Isaiah 5: 1-7
Dr. Charles J. Tomlin
Flat Rock-Zion Partnership
August 15, 2010
Heartbreak songs fill the airways. Know a few? Maybe you could write your own.
One most of us know was Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel”:
“Well since my baby left me. I’ve found a new place to dwell.
It’s down at the end of lonely street, they call heartbreak hotel.
You make me so lonely baby. I get so lonely. I get so lonely, I could die!”
Today's scripture is a love song about God’s own vulnerability to heartbreak! And no one could have seen it, realized it, or recorded this heartbreak like Isaiah the prophet did . John Jewell writes: “Isaiah takes up the role of a minstrel in this passage. Nowhere else in the Old Testament is such intimate language used of the relationship between a person and God. (Isaiah calls God "my beloved") And the resulting love song is a genuine, honest-to-goodness, "Somebody done somebody wrong song." Elton John in his ,"Sad Songs" and Kenny Rogers with his, "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille" don't hold a candle to Isaiah's, "My Beloved had a Vineyard on a Very Fertile Hill!" (http://www.lectionarysermons.com/a1698.html.)
THIS ‘LOVE SONG’ BEGINS WITH GREAT EXPECTATIONS
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
As a parent, can you remember when you first wrapped up that bundle of innocence and joy and brought your baby home? It was the most incredible day filled with hope and great expectations. In Scripture, we read that God was in a similar place biblical drama. In Genesis 2:7 it says: "...Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Try to imagine. Do you think God was less filled with joy at the life of Adam than we are at the birth of a child? But as the years go by and our children grow and mature, and begin to make their own decisions in life, many of us have gone through the anguish of seeing a child make bad decisions and poor choices. How it grieves our hearts to see them wounded by their own actions. The thought may even enter our minds... "Was it worth it? Bringing this child into this world?"
God is with us parents in this pain. All you have to do is a turn a couple of pages in the Bible and read that it is not long when the Garden of God’s paradise, called Eden is lost . Only a couple of pages in the Bible later in Genesis 6:6, "And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." The biblical story from Genesis to Revelation revolves around a loving God reaching out to rebellious children with compassion and love. God has invested so much in sharing and proving his love to humanity, but unfortunately the response to that love is not always favorable.
Most all of us have said to our children, "How many times do I have to warn you?" So also, through the prophets, Israel is warned over and over that life without God leads to devastation and hopelessness. The prospect of such consequences brings agony to the heart of God. As we heard a couple of weeks ago, the prophet Hosea of God having to give Israel up like a defiant child, saying: "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? ... My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender."[Hosea 11:8]
Perhaps the clearest picture of the God's heart is that of Jesus coming to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He stops at the crest of the Mount of Olives, looks across the Kidron Valley, and as Luke reports: "As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, {Jerusalem} had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes..." [Lk.19:41-42).
The "Love Songs" of the Lord throughout scripture have too often been sad songs. Songs of God's children going astray, leaving home and visiting injustice upon their brothers and sisters. God had so many great expectations for his people, but too often, God’s people who had so much potential, so much possibility and so much love, went astray, and more often than not, did not even know what they had lost, until it was too late.
A story is told about a couple who loved nothing better in life than a good game of golf. In their working years, they played the game every chance they got, and on the eve of their retirement, they looked forward to many happy hours hitting that little white ball all over the links. Yet, just as this couple was on the verge of realizing their lifelong dream, tragedy struck. The two were in a terrible car accident on the way to their favorite course. They died instantly.There was no pain. They had the sensation of traveling together through a long tunnel of light, and when they emerged they found themselves — where else? — on a golf course. And what a course! It was more beautiful than any golf course in the land of the living. The man looked off to his side, and there he saw a gleaming white golf cart, with two sets of clubs in the back. He picked out a driver from the bag labeled “His,” set a ball on the tee and swung for all he was worth. A hole in one! The man was ecstatic. Never had he come close to such an experience on earth.
Then his wife stepped up to the tee. Bang! A hole in one. And that’s the way it went for both of them, as they progressed from hole to hole. When they reached the end of the course, their scores were tied at 18.
These two couldn’t believe their good fortune. They smiled at one another as if to say, “Isn’t this wonderful?”
Just then, they glanced at the sand trap next to the 18th hole. There they saw an old man slowly raking the sand — the groundskeeper, no doubt. The husband caught the man’s eye and called out with a grin, “I never dreamed heaven could be so beautiful!”
Said the groundskeeper, “I hate to disappoint you folks, but this isn’t heaven.”
What they thought was a great gain, turned out to be a great loss; and this is exactly what happen to God’s vineyard. It started out as if all was “great”. As the prophet says, God did all he could do to make the vineyard productive, but instead of growing good grapes, it grew wild, sour, worthless grapes. The great expectations became a great loss.
THE SONG IS ABOUT GREAT LOSS
4 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?
5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
A dramatic shift takes place as the song continues. The Jilted Lover is revealed as the Just Lord! The listeners are caught off guard as they are called to Jury duty to hear a song that moves from love to judgment. It’s a strange way to sing of love.
