Cornerstone Theology
Matthew 21:33-44
Who owns your
home? If you’re renting, your landlord
owns the property. If you have a
mortgage, then the bank owns part of it – maybe the biggest part. When you’ve
paid off your mortgage you own it free and clear. But, does that mean you can do anything you
want with it? Well not exactly. If you
live under the covenant of a Homeowner’s Association there may be a long list
of rules of what you can or cannot do with your house. If you don’t there are
still zoning laws. You probably can’t
raise pigs in your backyard. If your
house lies in the path of the proposed a proposed baseball civic project like a
highway or stadium, you may discover that the government can force you to sell
your home through a law called “Eminent Domain”. The “public good”, this law declares,
supersedes private ownership rights.
So, who owns your
home? The answer you give will probably
shape the way you treat it and how you live in it.
In Jesus’ story today
we follow a conflict between a landlord and tenants. They are arguing about ownership, about who
is really in charge. Since this is told
in the form of a parable so Jesus obviously intends this for us all. Before we decipher, let us pray:
God of all creation,
we confess that each of us have carved out a piece of your creation and claimed
it as our own. We also have turned away
from your prophets and even your son, because we cannot bear to give up our
illusions of control. Speak to us now
through the truth of your word, the power of your spirit, and the love of your
Son Jesus Christ, so that we might both receive the blessing and accept the
responsibility to go and bear fruit.
Amen.
When Jesus came to
Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, one preacher observed, “He stood power and prestige
on their heads. They gave him a hero’s
welcome, and he responded with tears.
They waved and shouted and sang songs, and he went into the Temple and
created havoc.”[1] Some saw this as a Messianic fulfillment of
glory and power. He sang a song of
lament. Life is not always what it
appears to be.
Then Jesus told them
this story and set the scene in a vineyard.
Now the vineyard had long stood as a symbol for the nation of
Israel. It was their eagle draped in a
flag. Whenever visitors came to Jerusalem their eyes would immediately be drawn
to Herod’s great temple. Wrapped around
the portico golden grapevines glistened in the sun.
The prophet Isaiah
captured this vision in words to melody:
“Let me sing for my beloved a love song concerning his
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 he hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield
grapes…but it yielded wild grapes.”[2]
This song evokes a peaceful
pastoral image that is shattered at the end.
Only wild grapes grew and they were good for nothing. When the prophet sang this song people turned
their backs or changed the channel because they knew the wild grape reference
referred to them.
Centuries later Jesus picks up this
same image - same vineyard, same landlord.
When harvest time came, he said, the landlord sent servants to collect
the rent. That was the deal. Live and
work in the vineyard and enjoy its bounty, but return in part the fruit of
their harvest. Only they didn’t want to pay. They enjoyed all the blessings but
wanted none of the responsibilities. So, they beat one servant, killed another,
and stoned another.
With this description, Jesus’
audience, and especially the scholarly Pharisees could see the writing on the
wall. They knew their Bible, so this
story was beginning to sound familiar.
They could name the prophets of old who had been treated in exactly the
same way. They recognized Isaiah’s song, so their ears perked up.
Jesus continued his story. This
happened again and again. Each time the
servants of the landlord came to collect the rent they were treated badly. Finally, the landlord said, “ I will send my
son. They will respect him.” But, they
did not. They said, “This is the heir;
come let us kill him and get his inheritance – the vineyard.”[3] And so they did.
Again, Jesus audience picked up
what he was laying down. It was as if he had somehow bugged their back room and
eavesdropped on their forming conspiracy to have Jesus killed. He seemed to know their plans before they
even made them. He predicted his own
death while they were still bantering about the questions of when and how?
There was no nuance in this
parable, no subtle meaning hard to understand.
The vineyard was obviously Israel itself. The landlord is God and the servants his
prophets. The son was a clear reference
to Jesus himself. And the tenants
represent initially the people of Israel, but finally anyone who reject the
authority of God.
Now the tenant’s view of the
vineyard is that “possession is 9/10’s of the law.” Since they were the ones who lived in the
vineyard and worked in the vineyard they quite naturally came to see the
vineyard as their own. They claimed squatter’s
rights.
It’s like that old story about the
Pastor who asked the owner of the bank next door if the congregation could park
there on Sunday since the bank was closed anyway on that day. He said, “Sure, you can use it 51 Sundays of
the year.” The Pastor asked about that
last Sunday of the year. The owner said
on the fifty-second Sunday, “I will chain and lock the parking lot so that you
will not forget who really holds the deed.”
