The Feast of St. Francis
Matthew 21.33-46
October 4, 2020
+ I’m
sure you’ve noticed, but there is a lot of zealous people out there, especially
in this election year.
There is
very little middle ground in this election year.
There is
no end of people giving very impassioned opinions.
Just take
a quick perusal of Facebook. Or the News. Or outside your window.
And, for
the most part, being zealous for something is not a bad thing by any means.
I would
rather have someone zealous for an opinion with which I might not agree than
know someone lackluster.
At least
the discussion will be interesting.
In fact,
today is the feast day of one of the truly great zealots for Christ in the
Church, none other than the great St. Francis of Assisi.
Francis
was a fascinating man, and truly one of the most favorite saints in the Church.
He is
known as an animal lover, which is why we are blessing our pets on this day.
He was
known as a lover of peace.
He has
the reputation of a kind and gentle person.
But,
Francis was a zealot in his heart of hearts.
He was
passionate in his love for God, in this following of Jesus, in his care for the
poor.
Some—including
his own family—thought he was a fanatic.
And maybe
he was.
He heard
the voice of Jesus tell him:
“Rebuild my Church!”
Which he
did.
But that
passionate love he had for God and for others is something we still are
celebrating in the Church 794 years after his death.
So, this
morning, I am going to ask you a very important question:
What are
you zealous for?
For what
do you have real zeal?
Will
anyone be talking about your zeal 794 years from now?
I know.
Yes, some of us have real zeal for sports.
And
certainly, here at St. Stephen’s, I know there is a lot of zealousness for
political opinion and causes.
As do I.
I am very
zealous politically, and theologically, and spiritually, and poetically.
You all
know that.
If I have
an opinion on something, you’ll probably know it in no time at all, even if you
might not agree with it.
Trust me,
I am full of zeal!!
But zeal
is a word we don’t use too often anymore.
And, at
least in this part of the country, we are, for the most part, uncomfortable
with zeal.
Zeal
equals emotion—or should e say over-emotion—for us.
And
certainly zeal involves an emotional attachment to something.
Now, as I
said, it is not a bad thing by any means to be zealous.
It’s good
to be challenged occasionally (respectfully, of course).
It keeps
us on our toes.
And it
humbles us.
Well,
this morning we definitely have one of those parables that challenges us, that
keeps us on our toes.
It may
even make us a bit angry and that definitely forces us to look more closely at
ourselves.
Let’s
face it, it’s a violent story we hear Jesus tell us today.
These bad
tenants are so devious they are willing to kill to get what they want.
And in
the end, their violence is turned back upon them.
It’s not
a warm, fuzzy story that we can take with us and hold close to our hearts.
The
Church over the years has certainly struggled with this parable because it can
be so challenging.
At face
value, the story can probably be pretty easily interpreted in this way: The
Vineyard owner of course symbolic of God.
The
Vineyard owner’s son of Jesus.
The
Vineyard is symbolic of the Kingdom.
And the
workers in the vineyard who kill the son are symbolic of the religious leaders
who will kill Jesus.
From this
view, we can see the story as a prediction of Jesus’ murder.
But there
is another interpretation of this story that isn’t so neat and clean and finely
put-together.
It is in
fact an uncomfortable interpretation of this parable.
As we
hear it, we do find ourselves shaken a bit.
It isn’t
a story that we want to emulate.
I HOPE
none of us want to emulate it.
But
again, Jesus DOES twist this story around for us.
The ones
we no doubt find ourselves relating to are not the Vineyard owner or the
Vineyard owner’s son, but, in fact, the vineyard workers.
We relate
to them not because we have murderous intentions in our heart. Not because we are
inherently bad.
But because
we sometimes can be just as resolute.
We can
sometimes be just that zealous.
We
sometimes will stop at nothing to get what we want.
We are
sometimes so full of zeal for something that we might occasionally ride
roughshod over others.
And when
we do so, we find that we are not bringing the Kingdom of God about in our
midst.
Zeal can
be a good thing.
We should
be full of zeal for God and God’s Kingdom.
We too
should stop at nothing to gain the Kingdom of God.
But zeal
taken too far undoes the good we hoped to bring about.
The most
frightening aspect of our Gospel story is the fact that Jesus tells us that the
kingdom can be taken away from us.
It can be
given to others.
Our zeal
for the kingdom has a lot to do with what we gain and what we lose.
Our zeal
to make this kingdom a reality in our world is what makes real and
positive change in this world.
At the
same time, zeal can be a very slippery slope.
It can
also make us zealots.
It can
make us fanatics.
And this
world is too full of fanatics.
There are
plenty of good examples of fanatics in this world right now, from the far right
Evangelicals to those poor people in North Korea who are held hostage to a
brain-washed ideology.
This
world is too full of people who have taken their religion so seriously that
they have actually lost touch with it.
This
story we hear Jesus today tell us teaches us a lesson about taking our zeal too
far.
If we
become violent in our zeal, we need to expect violence in return.
And
certainly this is probably the most difficult part of this parable for most of
us.
For those
of us who consider ourselves peace-loving, nonviolent Christians—and we all
should be that kind of a Christian—we cringe when we hear stories of violence
in the scriptures.
But
violence like the kind we hear in today’s parable, or anywhere else in
scriptures should not just be thrown out because we find it uncomfortable.
It should
not be discarded as useless just because we are made uncomfortable by it.
As I have
said, again and again, it is not just about any ONE of us, as individuals.
It is
about us as a whole.
If we
look at the kind of violence we find in the Scriptures and use it
metaphorically, it could actually be quite useful for us.
If we
take some of those stories metaphorically, they actually speak to us on a
deeper level.
If we
take the parable of the vineyard workers and apply it honestly to ourselves, we
find it does speak to us in a very clear
way.
Our zeal
for the kingdom of God should drive us.
It should
move us and motivate us.
We should
be empowered to bring the Kingdom into our midst.
But it
should not make us into the bad vineyard workers.
It should
not make into the chief priests and Pharisees who knew, full well, that they
were the bad vineyard workers.
A story
like this helps us to keep our zeal centered perfectly on God, and not on all
the little nitpicky, peripheral stuff.
A story
like this prevents us, hopefully, from becoming mindless zealots.
What it
does allow and commend is passion.
What it
does tell us is that we should be excited for the Kingdom.
True zeal
makes us uncomfortable, yes.
It makes
us restless.
It
frustrates us.
True zeal
also energizes us and makes us want to work until we catch a glimpse of that
Kingdom in our midst.
This is
what Jesus is telling us again and again.
He is telling
us in these parables that the Kingdom of God isn’t just some sweet,
cloud-filled place in the next world.
He is
telling is, very clearly, that is it not just about any ONE of us.
It is not
about our own personal agendas.
The
Kingdom of God is right here, in our midst.
And the
foundation of that kingdom, the gateway of that Kingdom, the conduit of that
Kingdom is always love.
Love of
God, love of neighbor, healthy love of self.
This is
what Jesus preached. That is the path Jesus is leading us on.
This is
the path we walk as we follow after him.
And it is
a path on which we should be overjoyed to be walking.
So, let
us follow this path of Jesus with true and holy zeal.
Let us
set out to do the work we have to do as workers in the vineyard with love in
our heart and love in our actions.
And as we
do, we will echo the words we heard in today’s Gospel:
“This is
what the Lord is doing; it is amazing in our eyes.”
Let us
pray.
Holy God,
give us true zeal for your Kingdom. Instill in us a fire that will burn
brightly to lighten our path so that we may do what we must do as we follow
your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.
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