October 1, 2017                 God's Vineyard                                                                                             

       Once upon a time there was young pastor, who came to a church that didn’t have a youth group. The good news was that they had a basketball hoop in their parking lot, and a number of the neighborhood kids came to play basketball after school. So the pastor about 4 pm would go out and shoot hoops with the jr high and high school kids for a couple times a week. After a few months, as the weather turned colder, he invited the kids and their friends to come to the church on Sunday night to play games and eat pizza. 

     The first night, he had 10 kids show up, and they had a great time playing board games. As the weeks went on, he got the group up to 20 or more kids who game for a variety of games, and of course food. The problem was that as this went on, there was grumbling in the church. The church hall is getting dirty, some said, others complained that things in the kitchen, were not getting put away in the right places. Questions began to be asked about who was paying for all this food, and what were these kids learning playing games anyway. Finally, one of the members confronted the pastor, we just can’t afford to waste money on these kids who don’t contribute to the church, we should use our resources to take care of our members. To this the pastor replied, Well, why don’t we look at this from Jesus’ perspective. To which the member replied, leave Jesus out of this, this is about our church.

         Now just to be clear, this story is not about Union Congregational, nor is it about anything I have seen or heard members in this church say or do. This is entirely a story about our gospel lesson this morning, the story of the vineyard. In the story of the vineyard, God creates the

vineyard and calls the people to come work in it, over time, they decide the vineyard is theirs, and when God sends his workers to receive the fruits of the vineyard, they treat them horribly. Finally, God sends his son, whom they kill, believing the vineyard will now be theirs. Now most of us believe that this would certainly not happen, or certainly could not happen in the church. But like my story this morning about the young pastor, sadly it does.

     When I look at this parable, I ask myself, what is the fruit that God is looking for from those of us who work in the church. Is it not the fruit of being a welcoming community, of sharing God’s love with others, of going forth to meet the needs of those who are suffering in the world, of bearing their burdens with compassion, mercy, and forgiveness, healing and transforming people’s lives. Is not this the fruit of righteousness that God calls the workers in the vineyard to produce? Of course it is!

         The book that we are studying in Adult Sunday School is called Rich Church/Poor Church, and it contrasts the two visions that each church has for itself. The Poor Church has a survivalist vision, which seeks to take care of itself, the Rich Church has a vision of reaching out to the community, of mission and ministry to others, of making a difference in people’s lives. The  Poor Church maintains itself for the sake of caring for it's own members, the Rich Church believes it's job is to call others to Christ, and make disciples. The consequence of believing like a Poor Church, is that the congregation dwindles, and eventually new tenants take over the church. The consequence of believing like a Rich Church, is bearing the fruit of God's righteousness, and eternal life for the congregation, and for all who choose to work in the vineyard! And that is the good news of Jesus Christ!  Amen.