Sermon – The Neglected Vineyard
Scripture: Song of Solomon 1:4-9 “Draw me, we will run after You, The King has brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in You, we will remember Your love more than wine; the upright love You. I am black, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not look on me, that I am black, that the sun has looked on me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my vineyard I have not kept. Tell me, You whom my soul loves, where do You feed, where do You lie down at noon? For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of Your companions? If you know not, most beautiful among women, go in the footsteps of the flock; and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents.”
The King James Version says in verse 6 “Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
The key takeaway from Song of Solomon 1:5-6 is that it does not matter what a person looks like on the outside, for true beauty is not found in physical features, but rather moral character and purity.
Introduction: I have entitled this message, “the Neglected vineyard.” These haunting words are most challenging to all who are engaged in the service of the Lord, and they should be read in conjunction with Proverbs 24:30-31, “I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.” If you like to sleep, you may resent this proverb. If you procrastinate, you may not like it either. If you are undisciplined, you may resent the author. Solomon identified lazy and undisciplined people by the condition of their personal and professional property.
The one who confesses her neglect in this passage was not neglectful because of laziness. Having prevailed against her, the sons of her mother used her like a slave, putting her to the most difficult labor, the keeping of their vineyards. They made her labor so hard that they left her no time to mind her own; they hindered her from doing her own duty, and from minding her own concerns. And therefore, it is no wonder that she has become uncomely and scorched by the sun. She had been made black by the sun as she had labored in the vineyards of others in the heat of the day. She was made the keeper of the vineyards, but she had neglected her own vineyard. The duty of a vinedresser includes caring for the vines, managing the pests, irrigation, pruning, and harvesting. Properly kept grapevines produce fruit for thirty to fifty years for the owner. Therefore, the vinedresser comes to know each vine like a shepherd knows each sheep.
The person in the text was young, gifted, and black. The brothers recognized her giftedness and made her the keeper of their vineyards. Notice the text says, “They made me.” They limited her opportunities and mistreated her on every turn. We are not told how long she worked before she looked at her own vineyard with sadness. But finally, she said to herself, “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” The potential has been undeveloped, opportunities for increase was lost, vines were running wild, and bug infested because my own vineyard I have not kept. Let each one of us think about the vineyard God has given us. Think of our own selves, our own gifts, talents, abilities, and opportunities. What is the condition of your vineyard. This text does not criticize how others have treated her, as much as she emphasizes how she has neglected her own valuable assets. We cannot help what others do, how they treat us, the most important thing is how we treat ourselves.
This song could have been sang by sharecroppers who kept their children out of school farming the crops of another limiting the future of their own children. Or the student who went to school but failed to learn the lesson taught and now they must face life unprepared. Or maybe it’s about the mechanic who repaired the cars of others while his own car was in disrepair. Or Maybe a Carpenter who repaired the roof for others when his own roof was leaking. The song may be closer to home than we would like to admit. This could be the story of a Christian who failed to take advantage of the means of grace, now they are babes in Christ, full of childlessness and immaturity. All can sing, “they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
Many are ready to complain and protest the actions of other people. It seems easier to blame others and point fingers than to take responsibility. Not much good comes of picking holes in other men’s characters; and yet many spend hours in that unprofitable occupation. It will be well for us, at this time, to let our complaints deal with ourselves. If there is something wrong at home with the family and the children, maybe the father and the mother should look at their personal conduct as instructors to see if there is any neglect present. Let us open our heart, and consider this text, “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
Let us make the text practical. Do not let us be satisfied to simply complain about our condition, if we have been wrong, let us labor to be right. If we have neglected our own vineyard, let us confess it; but let us not continue to neglect it. Let us ask God to show us how to mend our ways and begin today to keep our own vineyards by the grace of God.
Believers are called to kingdom living in the present world. They have a high and holy calling to fulfil. Yet, in pursuit of worldly treasures, the vineyards of our personal walk with God, our care for our family and our concern, had been neglected. Others are trying to save the world and lose their family and themselves in the process.
