“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. When
the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to
collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and
beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent
other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same
way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will
respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said
to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his
inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the
vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard
comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 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.”
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’?
this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?
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. The one
who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush
anyone on whom it falls.”
When
the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized
that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him,
but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
Jesus
and his parables. Sometimes the meaning is very subtle but in this
case, he is blunt enough that the chief priests and Pharisees are
scared. They are stuck between a cornerstone and a hard place. They
would love to arrest him but they fear the crowds who have come to
know Jesus as a prophet. I think their fear is misplaced...I think
I'd be more worried about the Stone in verse 44. it
will crush anyone on whom it falls.
When
people in authority challenged Jesus, he often responded to their
challenges with a parable. If
those challenging him didn't get the first parable, he'd give them a
second one. Today's Gospel lesson is just such a second parable. The
first was the parable of the two sons in verses 28-32 which addressed
the challenge posed by the chief priests and elders about the source
of Jesus' authority. They wanted to know by WHOSE authority he was
doing things like healing, tossing the tables in the temple, and
teaching in the temple. Jesus tells them he'll answer their question
if they can answer one for him – then he asks who authorized the
baptism of John, heaven or humans? Knowing that they are trapped –
that if they say it was from heaven then Jesus will want to know why
they didn't believe what John preached OR if they say it was
authorized by humans then the crowds will be angry because they
respect John as a prophet. So they use every student's favorite
answer “I don't know.” I love Jesus' response to that – you got
no answer for me, I got no answer for you! Then he tells the first
parable, as paraphrased here by Eugene Peterson's The Message, “A
man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, ‘Son, go out
for the day and work in the vineyard.’
“The
son answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ Later on he thought better of
it and went.
“The
father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, ‘Sure,
glad to.’ But he never went. “Which of the two sons did
what the father asked?” They said, “The first.”
And
the Pharisees scratched their heads. What did this have to do with
authority? Jesus tries to clarify – you knuckleheads heard what
John was saying. He was pointing out the right pathway and you chose
to continue doing what you wanted. You give great lip service to
loving God but fall real short on the execution of the plan.
So he
tried with the second parable that we began with today – the
ungrateful, unruly tenants of the vineyard. It begins with a
situation that was business as usual in Roman-occupied Palestine. A
landowner established a vineyard complete with a fence, a winepress,
and even a watchtower. He then became an absentee landowner,
returning to his own country as often happened in the far-flung
territories of the Roman Empire. Tenants were in charge of overseeing
the productivity of the vineyard and paying their rent to the owner
at harvest time, in the form of a share of the produce. So far, so
good: business was working as usual. Then everything came apart!
When
the owner's slaves arrived to collect his share of the produce, the
tenants attacked them, even beating one and killing another. The
owner of the vineyard then simply sent another delegation of slaves
to collect the rent. Hmm... this is not normal!
Those
slaves were treated even worse than the first. Surely by now the
owner would send in troops or some form of armed enforcement of his
rights! But no, instead he sends his son, thinking by some logic that
the thugs who have abused two delegations of slaves will respect the
owner's son and heir. How foolish! In parallel folly the tenants
reason that if they kill the son, they will get his inheritance.
Apparently unaware of how ridiculous their notion is, they kill the
son.
Are
you still playing along with the parable? I hope so, because the
punch line is almost here. Jesus asks his audience, "Now when
the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
The answer is obvious, and the chief priests and Pharisees offer it:
"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".
Whether
the answer is given in a gloating voice or as a lament in fear and
trembling depends on where those listening see themselves -- us -- in
the story, and therein lays the catch. The chief priests and elders
probably see themselves in the role of the landowner, caught in his
own merciful response to those in his charge. They would be able to
actually own land, and to have others manage it for them while they
were busy with their administrative tasks in Jerusalem. They would
see the servants as their subordinates and themselves as the real
victims of the unscrupulous tenants, and they would be ready and even
eager to pronounce judgment on them.
Ah,
not so fast boys...maybe you'd better examine who is playing who in
this little scenario. I'm not sure that you can cast yourselves as
the owner. Maybe (as usual) you are missing the point. So Jesus
spells it out, tells them to look it up in their Bibles – and
quotes scripture to them. Psalm 118:22-23 to be exact. Psalm 118 is
the last of the Psalms that make up the Great Hallel which Jews sang
at the end of Passover. This is a passage with great cultural
significance. It was probably written by David and is known as a Song
of Victory. The 29 verses tell a story of one who overcame battles
and storms and who is thanking and praising God for answering prayers
and providing salvation. These would have been familiar words but
Jesus is giving them a new frame of reference.
The
stone the masons discarded as flawed is now the capstone!
This is God’s work. We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
This is God’s work. We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
Jesus
gets right to the point. Verses 43 and 44 from The Message: “This
is the way it is with you. God’s kingdom will be taken back from
you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life.
Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone
falls on gets smashed.”
Wait,
what? When you said “YOU” did you mean us? God's kingdom will be
taken back and given over to someone else? And they got it – the
chief priests and Pharisees KNEW this was about them and couldn't get
back at Jesus without inciting the crowd.
Now
we just need to figure out where WE are in the parable. I think most
of us get that we aren't the landowner. If you think you might be the
landowner then we'll have to address that in a different sermon. We
could be one of the groups of slaves that tries to collect the rent.
And maybe that is a noble place to be – approaching those who are
misusing their position of power. We can be those people who stand up
to the status quo and work to correct injustice. But I see those
groups as more aligned with the prophets including John the Baptist –
sent to convey a message but found themselves abused, ridiculed and
murdered.
And
I don't think that I'm the son. I think we know that Jesus is talking
about himself here. And once again foreshadowing his death at the
hands of those in power.
