How Will You Die?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus said, “And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Either way, you are dead. Either you fall on Jesus in broken-hearted, empty-handed, beggarly repentance or you get crushed by the weight of your own engineered pseudo-salvation crashing down against the resistance of your own self-justification. But either way, you are going to be broken when you encounter Jesus.

Jesus told a parable against the unbelief of Israel. A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenant farmers who were supposed to tend it and give a share of the harvest. He sent a servant to collect, and he was beaten and sent away empty-handed. He sent another, and he was mocked and scorned and sent away empty-handed. He sent a third, and they wounded him and cast him out. He sent his son. “His beloved son.” And they took one look at the son and said, “This is the heir. Let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours.” And they threw him out of the vineyard, and they killed him.

Stop here for a moment and consider.

Things Are Not As They Seem

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sometimes things are not as they seem. Every so often, you probably run into a situation where something seems off, seems different than what you see. Maybe it is the look in a person's eye that tells you there is more to the story. Perhaps it is the vague wording of a press release. Something just is not what it seems.

Oftentimes that happens in our spiritual lives as well, both for good and for bad. Today's readings give two examples of this.

The prophet Isaiah records the “Song of the Vinedresser”, where the Lord describes the great care He expended in establishing His vineyard, and the hope He had that it would produce abundant, rich fruit. The Vinedresser took great cares to select the perfect piece of land so that conditions would be just right. He picked rock and tilled the soil. He cleared the weeds and built walls and fences. He even built a watchtower and a winepress. When the land was ready, He planted choice vines and tended them lovingly. He gave them all the care and nutrients they needed. What more could He have done that He failed to do? All that was left was to wait to enjoy the fruits of His labor.