Isaiah 5: 1–7 / Psalm 80: 7–15 / Philippians 3: 4b–14 / Matthew 21: 33–46
This is the written version of the
homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown,
Pennsylvania on Sunday, October 4, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.
“THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE”
(Homily texts: Isaiah 5 :1–7, Philippians 3: 4b–14, and Matthew 21: 33-46)
As I
get older, I find myself reflecting more and more on the human condition, and
on the progression of life as it goes on.
“Why
is it”, I ask myself, “that so-and-so exists?” That’d be one of the questions I
ask myself. (Maybe you have the same sorts of questions…feel free to fill in
the blank with your own version of this question.)
Here’s
another one: Why is it that God allows us human beings to have freedom?
Consider,
for example, some of the freedoms that God gives us: We have the freedom to
choose to do good to others, or to do things that harm them; we have the
freedom to exploit God’s creation, instead of caring for it and nurturing it
(as Adam and Eve were charged to do in the Garden of Eden); we have the freedom
to seek after the heart of God, or to reject God and “do our own thing”; and –
finally – we have the freedom to go through the outward motions of religion,
all the while distancing ourselves from the truths of God and the revealed will
of God for us.
With
this introduction in mind, let’s look at all three of our appointed readings
for this morning, for – I think – we’ll see a pattern of those who chose to
exercise their freedoms, some for good, and some for not-so-good. Then, since
today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, let’s consider his life and
example in the light of the times in which he lived from the perspective of his
use of the freedoms he chose to exercise.
We
will begin with the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah
lived in the eight-century BC. His ministry spanned the time of the conquest of
the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC. His lifetime and
ministry unfolded during a turbulent and troubled time for God’s people.
It was
also a time when God’s people seemed to be forsaking God for some one or more
of the pagan idols that were the legacy of the Canaanite peoples who had lived
in the Holy Land prior to the return of God’s people under Joshua’s leadership
many centuries before.
But
the people in Isaiah’s time were far from the heart of God. They chose to
exercise their freedoms to do harm to others, and to do harm to their
relationship with God. That’s Isaiah’s chief concern.
Isaiah
describes their situation, reminding them that God has been good to His people.
He has provided for them and has protected them. But now, God’s people have
chosen to transgress God’s will and God’s commandments.
Therefore,
Isaiah warns, God will remove His mantle of protection from His people for their
ill-chosen freedom.
In a
remarkably similar vein, Jesus tells His audience a parable about God’s people
and the vineyard that God had entrusted to His people. (Perhaps the Lord had
Isaiah’s description in mind when He crafted His parable.)
Just
as in Isaiah’s example, so, too, does the Lord castigate the chief priests, the
scribes and the others who were leaders of God’s people in the time of our
Lord’s earthly ministry, for they fail to produce fruit that is acceptable and
pleasing to God.
So
then, we have two examples in our appointed readings of poor choices made by
God’s people of the freedoms that were theirs to either do good and to produce
good fruit, or to choose to ignore God’s will and do otherwise.
Now,
let’s turn our attention to two examples of those who chose to seek God’s face
and God’s heart.
The
first is St. Paul.
Writing
in what is, perhaps, is last letter (and his most positive one), his letter to
the early Christians in the town of Philippi, he describes his desire to seek
the heart of God. He says that he “presses on toward the goal, toward the goal
of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus”.
Another
example, from a later time, is St. Francis of Assisi.
Born
in the year 1182 (he died in 1226), Francis was the son of a prosperous
merchant in the town of Assisi, located northeast (if I can remember correctly)
of Rome in Italy.
Francis
encountered many poor people in his travels. The sight of these afflicted
people pricked his conscience, and he vowed to renounce the life plan that lay
before him as the successor in his father’s business. Instead, he chose a life
of poverty, or service to the least and the lost, and to the care for God’s
creation.
In a
time when the Church as a whole was devoting itself to other values, values
like earthly power, wealth and prestige, Francis’ example stood in direct
opposition. (Notice the parallels in the behaviors and attitudes of the Church
in Francis’ time and the behaviors and attitudes of the leaders of God’s people
in Jesus’ time…both are examples of people who outwardly said they were
following God’s will and God’s ways.)
Francis’
example was a challenge to the established ideals of the Church in his time. His
was a shining light in an otherwise very dark time.
So
then, here are two examples of those who close to exercise their freedoms for
good and godly values.
We
have before us this morning a warning, a warning to the Church as a whole, not
to fall into the trap of claiming to follow God’s will and God’s ways, all the
while choosing to create and follow idols of our own making. (an idol defined
as anything that displaces God from his central place).
AMEN.