So
that just leaves the current tenants and the future tenants. Which
group are we in there? Are we part of the establishment so wrapped up
in our way of doing things that we don't see how far away we've
gotten from God's purpose or are we willing to do God's will and
offer back to him his portion of the harvest? Are we the son who
said, “sure I'll go do the work...but never showed up” or are we
the one who said, “I don't really want to. But then thought better
and DID show up”
I
know who Jesus wants us to be. He wants us to be the ones that show
up. Because there is a lot of work to be done.
We
are living in a world that needs to know the miracle of grace. People
who feel disconnected and searching so hard for a place to belong
that they don't know where to turn. We can point them to the one who
loves them so much that he knows them by name, can count the hairs on
their head – who longs to be in a deep and abiding relationship
with them. We need to show up and tell them God loves them. God is
crazy about us!
Take
one more look at the parable from today with that knowledge – the
landowner is crazy. First of all – he creates the excellent
vineyard with fences and a winepress and even a watchtower. As
someone who has worked in Virginia's wine industry I can tell you,
vines do not produce wine the first year. Or the year after that.
Most landowners of that time would have planted, then dug the
winepress a couple years later and a watchtower wouldn't have been
needed until after that! But he builds a top-notch facility from the
start.
Then
he goes to another country leaving it in the hands of the tenants.
That's a normal arrangement. And he sent some servants to collect the
rent. But things don't go smoothly. At all. But when he hears that
his servants have been abused and murdered – he does something
strange. He sends more servants.
He
doesn't send soldiers or guards – he sends another batch of
servants. That doesn't make sense. What he does next is right on the
edge of lunacy. He decides that they'll have to respect his son. But
we know what happens to him. They crucify him. But why does the owner
do something so risky? So crazy? I found one answer in a children's
sermon based on today's Gospel lesson – a story about a light bulb.
When
Thomas Edison was working to invent this crazy contraption called a
"light bulb" it took a whole team of men working for
twenty-four hours to put just one light bulb together. The story is
told that when Edison's team was finished with one light bulb, he
gave it to a young boy to carry upstairs. Step by step he carefully
carried it, afraid that he might drop this priceless piece of work.
You can probably guess what happened; the poor boy dropped the bulb
at the top of the stairs. It took the team of men twenty-four more
hours to make another bulb. Finally, tired and ready for a break,
Edison was ready to have his bulb carried upstairs. He gave it to the
same young boy who dropped the first one.
That's
true forgiveness. Mr. Edison gave the boy another chance!
God
offers that same kind of forgiveness. He offers man a second chance —
and a third! In this story that Jesus told, the landowner was God.
God first sent men such as Noah, Moses, David, the prophet Isaiah,
John the Baptist and others to tell the people of his love for them
and to call them to turn from their wicked ways, but many would not
listen. Finally, he sent His own Son, Jesus. You know what they did
to him, don't you? That's right, they crucified him. God gave them a
chance. He even gave them a second chance — and a third. It may
seem crazy on the outside – but that is what unfathomable love is
all about. God love isn't like any other but maybe this will give a
glimpse.
This
story is from Tattoos on the Heart, a book by Jesuit Gregory Boyle
who began Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, a gang intervention
program in the gang capital of the world. Pastor G, as the homies
call him, spends a great deal of time visiting with incarcerated
youth – conducting services and just sitting and talking with these
kids on the margins of society. In this instance he is at Camp Paige,
a detention facility and is meeting with Rigo, a fifteen year old
about to make his first communion. They have about ten minutes to
kill and Pastor G asks him about his life and family. He gets around
to asking about Rigo's father.
“Oh,”
Rigo says, “he's a heroin addict and never really been in my life.
Used to always beat me. Fact, he's in prison right now, barely ever
lived with us.” Then something seemed to snap in him, an image
brings him to attention.
Rigo
continues, “I think I was in the fourth grade...I came home one
day, sent home in the middle of the day. Got into some trouble at
school Can't remember what. When I got home, my jefito was there. He
was hardly ever there. My dad says, “Why they send you home?” And
cuz my dad always beat me, I said. “If I tell you, promise you
won't hit me?” He just said, “I'm your father. 'course I'm not
gonna hit you.” So I told him.
Rigo
is caught short in the telling. He bgins to cry, and in moments he's
wailing and rocking back and forth. Father Greg put his arms around
him. He was inconsolable. When Rigo is able to speak, and barely so,
he says only, “He beat me with a pipe...with...a pipe.” When Rigo
composes himself, Father Greg asked, “and your mother?” He points
some distance across the room at a tiny woman standing by the gym's
entrance.
“That's
her over there.” He pauses for a beat. “There's no one like her.”
Again, some image appears in his mind and a thought occurs to him.
“I've been locked up for more than a year and a half. She comes to
see me every Sunday. You know how many buses she takes to come here?
To see my sorry self?”
Then
he sobs again with the same ferocity as before. When he reclaims
breath he gasps through his tears. “Seven buses. She takes...
seven...buses. Imagine.”
Imagine.
The expansive heart of this God – greater than God – who takes
seven buses, just to arrive at us. Who sent his Son to be our Savior.
Embrace
that God and there's no question of what role we will take in the
parable. We will show up. We will introduce everyone we meet to this
God. We will be so full of gratitude that we will be ready to turn
over God's portion of the harvest to him without complaint, without
abusing his messengers. We will be the new tenants in the new kingdom
built on the solid foundation of our cornerstone.
When
Jesus asks, which son will we be? The one that says, “sure, I'll do
the job” but doesn't show up? Let our story be of the one who –
although reluctant at first, thinks better of it...and gets into the
vineyard!
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