April 6: Even Us
♫ Music:
Day 41 - Monday, April 6
Hymn for Holy Monday: O brethren, let us fear the punishment of the fig tree, withered because it was unfruitful; and let us bring worthy fruits of repentance unto Christ, who grants us His great mercy. Amen.
Scripture: Matthew 21: 33-43
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.” They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers? They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
Poetry:
Heaven
by Franz Wright
I lived as a monster, my only
hope is to die like a child.
In the otherwise vacant
and seemingly ceilingless
vastness of a snowlit Boston
church, a voice
said: I
can do that–
if you ask me, I will do it
for you.
EVEN US
On this Holy Monday, we remember the Jesus who confronts: he cleanses the temple, curses the fig tree, and challenges those who question his authority. I tend to avoid conflict at any cost (enneagram 9!), so Jesus is refreshingly different. He’s not trying to artificially elevate his status by picking a fight, taunt people who aren’t as moral as him, or even condemn those who don’t follow him. Jesus confronts because he cares; Jesus refuses to give up on anyone, even the chief priests and Pharisees. Even us.
Today, he confronts us through a parable. The landowner has set up his tenant vine-growers for success in his vineyard: (1) he put a wall around it to keep the animals away, (2) he dug a wine press in it to benefit the fermentation process, and (3) he built a tower to protect his property from robbers. The landowner expects payment in produce, but the vine-growers not only refuse to compensate him, but they injure and kill his messengers.
And that’s the surprising part. Unlike previous versions of vine parables (Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:7-15), Jesus offers a startling twist that the chief priests and Pharisees would have understood quickly. The primary problem isn’t the vineyard or the fruit, but the vine-growers. In fact, the vine-growers take it a step further and even kill the landowner’s son.
But in God’s generosity this murder is not the end; it is a new beginning. The rejected son/stone becomes the cornerstone in a reimagined vineyard, the kingdom of God. So when Jesus confronts the chief priests and Pharisees, he is inviting them to produce fruit in this new kingdom. He gives them another opportunity as vine-growers, but they unfortunately choose a different path (Matt. 21:45-46).
Jesus confronts us with a similar invitation today, and he asks us (like the title of the artwork): Did we not begin with an overabundance? Notice the artist’s 3D design, beautiful pops of color, and bountiful bouquet. Pause for a few seconds and gaze at the collage, reminding yourself that God has not only set us up for success, but he desires this overabundance of fruit for each of us every day. Perhaps you might to listen to the song as you do this, and allow the raw and minimalist tone shape your honest reflection.
We are all vine-growers in Jesus’ new kingdom, and he has given each of us our own vineyards. God has invited us to daily cultivate the relationships, emotions, spirituality, bodies, vocations, and choices we make. Even in our socially-distanced world, we might be reduced to the essential elements of our vineyards, but the questions remain: How are we tending the vineyards he’s asked us to steward? What might Jesus be confronting in us so that we can bear more fruit (but be gracious with yourself, especially in this COVID-19 time!)? How are we intentionally attending to the people, decisions, hopes, and concerns of today? What can we cultivate in our socially-distanced vineyard that might benefit the broader kingdom when we’re encouraged to gather again?
Prayer:
Dear Jesus,
You chose me and appointed me to bear fruit that will last (John 15:16). Thank you for allowing me to participate in your kingdom work as I learn to cooperate with you. Your love meets me where I am, but that same love invites me to more. I want to follow you.
Amen.
Mike Ahn
Assistant Dean of Chapels & Worship
Host of The Biola Hour
Biola University
About the Art:
And Did We Not Begin With an Overabundance
Mary McCleary
2015
Mixed media collage on paper
52 3/4" x 40" x 2"
Private Collection
This remarkable collage is in the great tradition of 17th century Dutch vanitas or memento mori (“reminder of death”) still life paintings, which pictured arrangements of everyday objects to present moral lessons. The glorious bouquet of flowers in a profusion of sizes, textures and colors and whose stems are packed into a small clear glass vase appears as if it is about to topple over due to its overwhelming expanse and weight. On the marbled tabletop of an elaborately carved table we see the following three objects carefully positioned for our examination: an alligator head with a gleaming eye and jaws open, a raven with head cocked, and a small watercolor set with a paintbrush laden with red paint precariously situated over an edge that inspires the impulse to push the brush back before it falls. The high vantage point suggests an elevated, divine perspective that requires us to take account of the tension between the bountiful splendor and predation we see.
