Matthew 21:33-46
Presented October 5, 2008, by J.D. Kline
The 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Stewardship Theme: Celebrate Abundance—Embrace Relationships
Do you remember the film, Dead Man Walking, from a number of years ago, the story of a convicted killer on death row and his relationship with a Catholic sister, Helen Prejean, who serves as his spiritual director? There is a scene near the conclusion of the movie, set on the final evening before the scheduled execution and after learning that all appeals for clemency have been denied, in which the man and his spiritual director talk honestly about the horrific crime committed, its impact upon the victims’ family, and the readiness of the convicted killer to face death. In the midst of that conversation, the sister speaks words of faith and promise. Says Sister Helen Prejean to the death row inmate, “You are a son of God.” There is a poignant pause, a moment of shocked silence, and the man facing death confesses, “No one’s ever said that to me before. Plenty of times I’ve been called a son of something else, but never a son of God.”
How tragic it is when persons spend their entire lives without hearing, let alone even beginning to grasp this fundamental truth, that each one of us is a child of God. Is it any wonder that many find themselves living in a sea of unhealthy relationships?
Again and again Jesus found himself embroiled in conflict during his earthly ministry. So much of that conflict was with those who were in the business of limiting the promise of God’s love only to persons who fully conformed to their rigid requirements. This morning’s Gospel lesson is the center story of three parables, told by Jesus in the Temple in the early days of Holy Week, each directed at the chief priests and elders—those religious leaders of the day who rejected what Jesus stood for and what he sought to communicate, again and again, in his relationships with the people of his day.
Consider the story with me, sometimes labeled the parable of the vineyard, other times labeled the parable of the wicked tenants. Either way, Jesus is encouraging his hearers to enter into a time of serious and intentional self-examination, to consider where they stand in relationship with this God whose love for humanity knows no limits, this God who in love is ever reaching out to us, this God who yearns for each one of us to hear the empowering promise, You are a child of God.
The Scriptures frequently portray Israel, the ancient people of God, as God’s vineyard, with perhaps the clearest example found in the writings of the prophet Isaiah, chapter five. Hear Isaiah’s words, forming both a love song and a lament for the vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes [alternate translation, NIV: “bad fruit”].And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes? (Isaiah 5:1-4).
Lamenting the bad fruit produced in the vineyard, the prophet continues on, in chapter five, asserting that God “looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress” (Isaiah 5:7 NIV)—images of unfaithful living, living in which neighbor takes advantage of and even demeans neighbor. In like manner, the vineyard owner in this morning’s parable encounters unfaithfulness. The owner sends servants to collect the harvest, with the language of the original Greek suggesting that the landowner does not seek merely a token portion, but the entire harvest, just as God lays total claim upon our lives, anticipating a full harvest of good works and compassionate living. But the landowner is soon sorely disappointed, for the tenants, rather than investing their energy in faithfully serving as caretakers of the land, instead selfishly pursue their own interests. And when the landowner’s servants arrive to collect the harvest, the tenants respond, we are told, by beating one, killing another, and stoning yet another.
In spite of the rejection, the landowner does not give up. Instead, he tries another time, sending yet one more group of servants [read, prophets], only to encounter the same selfish and violent response. The parable reflects the ongoing theme of the Scriptures, does it not—this proclamation of a God who, again and again, generation after generation, reaches out to humanity in love and compassion, with a mercy and grace that far exceed anyone’s hopes. The parable even has the landowner questioning what more he might do, finally concluding that he would send a son. It is a question, of course, that parallels the gospel story, and indeed, the events of the parable so match the story line of the Scriptures that some scholars assume that it was likely written after Jesus’ life—a parable that perhaps came to be used by the early church to introduce the gospel story and its proclamation of our God who literally will stop at nothing to communicate a deep and abiding love for all creation. In the Gospel story, every bit as much as in the parable, the tenants reject even this most generous of gifts, saying to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance” (v. 38).
The story carries power, precisely because Jesus himself models the kind of self-giving love portrayed in the parable. That is to say, Jesus’ words are made credible by the manner of his living—and of his dying. Just so, we too are called to grapple with the manner of our living, with the quality of our relationships. Do our relationships match the faith we claim to live? To what extend are others able to see in our living the compassion, the peace, the grace, the mercy, the hope, the loving kindness of our God? For is not the challenge of the Christian life a matter of allowing our hearts and minds, our spirits and our very beings, to be transformed by the faith and the love we embrace?
Tragically, all too many of us have encountered those who preach of love, yet live quite differently—the “model” church leader who, behind closed doors, practices domestic violence; the racist who considers the love of God to be the sole property of those like him or her; those who claim the grace of God for themselves, but would deny it to any who fail to meet their standards. Preaching professor Tom Long observes, “What is missing in our culture is not God talk but authentic God talk”—talk made credible by the manner of our living. Many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day lacked this authentic God talk, so unwilling were they to allow their own experience of God to enlarge their vision, that they might serve their neighbors with compassion and care.
Sister Helen Prejean reminds us, “Energy comes to us because we get involved in something bigger than ourselves and our hearts have been moved by people’s suffering, and we can’t remain neutral.” This is what it means to embrace healthy relationships—to allow the spirit of Christ to so transform us—heart, mind, and soul; thinking, being, and acting—that we are carried beyond ourselves. We find a new strength, a new energy, to bear fruit as God’s people. We live from a new perspective, affirming that all that we have, all that we are, comes as gift from God, and therefore cannot be hoarded and held to ourselves.
More than fifty years ago the noted scientist Albert Einstein asserted, “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, thus we are drifting toward a catastrophe beyond comparison. We shall require a new manner of thinking if humankind is to survive.” A new manner of thinking that comes from embracing a vision of healthy relationships, a vision that takes us beyond old patterns of self-centered living, a vision that impels us, with the apostle Paul, “to let [our] love be genuine,” “to hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
Sisters and brothers, let us celebrate the abundance of God’s gracious love by embracing healthy relationships, holding fast to what is good, reminding one another that each of us is a child of God, walking together in the ways of compassion and mercy, justice and peace, self-giving love and servanthood. Celebrate Abundance—Embrace Healthy Relationships. Amen.