DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Matthew 21:33-42
(9/11-9/24)
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Tending the Lord’s Vineyard: Saint Matthew
21:33-42, especially vss. 38, 39: “But
when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is
the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him and cast him out of the
vineyard and killed him.” The elites of ancient Israel were aroused against Christ by
His parable of ‘The Wicked Tenants.’ Still, we may be blessed if we
will heed the parable and apply it ourselves! As members of His Body, the Church of
which He is the Head, we are His vineyard.
We are among His vines planted to bear fruit, and we are His tenants and
servants having an eternal obligation to deliver the fruit of our Master to
Him. His parable challenges us who
call ourselves Christians.
The Lord Jesus will transform Orthodox Christians if we
follow His good order; for our Master made us more than mere tenants of His
Vineyard. At His Ascension His
instructions were “...not to depart from Jerusalem,” that is, not
to leave His Church; “...but to wait for the Promise of the
Father,” the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:4). Thus, the parable encompasses the entire
Life in Christ, warning us not to withhold from God that which is His (Mt.
21:41).
You and I became members of Christ’s Church at our
Baptism and Chrismation, when “...the Promise
of the Father...” (Acts 1:4), the gift of God the Holy Spirit, was sealed
on us. The Spirit remains with us,
daily performing what the Lord Jesus promised: guiding us into all truth, not on His own, “...but whatever He hears He will
speak...” (Jn. 16:13). And
plainly, He is reminding us to deliver the fruit of the Vineyard that we owe
our Master and God (Mt. 21:34).
Understand what the fruits are: faith, hope, love, obedience to the will of God in whatever circumstances
we find ourselves, taking up our cross, and repenting when we spoil some of the
fruit. Let us not drive the Holy
Spirit from our hearts by failing to heed Him, which, of course, kills our
heart, though not the Spirit of God.
He withdraws, and that is death for us (see vs. 35).
To assist us in heeding the Holy Spirit, God our Father
sends other servants, our holy Fathers, our Pastors, who come to us on behalf
of the Master, the heavenly Landowner (vs. 36). These strive to help us render
God’s fruits to God by leading us in worship, preaching the word of God
to our hearts, hearing our confessions, counseling and teaching us. As with the Holy Spirit, we can
effectively ‘beat’ them simply by disdaining their ministry, living
counter to their wisdom, staying away from Liturgy, neither repenting nor
confessing, which effectively ‘kills’ their presence in our hearts,
leaving us barren. Pastoral care is
labor for our life or death.
The parable reminds us that ‘our Father’ has
sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Himself, to us. Further, we professed to unite ourselves
to Christ. God’s expectation
is just and irenic, unless we choose also to
“...kill Him and seize His inheritance” and “...cast Him out
of the vineyard” (vss. 38,39) - out of our
hearts and lives. We can, for all
spiritual purposes, ‘kill’ Him as Lord of our life. We know too well how to shut off His
voice in our conscience; stifle the desire to confess to Him; not join in
worshiping Him; and end all prayer to Him.
Such actions take our thoughts, words and desires away from God and make
them ‘my business’ whereby we say, “The vineyard is mine, my
inheritance.” Thus we murder
Christ in our hearts, but it is we who die.
Christ warns that if we persistently rebel in attitude and
manner of life, God will destroy us in our wickedness “...miserably, and
lease His vineyard to other vinedressers...” (vs. 41). A drift into abusing the Church, the
Holy Mysteries, and the privileges of being God’s Vineyard and His
tenants to suit ourselves is a sinister invitation from the enemy. Be blessed! Render “...to God the things that
are God’s” (Mt. 22:21), and receive life, joy, peace, in the Holy
Spirit.
For all things are Yours and of Your
own we give to You (1 Ch. 29:14).
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