Matthew 21:33-46 NIV
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who
planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a
watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another
place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his
servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed
another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other
servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the
same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They
will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each
other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So
they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what
will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those
wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to
other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders
rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be
taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone
who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will
be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests
and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They
looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the
people held that he was a prophet.
Be Joyous In The Vineyard
I may just need to break away from my usual study of the
passage of Scripture of a couple of verses each day. Usually, I read the entire
passage each day, and then reflect on a few verses at a time, day by day,
building my reflection as I proceed throughout the week.
But, on my first reading of this passage of Scripture, I was
struck with a different passion. What do I mean by passion?
As I read this Scripture, perhaps I was a bit self-righteous
in my opinions. Why? I detested how these tenants had treated not only the owners’
servants, but the owner also. Why?
The owner set these tenants up for success. He gave them
everything they needed to survive, and survive in wealth. He or She, I don’t
know, gave them the land, the resources, even the crops to grow. All they
needed to do was go to work. Yet, in their work, it seemed to me that they made
an assumption that the work of their hands deserved all the spoils of any
abundance that the crops would bring them.
It’s different from working for a corporation, in my
opinion, where the profits either go to those already wealthy, or to a group of
investors. This owner gave to the employees a life and a way to survive with a
little work on their own.
So, yea, I was miffed at these tenants for trying to take
advantage of the servants of the owner and the owner as well, by using violence
to attempt to take what all didn’t fully belong to them. There was an arrogant
lack of appreciation for what the owner had freely given these vineyard
workers.
The workers rejected a gracious owner. Why? It seemed as
greed to my way of thinking.
They rejected the gracious owner to the extent of beating
his servants, but killing his very own son. That’s some extreme selfish
actions!
But then, I began to look inward. Inward how? Inward to my
own life, my own selfishness, my own greed for self in the face of the “owners”
of my life.
God gives me all I need to live. God gives me work, income,
family, good government, clothing, home, friends, favorable weather, and a good
name. Yep! Remember that “daily bread” stuff I mentioned in recent reflections?
God gives me “daily bread.”
Yet, do I even stop to consider the gifts that I’ve received
from a loving God?
Do I stop and see what God has done through the ministry,
life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus?
Do I stop to recall the gift of the Holy Spirit in my
baptism and that awesome eternal gift of everlasting life?
Perhaps I don’t as much as I should, or even actually do.
Perhaps I need to stop and think like these tenants should have stopped and
considered all that God gives to me, to me and to all people.
Especially when, as disciples, we are called to work in His
vineyard, each and every day.
There is a responsibility on my part, as the recipient of
God’s grace to respond.
God gives me and you, the fruit of our labor as we work in
His vineyard of this world. Is it such a stretch to think that God is so loving
that He is willing to share in the abundance of His very own crops?
I don’t deserve any of this anyway. So, who do I think I am
to reject God’s very own messengers in His own Vineyard? Remember last week?
“Who do you (here I) think you (that’s me and you) are? Mr. Bigstuff?”
When I reject those God sends to me, as I enjoy the bounty
of God’s very own vineyard, I need to ponder what I have freely received…
that’s the Grace of God’s eternal Love.
And in this eternal Love that has come from God, before the
very beginning of the time I know about, God is seeking a relationship with me,
AS HIS own child. Which IS what I am!
1 John 3:1a
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that
we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
God has sent precious people into my life, teachers,
pastors, bible-study disciples, parents, and even children as Ambassadors of
His Love and Grace. Why? Because God is great in love and has mercy on me.
So, what is my response to God’s grace and forgiveness and
love?
Do, I try to make ALL that God has, my own? Do I kill these
prophets and teachers that God has given me all my life long?
Do, I even deny what God has done for me through Christ
Jesus, turn my back, and yes, even put Jesus to death in my life?
If that’s not a call to repent, then I don’t know what is.
Yes, I’m guilty too! I can’t be so self-righteous, that I even go to the point
of killing the Chief Priests and the Elders, because I think that I’m better
than they are. Who do I think I am? Mr. Bigstuff?
So, I repent, I see how God spins me around, showing my sin
to me in a mirror, YET, even still forgiving me and calling me to continue to
work in His Vineyard. Oh, how I rejoice in the patience of God in my life, in
the presence of my sinful actions!
As God spins me to His face, I realize that He has also
called me. How? God has called me, His repentant sinner, to go and work in His
Vineyard, SO THAT, I can testify what He has done for me, in my life, and what
He will do in the life of all for whom He comes to.
1 Corinthians 2:12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely
given to us by God.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
So, back to the Vineyard. This is where my grief struck me
as I first read through this passage of Scripture. Once I got beyond my
self-righteous attitude of these vineyard workers, I began to sense the joy
that I have had, in my life, working in God’s vineyard in my life.
I’ve always enjoyed my life with God. I’ve always been happy
to work with God. From the day that I dreamed, as a young child, of Jesus
coming to my door on Washington St. in Sidney Ohio, as some silly tender age of
5 or 6. What do I mean? I dreamt that Jesus came to my door, and as I opened
the door, Jesus asked, “Can Billy come out to play?”
Well, that did it for me. Especially as I recalled this
silly dream later in life. This dream “stuck” in my head. Was it real? Was it
just some disconnected story about the “Transfiguration?” I’m not sure and I
really don’t care. But, as I thought about this simple question, every time, in
my life that I did take Jesus’ invitation to “Come out to play,” each time was
filled with a joy that I didn’t deserve.
So, work in the Vineyard? Come out to play? It’s all about
the same to me. Why would I want to beat the prophets sent into my life? Why
would I desire to eliminate Jesus from my life for some selfish ambition of my
own? Nope! Not me! I just want to play in God’s Vineyard with Jesus and all of
His friends.
And I think this is why this passage of Scripture got to me.
Those tenants just didn’t understand what God had done for them, in the giving
of the opportunity to work in the Vineyard of God.
God’s love is an opportunity. It’s the great gift of Love to
be the worker, WITH Him, IN His Kingdom… today… tomorrow… and forever. What
else could you ever desire in life?
Isaiah 5:1-2 NIV
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
Psalm 80:7 NIV
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
Come on! Let’s go out to play! Follow Jesus and me and all
of His friends into the Vineyard!
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
Thanks be to God!
The Stone the Builders rejected has become the Cornerstone…
Enjoy this YouTube Music Video that spoke to me as I thought
about this passage of Scripture for this week…
“What A Beautiful Name”
