{"id":814,"date":"2017-04-17T13:10:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T13:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=814"},"modified":"2017-04-17T13:22:50","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T13:22:50","slug":"sermon-9th-april-2017-evening","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-9th-april-2017-evening\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 9th April 2017 – evening"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n

Sermon for Palm Sunday – evening<\/h1>\n
\n

Sunday 9th April 2017<\/h3>\n


\nIsa. 5. 1-7
\nMatt. 21. 33-46
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n

\n

\"MaureenAre you by nature a nomad? Or a settler?<\/p>\n

I am put in mind of the musical Oklahoma! And the song,\u201d O the farmer and the cowman should be friends\u201d…. The Archaeologists tell us that human beings began as hunter gatherers, following the herds of wild animals around on their annual migrations. But at some point in pre-history, people began to settle in one place and begin cultivating the wild grasses to produce something like wheat and other arable crops. Which enabled a culture to develop, leading eventually to cities, and so called civilisation etc.<\/p>\n

All the evidence suggests that Israel itself was first made up of migrant tribes of pastoralists \u2013 think of Moses leading the children of Israel around the wilderness for forty years \u2013 they must have had herds of sheep and goats to sustain themselves with \u2013 as well of course as manna and quails! Owning land did not begin to be a thing until after they had crossed the Jordan (finally) and begun settling in the promised land.<\/p>\n

(which incidentally tells us that the version of the 10 Commandments we have inherited was written \u2013 or at least amended \u2013 after this time…. You cannot covet your neighbour\u2019s house or his field unless some degree of land ownership is implied.)<\/p>\n

But to begin with they were mainly shepherds, leading their flocks from one pasture to another. In these circumstances they would have been very aware of their total dependence on God. Psalm 23 \u2013 the Lord\u2019s my shepherd \u2013 has its origins in just this sort of economy.<\/p>\n

But later they settled down as agriculturalists, becoming permanent occupiers of particular fields on which they grew wheat, and \u2013 especially in that sunny climate, grapevines, and of course olive groves too. But one of the temptations when you settle down is to become much more concerned with money and trade and to risk becoming greedy, thinking that you own the land. And forgetting that both the land and those who farm it belong entirely to God, and depend on him.<\/p>\n

I have always been struck that the farmers I have come to know over the years \u2013 here and elsewhere \u2013 have always said at some point \u201cOf course, we don\u2019t really own the land… we are merely stewards of it, and we hope to leave it in better heart, better condition, than we found it!\u201d Today\u2019s farmers are now all about caring for the soil \u2013 with minimum tilling to achieve their crops. Right?<\/p>\n

But back to our biblical narrative.<\/p>\n

The OT tells us that God sent many prophets, to call the children of Israel back to their original priorities; to stop oppressing those who worked for them, and adopt a more generous, sharing attitude to their possessions. The book of Amos is all about this for example, he rebukes his fellow countrymen for adopting corrupt city ways, instead of the mutual dependence of the desert.<\/p>\n

Amos, and others, represented wilderness religion protesting against what happened to morality in vineyard religion. The religion of the wandering tribes was not without its faults, but it was the lesser of two evils. Yet the tension between the wilderness and vineyard religions could also be creative, teaching the people a new understanding of their duty to God and to neighbour.<\/p>\n

In tonight\u2019s reading, the prophet Isaiah appears at first to rejoice in the love of the owner for his vineyard. But the vineyard was a disappointment \u2013 instead of luscious sweet grapes, it only produces sour, wild grapes. The inference is that God \u2013 the owner of the vineyard \u2013 is bitterly disappointed in how his investment in the Israelites is turning out. They have forgotten to yield to him sweet worship, and instead are leaving a sour taste of corruption and lack of hospitality behind.<\/p>\n

Jesus was echoing Isaiah\u2019s sentiments when he told the people of Jerusalem the parable of the wicked tenants. Speaking of the tenants being willing to kill the son of the vineyard\u2019s owner, challenged them to look at what they were planning to do to Jesus in Holy Week.<\/p>\n

And are we Christians, the latest tenants to occupy the vineyard, are we any better? Do we perhaps think complacently that God has taken away the promises he first made to the Jews and transferred them to us? We dare not adopt the city\u2019s selfish ways of materialism, corruption and dishonesty. That is \u2013 at heart \u2013 much of what the ABC was getting at in the Lent book some of us have been studying through Lent \u2013 Dethroning Mammon.<\/p>\n

What we have \u2013 and we have such a lot when you come to consider it \u2013 has been lent to us by God. (just like the farmers with their fields). And God expects us to use it generously to help the poor, and build up the kingdom of God, in gratitude for God\u2019s generosity to us.<\/p>\n

So as we enter into Holy Week \u2013 thinking of all God does for us in the person of Jesus but also in his generosity towards us in our daily lives, may we be brought to a true and deep realisation of God\u2019s sacrifice and love poured out for our sake.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermons index Sermon for Palm Sunday – evening Sunday 9th April 2017 Isa. 5. 1-7 Matt. 21. 33-46 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Are you by nature a nomad? Or a settler? I am put in mind of the musical Oklahoma! And the song,\u201d O the farmer and the cowman should be friends\u201d…. The Archaeologists tell … <\/p>\n

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