I
1 I
“Song of the Vineyard”
Isaiah 5:1-7 January 8,1984
INTRODUCTION
No prophet has spoken mare clearly about
the grace of God than Isaiah. The evildoers
would not cleanse themselves merely by
. shaping up and cleaning up their act.
Cleansing would come through God’s
r, even this could be reject
willing and obedient”
---— the condition.
It is through grace that the transforming
power of God is offered, and through faith
salvation is wrought, (Ephesians 2:8). This
is true for those who accept God’s gracious
offer. The beneficiary is not the innocent,
not one who has merited salvation. Rather,
if is the undeserving, the sinner, to whom
the grace of God is extended. And the
invitation goes out to all: "Come...whoso
ever will, let him take the water of life
freely,” (Revelation 22:17).
By this act of grace, this salvation freely
given, is not complete unless it results in
works of righteousness. “What doth it
profit, my brethren, though a man say he
hath faith, and have not works? Can faith
(only) save him?...faith, if it hath not
works, is dead being alone,” (James 2:14,
17). Paul makes clear that salvation is not a
reward for work done, (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Yet he hastens to add.. “We are God’s
handy work created in Christ Jesus to
devote ourselves to the good deeds for which
God has designed us.
LESSON BACKGROUND
..Isaiah is in the forefront of those who
recognize the mercy of God. At the same
time, no one is more vehement than he in
giving warning of what will happen when
people despise that mercy. God desires to
bless, but those who spurn his grace, mock
at repentance, and persist in their own
wickedness, cannot do so with impunity.
Tpe wrath of God against evil is just as
certain as His mercy for the sinner who
> turns to Him.
7‘Listen while I sing you this song, a song
fny friend and his vineyard: My friend
rvliMSysftj oh a vefyT&tffemfofc d3g^v
soil and cleared it of stones; he planted
finest vines. He built a tower to guard
them, dug a pit for treading the grapes. He
waited for the grapes to ripen, but every
grape was sour,” (Isaiah 5:1-2).
The identity of the friend is not revealed
as yet. For the moment Isaiah leaves his
listeners in the dark on this matter. This
permits, the parable, for such it is, to have
greater impact. The one who had planted ''
the'Vineyard had lavishly provided every
thing necessary for the production of good
fruit. There was every reason why he might
anticipate that the vineyard would produce
grapes of fine quality. Instead, it brought
forth soar grapes, small and harsh flavored.
The term used indicates something repuls
ive. What a disappointment after weeks and
months of anticipation. But this was the
distressing result of What had started out as
a delightful prospect. This was the sad
endjngof what should have been a beautiful
love song. /
i*tew Social Security Law Has Some
Built-In Surprises
Special To The Poet
The new Social Security
law has some built-in sur
prises. For the first time
sines benefits began in
1940, some recipients will
be taxed on their benefits.
In addition, payroll taxes
for workers and tbeir em
ployers will be boosted
January 1, 1964, with the
greatest increases hitting
the self-employed.
But Harold H. Shreck
engast, Jr. of the Penn
sylvania Institute of Cer
tified Public Accountants,
says understanding how
the new law may affect you
can shield you from some
of the surprises. Certain
measures taken before
January 1 can save you
money. .
The most dramatic
aspect of the Social Secur
ity Amendment of 1983,
which took effect January
1, 1984, is the new formula
for determining if your
benefits will be taxed and
how much that tax will be.
Another new twist is that
lax exempt interest from
such things as municipal
bonds will be included in
calculating the amount of
Social ecurity benefits that
will be taxed.
Here’s how the new for
mula works: each indivi
dual will have a threshold
income of $25,000, below
which benefits will not be
taxed. For married couples
filing jointly, the threshold
is $32,000.
To calculate easily if you
are above or below this
threshold, simply add these
three easy to get num
bers: take the sum ot tms
year’s adjusted gross in
come, add to it half the
year and add to that any
tax exempt interest you
receive.
If the resulting amount is
less than the $25,000 or
$32,000 threshold, no addi
tional tax is due. If the
resulting amount exceeds
the threshold, however,
you will be taxed on half of
the Social Security benefits
or half the excess amount
above the threhold, which
ever is less.
Here’s an example:
suppose a 66-year-old retir
ee is filing an individual
tax return for 1984, the first
year of the new law. He
received a $12,000 pension.
$3,000 in interest and divi
dends from stocks and
bonds; $10,000 from tax
exempt municipal bonds
and $6,000 from Social
Security His total 1984 in
come then, which includes
only half his Social Secur
ity benefits, would total
JL
$28,000. After subtracting
the base amount of $25,000,
he’d have an excess in
, come of $3,000.
To determine his new
taxable income, he would
add $1,500 (half the excess
above the threshold, which
is smaller than half the
Social Security benefits) to
his original taxable income
of $15,000 - the sum of the
$12,000 pension plus $3,000
in interest from stocks and
bonds. From this income of
$16,500, he would sub
tract $2,000 in personal ex
emption because he is over
65. His 1984 tax bill on
$14,500 would come to
roughly $1,901. Without the
new Social Security law, he
would have paid about
$1,601 on a taxable income
of $13,000.
Can planning minimize
the effects of the new law?
CPA’s say yes. When pos
sible, it is generally ad
visable to shift some
income out of 1984, before
December 31, and move it
into 1983. Perhaps you can
take a larger-than-usual
withdrawal from your re
tirement account this year
and a smaller one next
year.
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