Text: Luke 20:9-20
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13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
As we begin, I’d like you to think about someone else.
Someone who you know or knew.
Someone that you maybe even love.
Someone who has fallen victim to some sin or addiction.
You’ve tried to help. You’ve talked to them, prayed for them, and probably did many things to help but … nothing seemed to work.
I know a few and I’m sure you do too.
You’ve tried to get them therapy, bring in professionals, and even engaged others to help.
Nothing’s worked.
Some have even been hurt, emotionally or physically.
Do you give up? How far do you go? When is enough?
If we look at the parable that Jesus is telling in our gospel through the lens of today, maybe in a sense, we can see a contemporary example of the vineyard and the tenants.
Last Sunday afternoon, I took a ride with my friend Bow to Midland as he did a home inspection for a friend of ours.
On the way home we talked about houses, values, maintenance and the problem of renting and renters.
He told me on a friend of his who some years ago had bought a small house to fix up and rent out. He did some work himself and hired others, painted it, put in new carpet, appliances, and fixtures and rented it out hoping to have a small income from it for his future. When he rented it, he got a small security deposit and first month’s rent.
That was the last payment the renters made.
It took him quite a long while and even through the police and courts to get the renters evicted, and when he did and got the house back after they were removed, he found the house in shambles.
There were holes in the walls.
Every fixture was broken off.
Animals had ruined the carpets.
What had been fixed up nice with hard work and money was now destroyed and unlivable.
He closed the door and left to drive home, I’m sure thinking of all he had done and lost. When they found his car, he was still in the driver’s seat parked in a lot having died of a heart attack.
The tenants having in a sense killed him.
Jesus, brings to the ears of his hearers, a similar story of a home that others were living in and caring for.
“A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.
The perfect creation had been broken, but the owner of the vineyard had gathered his children into a promised land and had planned for their rescue.
Until the proper time they were to care for this vineyard of his, that had been provided.
It could be a long while before he returns.
They seemed unconcerned and unaware.
The owner desired to see what was his and how it was cared for, and to receive, as it were, some fruit from what had been planted there.
Those whom he sent to get what was his were beat, and treated poorly, wounded, and cast out, and no fruit was found or given by those in care of the vineyard.
13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’
Those in the vineyard didn’t listen to the owner and what he desired.
They didn’t listen to the servants that were sent.
Or, to the prophets who spoke the words of the owner to them.
They didn’t even listen to their own conscience.
Or even to the son, whom the owner thought they might respect.
What was sent in a sense, had been destroyed.
Friends, this more than a history lesson.
Those who heard the parable from Jesus had to know the story.
In chapter 5 of the book of Isaiah, God had told a story of a vineyard that He had built and how he had taken care of it, looking for a yield of grapes.
A vineyard was on a very fertile hill.
It was dug and cleared of stones, and planted with choice vines;
a watchtower was in the midst of it, as was a wine vat
and the owner of the vineyard looked for it to yield grapes
… but it only yielded wild grapes.
What else could I do he asks?
“I gave the vineyard everything and it only yielded wild grapes!”
So He makes this statement.
“I will remove the hedge from my vineyard and let it be overrun. I will break down its wall allowing it to be trampled becoming waste. No longer will I pruned or hoe it and briers and thorns shall overtake it and rain will no longer fall on it.” Isaiah 5:1-6 paraphrased
Those hearing Jesus, knew the history.
It is good to know the past, for you, and for me too.
Many times, it is good to learn from it and at times not repeat it.
For we are tenants of the Lord’s creation as well, the past is now - and the owner expects his fruit.
Not an earthly fruit as some might expect, but an eternal fruit fitting of the Lord’s creation.
He has sent his son.
14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
The story is a serious reminder for us all.
The story is then and the story is now.
Unfortunately, the problem remains.
16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
Jesus was talking again to the Scribes and the Pharisees. They had abused the vineyard, and had not provided the fruit the owner desired or expected.
But, what about you and me?
Have we been better at caring for what we have been entrusted with?
When the owner returns what will he find?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
That is the Law.
The Law condemns and gives no hope.
Apart from Christ you can do nothing, and only expect nothing.
So, we hear how the Pharisees responded:
19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
This might have worked if he were just a man.
But we too, as they, have an invitation from the Lord. To bear fruit in keeping with repentance. What has been given into our care must bear fruit.
The gift we receive is not from an ordinary man, at all.
God himself, is the one who moves in our lives.
He calls us to faith in his blessed son and through that gift we receive the kingdom.
He marks us as his in baptism.
He calls us to follow him - and to be blessed with the work that God in Christ does in each one of us by his word and through his Spirit, and through that to receive the promise he has secured, by faith.
By faith the promises of God are ours!
When we think of the natural branches, and the destroying of those tenants, and the giving of the vineyard to others - we must not be blind to the expectation of the Lord. To bear fruit!
He desires that we who have been grafted in, to bear fruit and to tend his vineyard well.
He has given us the call to follow him and the blessing of knowing that he will grow, and bear fruit in each one of us.
We should also realize how broken and unworthy we truly are to understand the price God paid for your redemption, and mine - and just how truly precious you are in his sight.
So, as we return to the opening premise.
Those we’ve tried to help. How far do you go? When is enough?
The joy is that Christ desires all to be saves and he has paid the price for all.
So, our Lord will not give up on us, and will continue to seek and save the lost. And will continue to seek those we love and witness too as well.
That is his promise.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in and through Christ Jesus our Lord Savior now and forever. Amen
Modified: Concordia Pulpit Francis Rossow 1976