Vineyard 2015 Fr. Michael Margitich

There is precedence for a clergy to sit down

because there are some references in the New

Testament where it says that Jesus, seeing the

crowd, sat down and preached. Now, I don't want

to establish a precedence here because That has

to go through the rector. Glory be to Jesus Christ.

Glory forever. Yes, glory be to him who has revealed

the light and truth through Jesus Christ, the

heavenly giver. There is no better way for us

than to follow Christ's way. There is no better

way to walk than to walk in the wisdom of the

Lord. There is no greater joy. and blessing that

can come our way than being obedient to what

God has revealed in Christ. Some years ago, we

had a young man in our parish who went to study

abroad. And when he came back, he became the

self -appointed, sophisticated agnostic of the

parish. And at one of those social events, he

said to me, do you think I'll ever find God?

I said, I can't answer that question. But I can

say to you, declaring independence from God is

synonymous with death. Listen very carefully,

I said to him. You will find God. sooner or later.

He relocated and after a year or so he sent me

a letter in which he said that there were some

setbacks he endured. And he said something very

interesting. I felt God's right hand and his

left hand. I presume he experienced God's love

and judgment. At the bottom of the letter, in

big letters, he said, Glory be to Jesus Christ.

Now I mention this event because, dear people,

sometimes we get in the way of God's way. Think

about that for a moment. We get in the way of

God's way. Sometimes we are blind to God's blessings

and presence. Sometimes we lean too heavily on

our own human limited logic and reasoning and

not enough on embracing the eternal love of God.

The parable which we heard today is taken from

the 23rd chapter of Matthew. And the hearers

knew very well what Christ was saying. But for

us today, the references are not that clear.

And so let me restate the parable in these words.

The vineyard which Jesus spoke refers... to the

nation of Israel. The owner of the vineyard is

God himself because it was God who chose the

Jewish people. And the tenants were the religious

leaders who were charged with the responsibility

of ensuring that the people would grow spiritually

and in the direction which God had established

for them. The prophets were those sent by God

to remind the nation that they were standing

in the way of God's direction. And we are told

that Even though God sent the prophets periodically,

they were not only rejected, but they were killed.

And the scripture tells us that finally God said,

I will send my own son. Surely, surely they will

receive him. You know the outcome. he too was

killed. The evangelist John, in his first chapter,

sums up the tragic history of the people of Israel.

And we hear this passage on Pascha night, interestingly

enough. John Mike's Christ came to his own and

his own received him not. By rejecting Christ,

the leaders brought about a serious consequence.

By their own rejection of Christ and his teachings,

They forfeited the right, forfeited the right

to call themselves the chosen people. As a result,

the Old Testament church comes to an end and

the New Testament church is established. Here

the question must be raised. If God expected

from his own people the fruit of spiritual living

and obedience, will he not expect the same from

us who have become the chosen people? The New

Testament. The new vineyard. The parable gives

a very vivid description of how God cared for

his people. He cared with patience and love.

He gave them ample opportunities and extracted

them from many unfortunate circumstances. Yet,

They turned their back on God. They stood in

the way of God's plans. Sin has very many definitions.

But basically we could say it means being in

opposition to God. To the will of God. Or in

the words, Of the crooner Sinatra. Who sang.

I'll do it my way. And we keep doing it our way.

Don't we? We say in our prayer. Our father. Thy

will be done. But is that true? We often say.

My will be done. To profess God. In one. but

to live in another way causes a sense of distortion

and imbalance. There is one element or teaching

in this parable which certainly we should apply

to ourselves. It's the principle of leadership

which the tenants of the Old Testament vineyard

miserably failed to practice. It's interesting

that we who have been baptized are the new tenants.

The stewards of Christ. His vineyard. Both clergy

and laity. At the hierarchical liturgy. The bishop

blesses the congregation with this prayer. Look

down from heaven. Oh God. And visit. this vineyard

which thou hast planted. My dear people, we can

only convince this unbelieving world of our faith

by being true stewards, true witnesses, true

collaborators and cultivators of the vineyard.

Let our lips and our lives express the gospel

that we profess. Or as our dear Lord said, let

your light so shine before others that they may

see your good works and glorify your Father in

heaven. Glory be to Jesus Christ.