What is your job, what is your occupation? Are you a teacher or a student? Are you a pilot or a bus driver? Do you work in an office or outside or in your own house? Are you employed or retired? Are you a parent or child?

What is your job in the Vineyard of God? I did not ask what your job in the church was, but rather in the Vineyard of God. That vineyard is larger than the physical, visible church. This is October, the month to celebrate the Protestant Reformation. The Reformers like Martin Luther taught us that the work of God was not limited to the monks and nuns in the convents and monasteries. No matter what their station in life or status in the community is, every Christian is a worker in the Kingdom of God. You cannot separate the secular from the holy. Of course there are some activities that are not holy, which a Christian might be tempted to do. I do not want to say that sin is part of the work of being in God's Vineyard. What I want to say is that your job or your occupation or your daily activity is the place where you are called to do the work of God. For example, if you are a waitress in a restaurant, then that is your work for God, given to you by God. In your daily activities, no matter what they are, we are to do the work of God, the work of God being that we would love the neighbor.

In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus tells the parable about the wicked tenants in the vineyard. Their problem was that they wanted to control the vineyard and steal it from the owner, so they killed the messengers and finally killed the son. The vineyard is the nation of Israel, God is the landowner, the tenants are the Pharisees and chief priests, the harvest is faith and love and worship, the messengers are the prophets of the Old Testament, and the Son is Jesus Christ. Jesus is predicting that they will lose control of the vineyard of Israel and their religion and it will be given to faithful believers in Jesus.

The modern tenants of the vineyard are Christians. The modern messengers are pastors and Sunday School teachers and parents and friends that remind us to work for God and give the fruit of the harvest to God. That is, to have and harvest the fruit of love in their lives. When we reject the voice of those people, we are rejecting the voice of God. When we want to do what we want to do rather than listening to the advice of those who are reminding us of the Ten Commandments, it is like stoning the prophets. And when we completely reject them, we will finally reject the Son of God from our lives. Then we are joining with those who crucified him. And the parable reminds us that those who reject the Son are also rejecting God, who will then reject them and bring them to a wretched end.

And in the mystery of the Gospel, the Son who was rejected became the capstone, the cornerstone, the foundation of our lives. The marvelous mystery of the Gospel is that the one we reject is the one who chooses us. He sends his messengers who tell us the Word of God. He sends the Holy Spirit. In repentance and faith, we can return to the Vineyard of God. We can live our lives with faith and trust.

And so, every occupation and activity can be work for God, because Jesus is always with us. It is the place where he has called us.

Amen.

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