The Tenacious Persistence of Divine Love
- davidwperk
- Dec 3, 2024
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The week of the First Sunday in Advent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:
9 He began to tell the people this parable: 'A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. 10When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. 13Then the owner of the vineyard said, "What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him." 14But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, "This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours." 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
You will find the full text of this Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings: (BCP, 936)
AM Psalm 5, 6; PM Psalm 10, 11
Isa. 1:21-31; 1 Thess. 2:1-12; Luke 20:9-18
Today we celebrate the Feast of Francis Xavier. (See below.)
David's Reflections
W. H. Auden wrote these lines in his poem “For the Time Being.”
Outside the civil garden
Of every day of love there
Crouches a wild passion
To destroy and be destroyed.+
This parable brought those lines to mind—“a wild passion to destroy and be destroyed.” In this parable, the owner of the vineyard sends his son to collect the rent from the tenants after they have rudely treated and killed various agents sent for that task. That son is rejected, thrown out of the vineyard, and killed. If an absentee landlord died with no heirs, the vineyard would revert to those tending it. Perhaps the tenants assumed the father had died and that the death of the son would put the vineyard in their hands.
A great deal of uncertainty existed regarding the economic and social realities underlying this parable. (For an overview and an alternative reading, see the work by William Herzog, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed Westminster/John Knox, 1994.) We do know that bad blood did exist between zealous Galilean peasants and absentee foreign landlords.
As a seminarian taking a Th.D. seminar on the parables of Jesus, I encountered the concept of "christological penetration" into the parables. Simply put, that means that we sometimes can find Jesus' self awareness lying beneath the narrative of a parable, his sense of who he was underlying the telling of the story.
With the vineyard being a time-tested symbol for Israel (See Isaiah 5; John 15), it is hard to resist the notion that Jesus saw himself in the character of the son killed "outside the vineyard"; Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem.
The "aha" comes at this point. The gentle forbearance and patience of the owner feels excessive, as does his naiveté about sending his son into such a violent situation. Yet, if, without making the owner a direct symbol for God, we allow the images to remind us of God’s patient saving love, the parable begins to make more sense. God's incredible gentleness and patience and willingness to risk Godself in Christ’s coming obviously are in the shadows of this narrative. Often, the elements in Jesus’ parables that seem odd or illogical offer a key to their meaning. In this case, the father’s naiveté seems just such an illogical aspect of the story.
The second piece of the "aha" has to do with our responsibility. How do we respond to the ongoing initiatives of God in Christ to claim our loyalty, our commitment, our very selves, our time, our possessions, our intellect? How territorial are we? How resolute and persistent are we at resisting? This parable calls us to attention about the areas of noncompliance in our lives.
Noncompliance with God's loving, gentle initiatives could be compared to our refusal to reciprocate love and loyalty from a friend, a spouse, a sibling. If someone is reaching out to us and we are refusing to acknowledge their initiative, they would be in the place of suffering our rejection and insensitivity. That helps me to frame a bit more clearly the position in which I place God by my resistance. It also helps me to frame more clearly what an appropriate response to God might be—a response of loving faith in the God whose love tenaciously reaches out to us.
Collect of the Day, The First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 211)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Francis Xavier, missionary (died 3 Dec 1552 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Francis Xavier
God of all nations; Raise up in this and every land, evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that like your servant Francis Xavier we may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)
For our Enemies
O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 816)
A Prayer for Light
Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Gospel, Luke 20:9-18
9 He began to tell the people this parable: 'A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. 10When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. 13Then the owner of the vineyard said, "What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him." 14But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, "This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours." 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.' When they heard this, they said, 'Heaven forbid!' 17But he looked at them and said, 'What then does this text mean: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"? 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.'
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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