no doubt that Christian ministry is not merely a
spectator activity wherein an audience merely basks in the beauty of liturgical
pageantry.
Although the Parable of the Vineyard Workers does
not list our specific, individual responsibilities as contemporary tenants, or
in other words, as faithful ministers (lay and ordained), you and I have the
task of discerning individually what that calling is at various times in our
lives, as does the whole Church. Nevertheless, I am sure that as the
Creator's tenants, we are accountable to God. We are warned that at some point,
the Creator, betrayed just once too often, could raise up a new, more faithful
people as his primary witnesses, ministers, and beneficiaries.
Often
the Gospel comforts us: tonight its words challenge us, as do many other
biblical passages, to face the reality that betrayal is the underlying
worst sin, at the core of all others. If you are not a faithful vineyard worker
engaged in Christian ministry in some way, give some thought to find out
where and how a betrayal of God’s purpose has taken place in your life
– and whether you are willing and able to do anything about it.