Nineteenth Sunday - Pentecost • Year A

Historical Collect

Generously pardon and give peace to your faithful people, O Lord, that being cleansed from every sin, we may be free and glad to serve; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Gelasian Sacramentary, 7th Century)

Thematic Collect

Heavenly Father, in Holy Baptism you have grafted us onto the vine that is Christ and given us a share of his inheritance, that we might know the power of his resurrection. Guide us by your Holy Spirit that we might live in newness of life; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Common Thread

Will the Lord find faithfulness, justice, and fruitfulness in his Church, the Israel of God (Gal 6:16)? Will his answer be any less than his response to Israel of old? We may never appreciate the gravity of our unfaithfulness, just like Israel failed to comprehend, yet we may repent as Asaph led Israel to do, and God will be faithful even when we are not (2 Tim 2:13). We may boast, “We are the Church!” just as Israel thought it could be confident in its position with God. Indeed, we may think we have some personal reason to have confidence before God. All of this is nothing; only knowing Christ is of any value at all. His righteousness is all that matters, so much so that it must be that his righteousness becomes our own by faith—lest all is forfeit. 

First Reading • Isaiah 5:1-7

Israel of old was a very fertile vineyard—that was essentially fruitless. It produced an inferior, wild grape. God did everything for his people; he defended them, cared for them, and loved them. In other words, he made the vineyard fertile. God was faithful; Israel was faithless. The expectation was a good harvest of justice and righteousness, but instead there were the wild crop bloodshed and cries of distress.

A vineyard that produces bad fruit is a wasted land, and will be laid waste by the Lord. The Israel of God (Gal 6:16) should pay careful attention to what the Lord promised to do to the Israel of old.

Psalm • Psalm 80:7-19

If a vine personified is to grow and produce a crop, the sun of God’s face must shine upon it. Moreover, the vine must turn to the sun. Though the Lord is implored to turn again to Israel, his people must not tun their backs to him.

Second Reading • Philippians 3:4b-14

Perhaps there was an adage in ancient Israel that stated, “Being born in Israel does not make you children of God any more than standing in a vineyard makes you a grapevine.” At any rate, Paul put no trust in his pedigree. Instead, his entire faith was in Christ: namely his death and resurrection, so that Paul might attain to the resurrection of the dead.

Though Christ had gotten hold of Paul in such a way as to make him “his own,” Paul was now hastening on to the goal of fully grasping Christ. Looking back to his heritage would have slowed him down—and may have hindered him from achieving the prize God had called him toward.

Gospel • Matthew 21:33-46

That most tragic barrenness is the rejection of Jesus as Christ. Yet, the very one who was rejected by his own people, by “the Lord’s doing” became the very foundation of the Church that would now include the rest of the nations. The promise of Isaiah 5:6 has come to fruition, while the whole world has become God’s vineyard.