The Vineyard Is Not Yours Remain loyal to what is right and just

The Vineyard Is Not Yours to Keep This Sunday, Isaiah's song of the vineyard and Jesus' parable of the wicked tenants were preached on by me. In both, love is poured into a vineyard by a landowner, and a harvest of justice is awaited. Instead, sour fruit is produced. The painful closeness of the Hebrew words was pointed out: justice (mishpat) was looked for, but bloodshed (mispach) was found. Righteousness (tzedakah) was expected, but a cry of distress (tze'akah) was heard. My congregation was reminded that violence can be dressed up by a society until it sounds almost like righteousness. First, it was stressed that the vineyard was never private property. Stewardship, not ownership, had been given to the tenants. The whole logic of empire was revealed in their words: "Let us kill the heir and acquire his inheritance." That logic can be seen wherever land and wages are stolen, relief funds are embezzled, and fear is called "respect" by dictators. With the help of Gutiérrez and Romero, this was named as structural sin. Everything we have, including our talents, offices, voices and even our faith, has been loaned to us by God. None of it was given so that a throne could be built. Next, a warning was given against self-aggrandizement. A victim is always required by it, and in the end it is devoured by itself. Each listener was asked to examine their own vineyard, not their neighbor's. Then the sermon was turned from indictment to summons. The servants who were killed were identified as the prophets: Moses, Amos, Romero, King and Kiwanuka. Even so, they are still sent by God. We were called to remain loyal to the struggle for justice, strengthened by the peace that was described by Paul from his prison cell. Finally, a particular word was addressed to my African family. Leaders who rewrite constitutions and silence dissent were told that they are only tenants. Freedom fighters were urged, in the spirit of Mandela, Biko, Lumumba and Sankara, not to stop. The sermon was closed with one conviction: the vineyard has been given to us to be tended, and it must be handed back to God full of fruit.