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10/18/20 - Pentecost 20 - 2 Kings 21:1-15 - Our God patiently seeks fruits
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The Season
The appointed lessons of weeks 18-21 teach us the characteristics of our God.

This Sunday
Our God patiently seeks fruits. The Lord came to his city and his temple to teach his people, but the leaders of Israel rose up against him. When they questioned his authority, Jesus responded with three parables meant to drive the leaders to self-evaluation and self-condemnation. The stories speak of family ties, contractual obligation, and the favor of a royal invitation. Each should have led to a proper response, yet each parable showed that Israel’s leaders were refusing to give God the fruits of faith he patiently sought
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First Lesson - 2 Kings 21:1-15
Manasseh’s story shocks us. Though he was king of God’s people, he committed every evil imaginable. His wickedness knew no bounds. He worshiped idols and put false altars in the temple of God’s holy name— even an Asherah pole. He practiced witchcraft. He put his son to death as a sacrifice. He filled Jerusalem with blood, and tradition says he had the prophet Isaiah sawn in half. He led God’s people into such apostasy that their sin was worse than the nations that God had driven out of the land at the exodus. God had been patient with Israel for 750 years, but the fruitlessness of Manasseh proved too much, even for our patient God. God vowed to destroy his vineyard, Israel. More shocking than Manasseh’s sin, however, is the story of God’s grace. In 2 Chronicles 33, we learn that Manasseh finally heard God’s call to repentance once the shackles were clamped on and a hook put through his nose. He humbled himself and cried out to God—and God forgave him. That God could forgive Manasseh boggles the mind. So, too, does the change in Manasseh’s life. He produced the fruits that his God had patiently sought: he removed the altars, got rid of the false gods, worshiped the true God and encouraged all of Judah to do the same. Recognizing God’s mercy and love leads us to produce the fruits he desires


Second Lesson - 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Jesus kept his promise and gave the kingdom of God to a new nation, to a people founded by faith and motivated by love. Paul writes as a servant of God to us, the new workers in the vineyard. He warns us not to squander the opportunity before us by receiving the grace of God in vain. Now is the day of salvation. The grace of God leads us to live as tenants who produce the fruits our God seeks. Paul points to his own ministry as an example. The grace of God led Paul to make every effort to bear the cross and suffer for the sake of the kingdom. He pointed to his fruits of faith and encouraged the Church, “Open wide your hearts also.” Make us ready, with free hearts, to do whatever pleases you; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Gospel - Matthew 21:33-43
Jesus’ words in the Gospel highlight the patience of our God as he seeks fruits of faith. Could God have done anything more for Israel? The point here is the amazing patience the owner displays. What owner would continue to send servants when they were treated this way? Even Jesus’ enemies had to agree that the only just end for such tenants was judgment. The owner’s Son looked his enemies in the eye and proclaimed that opposing him was impossible. Killing the Son means defeat for his enemies and victory for God as prophesied in Psalm 118. God will lift his Son from death and use the stone rejected by men as his capstone. Let Jesus’ enemies be warned. You can oppose the Son actively and you will find yourself on your face. You can ignore the Son at your peril and you will find yourself ground to powder. Israel’s leaders refused to produce the fruits of repentance and faith. As a result, the kingdom of God will be ripped away and given to a different nation. The nation to whom is it given is the body of believers. Whether they are prostitutes (Matthew 21:32) or members of the Sanhedrin (John 19:39) or Gentiles who are of the faith of Abraham (Romans 4:16), the kingdom belongs to them by faith.

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