Do you have a vineyard or an orchard or a vegetable patch or any kind of garden? If you do, then you certainly want to see some good growth. So does God. This Sunday we hear a lot about vineyards. God is looking to have his vineyard – the house of Israel – produce a good harvest of grapes. Unfortunately, the results fall far short of his expectations.

This month, with the grace of God, I will mark another birthday. As a gift to myself - and I hope to you as well - I want to reflect on the gift of God in Jesus. Let's start with a few verses from God's word.

“Repetition is the mother of learning,” so the saying goes. Today’s readings repeat and reinforce some themes that we have seen in recent weeks: personal responsibility; God’s sovereign mercy; God’s desire that sinners turn back to him and be saved. The Collect today expresses this beautifully: “O God, who manifest your almighty power above all by pardoning and showing mercy, bestow we pray, your grace abundantly upon us and make those hastening to attain your promises heirs to the treasures of heaven.”

“Let us make God in our own image…” No, wait a minute, that’s not how it goes! It is, in fact, the other way around. But so often our tendency is to think of God in our human terms and categories. The readings today highlight this point with great clarity: God defies human reasoning with his mysterious mercy.