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The Fifth Sunday in
Lent
Isaiah 43:16-21 Share and Share Alike I grew up as the fourth child in a family of five children. I thought I had special privileges because I was the first daughter. I was further convinced that my grandfather, who died when I was six, always liked me best. That’s because when he came to visit us, he would open his coin purse and give my brothers money, but he always brought me a tiny paper bag filled with unwrapped peppermint sticks. My mother would promptly hide them and dispense them periodically. Those peppermint sticks were what they used to call “penny candy” and I still love tiny paper bags because they remind me of my grandfather. Grandparents are good at spoiling children, and parents are left to keep discipline. One of the disciplines at the McCloud house was “share and share alike.” I have photographic proof that my three older brothers dressed alike until they were teenagers. I don’t know how my mother got away with it, but in those snapshots of all the cousins you could easily spot the McCloud boys. They were the ones in the striped shirts and khaki pants, or the sweaters with reindeer on them. That’s because if one of them got something, all of them got the same thing. They shared and shared alike. I have seen a copy of my mother’s Will, and I can tell you that none of us will inherit anything special. If we outlive her, we will still share and share alike. God has a policy very much like that of my parents. God’s love is “share and share alike” for all people. Throughout scripture we read about those people who don’t want what God is sharing with them. We also read about those people who don’t want to share with others what God has given them. All of these people miss the mark of God’s love. That’s the classic definition of sin. Jesus came to cancel sin and to let us start all over with God and with each other. Jesus’ insistence that we all share in God’s love is what got him into so much trouble. On this Sunday before Palm Sunday, we get to take a look at one of the main reasons why Jesus was so unpopular with the religious authorities. That is, Jesus wanted the religious authorities to share their inheritance with the whole wide world. Even if they would not cooperate, Jesus was about to pop the cork and give everyone a drink of the fine old wine. Somehow, they sensed that they could not stop him. The scriptures prior to today’s Gospel tell of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. This had made the Roman authorities very nervous, which in turn made the religious authorities very nervous. Jesus’ Jewish kin in occupied Palestine enjoyed a unique advantage: They got to keep their religious traditions as long as they kept a low profile. This was not usually the case with conquered peoples. About two hundred years before the time of Jesus, the conquering Greeks had tried to force their religious traditions on the Jewish people. This led to a major revolt which you can read about in the history of the Maccabees. In Jesus’ time, Pontius Pilate trotted the Roman standards into Jerusalem. Since the standards contained carved images, there was an uprising. In a separate incident, Pilate had many of the Jewish people slaughtered because they complained of his use of temple funds for a water construction project. As you can imagine, sedition was always brewing under the surface of society. Jesus was suspected of sedition as well as heresy. This is why he was watched so closely. It is little wonder that the religious authorities were nervous about Jesus. They had to answer to the Romans. In our Gospel reading for today, we find the religious authorities – the “scribes and chief priests” attempting to contain the damages that Jesus left in his wake. Jesus had just ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfillment of prophecy. He had immediately gone to the temple, cleared it of moneychangers, and set up shop. Jesus reaffirmed that God’s house is a house of prayer for all peoples. God’s blessing was for everyone, as all were to share and share alike in God’s blessing. Jesus’ teachings reaffirmed that one day, as predicted by Isaiah the Prophet, “. . . the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” [Is. 11:9b] Clearly, Jesus had gotten into their territory. Many of their people had died for the religious status quo. Some people before Jesus’ time had died martyrs’ deaths – that is, they refused to deny their faith and God bless them for that. But somewhere along the way in their protection of their religious heritage, Jesus’ fellow Israelites had missed God’s goal for themselves: They were to be a light to the nations. They were to welcome the stranger, because they had been strangers in the strange land of Egypt. But they had pulled back the boundaries so that only a chosen few were included. This is when Jesus gave them the parable of the vineyard. There are probably some other ways to interpret this parable, but here is how I see it in light of its context in scripture. The vineyard is the Kingdom of God. It is for everyone but everyone was not getting a share of it. Those in charge of the vineyard killed the prophets and stoned those who were sent to them. Finally, they would kill Jesus the Son of God outside the walls of Jerusalem. They couldn’t outwit him, so they would find someone to betray him. It would be an inside job. What they did not realize was that their plan would backfire. There was no way they could destroy the Son of God and get the kingdom to themselves. Quite the opposite – Jesus would die and rise again so that everyone could share in the Kingdom of God. There will always be religious disputes. Maybe that is how we come to a deeper understanding of God. Just this past week our Bishop participated in the House of Bishops meeting in Camp Allen in Texas. The current dispute among Anglicans worldwide has to do with who is in communion with whom, and also with which behavioral patterns and authority patterns will be acceptable. The House of Bishops took the high road and reaffirmed that they will uphold the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church. They further affirmed that they will be about God’s business as outlined in Luke’s Gospel:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, In coming to communion today, we are reminded that this is God’s table, at which all of us are welcome. Jesus died and rose again to make it so. Jesus’ resurrection pops the cork and gives everyone a drink of the fine old wine of God’s grace. We will share and share alike. Amen.
On the grounds of Honey Creek
The Rev. Linda McCloud, Pastor |
