· Isaiah 5:1-7
· Psalm 80:7-15 (14, 15)
· Philippians 3:4b-14
· Matthew 21:33-46
Isaiah's and Jesus's vineyard stories are much the same, at least at first: God takes care of his people, the people are ungrateful. Isaiah and Jesus have different stories of what God does with the ungrateful people, but neither one of them says "God accedes to all their whining and belly-aching". That's one thing God doesn't do.
Of course we still rebel against God all the time. Many people say "why does God allow suffering?" They turn their backs on the Lord because there is famine or disease in the world, because their loved one died, because their health isn't good. They claim that if God is good, he would not allow suffering.
They are wrong. Suffering is life, or as the Buddha taught, "life is pain." Without suffering there is no life. Consider the following: every day I get out of bed because I suffer from my alarm clock's annoying beeping; I eat breakfast because I suffer from hunger; I dress so I won't suffer from exposure or embarrassment; I walk my dog so she won't suffer from boredom and a full bladder; I have a cup of coffee so I won't suffer from drowsiness; I brush my teeth so I won't suffer from tooth decay; I go to work so I won't suffer from poverty.
You may be thinking this is a specious argument. "That's not suffering," you might say. "We mean real suffering, like war and famine." Ok. Let's say we could make a deal with God to remove the worst suffering that's ever happened to mankind. Let's say that's Mao Zedong. So let's imagine God erases Mao Zedong from the history of the world. Yay! We're happy!
Are we? But what about Stalin? Ok, let's say God removes Stalin from the history of the world. Are we happy now? But what about Hitler? What about the Partition of India and Pakistan? What about the Khmer Rouge? Ok, let's just say that God removes all war, famine and pestilence from history. Now are we happy?
No we're not. What about childhood cancers? What about diabetes? What about puppies and kittens dying? Ok, let's get rid of all these things, but then what? The worst thing that's ever happened to us, no matter how trivial it really is, will always seem like a horrible injustice. If God were to remove our sufferings until we stopped complaining, we would end up all floating in a giant sensory deprivation tank, our minds empty and drooling on ourselves. Then we'd die.
Suffering is normal in God's perfect world. There is no life without suffering. God didn't tell us there would be.
Then again, some people go too far the other way, interpreting everything as a message from God or as an intervention that can only be for the greater good. We just have to trust that when [crap] happens to us, God sent it to us to change the world for the better. And besides, "God doesn't send us more than we can handle."
That's all false too. A friend of mine is in a wheelchair since being hit by a drunk driver three years ago. Another friend lost her seven-year-old son to cancer. One sprained her ankle just before a busy weekend. One walked into a store, forgot what she was there for, and bought silk flowers to decorate the church. I get migraines. Are all these things signs from the Lord? Is this how God leads us toward salvation?
No, it isn't. These aren't signs, they're just circumstances. First of all, it's very arrogant to think that while millions are suffering from war, famine and natural disasters, God is trying to change the world through your sprained ankle or dead hamster. God doesn't give me migraines; stress and the Chinook do. That's just life, which is pain, in God's perfect world.
Second and more importantly, to claim this is to twist the word of God. God did not say "I will send you sprained ankles and yeast infections so you will know that my name is the Lord." The Lord never said he would work that way, and the Bible does not show any instance of him doing so. When the Lord wants to talk to us and explain his plan, he sends angels or prophets, or he comes down himself, sometimes as a cloud of smoke with thunder and lightning, or as a whirlwind, or as his son Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus explained the Plan to us in plain language and it goes like this:
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like (a) child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.
Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.
(But) woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!
Keep awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
This is God's plan, explained clearly in his own words out of his own mouth. He who has ears, let him hear.
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