About the Artist:
Mary McCleary (b.1951) makes collages of great complexity that combine painterly craftsmanship and striking iconography. Her subject matter comes from religion, science, history, and literature—the sources of big themes. McCleary has participated in over 350 one-person and group exhibits in museums and galleries in 29 states, Mexico, Canada, and Russia. These venues include the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, AR), the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), the Museum of Biblical Art (New York, NY), the Grey Art Gallery at New York University, the Boston Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO). McCleary’s works are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; the El Paso Museum of Art; the San Antonio Museum of Art; the Art Museum of South Texas (Corpus Christi); and the Art Museum of Southeast Texas (Beaumont). She is Regents Professor of Art Emeritus at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, where she taught from 1975 to 2005. In 2011, she was named Texas Artist of the Year by Art League Houston. Mary Fielding McCleary received her B.F.A., cum laude in printmaking/drawing at Texas Christian University and her M.F.A. in graphics from the University of Oklahoma.
https://www.marymccleary.com/
https://www.arts.texas.gov/initiatives/texas-state-artist/current-state-artists/#mccleary
About the Music:
“I See the Sign” from the album Folk Songs
The Lyrics:
I see the sign
I see the sign
I see the sign
I see the sign
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Sign of the judgement
Sign of the judgement
Sign of the judgement
Sign of the judgement
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Sign in the fig tree
Sign in the fig tree
Sign in the fig tree
Sign in the fig tree
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Loose horse in the valley
Loose horse in the valley
Loose horse in the valley
Loose horse in the valley
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Tell me who is gonna ride him?
Who's gonna ride him?
Who's gonna ride him?
Who's gonna ride him?
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Said I come out the corner
Come out the corner
Come out the corner
Come out the corner
Tell me what you gonna do?
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Said I run to the rock
Run to the rock
Said I run to the rock
Said I run to the rock
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
The rock cried out
The rock cried out
The rock cried out
No hiding place, no hiding place
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Two tall angels
Two tall angels
Two tall angels
On a chariot wheel
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Dark clouds arising
Dark clouds arising
Dark clouds arising
Dark clouds arising
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
Sign of the judgement
Sign of the judgement
Sign of the judgement
Sign of the judgement
Hey, Lord, time draws nigh
About the Composer/LyrIcist:
Sam Amidon (b. 1981) is an American folk artist who sings fiddle, banjo, and guitar. His parents are folk-musician Peter Amidon and Mary Alice Amidon. His younger brother, Stefan Amidon, is a professional drummer who performs with The Sweetback Sisters among other groups. Amidon tours extensively throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan, and has appeared at festivals such as End of the Road, Green Man, Roskilde, Lowlands, Pickathon, Solid Sound, Big Ears, Celebrate Brooklyn, The Sydney Festival, the Jaipur Literature Festival, and others. He has become known for freewheeling concert performances. Amidon approaches folk like a jazz improviser, taking a tune from here, borrowing a lyric from there, and reframing them all with his own surprising chord progressions and arrangements.
http://www.samamidon.com/
https://samamidon.bandcamp.com/
About the Performers:
Kronos Quartet and Sam Amidon
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco, California. They have been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for over forty years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres including: Mexican folk, experimental, pre-classical early music, movie soundtracks, jazz and tango, as well as contemporary classical music. More than 900 works have been written for them. Violinist David Harrington from Seattle, Washington, founded the quartet in 1973. With almost forty studio albums to their credit and having performed worldwide, they have been called "probably the most famous 'new music' group in the world" and have been praised in philosophical studies of music for the inclusiveness of their repertoire. They have worked with many minimalist composers including John Adams, Arvo Pärt, George Crumb, Henryk Górecki, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, and Kevin Volans.
https://www.kronosquartet.org/
About the Poet:
Franz Wright (1953–2015) was an American poet. He and his father James Wright are the only parent/child pair to have won the Pulitzer Prize in the same category. He earned his BA from Oberlin College in 1977. In his precisely crafted, lyrical poems, Wright addresses the themes of isolation, illness, spirituality, and gratitude. Critic Helen Vendler wrote in the New York Review of Books, “Wright's scale of experience ...runs from the homicidal to the ecstatic....His best forms of originality: deftness in patterning, startling metaphors, starkness of speech, compression of both pain and joy, and a stoic self-possession with the agonies and penalties of existence.” Wright received a Whiting Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He taught at Emerson College and other universities, worked in mental health clinics, and volunteered his time at a center for grieving children.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/franz-wright
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Wright
About the Devotion Writer:
Mike Ahn
Assistant Dean of Chapels & Worship
Host of The Biola Hour
Mike Ahn oversees Biola's chapel programs, worship teams, the annual Torrey Conference and The Biola Hour podcast and serves on the pastoral care team. He is a graduate of Haverford College (B.A., History, '01) and Talbot School of Theology’s Institute for Spiritual Formation (M.Div., Spiritual Formation, ’09), and is currently completing his Ph.D. in Educational Studies at Talbot. If he could, Mike would have two In-N-Out cheeseburgers with chopped chilis, animal style fries, and a Pamplemousse LaCroix for every meal.