“What more was there to do for my vineyard that I
have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good
grapes did it produce worthless ones?
My friend Dan is retired from the wine business. Most
of what he knows I don’t comprehend. He tells me how the flavor of the grapes
(wine) is influenced by temperature, humidity, composition of the soil…and many
other factors. The exact same grape, planted in different locations, will yield
distinctly different flavors.
That’s
the part I understand. What I find difficult to discern are the more nuanced
qualities of wine.· Balance:
· Length:
· Depth:
· Complexity:
· Finish:
· Typicity
We often have
the same difficulty with people. Humans have nuanced qualities that are hard to
judge accurately. So, we end up avoiding judgment so we “won’t get it wrong”. Or, we make profoundly unkind judgments with
inadequate information. As a result, we sanction behavior that is odious to God
or we condemn behavior that God doesn’t. We simply are unequipped.
Pretty soon we
have no real idea what is…or isn’t…a bad grape.
But, God has an impeccable palate and can
perfectly distinguish a good grape from a bad grape…even when we can’t. So, God
says “Let Me tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will remove its
hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become
trampled ground. I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, But briars
and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
Paul explains
this in the first chapter of Romans. “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to
impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a
lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen.
Now, those are
some bad grapes!
It’s easy to
view this as harsh…but then, we aren’t the ones who put all the work and
sacrifice into the vineyard.
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