This summer has seen several cases of tourists in Yellowstone National Park being… careless. For instance, I saw a series of photographs of a cliff in the park near Bridal Veil Falls. A prominent sign in yellow plastic was attached to the rocks which clearly said: “DANGER! Climbing or scrambling on rocks and cliffs is extremely dangerous.” Yet tourists continue to hike and climb there, often resulting in severe injuries. For instance, two teenagers were injured after climbing to the top and stopping for the ultimate selfie. They got too close to the edge and had to be rescued with serious injuries. One man was seen climbing the rocks wearing flipflops.

Other incidents involve animals, in particular bison. Despite prominent warnings, tourists approach these huge animals who sometimes act in unpredictable ways. Sometimes bison react by chasing or even goring tourists. One video showed a man carrying a toddler in his arms leaving the path to get closer to a bison when the wild animal suddenly charged at them, resulting in the man falling and dropping the child.

What causes us to ignore clear warnings? Why do folks rip the plastic cover off a pack of cigarettes, when all of us know the Surgeon General’s warning by heart? Why do people remove the safety shield from power saws? Why do entire societies ignore warnings about pollution, or the revolutionary pressures that economic and political injustice creates?

Today’s Gospel tells us how the Jewish religious leadership ignored Jesus’ warnings with serious consequences.

There is an urgency and clarity about today’s Gospel that is often lacking in modern Christians. In this Gospel, the message is urgent, provocative, and clear: there is a day of judgment coming for every one of us and we simply must be ready. The message is a sobering one for a modern world that is often dismissive of the idea of judgment.  Yet Jesus says clearly that the Kingdom of God can be taken from us for our refusal to accept its fruits in our life.

Despite all God has done by sending to his people the prophets and the scriptures, the tenants in God’s vineyard reject them all, and with increasing vehemence. Their hearts grow harder. God the even goes so far to demonstrate his love and his will to save, that he sends his own son. But they drag him outside the vineyard and kill him.

It brings to mind Christ, who died outside the city gates, murdered for seeking the fruit of faith from the tenants of the vineyard.

And what of us? There are too many who reject God’s prophets. We do so with growing vehemence and abusive treatment. Some despise the Church, despise the Scriptures, despise fathers, mothers, friends, and Christians in general who seek to clarify and apply God’s Word and to warn of the need to be ready. Repeated resistance can cause a hardening of the heart to set in. In the end, there are some, in fact many according to Jesus, who effectively and utterly reject the Kingdom of God and its values. They do not want to live lives that show forth forgiveness, mercy, love of enemies, chastity, justice, love of the poor, generosity, kindness, and witness to the Lord and the truth.

Having rejected the Kingdom’s values, and having rejected the prophets who warned them, some simply exclude themselves from the Kingdom. God will not force the Kingdom on anyone. If you don’t want it, even after God’s grace and mercy and His pleading through the prophets, you don’t have to have it. It will be taken from you and given to those who do want it and appreciate its help.

Everyone who has heard of God wants to go to Heaven. But what is Heaven? It is the fullness of the Kingdom of God. It is not a place of our making. It is that place where the will of God and the Kingdom’s values pervade and are brought to fulfillment. But as we have seen, there are many who do not want to live according to the 10 Commandments, do not want to forgive, do not want to be generous to and love the poor, do not want God or anyone else at the center, do not want to worship God.

We ought to be very sober as there are many, many today who are like this. Some have merely drifted away and are indifferent. Many have been hurt or are struggling to believe, but their hearts remain open. Still others are passionate in their hatred for the Church, Scripture, and anything to do with God, and they explicitly reject many of the kingdom’s values.

But rather than panic or despair, we work more urgently in our quest to win souls for Christ. Who is it that the Lord wants you to work with to draw back to Him? Pray and ask Him, “Who, Lord?” The Lord does not want any to be lost. He still sends His prophets – meaning you, baptized Christian – to draw back anyone who will listen. Will you work for the Lord? Will you work for souls? For there is a day of judgment looming and we must be made ready for it by the Lord. Will you be urgent about it, for yourself and others?