My Own Vineyard
(Song of Solomon 1:1-6)
The text for this morning’s message is one most of us can identify with in one way or another. It reads in verse 6:
….they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.
The Song of Solomon does not mention the name of God in its eight chapters; but is referred to as a series of love poems between a Shulamite girl and her beloved shepherd boy friend. Some of the most romantic and sensual verses in the Bible are found here as romantic images and fantasies are shared in verse. Some wonder why this book was included in the Bible but for the fact that the love expressed is something akin to the love Christ has for His Church or God’s love for Israel.
Early on in the first chapter we learn that the young bride to be has been made to work in the vineyards by her brothers. There under the hot sun and labor of the day she was not only heavily tanned but too overworked or too tired to keep up her own vineyard, like the
beautician too busy doing other women’s hair that she has no time to do her own or the
car mechanic too busy fixing other people’s cars that his own car goes neglected, and yes even the minister or care-giver so busy helping others that his or her own family are left wanting: …but my own vineyard I have not kept.
Isn’t that the tragedy that so often befalls our families and love relationships? How many
husbands here have been accused of working too much and not being home when needed. But so often without that extra work the bills would not get paid and the style of living would not be maintained. More often than not we may find ourselves working in the vineyards of life to satisfy the needs and desires of others rather than our self. Parents both working to send their children to college. Single moms working two jobs or long hours because the father is absent. Mistakes made in the
past that now must be paid for- not allowing a life of work and leisure, but work and
more work. Whatever the reason the end result is the same:
…but my own vineyard I have not kept
I speak of this matter just after Easter the day when our churches are fuller than usual and our hearts are ablaze with the triumphal cries of victory and new life over death promising hope for the future. In lovers’ terms our passions are strong and alive. But that was last Sunday, now only a week later the attendance is reduced, the energy and excitement of the day is lessened like the description of the church in Laodicea
you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, fit only to be spewed out of the angel’s mouth.
If the people of the Lord are not here in the Lord’s vineyard this morning are they not at work in other vineyards and would they not say if we were to ask them
why are you not here? Would they not respond as the young maiden of the Songs:
…I have been made the keeper of the vineyards at my house, at the mall, wherever,
but my own vineyard here at the house of God I have not kept.
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I’m really not talking about the work we do physically but about the personal relationship we have with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Look at the daily labor
we perform to maintain our relationships with family and friends- how much of our time and effort is spent in these vineyards of human relationship we consider vital and important. But when it comes to the saving of my soul and where and how
I will spend eternity the love relationship that would seem most important
would be with God. If the chief end of man according to the church catechism is
“to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” are we not faced with the terrible
truth the young maiden has expressed:
….I have been made keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard with Jesus Christ my Savior I have not kept.
As you read through the Song of Solomon you sense the strong passion and feeling of the lovers for one another as the final verse of chapter eight concludes:
Make haste my beloved and be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of spices.
So is it intended to be for you and me with our Savior as we, the bride, the people of the church surrender our will to our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. It is a relationship of intensity
and passion for and with our Divine Lover who gave His life for us at Calvary and now has all authority in Heaven and on earth given to Him. He is willing and able to give us a peace that passes understanding unknown to the nonbeliever; and to give us
such comfort that we know not what it means to feel comfortless. And to be of all things so in love with the Creator of love that death can not separate us but only
bind us closer together with Him for all eternity.
In the hope of such a relationship how is it that we live even a day with the thought: …my own vineyard I have not kept.
It is the reason for us being together here now in worship to Him, not to be seen of men
but to express our adoration and love for our Savior who loves and keeps us and is
willing and able to shower untold blessings upon us. This is the vineyard that is ours personally to keep. Work and family, play and entertainment may have their place; they are other vineyards, but my own vineyard to be kept is my passion and service to Jesus
Christ, the very lover of my soul. That is why I worship Him daily and pray to Him
daily, and read His Word daily and sing a hymn of praise daily. That is why I dare not court the ways of the world or succumb to the temptations of evil about me- that would be like neglecting my own vineyard.
Yet we are content to live working for the manna of man, chasing after the pleasures of this world, seeking the love of other flesh and blood, convinced that these are the more important vineyards of life failing to hear and heed our true Lover’s desire:
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7)
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This vineyard of my own to be kept that I have called my personal relationship with Jesus Christ is an affair of the heart: “Set me as a seal upon your heart….” (8:6) cries the young maiden to her lover just as we sing:
Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus,
Come in today, come in to stay, come into my heart Lord Jesus.
Jeremiah, the prophet, said:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it.” (Jer.17:9)
Jesus taught His disciples: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness. slander. (Mt.15:19) These are what defile us and cause the desire of our hearts to care not for the one true vineyard.
It is no wonder that David prayed:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” (Ps.51:10)
And wise Solomon taught: Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flows the springs of life. (Prov.4:23)
You have a responsibility; your Lord and your God has demanded your heart-for Him to take it and change its very nature from corruption to incorruption. You want to give your heart to this person or this job or this career or to this certain dream you have- God will have none of it. He calls for a complete and total surrender in which Jesus Christ becomes the true lover of your soul and seals you unto the day of redemption. Paul said it like this: God has put his seal upon us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (II.Cor. 1:22)
There is our hope for true love and right workmanship- the Holy Spirit of God in my heart and your heart- working, transforming our sinful nature into a holiness we would
never have dreamed possible but now fitting us for the Kingdom of God.
Instead of wearing out and cooling off, let your heart be surrendered to Him and see what a well spring of life you become for the glory of God. As long as our passions and work take us into the other vineyards of man’s world, we will suffer the consequences that come from worshipping false gods. But a fully surrendered heart to Jesus Christ will
result in true worship and true work coming from a newly created heart with a new
and right spirit. No more two-timing the Lover of my soul and playing the harlot with the ways of the world- now I belong to Christ to know only Him and the power of His
resurrection. Then we can say with John: “See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (I.John 3:1). And knowing and sharing that love with Him, no longer will I say: but my own vineyard I have not kept.
