Matthew 21:33-46
Once there was a man who owned a piece of property.
- He felt it would make a fine grape vineyard.
- He planted a vineyard on the property and enclosed it with a wall.
- Within the wall he dug a winepress.
- A vat where the grapes could be pressed and the juice extracted.
- He built a watchtower to protect his vineyard because you never knew what vandals might do.
- Then…he rented it to some tenants and moved to another part of the country…
- Feeling good about his investment.
When the harvest time approached…this man sent some of his associates to the vineyard to collect his produce.
- Now it’s always difficult to be an absentee landlord.
- Because…when the man’s associates came to collect the produce due him…
- The tenants seized them…beat them… stoned them…and even killed one of them.
- At this point…you would think it would be time to call in the sheriff.
Instead…the vineyard owner sent a second group of associates…a larger group this time.
- But again…they treated these new associates the same way.
- Robbing…beating…even killing some of them.
Now…I would be ready to cut my losses.
- But not this vineyard owner.
- You see…the vineyard meant a great deal to him.
- So…he turned to desperate measures.
He sent his son to carry out the mission.
- “They will respect my son” he thought.
- But the tenants saw the son and they robbed and killed him.
- A horrific act of defiance.
- And now the owner of the vineyard would surely crush them.
- Sending his minions to destroy them.
But this is not how the story ends.
- It’s the way it should have turned out.
- The vineyard owner should have sent an army and thoroughly destroyed these criminals.
- But this is a parable of Jesus.
- After telling it…he turns to his listeners and asks a simple question:
- “Therefore…when the owner of the vineyard comes…what will he do to those tenants?”
His listeners are ready to take up arms.
- “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end” they reply.
- “And he will rent the vineyard to other tenants…who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Then Jesus drops the bomb:
- “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?’”
Robinson Crusoe salvaged some things off his wrecked ship:
- Clothing
- Weapons
- Tools
- Three chests of food
- Razors
- Two cats
- A dog
- Scissors
Crusoe did not start out his life on that island empty-handed.
- In Deuteronomy Moses reminds the people that they did not start out life in their new land empty handed either:
- “The Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors.
- A land with fine…large cities that you did not build.
- Houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill.
- Hewn cisterns that you did not hew.
- Vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.”
- Neither do we begin life empty handed.
- We are gifted with this marvelous cornerstone.
- We are given life…family…progeny…breath…
brain…heart.
- Without these gifts we have no life.
- Then Jesus said: “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?’”
Imagine that just before a soul begins his or her earthly journey…
- God takes the soul by the hand and points out a certain place on earth.
- God then explains to the about-to-be-conceived:
“This is going to be your piece of the vineyard.
- It will be yours to make of it whatever you are able.
- All I ask is that you work it as best you can and get the most out of the soil and the shoots I give you.
- If you produce grapes that become the choice wine of reconciliation and justice…great.
- If you only have enough water and nutrients to produce a few grapes that make a small amount of the wine of humility and kindness…good.
- If you only have enough time to plant a few seeds or start a few vines that others can bring to a full harvest…you will have done well.”
But God cautions:
- “Just don’t make the mistake that too many of my tenants make.
- They get too caught up in the number of grapes that they can coax from the vines.
- My vineyard is about harvesting good grapes…not amassing profits.
“Remember…too…that you are responsible for the part of the vineyard I give you.
- Do not exhaust the grapes you harvest for yourself alone and then leave nothing behind but a dried…hollow tangle of dead vines for the next grower.
- I will demand a price for what you produce…and what you squander.
“Keep in mind” …God the vineyard owner continues… “that everyone has his or her own piece of the vineyard.
- But there are no dividing lines.
- No fences…no property markers.
- Your part of the vineyard is joined to your neighbor’s.
- So…you can do neither good nor evil in your vineyard without affecting the folks next to you and the vines around you.”
Finally…God says:
- “One more thing. And I don’t mean to harp on this…but it is my vineyard. Not yours.
- I am giving you a piece of it because that is what being God is all about.
- An occasional thank you would be nice.
- But the moment you think this vineyard is yours or that you deserve more and better…
- Your vineyard will become a very unhappy and unproductive place.
- So…go to it.”
- And then God breathes that soul into a human embryo…and another adventure begins.