LEADER'S GUIDE



Light on the Lessons

Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22, Lectionary 27); Cycle A; October 4, 2020

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed

+ Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful)

+ Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship)

+ Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts

+ Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary

I Getting Started

Discuss experiences with “Through the Week.” Share prayer concerns; remember the victims of recent hurricanes and tornados. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten the group. Read the lessons. Then turn to the questions in “Getting Started.”

1. Responses will vary. Generally, we feel let down. This can be one of our most disturbing and depressing experiences.

2. Responses will vary. (The issue of spiritual growth will come up in III, 7 and IV, 3.

3. Responses will vary. Jesus challenged boldly the religious establishment of his time. He peaked the righteous and upheld the oppressed. He exposed the failure of the leaders. People since have been put to death for far less!

Pray for the many flood victims. Consider taking a collection for your favorite relief organization.

II Check the Texts

1. Isaiah 5:1-7

A. Verses 1-2 have the form of a love song or poem, with a surprising negative twist in the last phrase. In verses 3-4, the prophet invites the people to enter into the story and decide what to do. The audience is thinking of this as an abstract discussion based on a hypothetical story. Now in verses 5-6 Isaiah announces his judgment. This could still be considered a theoretical discussion until verse 7, where it is clear that the vineyard is Israel and Judah faces the pruning fork.

B. A love song would wonderfully add to the sense that God loves Israel. Song of Solomon is a classic love song. In 8:8-12 the speakers are brothers of the young woman. In verses 10-12 the speaker is the bride, the young woman. The vineyard represents the bride. God’s relationship with Israel was so loving as to resemble a bride to a husband, as the church is thought of as the bride of Christ – to God, Israel (and the church) are “my beloved.”

C. In Psalm 80, the vine represents Israel, or those delivered from Egypt whom God planted and nurtured in the new land, where they became the nation of Israel.

D. Verse 7 says the people of Judah, intended to be God’s pleasant planting, disappointed God by ignoring justice and righteousness.

2. Philippians 3:4b-14

A. The reference to mutilating the flesh (verse 2) refers to circumcision. Judaizers were Christians who thought they must keep Jewish rules, including circumcision. In several communities, this party opposed Paul’s message of freedom in Christ Gospel.

B. Paul is laying out his Jewish credentials. He wants to make clear that he is a serious Jew but at the same time one who has been released, as it were, in Christ to live not for the law but for the risen Lord. Flesh, in this instance, means human things, such as the 613 laws of Judaism. (For one listing of these 613 commandments, go to 613.htm)

C. Paul lost many material comforts. He also lost his background. Former friends became enemies. He became like an immigrant in a new land after he encountered Christ. All this loss he counts as gain for the sake of righteousness from God based not on law but on faith.

D. Paul wants to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share in his suffering. For Paul, sharing Christ’s sufferings was part of being a Christian. We do so until the time we share his resurrection. The “this” that Paul has not obtained is his share in the resurrection of Christ.

E. Paul sees Christian living as a process of growth. Part of this includes putting aside the past in order to move on into the future, which is what forgiveness is about and a wise lesson for us all. Discuss ways to discipline and structure this process of growth in Christ.

3. Matthew 21:33-36

A. The Isaiah story is the clear background of this parable. Jesus, after all, was familiar with Scripture.

B. Taken as an allegory, and this parable comes close to one, we could cite the following identifications: Landowner = God; Vineyard = Israel; slaves = prophets; tenants = the people; son = Jesus. To the readers of Matthew, who were caught in Jewish-Christian disputes, this parable would suggest that Jesus’ people were the true heirs of Israel.

C. Note how parables work. Jesus tells a story and invites the crowd to comment on it. They think of it as a theoretical exercise, but then Jesus applies the answer to them. They agreed the landowner should lease the vineyard to other tenants. Jesus agrees with their judgment. He hopes they will repent and become a people worthy of what God has given them.

D. The quotation would mean something like this: “Jesus is the stone, the rock. He was rejected, but now he is the cornerstone of a new edifice, the church.”

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Responses will vary. Encourage this kind of conversation. It helps folks to identify and name ways God works in their lives which they may previously have overlooked.

2. This calls for personal faith sharing. Encourage as many as possible to share.

3. Heil mentions social justice and peace, two vital issues but ones we tend to overlook in favor of more personal blessings. Part of our problem is failing to hear the whole of God’s message; we do perhaps too much picking and choosing. God has given us the resources and Spirit-power to become powerful witnesses for social justice and peace, if we choose to focus ourselves that way.

4. While we can overdo attention to God’s judgment, simply assuming that he will bless (or kindly forgive) whatever we want to do clearly miss the heart of our faith. When we take God’s judgment seriously, we tend to take God more seriously.

5. We all face loss, of friends, of opportunities, of youth, of health, of money, of spouses, and on and on. Dealing creatively with loss becomes one of the keys to successful living. Paul’s example is helpful. He put aside the past to plunge ahead into the future. A Christian faith, one might say, is future-oriented rather than past-oriented.

6. Responses will vary. Treating God as an adjunct to life rather than as the source of life itself is one fundamental problem that limits our witness.

7. Responses will vary. The best thinking of the so-called “secular” world can also inform our witness, as Paul indicates in Philippians 4:8-9. For example, we may clearly recognize that Jesus directs us to seek social justice, but determining the best strategy for accomplishing that leads us to the best thinkers in economics, politics, and other necessary disciplines.

8. Talk about goals and taking conscious control of one’s spiritual disciplines and growth. “Without a plan, we flounder rather than grow.”

IV Into the Week

Share some possible answers to #1. Encourage participants to do #3 and to try #4. Ask them to bring their goals next week.

Copyright © 2020, Lutheran Bible Ministries. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make photocopies for use in church-related study groups.

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