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᛭ INI ᛭
(5. Oops!: Pride claims a vineyard as its own.)
There is a deep-seated pride in every human heart. It’s been there ever since Adam and Eve in unbelief rejected the LORD’s Word and wanted to be God in God’s place. Christ’s parable today is for anyone in such a spiritual condition, whose heart and behavior seek to be God in God’s place. That’s what pride is spiritually speaking. Pride’s the chief sin (αρχαμαρτια) that flows from unbelief.
Christ’s parable is for anyone who seeks to seize God’s Kingdom for himself. These sorts of people don’t listen to the Prophets nor Christ, they rather promulgate and seek to rule God’s Holy People, even their hearts and behavior, not by the Bible alone but by traditions passed down from their ancestors. As Christ says, “The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Mt 11)
There’s also those who try to establish their own Kingdom, their own vineyard apart from the Lord’s. As you heard about Jeroboam from our daily readings this past week. Our own daily lives religiously, doggedly compete for our hearts and behavior. Many cathedrals dot our land, whose priests bear different deceptively non-religious titles—head coach, quarterback; senator, president, chief justice; CEO, owner, manager.
Those who try to seize or control God’s Kingdom reject the Lord’s Word, His Servants who faithfully preach it, and so they reject the Son of God, too. As Christ says of His Ministers, “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” (Mt 10)
(4. Ugh!: This actually ends with the Kingdom being taken away.)
Whenever this happens this, the Lord takes away His Kingdom, His Vineyard and gives it to others. It’s the Lord’s Kingdom, not anyone else’s, as the Lord makes clear to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 14 or as He says today: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing [its] fruits.” That’s what happened with the Jewish people, as Paul warns us Gentiles:
You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Rom 11)
Preaching and believing the Gospel is like a passing rain shower—here today, gone tomorrow When one place rejects, the Lord dries it up and moves on, as He warns through Amos: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD.” (Amos 8)
(3. Aha!: NO ONE CAN ESTABLISH ANOTHER FOUNDATION THAN WHAT IS LAID, WHO IS JESUS CHRIST.)
It’s senseless, useless to try to seize or control God’s kingdom, for
NO ONE CAN ESTABLISH ANOTHER FOUNDATION THAN WHAT IS LAID, WHO IS JESUS CHRIST.
Christ Himself is the true Foundation. He is the true and only lasting Cornerstone. “The Stone which the builders rejected is become the chief Cornerstone.” (Ps 118) Christ, our Cornerstone, also builds us on the Foundation of His sent servants—the Apostles and Prophets. They in turn point you back to Christ the true and final and eternal Cornerstone and bedrock Foundation, for
NO ONE CAN ESTABLISH ANOTHER FOUNDATION THAN WHAT IS LAID, WHO IS JESUS CHRIST.
(2. Whee!: Christ is the Rejected Chosen One.)
Christ, the Son of God, is the true Chosen One, Chosen by God the Father from before the foundation of the World to bear the sins of the World. “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My [Chosen] One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.” (Is 42) So, at Christ’s Baptism He says, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3)
Christ, God’s Son, is also the Rejected One—“despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. … Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows …” (Is 53) Rejected also by His own Father—“My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” (Mt 27) “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Is 53)
But it “was the will of the Lord to crush Him.” (Is 53) All Christ’s “suffering, sighing, bleeding, dying” was “the Lord’s doing.” Also, His rising from the dead! The stone rejected becomes the chief Cornerstone by virtue of His coming back to life again on the third day. The Lord’s doing, His plan, His purpose, sets up a Kingdom not of violence but the forgiveness of sins your sins, builds a vineyard not where the vice of pride flourish but rather the Fruit of the Spirit—humility, “patience, gentleness, goodness.” (Gal 5)
(1. Yeah!: He is now building us up into His house of living stones.)
NO ONE CAN ESTABLISH ANOTHER FOUNDATION THAN WHAT IS LAID, WHO IS JESUS CHRIST.
And by true faith in Him you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Cor 3) The Spirit has grafted you by baptism and faith into Christ, the Vine. You are now God’s “house of living stones, to offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” (1Pet 2)
As God’s building, you are built and adorned by the Word. As God’s vineyard or even vine, you are fertilized and fruitful through the working of the Spirit in the Word. That’s why Paul says today, “be filled with the Spirit, [by] speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”
[98] Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only about hearing, but also about learning and retaining God’s Word in || memory. Do not think that this is optional for you or of no great importance. Think that [it’s] God’s commandment, who will require an account from you [Romans 14:12] about how you have heard, learned, and honored His Word.
[99] Likewise, those fussy spirits are to be rebuked who, after they have heard a sermon or two, find hearing more sermons to be tedious and dull. They think that they know [it] all … well enough and need no more instruction.[That’s] exactly the sin that was previously counted among mortal sins and is called [acedia] (i.e., apathy or satisfaction). [It’s] a malignant, dangerous plague with which the devil bewitches and deceives the hearts of many so that he may surprise us and secretly take God’s Word from us [Matthew 13:19].
[100] Let me tell you this, even though you know God’s Word perfectly and are already a master in all things: you are daily in the devil’s kingdom [Colossians 1:13–14]. He ceases neither day nor night to sneak up on you and to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against … all the commandments. Therefore, you must always have God’s Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears. But where the [heart’s] idle and the Word [doesn’t] make a sound, the devil breaks in and has done the damage before [we’re] aware [Matthew 13:24–30]. [101] On the other hand, the Word is so effective that whenever [it’s] seriously contemplated, heard, and used, [it’s] bound never to be without fruit [Isaiah 55:11; Mark 4:20]. It always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts [Philippians 4:8]. For these words are not lazy or dead, but are creative, living words [Hebrews 4:12]. [102] And even though no other interest or necessity moves us, this truth ought to urge everyone to the Word, because thereby the devil is put to flight and driven away [James 4:7]. Besides, this commandment is fulfilled and this exercise in the Word is more pleasing to God than any work of hypocrisy, however brilliant. (LC I)
Only built on Christ in the Word and Sacraments, will any of us endure individually or collectively as a congregation. Any other things will not last and are actually detrimental to the One Foundation of Christ when trust, confidence, and love are placed in them, for
NO ONE CAN ESTABLISH ANOTHER FOUNDATION THAN WHAT IS LAID, WHO IS JESUS CHRIST.
Without faith in Him, Christ becomes not foundation but wrecking ball. “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Mt 21)
Only built on Christ will we actually produce fruits. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2)” “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise… do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” (Eph 5) Anything else would be another foundation, and
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