Some years ago, our church in Greensboro wanted to learn about missions. My wife decided to teach them about World Hunger. As the guest arrived expecting a meal, some 70 people, they were assigned different tables, according to their tickets. One table, seating five people was served first. They received a wonderful 5 course dinner. A wonderful meal , which included meat.
These people were the "lucky" ones! Those remaining were in for a shock. The next two tables of about 8 people each received a half cup of rice, a tablespoon of peas and a half cup of tea. Nevertheless, they were still counted among the "lucky ones!" (You can see where this is going - right?) The next entree was a teaspoon of rice, no peas and a cup of water. Finally, at the last table, some received a quarter cup of water and the remaining "guests" received nothing. My wife then proceeded to speak about world hunger and how the evening's "Hunger Feast" represented the various degrees of hunger and poverty in the world.
I can tell you the majority of the people were not happy campers! If we had not been new to the church, I think we’d been in deep trouble. We heard someone says, "It just wasn't right that some people didn't get anything to eat!" (That person only got water!) My wife’s response was: "I agree, and it also is not right that thousands of children will face tomorrow and the rest of their tomorrows until they die without anything to eat!"
When you read this “love song” you are also in for a shock. Can you imagine Isaiah's listeners having a similar sense of being "had" when the love song turned into a trial? "Hey, we thought this was going to be a song!" Instead, it is a trial. The jury must "judge" between the owner and the vineyard. "What more could I have done?" the owner says, "Why did my vineyard not produce grapes instead of worthless fruit?"
Now the jury is dismissed. The sentence is already decided: "This is what I am going to do!" The owner pronounces four "I wills" as the sentence to follow. The vineyard will be turned into a barren place where nothing grows. Then, the last "I will" brings a chill. There will be no more complaining or whining as the hearers discover a startling reality! "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it!"
Do you see who is speaking here? WHO is it that can command the clouds not to rain! This calls to mind the terrified response of the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm, "Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?" God commands the rain. God is the one who passes judgment on his own vineyard. It’s bad yield reaps a bad consequence. The promise of the vineyard will become the tragedy of a barren wasteland.
Last week a family suffered a great tragedy in Arizona as their unattended 2 year old followed the family dog out of the back yard into the desert. An hour later the dog returned, but the child was missing. After a search of several days, the child’s body was found. The parents were not blamed, but the consequences still came hard. Only a brief moment of not watching the child ended with the child being lost. Who could bear the pain of such a loss?
I’ll never forget coming home from church one evening. People were all over the neighborhood calling out a child’s name. I pulled over and asked what was happening. A little child, about the same age, around 2, was lost and everyone was searching. The family lived with a lake in the back yard. When the Rescue workers arrived, that is where they concentrated their search. And sure enough, the child was found in 5 feet water right near the family’s pier. It was heart breaking. It was tragic. But the consequence was real, no matter that it was an accident.
Great loss can happen, when we least expect it. We don’t have to do great wrong to encounter great loss. The world is that dangerous. The risks of life are that great. One false step can be fatal. One step in the wrong direction can lead to a journey of no return, not just for the guilty but also for the innocent.
GOD’S DESIRE FOR WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS
In the final verse of this song about the “loss of love” and the ‘pronouncement of judgment’, we are told by the prophet exactly why the sentence came down as it did. It is disturbing enough to learn what God does to the Vineyard that yielded “wild” or “sour” grapes. Now, we are told in verse 7 both who the Vineyard represents and why it is judged so severely. 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry! (Isa 5:7 NRS).
As this song comes to a close, we hear what none of us wants to hear: WE ARE THE VINEYARD!!"
The vineyard is God's people. In Isaiah’s day the Vineyard was Israel and Judah. In our day, the Vineyard is the Church of Jesus Christ. As the Scripture says, “Judgment begins at the house of the Lord” and today, the judgment in this parable might come home to us. Is God finding what God needs to find in us? Are we the Vineyard bearing good fruit in this world? Are we the Vineyard bearing the harvest of what God has planted and expected? What does God see in what he has invested in us?
What was most eye-opening to me, as I studied this song, is what comes next, after the song moves into the next few verses, which described specifically what kind of “injustice” or what kind of “unrighteousness” God found in his vineyard. What strikes me is not so much what I saw of them, but how much I saw of our own society; a society we once called or thought to be, at least in name, a “Christian” nation. Do you see what kind of sour grapes were growing in God’s vineyard?
- A building boom and expansion without reservation or limit---now busted with desolation (8-10) and most everything being devalued.
- · People living just to go from one party to another, having nothing be the desire the “eat, to drink, and to be merry” and losing all energy to work, let alone losing all desire for the “work of the Lord” ending up at the edge of an early grave due to over indulgence and pleasure seeking (11-17).
- · People living in sin without knowing it, either denying the truth or twisting it by bragging that they God is doing exactly what they want , calling evil good and good evil (18-22)
- · And perhaps worst if all, they have become a society who acquit the guilty…. But deprive the innocent of their rights….they not only reject the instruction and ways of God, but they don’t not even have time for, want or have any real training or understanding of it. (23-24).
