Year C
Luke 12:49-56
The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn
The Fruits of Justly Living
Supposedly, someone once said to Mark Twain that they were troubled by all the passages of scripture in the bible which are difficult to understand. He replied, “Really.” “I’ve always been more bothered by the ones that are perfectly clear. The texts today are hard and clear. Jesus’ words are stark, even shocking. The tone of his voice since last week has turned in the direction of shrill. He tells us that he comes as a cleansing and purifying fire to the earth, to harvest justice. The words from the writer of Hebrews today seem clear as he writes to discouraged persecuted Christians to keep their eyes fixed on Christ, faith’s pioneer and perfecter, enduring whatever suffering comes. The text from Isaiah requires little explanation as he sings of the Lord as a dedicated vintner whose vineyard, Israel, has failed to produce the fruit of justice and righteousness and will now receive judgment: its destruction.
Hard and clear texts that touch on justice in God’s relationship with us, our relationship with God, and our relationship with one another, and with God’s creation. Justice in the scriptures means keeping the commandments, to guard against serious offenses against God and neighbor. God calls us to harvest justice. Just as God called Israel to be fruitful by acting justly, Jesus fulfills God’s agenda and demands his followers commit to this same work. This call to justice causes divisions as we try to follow Jesus more faithfully. To live justly is not always pleasant, but in every case it brings in the kingdom of God, and takes us paradoxically closer to find purpose and happiness.
Adam Hamilton in his book ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ writes; “every person who chooses to yield her or his life to God, who chooses to follow Jesus, begins to live in the kingdom of heaven, even as each one simultaneously lives in this present earthly realm. We become citizens of two kingdoms.” This is hard. It is hard to live in the worlds kingdom and at the same time live in God’s kingdoms because God is committed to having a people that produce the fruit of justice and righteousness which goes right against the grain of what the world asks of us. So to this end, God sent Jesus to set us on fire for justice, just as God commissioned Isaiah to set his people on the right path.
Isaiah today sings a love song, the “Song of the Vineyard” to help his people understand what is happening in their hearts and to their homes. God had planted a vineyard, cared for it tenderly, and yet it has failed to produce fruit. Perhaps worse, it has produced worthless fruit. It has been a waste, and now God will leave it to whatever befalls it, remove the walls to protect it, quit pruning it, and just leave it to the thorns that grow. Isaiah makes it “perfectly clear.” They are the vineyard. The fruit God wanted was justice. Israel has not produced justice, so now God will abandon Israel. The message also seems devoid of hope. Yet, later from the ashes Isaiah will sing another song of the vineyard, a pleasant vineyard tended by God, blossoming and putting forth shoots until the whole world is filled with fruit. Love’s own harvest: sweet justice which God calls us to harvest. Jesus, who is the Justice of God in our world, shows us how to live justly with God and each other. However, just persons and their message are not always well received, and it gives rise to tensions in the very relationships that ought to characterize the people created by God for justice. If we take our faith seriously, the gospel of justice brings division as it requires us to do more in our relationship with God, others, and ourselves. It requires us to hear the cries of today’s victims. Jesus warns that those who follow his teachings will be considered revolutionaries. The gospel is so radical that the world will experience it as fire raining from heaven.
Yet, for the most part, this radical edge of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been lost. Instead of high demands and radical changes, we want our faith to make us feel good, we want the church to be well maintained, a quiet presence. We seem to have forgotten that the kingdom of God Jesus introduced was anything but quiet. Jesus was crucified for his teachings and most of his disciples met violent deaths at the hands of those who were outraged at the changes they wanted to make both in society and in the lives of individuals. Jesus told us he came to rain fire from heaven. To shake things up and some people catch on fire with the presence of God and do justice the very things that divide just as Jesus predicted.
Through the ages, the author of Hebrews tells us, there have been people who stepped out in faith to produce the fruits of just living. This author last week introduced the idea of faith as the courage to endure, today gives us the names of prophets, kings, and judges from Israel’s history who showed great faith in God. They were the heroes of the faith who produced the fruits of living justly, examples to follow. Hebrews sets forth a vision for the church; while living the faithful life has always been a challenge, we as God’s people can trust in God. Because, faith allows us to see beyond what is right in front of us to what God is doing in our midst, to see what God has done throughout the ages, and to see the future joy God has in store for us. This faith can change our lives when we are open to the fire that God rains down from heaven.
Jesus came to fire us up. We are created in the image of God to help bring about the kingdom of God, a rule of justice and righteousness. This requires looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. It requires living in a right relationship with God and with each other. Our world continues to thirst for justice. There is no place on earth where God’s plan for justice has come to completion. But God does not give up on us. Through the Spirit of God, bearing the fruit of living justly, will bring new life to our world. God can restore the vine, as God has in the past restored both Israel and the church. As we wait, the scriptures are hard but clear, we are to read the signs of the times, cling to Jesus who is our hope, walk in his way, be open to the fire of the Spirit that produces the fruits of justice and righteousness, and take up the cross of love.