4 June 2018 - in due season

Today's Readings (Audio)

But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
So they seized him and killed him,
and threw him out of the vineyard.

We read this and feel little sympathy for the tenants of the vineyard. It seems pretty extreme to do this to the one from whom we have leased the vineyard. But we do this in small ways ourselves whenever the master of the vineyard comes at the proper time for some of the produce. We bear fruit. But when we are asked to give that fruit so that it may be used for others? All bets are off. We are willing to go to some lengths to keep it to ourselves. Hopefully we don't kill anyway. But the spirit of selfishness is the same. We have the same failure to recognize the owner of the vineyard and the same lack of thanks for the gift of leasing it.

The LORD's "divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion". But we can see what how much the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire can sabotage us. If we give heed to that desire we end up rejecting the stone which God chooses to be the cornerstone. We build dilapidated shacks instead of a temple of worship that unites all people. We horde fruit rather than sharing it. How do we avoid the trap of evil desire?

For this very reason,
make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control,
self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.

It begins with faith. From there, we act on what we believe. If Jesus is LORD than he is entitled to our fruit whether we feel like sharing or not. We need knowledge of him so that we can exercise self-control with ever greater precision and so that we can see more how sharing the fruit fits into his plans for the human race. Even then we will need some endurance that continues to do this when our feelings don't line up with our faith. But it is not meant to be hard forever. Devotion to God, mutual affection, and love eventually make sweet that which the LORD asks of us.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; 
I will be with him in distress.