The lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures intended for this day is from Isaiah - where we read of God's vineyard. And these words jump out at me: "What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?"

And the Gospel, from Matthew, tells of a landowner who planted a vineyard and leased it to others to tend - a rather common practice back then and even today. But the tenants started to think of the vineyard as their own and when the landowner sent his servants to collect the percentage due to him, the tenants beat them up - even killed one of them. So the landowner tried again, with more servants. And the result was the same. So the landowner sent his son, thinking they would respect him. But they killed him as well, thinking that, without an heir, they would naturally inherit the entire vineyard.

Those who tended the vineyard did more than cultivate it. They perfected a crop of sour grapes. They were productive, but what they grew was only worth throwing out.

Productivity is a word much in vogue these days. Any negotiation of a contract between employer and workers seems to have some sort of productivity rider in it. The thinking is that the employees will cover their pay increases, at least in part, through producing more. Today's lesson from Isaiah and the parable in the gospel are about productivity, too.

In a real way, these lessons today push us toward an understanding of stewardship--a faithful use of what the Lord has provided. We are called to be stewards, stewards of our lives, to give of ourselves in the name of the Lord as ministers of Jesus Christ. We are to share ourselves, our time, and our possessions, signs of God's gracious love.

Giving grows out of loving, and loving comes from God. We know love because God first loved us. We have known love and so we love. Giving is our response to God's love. And our giving makes things happen. Around the block and around the world, mouths are fed, spirits are nurtured, wells are dug, bodies are healed, and lives are changed all because we give, we love. We produce sweet grapes.

All of us know about sour grapes, don't we? People give us a hard time, we get resentful, we want to strike back. And that sourness is reflected in our attitudes and the way we live with others.

What are those wild grapes in the first lesson? First of all, they are an active disobedience. They are a refusal to supply what is expected and what is just. Even more importantly, they are a sign of self-denial of one's identity and mission as a child of God. To bear wild grapes when one is born and bred to yield something better means abandoning who we are and where we came from, our origin and our identity.

But the production of wild grapes is not only an offense against ourselves; it is an offense against God who has done everything possible for us. It is to echo the lament of Isaiah: We betrayed God's love. As Matthew points out, it is to walk on all of God's expressions of love and affection. We who are most beloved choose to become an enemy.

I heard a story about sour grapes that has stuck with me. It seems a seminary professor was noted for elaborate object lessons. One day as students entered the classroom, they knew something was up. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. This was going to be fun!

The professor told the students to draw a picture of someone they disliked or someone who had made them angry. Then the students would be allowed to throw darts at that person's picture. One drew a picture of someone who had stolen away a girlfriend. Another drew a picture of a little brother. Another drew a picture of a former friend complete with lots of pimples on the face.

The class lined up and began throwing darts with much laughter. Some of the students threw so hard the paper ripped. Finally, the professor asked the students to return to their seats, and then the professor began removing the target itself from the wall.

Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled image of Jesus. Holes and jagged marks covered his face and his eyes were pierced. The professor said only these words from Matthew 25, verse 40: "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my people, you have done it to me."

Those wild grapes are dangerous!

Matthew's parable was aimed at those who had rejected Jesus, and he said the wild grapes would be rejected by God, but the story could just as easily be directed at us. Pharisees could be replaced by the word Lutheran or Presbyterian or Episcopalian or United Methodist or United Church of Christ. Therefore, God's Word is addressed to God's people of all time. This parable is meant for us, to shake us out of complacency.

We've got a lot of people today who think they've really got God in a box. They have all the answers, and they condemn anyone with a different point of view. The vineyard is theirs, they think.

I see some of the workers in the vineyard of our country and our churches as narrow-minded, judgmental, and downright nasty to others in our national life. There is some hateful speech being spewed out by people who call themselves Christians, which I would portray as wild grapes, as a perversion of what the owner of the vineyard expects.

Justice then becomes, "Do it my way or you are damned to hell because I've got all the answers given to me directly by God." That is arrogance, I believe. It subverts the message of God's love and charity and distorts God's call to ends which do not grow naturally out of the vine.

So I am suggesting that this parable speaks relevantly to hate and anger, to xenophobia of anti-immigrant legislation and such sensibilities, mistreatment of Arab-Americans, those of a different sexual orientation, and a whole range of unloving attitudes. When we live as if we have arrived as compared to others, we're in deep trouble. When we live as if we have no further distance to travel on our spiritual path, we begin to build up intolerance. We need to strive toward the goal of making Christ known.

The kingdom of God can't be stopped. No amount of wild grapes or wicked tenants can destroy it nor can it be destroyed by any refusal of church members to produce the proper fruit. The question is whether or not we will continue on the journey to which we have been joined. The everlasting kingdom always will belong to someone, if not us, then someone more fruitful, someone more faithful. That's not a threat. It's a fact.

The key to producing good fruit is to stay connected to and rooted in God. It is a responsibility to bear good fruit, such as love of neighbor, justice, a spirit of generosity, good stewardship of God's blessings.

Now let's make this very real in your hometown. What is the vineyard referred to where you live? What are the good fruits? What are the wild grapes? What about the tendency to regard something that you've had for a long time as yours and that it belongs to you? When people are born in church, baptized, raised up, confirmed, married, and so forth, they refer to the church as their church. This could translate into an unwillingness to welcome newcomers and new leaders and new pastors with new visions.

You might think of this in terms of the parable of the vineyard. We need to remember the property owner. We tenants have to remember that we aren't just working for ourselves.

As for your specific church as the vineyard as a pleasant planting, I have this to say. Be fruitful with love, generous with God's gifts, good stewards of the opportunity to labor for the Lord, and people will come to the doors to experience the true sense of God's peace.

Here's an image of what it means to be grace-filled rather than self-filled. There are two seas in Palestine. The Jordan River flows into both of them. Around the first sea, there is lush vegetation. There are fish in the sea, children run and play, and families picnic there. People live nearby and the air is fresh and sweet. It is a place of beauty and refreshment.

Around the second sea, there are no bushes, no trees, no vegetation at all. There are no fish in the sea, and there are no picnics. An odor hangs in the air, and although people visit this sea, they don't live near it.

The first sea receives the waters of the Jordan River, and as much water as flows into it, that much water also flows out. It shares what it has gotten and life is enriched.

The second sea hoards for itself all that it receives. It only takes and doesn't give-nothing is shared. It exists only for itself.

The first sea is the Sea of Galilee, and it is a beautiful and wonderful place. The second sea is the Dead Sea, and it is so filled with what it has held onto for itself that it cannot support life. It is full of itself.

So the question is, what kind of sea do we resemble?

I say this day, bear good fruit. Be generous with the blessings God has provided in the vineyard you call your life. Push on with all you've got toward the prize of God's invitation to the high road in Jesus Christ. Then there won't be any sour grapes-just a beautiful life offered to the Lord.

Let us pray.

Lord of the harvest, we thank you for the richness of the soil of our lives that can cause a crop of faithfulness to abound. Your generosity exceeds our wildest hopes. We ask you to continue to bless the efforts of those who faithfully tend the vineyard and produce sweet grapes. Bless all of us with the dignity to dig into the world and plant the seeds of your love as we engage in the cultivation of your forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Cause us to be encouraging and responsible and, most of all, productive. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.