SOUR GRAPES Lectionary 27
Isaiah 5:1-7; Phil 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46
Sour grapes. That’s the theme I chose for this week’s sermon
several weeks ago. When I read today’s Bible readings more
closely, I had to wonder what I was thinking. In today’s OT reading
the prophet Isaiah compares Israel’s relationship to God like a
vineyard in which the grapes grow out of control. In spite of all the
love and mercy God pours down upon the people, His vineyard
produces only wild grapes—uncontrollable. Many years ago I owned
an album by the late Mama Cass. She sang a song about Sour
Grapes, but I was unable to locate the exact lyrics on the internet. I
thought the expression meant sulking over the good fortune of
others, or wanting revenge. I was wrong. The expression actually
means pretending to be upset about something you know you cannot
have. That changes things, doesn’t it? The one who might be
pretending in this morning’s readings might be Jesus.
Some of you might remember Aesop’s fables. I became familiar with
them when I studied Latin, or when I read the French version of them
by the 17th Century classical author La Fontaine, whose grave I got to
visit when I traveled to Paris. The expression Sour Grapes comes
from the tale of a fox who was strolling through the forest on a hot,
summer’s day, when he saw grapes ripening on a high hanging
branch. He was so thirsty he knew the grapes would quench his
thirst. He took a run and a jump and just missed the branch. He tried
again and again and finally gave up, knowing he could not have those
grapes. He walked away saying, “Well, I’m sure they were sour,
anyway.”
I am sure they were sour anyway. That’s what Jesus might be
thinking in today’s gospel story. Matthew’s story about the vineyard
is a replica of the Isaiah story. 5 centuries later and the people
continue to act like those wild grapes. You can’t blame God. He
showered the people with grace, loved them and forgave them as
only this perfect Father could, and still God’s vineyard refused to be
cultivated. God’s children stone and kill one another over the land.
They live in hatred and greed. There seems to be little evidence of
God’s nurturing hand.
Jesus pretends this doesn’t matter. But I don’t believe it for one
moment, do you? Jesus loves us. Jesus forgives us. He wants us all
in God’s kingdom. Jesus certainly does not want to die. He’s
human, after all. He doesn’t want to stand trial. He knows what the
outcome will be. The ones he nurtured will turn against him. And so
Jesus makes himself feel a little better by saying—that’s OK. You
have to reject me, even kill me. It’s to fulfill the OT Scriptures. Little
do you know that the stone you reject will become the cornerstone of
faith. Sour grapes.
I can relate. Today you will select a call committee, marking another
step toward a new chapter in God’s mission from this mission base
called Central Lutheran Church. This is a stressful time for any
interim pastor who has fallen in love with her congregation. I really
don’t like to see you excited about getting another pastor. How do I
handle it? Sour grapes. I tell myself your priorities don’t exactly
match my own. I tell myself there are things I don’t like about Alaska.
It’s just sour grapes.
The fox wants what it can’t have. Unfortunately, Jesus wants what
he can’t have. All he wanted was to bring people to understand the
loving and merciful God. It was going to take a tremendous sacrifice
to save the vineyard. But he does it---for us!