Tenth Sunday after Pentecost; 14 August 2022; Proper 15C (RCL); Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18; Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2; Luke 12:49-56.
The saying about bringing division, not peace, and households divided against themselves comes from Q material (it is found also in Matthew, but not Mark). Burton Mack identifies this as coming from the second layer of the Q tradition, expressing frustration at the failure of the message of the kingdom. That’s the layer of tradition that gives us the imprecations against various villages. Mack points out that by the third layer of tradition the Q community had reached some sort of accommodation to the status quo.
Mack suggests (if I recall correctly) that the wandering Christian prophets would come in to a village, convene a covenant-renewal meal, and read something like the Sermon on the Mount, and announce the presence of the kingdom. The kingdom involved things like forgiving local debt, restoring the outcast, making provisions for the poor — all things commended in Torah. It’s easy to see how this would not always be a popular message.
We can easily share the Q community’s frustration. Isaiah certainly does. We have a picture of what the kingdom should look like, and the reality around us is far from that picture. Like the Q community, we would happily call down woe on any number of people and groups. Many of the pre-exilic prophets upbraided their audiences for failure to read the signs of the time, and with climate change beginning to have obvious impact on the planet, we might well also lament the failure to interpret the signs.
The metaphor of the vineyard is one of the central metaphors of the Bible. The Gospel writers have Jesus refer directly to Isaiah when he tells the parable of the wicked tenants of the vineyard. John has Jesus say, “I am the vine.” Over and over, the vineyard appears in biblical literature. The amount of work that goes in to cultivating a vineyard, and the joy that results from its produce make it a powerful way of thinking about God’s goodness.
The psalmist takes a different approach to the catastrophe of the vineyard, reproaching God for letting this disaster happen. However, both Isaiah and the psalmist express their frustration with how things stand.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews calls on us to have faith that God’s plan is at work despite our frustration — he enjoins the persistence of faith. All of these people he names, and countless others, have waiting in faith for the fulfillment of God’s promises. We can be encouraged by their example.
Despite the division the message of the kingdom brings, and despite which approach we take (blaming others or reproaching God), the vision of the kingdom still holds out its promise.