What I see in this song of judgment is a people who have lost all concept of what is just, what is right, and what is true. Without reservation they march headlong into the desolation and wasteland of the wrong choices they’ve made, as well as, the lack of right choices they should have made. Isaiah’s indictment remind me of Gandhi’s “Seven Deadly Social Sins”: Politics without principle, Wealth without work Commerce without morality, Pleasure without conscience, Education without character, Science without humanity, and Worship without sacrifice.”
What is most worrisome, however, is that this is not the “way of the world”, which is normal, but it is the way of the vineyard too. The problem and disappointment of God are that his people allow the culture of the world to dictate what they do and who they become instead of being ‘salt’ and “light’ for the culture. Instead of being the “Vineyard” where God raises up fruit to bring nourishment and life to the world, they become just as sour, just as wild, and just as blind to the truth, as the world itself.
What happens next, is not so much that God brings judgment, but God removes his protection, and the people, Israel, the vineyard, or the church tself, ends up going its own way, and thereby, suffering the same consequence of the world that goes it own way.
What we can see missing most disturbing:
• God made them for justice, but they practiced injustice.
• God made them to be fruitful, but they were barren.
• God made them for righteousness, but they practiced wickedness.
• God made them for service, but they preferred strong drink (5:11).
• God made them for good, but they practiced evil (5:20).
• God made them for truth, but they uttered falsehoods.
• God made them to dwell in light, but they live in darkness
• God made them to be fruitful, but they were barren.
• God made them for righteousness, but they practiced wickedness.
• God made them for service, but they preferred strong drink (5:11).
• God made them for good, but they practiced evil (5:20).
• God made them for truth, but they uttered falsehoods.
• God made them to dwell in light, but they live in darkness
Whatever we take from this parable or song for our own faith development, we must take this warning that we dare not miss. God has great expectations for his Vineyard. When these expectations are not realized, God must tear up the unproductive vines and prune the fruitless branches go elsewhere. God is looking for the fruit. And the major “fruit” is not what we might think: It is not church, prayer or Bible reading, but it is fairness, justice and righteousness which would include all three, but makes them real in the world. Can we ever understand “justice”, “fairness” or “righteousness” as the theme of God’s song?
Last, while taking a little vacation time, I picked up a book that caught my attention. It’s title fit right into the theme of Isaiah’s song. The book was entitled, “When Christians get it Wrong”. I have several books like that in my study and I keep seeing them more and more. Another book is entitled, “Saving Jesus from the Church” or “The Hole in the Gospel” we preach, or the newest book, “Why Character matters?” Can you imagine a book being written to remind Christians what it means to be Christian?
One other major event in the last week or so was when the novelist, Anne Rice official quit Christianity. Anne hasn’t been a Christian long, perhaps a year, but now she’s quite. Here are her own reason for quitting. I don’t want to accept her resignation, but here is what she said and we should listen: “For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being a part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”
Why is everybody picking on the “church” these days? Why does it seem that the “judgment” is coming down harder on the people in the church than the people in the world? What I want to tell is that it is because God is not ready to give up on his Vineyard and that he ready to call his prophet (as he does in the next chapter) to “go” for him and to call his people back home. God still calls them his ‘beloved” even when he is giving them this warning. What I want you to do is read on a few chapters, to chapter 27 of the book of Isaiah, and read how the Prophet is commanded to sing another song of hope: 2 On that day: A pleasant vineyard, sing about it!
3 I, the LORD, am its keeper; every moment I water it. I guard it night and day so that no one can harm it;
4 I have no wrath. If it gives me thorns and briers, I will march to battle against it. I will burn it up.
5 Or else let it cling to me for protection, let it make peace with me, let it make peace with me.
6 In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit. (Isa 27:2-6 NRS).
While we see a lot of desolation in the Vineyard today, we must look one to what God is seeing and dreaming about. He wants us to let go of the desolation of what we think we have to hold on to that is gone, and he wants us to take hold of the “pleasant vineyard” that will “fill the whole world with fruit.”
Isn’t this what Jesus said: “I am the Vine, you are the branches” If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit? The fruit he was talking about was the Fruit of the Spirit which is, Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is the kind of fruit that makes justice happen in the world.
So, how are we doing in our attempts to grow good grapes? In Holland recently, a spoof of the Bible has been created — one that has cut out all the passages that have to do with caring for the poor and practicing sacrificial giving. A sarcastic commentary on this version reads, “Bible passages about money, materialism, poverty, injustice and righteousness are old-fashioned.” So the editors have cut them out, with scissors. It’s a very Hole-ey Bible. One that is literally full of holes.
Our Christian faith is also full of holes if we do not focus on what God focuses on. Amen.
Our Christian faith is also full of holes if we do not focus on what God focuses on. Amen.
A Prayer of Confession
As we stand before you O Lord, our hearts unfold in the sunshine of your love. How difficult it is sometimes, to see how far short we fall of your design for our lives. You have given so much to us -- invested so much in us. We confess that we can not reach out unless you reach through us, nor give except you give through us. We offer our imperfect lives and wayward hearts to the transforming power of your love. Free us, O God, from the bondage of self and let the miracle of your love be expressed through these broken hearts. For Jesus' sake we pray. Amen.
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