It is easy to forget who owns what?
Since we spend our lives living in this world, working in this world, we
quite naturally begin to assume that it is ours free and clear to do with it
what we want. We no longer see ourselves
as tenants who are only passing through, but as landlords who are in complete
control.
Nowhere is this more evident than
in the way we treat the planet.
Short-term goals of profit and convenience always seem to trump
long-term goals of preserving and conserving our environment - the only world
we have. So, if using fertilizer on
Pennsylvania farms reap larger crops today, then concern for how the runoff
will affect the Susquehanna River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay become
secondary. We let the next generation
worry about the consequence a lifeless bay or the generation after that.
If we have a choice between a large
V-8 that helps us go as fast as we wish or a smaller more fuel-efficient car,
we often choose the former because we can afford it. If we wish to live on a beach or in an area
that requires us to drain a wetland, then that’s what we do, because we paid
for it and so believe we own it free and clear and can do what we want.
The world is ours we think to do with as we
wish - until judgment day comes, when there are no more crabs or rockfish, and
the price of gas goes through the roof, or a great storm ravages lands that are
no longer protected by the marsh and wash away homes that had been built on
stilts yards away from a crashing surf.
When that judgment day comes we
will then think about the choices we’ve made and how we’ve built our homes and
lives, but by that time, Jesus said, it may be too late. What we’ve built may be washed out to sea,
what we’ve polluted may produce no fruit, what we’ve wasted may never be
renewed.
That’s why Jesus’ warns us of this
judgment. For him it is as simple as
cause and effect. “Build your house upon the rock and it will stand; build upon
the shifting sands and it may wash away.”[4]
Follow God and receive his blessing, ignore him at your own peril. Better to think about the choices you make
today than suffer the consequence tomorrow.
The foundation of Jesus’ parable is
that we do not own or control as much as we think, that it is an illusion to
believe that if you work hard and save, if you study and sweat, if you’re smart
and prepared, you can avoid all of life’s unpleasantness. Do so and you will find yourself disappointed
and discouraged. For some this is too much to bear.
Some years ago I spoke with a
member of the church I was serving at the time who had first-hand experience
with those who suffered the trauma of Hurricane Katrina. She mentioned something in passing that
surprised me. While this storm affected
both rich and poor, black and white, Republican and Democrat she observed that
those who had little before the storm seem to handle their loss better than
those who had much. Those who were poor
never had any illusion that they were in control of much of anything. They knew they were tenants and just passing
through. Those who were wealthy were surprised and shocked at how quickly
they could lose it all.
Perhaps that is why Jesus said, it
will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who
is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.[5]
The Bible says one truth endures
forever and that is the love of God expressed through Jesus Christ. “The stone that the builders rejected has
become the cornerstone.” This ancient
prophecy was fulfilled in the events of Good Friday and Easter morning. Build your home and life upon this
cornerstone, and you will find it stands stronger and straighter when the hard
wind blows.
In a few moments we will celebrate
the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. You
will eat a small piece of bread made from wheat you did not grow. You will drink from a cup filled with the
essence grapes that came from vineyard you do not own. But, that is only fitting, for the sacrament
itself marks a sacrifice you did not make.
It is an expression of the love of God, of a gift freely given, so its
meaning and blessing must be freely accepted.
See this as a ticket to heaven or a token you’ve earned and you miss the
point completely.
This is a reminder that we are more
connected to God and each other than to any property we might hold or any
wealth we claim. We are only passing
through. We are tenants, not the
landlord; so if we are to receive this blessing, we ought also accept the
responsibility.
What is our responsibility? Isn’t it to take care of the vineyard and
each other – to conserve and preserve the environment in which we live, and
serve those who are in need? Are we not
called to offer in part the fruit of our labors in the vineyard, what preachers
call time and talent and treasure? God
is the one who holds eminent domain, so the Lord is the one we serve.
Let us pray:
Lord of the harvest, you have planted the seeds of the
gospel, and tilled the soil of the Church, you have sent your Spirit to help
tender lives grow, but so often the yield has only been wild grapes – good for
nothing. Grant, O Lord, your spiritual
fruit in our lives, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
Help us to both live by and be guided by your Spirit we pray.”[6] Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment