My current church, Bel Air Presbyterian, is going through a series on the parables. Last week, Mark preached on Matthew 21:33-40 - The parable of the Wicked Tenants. It occurred to me that I had preached on the same text a few years back, so I thought I'd dig it up and post it, for the amusement of all my friends and neighbors.
This was the first sermon I preached at Northminster Presbyterian Church - on October 6, 2002 - the first of several well-received sermons I preached there. I like the storytelling aspect of it, the repetition of "there is trouble," and the little twist I deliver at the end... but I'd like to revisit it and add some more meat to it. Always the perfectionist. You were 26, Andy, give yourself a break...
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Matt 21:33-41
33“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. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They 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.”
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There is trouble in the vineyard.
After years of saving and planning, a landowner – let’s call him Alexander - bought a piece of property. Not too big, not too small, but just right. It was a beautiful piece of land – rolling hills, smooth ground, plenty of water from the creek that flowed through the middle of it. There were a few trees – just enough for the workers to rest under when they needed it – and the soil… was perfect for growing that choicest of crop – a vineyard. To protect his land, he built a wall around it – installed a tower to watch the property, and dug a winepress in the middle of it. And, leaving his property in the hands of the gardeners, he went on a journey.
When harvest time comes, all the neighbors are gathering in their produce – pressing their wine, going to market. Alexander sends his servants to accept the proceeds. Three should be enough to handle such a task – but when they arrive, the first is beaten, the second is killed, the third is stoned.
There is trouble in the vineyard.
An alarm goes off in Alex’s head – this isn’t good news… I’ll send more servants – a group of 5 – oh heck, I’ll send ten servants to see what the trouble is, and sort this whole thing out. And this second group is treated to the same sort of violence as the first.
Back at the house of Alexander, anxiety is running high: My best, most trusted servants have been killed – by people farming my land, their fingers are in my soil, they rest under my trees, refresh themselves at my streams, their animals chew on my grass – and my vineyards… the grapes of my vineyards are under their care… and they have killed my servants… but I will send my son.
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, the apple of my eye, and the child in whom I delight. As close to me as my very own self – to my tenants, why – he might as well be me. I will send him – my flesh and my blood – he will go to our vineyard, and he will restore order. And so he goes – but he does not come back.
And it’s reported that when his son arrived at the gate of the vineyard, the tenants seized him, threw him off the property, and killed him. Bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh – killed by the tenants he had trusted.
There is trouble in the vineyard.
Three times the owner of the vineyard sends a representative to see about the harvest, three times the tenants kill whomever comes their way.
And Jesus asks the elders, what happens when the owner himself comes, to see about the trouble? We hear their answer in verse 41, “he will bring these wretches to a wretched end.” The Greek word – interestingly – being the same word used later to order Jesus’ death. These unjust tenants should get the execution they have earned. And after that – trust the Vineyard with someone who’s trustworthy.
Good answer – a legal answer, a lawful answer. The elders are the experts when it comes to laws of the metaphorical vineyard – the laws of God’s kingdom. And in this world – as in a vineyard writ large – they know just what to do to make something – or someone righteous. They’ve cornered the market on Spirituality: they know how God is wired – they follow the rules, they worship at the appointed times, and that makes them better than anyone else. That gives them authority.
Like the tenants of the vineyard, the temple elders think they’ve got it all figured out – that they can “work the system” for their own advantage. When they speak with Jesus, it is in terms of authority – hierarchy – social standing.
Probably what bugs the temple elders more than anything is that Jesus entered Jerusalem only yesterday. He went directly to the temple and chased the merchants out of the worshipping space. And still the people shouted “Hosanna!”
The temple leaders want to know where he gets off healing people. “By what authority do you do these things?”
Jesus challenges the temple leaders at the very point of their response to God’s law - not only to talk the talk of faith… but to walk the walk. “What’s it about?” he seems to ask, “Is it about your rulebook, and coloring within the lines, or is it about the wholeness of God’s children, and bringing redemption to the world?”
In Matthew 22, Jesus summed up all the law and the prophets in two commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment, and a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
We know that these elders and chief priests can talk the talk – but they do not walk the walk. It’s one thing to KNOW what it means to be God’s people – it’s quite another to know what it means to BE God’s people. It’s all the difference between talking the talk – and walking the walk.
And if these temple elders are the folks in charge of God’s vineyard – well, then there’s trouble.
So Jesus announces the reassignment of the kingdom of God: a redefinition of God’s people, and an explosion of the Vineyard’s boundaries out into eternity.
That new creation in Christ which is inclusive of all believers: Jew and Gentile alike. The new life in Christ which is dependent solely on the grace of God – the steadfast love of the Lord that never ceases – that righteousness which looks to the cross: not to the rulebooks.
There is still trouble in the vineyard – even now.
There are folks who worship the Bible instead of God. There are others who worship their denomination instead of the head of the church: Jesus Christ. There are people actively distorting the Word of God for their own ends; folks who put a price on God’s mercy, and still others who seem to want the Vineyard to themselves – and kill anyone coming their way.
There are things that delay us in the vineyard – things placed in our way, things that we put in our own way.
But the gospel is this: that the son who comes to bring in the harvest, the very flesh and blood of the landowner – is present with us in our travels, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, is present today in the sacrament laid out before us – to provide Spiritual Food for our journey.
That, in Christ, we have the strength to face whatever comes our way when there’s trouble in the Vineyard. Amen.
