November 22, 2015: Isaiah’s Vineyard Song

Isaiah 5:1-7; 11:1-5

5  Let me sing for my loved one
    a love song for his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
² He dug it,
    cleared away its stones,
    planted it with excellent vines,
    built a tower inside it,
    and dug out a wine vat in it.
He expected it to grow good grapes—
    but it grew rotten grapes.
³ So now, you who live in Jerusalem, you people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard:
⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard
    that I haven’t done for it?
When I expected it to grow good grapes,
    why did it grow rotten grapes?
⁵ Now let me tell you what I’m doing to my vineyard.
I’m removing its hedge,
    so it will be destroyed.
I’m breaking down its walls,
    so it will be trampled.
⁶ I’ll turn it into a ruin;
    it won’t be pruned or hoed,
    and thorns and thistles will grow up.
I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
⁷ The vineyard of the Lord of heavenly forces is the house of Israel,
    and the people of Judah are the plantings in which God delighted.
God expected justice, but there was bloodshed;
    righteousness, but there was a cry of distress!

11 A shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse;
    a branch will sprout^[a] from his roots.

² The Lord’s spirit will rest upon him,
    a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    a spirit of planning and strength,
    a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

³ He will delight in fearing the Lord.
He won’t judge by appearances,
    nor decide by hearsay.

⁴ He will judge the needy with righteousness,
    and decide with equity for those who suffer in the land.
He will strike the violent^[b] with the rod of his mouth;
    by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.

⁵ Righteousness will be the belt around his hips,
    and faithfulness the belt around his waist.

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Introduction:

My family has a mixed track record with our backyard garden. Some of our fruit comes in well and is a delicious edition to our dinner table. The herbs have been particularly successful and I have yet to find a dish were our basil isn’t a bonus to the taste. At the same time, it’s very easy for gardens to get away from you: weeds seem to grow faster than the plants and birds often help themselves to the produce you were looking forward to.

As we think about our lives, our nation and our society it is easy to see how Isaiah and others used an agricultural image in describing the relationship between God and God’s people. There are many “fruitful” aspects of our existence: cooperation and collaboration between neighbors, joy and fellowship that come from shared festivals and holidays, a feeling of safety that comes from community. There are also many “weeds” and “pests” that plague our experiences: jealously, underhanded actions, mistrust, envy, and violence. 

Even seemingly beautiful things like the “fun” that comes from the overuse of our natural resources can actually cause huge environmental and ethical problems, stifling the goodness that we can all share…in much the same way that the “Morning Glory” in our garden gives us pretty flowers, but also choke out the tomato plants if we’re not watchful.  We can certainly learn something from Isaiah’s Vineyard Song today.

The Technical Stuff:

The prophetic book of Isaiah is one of the largest and most influential books in the bible, and its prophesy spans hundreds of years. Bible Scholars universally agree that this book is not the work of only one individual. It is divided into three sections: First Isaiah (Isaiah 1-39) attributed to “Isaiah of Jerusalem,” Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) set during the exile and Third Isaiah (Isaiah 56-66) which is set after the return from exile.  Our text from today comes from First Isaiah, who was a prophet in the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the 700s B.C.E. Isaiah had a varied and exciting career that crossed in to the politics of Judah as well as speeches against the people’s unfaithfulness.

Vineyards were common in the Ancient Middle East and were a standard sign of agricultural prosperity.  Vineyards were associated with life and blessing. Fruitful vineyards meant divine blessing while barren vineyards were associated with divine judgment. Hosea used an unfaithful marriage as an image for the way that the people of Israel had mistreated their relationship with the LORD. Isaiah uses the descriptive image of a vineyard that was meant to produce the good fruit of justice, but rather gave the owner rotten grapes.

In addition to this indictment, Isaiah also gives a hopeful vision for the future. He speaks about someone to come who will bring about the righteousness and goodness that was originally intended for God’s people. That individual will be a “shoot from the stump of Jesse” (i.e. from David’s family line) and who will have the spirit of the LORD upon him.  Prophets not only gave out judgment and condemnation: they also spoke with hope about a future beyond broken relationships, when all would be made right again.

What Does this Say to Us?

Our three themes for this devotion (Promise, Relationship, Life) are not mutually exclusive. God’s faithful promise leads to a wonderful relationship. That relationship brings abundant life filled with goodness and joy. When the people are in a true relationship with God that is based on what God finds important (justice and righteousness) there is abundant life. Isaiah might say that the relationship brings “good fruit” and not “rotten grapes.”

Ultimately we are not able to find this righteousness within ourselves and if we pretend that we can we’re merely fooling ourselves. Our righteousness comes as a gift from God, and Christians believe that gift is Jesus Christ who died and was raised again for our sake. When early Christians read Isaiah having experienced Jesus, they felt he was present in the words of Isaiah 11. God’s spirit was indeed on him and that same spirit is a gift to us in our baptism. As a pastor I’ve prayed that God’s spirit would be present in the person I had just baptized: a spirit of a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of planning and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

When we view the themes of promise, relationship and life as gracious gifts given to us by God, our existence takes on a new meaning and significance. There will be good fruit in our vineyards, not rotten grapes.