1. Don’t Neglect Your Own Spiritual and Natural Vineyard. There is a danger in forgetting about our souls and our walk with God. Many have ignored the call of God and neglected their spiritual vineyard. I thank God for those who have accepted Jesus as Savior. From the day when you and I were born again, we were born of God and were called to die to the world. We were quickened by the Holy Ghost and called into newness of life. “Ye are not your own: ye are bought with a price.” The ideal Christian is one who has been made alive in Christ and choose to live their lives for God. He has been freed from the dominion of the world, the flesh, and the devil. You and I have a high, holy, and heavenly calling. We must keep our spiritual vineyard.
If we ever forget our calling, the world will force us to be keepers of their vineyards while neglecting our own. I am not suggesting that people try to live without employment and labor of some kind. No, we have worked, and we have worked hard. Most men speak of their wages as “hard-earned,” and I believe that in many cases they speak the truth. We wake up in the morning and think of what we must do. We go to bed wearied at night by what we have done. This is as it should be, even in Eden, man was told to dress the garden and keep it. There is something to be done by each man, and specially by each Christian.
From the day when we were born again, as many of us as are new creatures in Christ Jesus, we began to live for God, and not to ourselves. If we have been true to our profession of faith, living and working for God, for Christ, for the kingdom of heaven and for the benefit of man, we must keep close watch of our vineyard. For the Christian there must always be a far higher, deeper, purer, truer motive or else the day may come when we will look back upon our life, and say, “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard I have not kept.” This text invites all to look to see how well we are keeping our own vineyards. Have we kept our own vineyards spiritually? Have we served the Lord in all things? Are we striving to reach our full potential?
As I go a step farther, Have you kept your own vineyard naturally? Just as many can easily not be true to our Christian professions and neglect our highest work for God. Failing to spend time in communion with God, in meditation, contemplation, adoration, and other acts of devotion, we can neglect our natural responsibilities.
God has given us many natural things that we must care for. Our bodies, our families, homes, cars, and many other things. All require our close attention and oversight. It is something to think about. We have been so busy that some things have been too much neglected. Have you taken care of those things entrusted to you? Have you been so busy keeping the vineyard of others that you have allowed some things to slip. We have the heavenly calling of being God’s stewards. Stewards should be faithful. This word is not to condemn anyone, but if we see where we need to improve and correct our faults, we should do it now. This text is personal and compelling, “I have kept the vineyard of others, but my own vineyard I have not kept.” Do you care for your body, eat right and exercise? Do you overeat? Do you care for your children, training them up in the way they should go? Do you take care of your finances? Do you live on a budget? Do you give, save, and invest properly? Do you keep your checkbook leger balanced? Never let it be said about you, “…my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
2. Don’t Neglect The Relationship That Gives You Value. Song 1:7,8 “Tell me, You whom my soul loves, where do You feed, where do You lie down at noon? For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of Your companions? If you know not, most beautiful among women, go in the footsteps of the flock; and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents.”
Not only has she neglected herself and her vineyard, but she has also lost her true value. She feels like a veiled woman or a prostitute for hire, wandering in the streets. Neglect causes us to devalue ourselves. If you don’t know who you are or your value any price will do. In the text, the woman decides to get to her Lord, the one who loves her. In Him She will find recovery from her wandering and her neglect. Notice she asks him where he feeds his flock, and then decides to go with him. All who commune with Christ will have warm hearts and satisfied souls. Those who pursue Him will enjoy fellowship with God. God says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Supping with Christ, leads to fullness of joy. You will enquire, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?”
Notice that onlookers saw her wandering and suggested, just follow the tracks of his flocks, you will find him. The Church is His flock here in this world. It may not be perfect, but it will lead you to Him. He is perfect and he knows your true value. So run back to your Lord, and you will soon begin to keep your vineyard. As this Song continues, you will see a happy change effected. The woman began to see her own value and the value of her own vineyard. She begins to keep her vineyard, and to do it in the best fashion. Within a very short time you find her chasing away the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.” See, she is hunting out her sins and correcting her shortcomings. She is even keeping her garden, and asking for heavenly influences to make the spices and flowers yield their perfume. She went down to see whether the vines flourished, and the pomegranates budded. She rises early to go to the vineyard and watch the growth of the plants. Little can happen if we neglect our own vineyard. We must begin to work on ourselves more than we work for others.
