From today’s gospel:  Jesus said “The kingdom of God will be given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”
I am on the path to ordination as a deacon.  Just last month I started my school classes.  And one of the first things I learned about was the Hermeneutical Circle.  It’s a method of looking at scripture.  It involves three steps:  looking at the world OF the text, the world BEHIND the text, and the world IN FRONT OF the text. 
Since I just learned this new skill and need some practice…quite a bit of practice…I thought it would interesting to look at today’s Gospel using the Hermeneutical Circle.
Looking at the world OF the text involves only examining the words on the page.  And this parable is a doosey for that exercise.


The parable:  We hear about a landowner who created a fabulous vineyard.  He leased it out to tenants and left the country.  When he sent representatives to collect the harvest, the tenants killed the owner’s servants.  This happened twice.  Then the owner sent his son to collect the crop.  The tenants killed him as well.

As we look at the world OF the text, there seems to be a lot of problems in this parable.  Wouldn’t you think the owner would have done a background check on the tenants and found them to be bad people?  Didn’t they draw up a contract of some kind?  And after the first time the owner’s representatives were treated so horribly, why did the owner try the same technique two more times to claim his grapes?  This owner must be incredibly trusting or incredibly dense!

And the tenants!  Where did they come up with the idea they could just take over the vineyard as their own and not pay the owner his due?  They are obviously a violent and immoral group – and not too bright either.  Why do they assume by killing the owner’s son they will inherit the vineyard?  They have no proof the owner is dead or that there are not more heirs in line.

After telling the parable, Jesus asks his listeners what the owner will do when he finally arrives at the site.  (It’s interesting to note the question isn’t what SHOULD the owner do but rather what WILL the owner do.)
The listeners are quick to answer the owner will take vengeance and kill the evil tenants.  The owner will furthermore find new tenants who are more amiable and will agree to hand over the harvest when it’s time.
Jesus rebukes the listeners for not knowing their scriptures  and points out the kingdom of God will be taken away from them and someone more useful will take over.

We THEN learn the people listening to Jesus are the priests and scribes of the Pharisees.  They realize Jesus is talking about them.  Uh-oh!  They suggested the owner should put them to a miserable death!  They want to have Jesus taken away but fear the reactions from the crowds.

Now let’s look at the world BEHIND the text.  This involves looking at what has happened before the passage one is reading.  What did the people of that time already know.
We should note that this parable is told during the last week of Jesus’ life.  He has been out preaching and teaching for 3 years.  He has healed the sick, given sight to the blind, and raised the dead to life again.  His triumphant entry into Jerusalem happened just the day before and he had run the businessmen out of the temple.  Today, he has returned to the temple and is talking with the Pharisees who wonder what authority he has to do what he’s doing and say what he’s saying. 

This parable shouldn’t be new to the people listening.  Today’s lectionary makes it easy for us to know that this parable is taken directly from Isaiah.  In today’s Old Testament, the prophet laments what will happen to a beautiful vineyard.  Although the owner expected a bountiful harvest of delicious grapes, the owner received only heartache for his trouble.  The Pharisees were learned, religious men.  The reference to Isaiah could not have been lost on them.

And the Pharisees are well aware of who Jesus is, what he has done over the past three years, and who he says he is.  All their questions are simply ways to try and trip him up so he will implicate himself in something for which he can be arrested.  They want Jesus gone. And now the world IN FRONT OF the text.  After 2100 years of history since this parable was told, what more do we know?

Today’s parable is actually an allegory.  A parable is a story told to teach a lesson.  Each character or thing in an allegory represents an actual person or object.  The landowner is God.  The vineyard he creates is the earth – or the church.  The wicked tenants are those who take for their own use or gain the good works God has intended for them to do.  The harvest is the fruition of those good works.  The servants or slaves sent to collect the harvest are the prophets and martyrs who spoke the word of God.  And the Son is Jesus.

In this particular case, the Pharisees are the wicked tenants. And they think they know what is best and have claimed religion for their own.  They are not obeying the owner of the vineyard.
I want to stay in this world IN FRONT OF the text…..because we live in the world IN FRONT OF the text.  Let’s imagine the vineyard in the parable is the earth – our home – our church.  God is our landlord.  We are here toiling away.  Working hard to make sure there is a bountiful harvest.  God sends his servants to collect that harvest.

What do we do?

First of all, exactly what are we growing and what are we harvesting?

The parable says the kingdom of God will be given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.  It is clear I am not a Biblical scholar.  I’ve only had three days of classes so far.  But as a life-long student of the world and of God’s love and Jesus’ teaching – I suggest we look at the fruits of the kingdom as doing what we, as Christians, are instructed to do.

Let us tend the soil of humanity, let us nurture the crop that is made up of our neighbors.
Let us lovingly tend the vineyard with care and concern for every single plant in it.
Let us pray for nourishing rain and just the right amount of fertilizer to help us with this endeavor.
And let us allow each plant – each person – of our earthly vineyard to grow in its own time and space.

