Those characters in the parable we just heard – there’s something about them that’s hard to accept. The landowner responds to the abuse and murder of his slaves by sending still others who are treated by the rebellious tenants in the same way. He responds to this further outrage by sending his son. But the…

Today’s gospel is like any clear, simple narrative account in many regards. First of all, it is a story, not exactly a factual account: the characters are anonymous, and the setting is spare. It’s another in a long series of stories told by Jesus, a series that we’ve been hearing for a few Sundays, and…

What more was there to do formy vineyardthat I have not done in it?When I expected it to yield grapes,why did it yield wild grapes? . . . he expected justicebut saw bloodshed;righteousness,but heard a cry! Isaiah 5:4 and 7b “Finally he sent his son to them, saying,‘They will respect my son.’” Matthew 21:37 There…

Among the most powerful forces we experience in life are expectations. Some expectations come from other people. Parents, spouses, peers, bosses, friends, children, neighbors, customers, and plenty of others all have their expectations of us. They expect certain things regarding our speech, our behavior, our character. Often, the most influential expectations are the ones that…

As we come to the end of the Gospel of Matthew that has been our main Gospel during Pentecost, we are forced more and more into an encounter with Jesus. The passage today lays things out quite plainly. The story of the vineyard, based on an old song which we heard part of in the…

“My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He plowed it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines.” A vineyard was then, is now, and will always be great deal of work. Cultivated grapevines and must be carefully pruned and trained to grow in a position that makes the…