Tending God's Vineyard
World Communion Sunday
October 4th 2026
Scripture: Isaiah 5:1-7 & Matthew 21:33-46
Today’s scripture readings share the metaphor that God has created a vineyard. Creator God has put a lot of labor, thought, and love into this creation and turned it over to humans to steward, in trust that they will produce fruit; multiplying God’s creation. At the time both scriptures were written, the idea was that God turned God’s beloved creation over to the Israelites to steward. The leaders of the Israelites were the stewards and the people they led were the fruits. However, instead of producing healthy fruits that would produce more fruit, they were producing rotten fruit.
By the time our second reading came to be, when Jesus told this parable, the fruit had only gotten more rotten, because this was the time of the Roman Empire and the religious leaders of the day had yoked their authority with empire rather than with God, so much so that they could not even recognize the Messiah before them. They beat, stoned, and killed the prophets Creator God sent to them and they will soon kill the Son. They ask Jesus by what authority he does ministry, but fail to see the ways in which they have abandoned God’s authority in their stewardship of the vineyard.
Now this is, of course, a metaphor and, as such, is a gross generalization. Not every Israelite religious leader was corrupt and not every fruit they tended was rotten. The parable is used to get a point across. The point is that God our Creator entrusted us with the gift of life and we are not always the best stewards of life, nor are we always the best at recognizing God in our midst. Now we can argue (apparently for centuries) about who exactly ARE the tenants who killed the servants and the son, or WHO the rotten fruits among us are, but I think Jesus poses better questions for us to ponder.
Perhaps we should spend some time thinking about what it means to be stewards of God’s vineyard. What is it that God hopes we will grow? What is it that we need to tend to in order to produce good fruit? How do we grow fruits of the kin-dom today?
Now today is World Communion Sunday and I think it is important to note a few other things here. You’ve probably heard me say this before, but how do you tell a story? In order to tell a story well, you need some main characters, you need a pretty narrow focus. In this way, the Israelites are the people who tell the story of God. In THIS way, they are God’s chosen people; not because they are better than the rest of the world, the elite civilization, the cream of the crop, but rather because they are the storytellers. The first logs on the fire that will warm the whole house.
For much of history, tribes, villages and communities had to have a narrow scope. They were unaware of how big the world really is. Homo sapiens, us humans, (not counting Neanderthals, Homo erectus, or earlier) are roughly 300,000 years old. Until roughly 500 years ago, we lived in silos, unaware of other civilizations and cultures we share the planet with. Now, thanks to the expansion of the World Wide Web, we can for the first time have deep meaningful connections with people on the other side of the planet. We no longer can pretend that God’s vineyard is small, nor can we ignore the fact that the actions of one affect the whole.
So, on a global scale, I ask again what does it mean to be stewards of God’s vineyard? What is it that God hopes we grow? What is it that we need to tend to in order to produce good fruit? How do we grow fruits of the kin-dom today across the globe?
I think a good start, as you’ve heard me preach before, would be to begin to see one another as one sacred family. If we can stop seeing one another as enemies or competitors and start seeing one another as family members, as fruits in God’s vineyard to tend and grow.. we might actually see the kin-dom of God unfold. What are the ingredients and formulas we need to apply in order to produce God’s kin-dom come on Earth? Well.. since we also celebrate today St. Francis of Assisi, I do believe his famous prayer provides a notable place to start:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is error, the truth;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Lord, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Creator God put a lot of labor, thought, and love into creation and turned it over to us to steward, trusting that we will produce good fruit. Can we collectively agree on what is GOOD fruit? Not what is good for some, but what is good for ALL? Because we are all in this together, regardless of our race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, language, ability, or religion. What affects one affects all, because the vineyard is the planet. Whether we like it or not, we are all connected. We all share the same Creator and the same responsibility to steward life in such a way that produces more life, rather than leads to rot and death.
It is through God’s faith and steadfast love in us that we are saved, yes, but relationships are mutual. What did Jesus say? “If you love me, tend my sheep.” If we love God, our natural instinct is to love one another. God created us in love and to love God back is to pour love into God’s vineyard.. to love one another.. to produce life. And when we notice some fruits are becoming rotten, I don’t think God wants us to shout ‘hooray’ and let the whole vineyard die off as a way of ushering in the ‘end times’ and the return of Christ. I think when we notice some fruits are becoming rotten, we are called as stewards to investigate the cause and alter the conditions so that good fruit can once again thrive.
So today, if you are noticing rotten fruit among you, ask yourself what might be done to alter the conditions to once again produce life. And today, when you notice juicy, ripe, delicious fruit, praise God and tend to the soil so that more may grow tomorrow. YOU, my friend, ARE good fruit. Tend to yourself. Tend to one another. Love God, love others, and love yourself. This is the greatest commandment.
Amen. May it be so.
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