As we pour all of this energy into tending this vineyard, we have to remember it does not belong to us.  God is the owner and we are the tenants.  It is NOT all about us.  We must not tend the crop and help it grow bountiful fruit with the expectation we are going to receive a pay off or adulation or money at the end.  Tending God’s vineyard is the reward we are so lucky to receive.  And we must remember there are other tenants as eager as we are to produce this harvest.  We must all work together in this one big field.  There is no place for egos.  It is NOT all about me.

We must also remember it can be difficult work.  We will get dirt under our fingernails.  We will be sore from all the manual labor involved.
Second, who are these servants God is sending to collect the harvest?  How will we know them when they arrive?  And how will we treat them?
This week my husband and I went out to dinner.  As we walked toward the restaurant a man approached us.  He said he was trying to raise money to get a room for the night for his mother and himself.  He offered to wash the windows on my truck.  I gave him some money and wished him luck.  Was that one of God’s servants coming to collect the harvest?  How did I treat him?
Are the undocumented children from Central America arriving at our borders God’s servants looking to collect the crop?   How are we treating them?

Is that politician with the exact opposite opinion as you God’s servant looking for the harvest?   How do you treat him?

Is the person you’ve never met sitting in the pew behind you this morning God’s servant who has come for the harvest?  How will we treat him or her?

I’ll tell you what.  Instead of spending our time trying to answer questions about what is going to happen, let’s spend our time tending to the vineyard.  As we tend the fields, we will also be tending ourselves – making ourselves ready for the owners’ representatives who come and collect the harvest.  To do that we must keep in mind the world of today’s parable, the world behind today’s parable, and the world in front of today’s parable.

Let us tend the soil for others and for our own lives.
Nurture the crops as well as ourselves.
Lovingly care for each plant and ourselves.
Pray for nourishment for the plants and ourselves.
Allow each plant to grow in its own space and time and give ourselves enough space and time to achieve the goal as well.


It’s time to roll of up our sleeves and get to work. 

It is always an honor and a privilege for me to talk about the word of God, the love of Jesus, our faith…and my doubts.  Today, I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to do so here at St. Michael and All Angels.  This is the parish which warmly welcomed my husband and me in 2008.  This is the place I was finally able to settle down and listen to the Spirit’s call for me to ordination.  This is the place where I was able to discern this call and you as a congregation lifted me up to that calling.  This is the incredible spiritual community that supported us with love and prayer while I was very sick with cancer two summers ago.  And this is the place where – exactly one year ago tomorrow – you all celebrated with us at the Blessing of our Lifelong Covenant.    Today I stand before you as a postulant on my path to becoming a deacon.  I am so grateful to be here.

Now, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Doubting Thomas!  Do the kids these days use the phrase “doubting Thomas”?  I’ll have to check my non-existent Twitter account for #doubtingthomas.  Many of us have probably encountered the story of Doubting Thomas before.  I know I’ve heard many sermons on the poor guy.  I wondered what more I could add to the mix.

In the interest of full disclosure, Thomas isn’t the only person in the Bible who doubted Jesus had risen from the dead upon hearing the news.

Matthew, Chapter 28: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and tells her to instruct the disciples to meet him in Galilee.  They go.  But verse 17 says:  “When they saw him, they worshipped him but some doubted.”

Mark Chapter 16:  Jesus again appears to Mary Magdalene.  She tells the disciples what she saw.  Verse 11 says:   “But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.”

Luke, Chapter 24:  Mary Magdalene and the other women return from the empty tomb and tell the disciples what they have learned.  Verse 11 says:  “But these words seemed to them an idle tale and they did not believe them.”

So why is all the DOUBT dumped on poor Thomas?  Each of the four Gospels tell us that many, if not all the disciples, could not believe their Lord had risen until they encountered him face to face….and in the story from Matthew, even THEN some of them were doubtful.

My best guess is that Thomas is singled out because he can represent each of us.  Instead of a group being doubtful, this is one person standing against a group of believers.  He doesn’t succumb to peer pressure.  Like many of us (all of us?) he wants to investigate for himself.  And when Thomas’ doubt is turned to belief, Jesus has something to say to him.  We’ll get to that later.

Doubt.

There is a fantastic stage play called Doubt.  It was written by John Patrick Shanley and premiered on Broadway in 2004.  In 2005 it won the Tony Award for Best Play of the year and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  I did not see the original production in New York City, but I saw an amazing production of Doubt right here in Albuquerque in 2006.

Spoiler Alert:  I’m going to tell you all about the play and how it ends.  If that concerns you, please feel free to tune me out now….if you haven’t done so already.

Doubt is a four-person play set in 1964 in a Roman Catholic Church and School in the Bronx.  Father Flynn is the progressive, popular, charismatic, attractive priest in charge.  Sister Aloysius is the mature, stern, stereotypical nun who rules the school as principal with an iron fist and steadfast convictions.

Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius are like oil and water.  She distrusts his ideas to try and make the church more accessible to the people.  She likes the old way of doing things.  She has her rules.  She follows them exactly.

The conflict of the play arises when Sister Aloysius learns from a novice nun and teacher, Sister James, that Father Flynn had a private meeting with one of the young male students of the school.  Mysterious circumstances around that meeting lead Sister Aloysius to accuse Father Flynn of sexual misconduct with the boy.  Father Flynn explains he was cousneling…helping the child, not hurting him.  Sister James is relieved and believes the priest’s story.  Sister Aloysius is not swayed and makes it her mission to have Father Flynn removed from the parish.  She is like a dog with a bone.  She will not let the matter go.  She hounds the priest about his actions and even asks the boy’s mother to join her crusade.

In the climactic scene, Father Flynn threatens to have Sister Aloysius removed from her position if she doesn’t back down.  The nun counters by saying she had spoken with the nuns at Father Flynn’s previous parish and learned of other improprieties in his past.  If he doesn’t resign, she will share this information with the bishop.  Father Flynn immediately applies for a transfer and is reassigned – actually he receives a promotion.

Later, alone with Sister James, Sister Aloysius admits she had not contacted the priest’s pervious parish.  She didn’t have one shred of proof that he was guilty of anything. Alone with the novice, Sister Aloysius cries the final line of the play:

“I have doubt.  I have such doubt.”

Doubt?   Doubt?  How could a woman…A NUN…with such strong convictions and determination have any doubt?  During the play, she showed not one ounce of doubt. But once she achieved her goal – the thing she had been fighting for all along – the thing she believed to be right….she had doubt!

And Thomas traveled with Jesus for three years.   Thomas saw the miracles he had performed.  He had listened to Jesus preach and knew what the future held.  And still Thomas didn’t believe the news of the resurrection without some proof.  He had doubt!

So where the heck does that leave us?  Here you are sitting in church with our smart phones, a bible full of encouraging words and a guy up here talking to you who sometimes has enough doubts of his own to fill a U-Haul trailer. What are we supposed to think?

Let’s look at Sister Aloysius.  I think once her mission was accomplished, her conviction to the problem was removed – she had nothing left.  Father Flynn – the real or imagined problem - was gone.  The thing Sister Aloysius had clung to most fervently was no longer pertinent.  Now there was a big, gaping void….filled with doubt.

Perhaps I could liken it to some Christian churches that spend so much time and energy on social issues – telling people what is right and what is wrong.  What to do and what not to do.  If you can concentrate on simple do’s and don’t’s – sexual morals, homosexuality, marriage equality, abortion, wholesome entertainment – then you don’t have time to dig into the deep mysteries of our faith.  Take away those banner issues and then you have to start thinking.  And once you start thinking…..well, look out.  Doubt arrives.

And at the end of Thomas’ story today, Jesus doesn’t rebuke the doubting disciple.  Instead, he encouraged Thomas to touch him, to place his hand in his wounds so that he might be able to believe.  Then Jesus says these amazing words:

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

He doesn’t condemn those who have doubts.  He doesn’t discourage the non-believers.  Jesus knows it’s a big leap of faith and listen to what he said “Blessed are those who have not seen and YET HAVE COME to believe.”  Jesus knows it going to be instantaneous.  He knows we have to come to believe.  We are human.  We have minds.  We need to see things.  I am from Missouri….the Show-Me State!  Seeing is believing as they say.

Back in the early 80’s there was a series of black and white posters aimed to attract young adults to the Episcopal Church.  Two in particular I remember were these:

“He died to take away your sins.  Not your mind.”

“There’s only one problem with churches that have all the answers.  They don’t allow questions.”

In fact, think about faith.  Without doubt, there would be no need for faith.  If we didn’t have questions or doubts then faith would be called….um, fact.

And listen to these words from the first letter of Peter from today’s epistle.   “The genuineness of your faith – being more precious than gold, though perishable, is tested by fire.”  Peter didn’t say the strength of your faith is more precious than gold.  He didn’t talk about the having not one single doubt is more precious than gold.  No!  He compliments the genuineness of your faith – the honesty with which you want to believe.  That’s all anyone can ask of us.

So how do we wrap all this up?  How about exactly where we started – with what a wonderful, loving, nurturing, faith community we have here. That’s the very reason we come here - however often it is you might come here.  Together we can share our doubts and our problems and our sometimes wavering faith.  Together we can work on coming to believe.

Own your doubt.

It’s a process.  And that’s OK.  God is patient.  Jesus is patient.  The Holy Spirit is patient.  Let’s be patient with ourselves as well.

Will it happen overnight?

I doubt it.

But can we work together and help each other come to believe?

Certainly.  Without a shadow of a doubt!