Matthew 21:33-46
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the
scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders
rejected
has become
the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is
amazing in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
When I was ten, I received a puppy from my parents. The puppy was a complete and total
surprise. Our previous dog had gotten
old and was having some health issues and was put to sleep. A few months later, my parents brought home a
new puppy and they gave me a mere lad of 10, the responsibilities for taking
care of this new puppy. Now I loved that
puppy dearly but what did I know about taking care of a puppy. I was quite proficient for about a week of
tending to my duties. I took it for
walks and played with it. I fed it and
made sure it had enough water. But,
after a short amount of time, my mom had to take over, because I just didn’t
want to do it anymore.
In our parable, God also does a great bit of work for Israel, God’s
vineyard. God planted or founded Israel,
God protected Israel building a wall around it and a watchtower overseeing it. God dug a winepress, symbolizing that all
this work was to produce the results of God’s work. After God did all this work of creating,
sustaining, and protecting Israel, God called and appointed tenants or leaders
who would tend the people and bear the responsibility for nurturing and tending
the people to God’s desired end, the fruit of righteousness.
However, like me a young boy of 10, the people were quite responsible for a
while, but after time, the leaders of the nation really were not interested in
producing God’s fruit but something else entirely. So, God sent the prophets, like Isaiah and
Jeremiah to remind them of their responsibilities, but their reaction was
violence and rejection. In the last
attempt, God sent his Son hoping they will respect him, but their reaction was
the worst, they said this is the heir, let us kill him and take his
inheritance. Charged with
responsibility, the leaders instead of cultivating and sustaining the people to
worship and serve God, the leaders do the unfathomable, they steer the people
away from God to some other aim entirely.
No surprise comes, when those faithless irresponsible leaders are removed and
replaced with other leaders whose only concern is the will of God for God’s
people. Instead of seeking and
controlling power, instead of seeking fame and notoriety, these leaders only
seek to love God and to love their neighbor.
The irresponsible leaders are replaced with leaders seeking only to be
faithful stewards or responsible with the charge and post assigned to
them. Not living for themselves, seeking
to be the master, but seeking only instead of serving the Master.
How is our responsibility? How faithful
are we in our stewardship of God’s garden?
Do we have anything to show God as the results of God’s work? God has given us immeasurable grace by giving
us the free gift of the Spirit of his Son Jesus? We are the garden God has planted, the one
God has built a wall around and a watchtower within. We are the ones having a winepress dug in,
but do we have a crop to give God? God
has loved us, do we have the results of that love, from loving others? God has served us, do we have the results of
that service, from serving others? God
has given to us, do we have the results of that giving, by giving unto
others? God has blessed us, do we have
the results of that blessing, by blessing others? Do we have anything to give back to God, or
do we seek to keep it just for ourselves?
My friends, the point is not to beat ourselves up because we only have a little
fruit to offer God, the point is to self-reflect on our responsibility. Have we been responsible with the gift has
given to us, or have we been selfish and done nothing? If not, could we change our behaviors and our
attitudes. The point is not being harsh
to ourselves; the point is to correct ourselves and to learn and grown in our
responsibility; and we all need to grow.
What is God calling and equipping us to change and will we make it? That is the point of this parable, for us to
become more faithful and responsible with God’s gifts and work. Now is the time to do so, to the glory and
honor and praises of God. Amen.
Prayer
O God of Love and Grace, we thank you for the work you have done on our behalf
through the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. As we surrender ourselves to you,
we ask that your Spirit aid us in our faithfulness in service towards us. Help us be and act responsibly with the gifts
you have blessed us with. In Jesus’ name
we pray, Amen.
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