3. Don’t Neglect Your Own Heart. “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
Don’t Neglect Your own Spiritual and Natural Vineyard; Don’t Neglect The Relationship That Gives You Value; and Don’t Neglect Your Own Heart! We know many people who are always doing a great deal, and yet accomplishing little; people who are always running to the front in every movement, people who desire to set the whole world right, but are not right themselves. Just before a general election there is a manifestation of remarkable men, generally persons who know everything, and a few things besides, who, if they could but be sent to Washington, would turn the whole world upside down, and put every wrong right. They would pay the National Debt within months and settle the immigration crisis. They would stop the war in Ukraine and settle the conflict in Gaza. I have seen many great men who are never quite as great as they feel themselves to be. They are superior speakers, reformers, and philosophers, who claim to know what nobody else knows, and can do what nobody else can do. Yet when you look closer, many have neglected their own vineyard. There is a vineyard that a great many neglect, that is their own heart. It is good to have talent; it is good to have influence; but it is better to be right within yourself. It is well for a man to see to his cattle and look well to his flocks and to his herds; but let him not forget to cultivate that little patch of ground that lies in the center of his being. Let him educate his head and learn all knowledge; but let him not forget that there is another plot of ground called the heart, the character, which is more important still. I am speaking about the heart in its moral and spiritual aspect. What is your character, and do you seek to cultivate it? Do you ever use the hoe upon those weeds which are so plentiful in us all? I pray that we may all look to our hearts. “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Pray daily, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”; for if not, you will go up and down in the world, and do a great deal, and while you are saving others you will lose yourself.
4. Finally, Don’t Neglect Your Household. Some people neglect their families while trying to save the world. Next to our hearts, our households are the most important vineyards which we are bound to cultivate. Some work so hard to provide for their family that they have little time to spend at home, they attempt to master the outside world but are not masters at home and cannot control their children. Neither the husband nor wife have any influence in the home; they have become slaves to their children. Just as God spoke to Eli, the high priest, about his children saying, 1 Samuel 3:11-14 “Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.” People pray for their children at the prayer-meeting, but they do not think to pray at home. It is shocking to find men and women speaking fluently about religion, and yet their houses are a disgrace to Christianity. “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
The most careful and prayerful father cannot be held accountable for having wicked children if he has done his best to instruct them. The most anxious and tearful mother cannot be blamed if her daughter dishonors the family, provided the mother has done her best to train her up in the right way. But if the parents cannot say that they have done their best, and their children go astray, then they are blameworthy. If any of my hearers exercise no parental discipline, nor seek to bring their children to Christ, I do implore them to give up every kind of public work till they have first done their work at home. Has anybody made you a minister, and you are not trying to save your own children? I tell you, sir, if God has made you a minister; let your ministry begin with ministry to your own family. “They made me the keeper of the vineyards.” How can you be a steward in the great household of the Lord when you cannot even rule your own house? This text is personal; and if anybody is offended by it, let him be offended with himself, and mend his ways. No longer let it be true of any of us, “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
In the name of Jesus the Christ, I pray that it can never be said, “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” We have been born again and we must keep to the task of living our lives to the Glory of God. We must endeavor to keep close to him and receive our comfort and nourishment from him. Keep a watch over our spiritual life; keep a watch over our relationship with God; Keep a watch over our family and home. We must demonstrate our love, devotion, and concern. We must train our children in the way they should go, doing our best and giving it our best. May God Help us, to begin to live, and keep the vineyard which He has given us to keep, that we may render a good and faithful accounting of our stewardship with joy, and not with grief! Let's be faithful in our stewardship. Amen.
