Minnesotahas a couple dozen vineyards. Most of them are located in the river valleys of theSt. Croix,MinnesotaandCanonRivers. AMinnesotavineyard makes for a nice weekend getaway or day trip. It’s a place where visitors sample the produce, enjoy the scenery in a very leisurely, romantic atmosphere.
In Bible times, of course, vineyards were simply working farms. They provided an important commodity in ancient culture. They were protected by walls and watchtowers because the fruit produced was valuable and precious. Jesus used common, everyday language in his preaching and teaching and he used the vineyard metaphor for God’s people – the church.
Matthew’s Gospel has 3 vineyard parables. We have heard the story of the workers in the vineyard – that’s the one where the vineyard owner hires men all throughout the day beginning in the morning up until the 11th hour. And then at the end of the day paid them all the same wage. Last Sunday we heard the story of the two sons – both called to work in their father’s vineyard. One said, “no” and went. They other said “yes” and later rebelled. In each one Jesus reveals something about God’s grace and how things work in his kingdom.
Today we have our third parable set in a biblical vineyard and once again Jesus reveals something that turns our self-perceptions upside down and deepens our understanding of God’s kingdom of grace.
This vineyard parable centers on the relationship between the owner of the vineyard and the tenants who had a contract to work in it and produce the fruit. The parable borrows an image from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah records in our Old Testament reading the Song of the Vineyard. It sings of the love the landowner had for his vines and how he came to the vineyard looking for fruit and found none. He had done everything necessary for his vineyard; he had cared for it, pruned it, watered it. “What more could I do?” he asks. But there was no fruit. He looked for righteousness and justice and found none.
In this parable, Jesus picks up where the Song of the Vineyard left off. He includes some details – the wall, the watchtower, the winepress – which are lifted right from Isaiah so that his hearers will understand that he is talking about the same God, the same love, the same relationship that started long ago. But he adds a new twist to this old story – another couple of verses to this ancient love song.
We learn that the tenants are not only non-productive. They are downright evil. They are not just slackers, they are thieves and murderers. They are not content to earn a living on the vineyard, they want it for themselves and they will apparently stop at nothing to try to take possession of the property that does not belong to them. When the vineyard owner sends his servants and eventually his own son to collect the rent that is due, the tenants beat and kill them.
Jesus told this story right after he entered the city ofJerusalemon Palm Sunday. In a few days, the people there would lead him outside the city walls carrying a cross and put him to death. It’s not hard to see Jesus in this parable. Of course, he is the son. The parallel accounts of this parable call him the “beloved Son” making the identity of the landowner’s son even more clear.
But where are we in the story? This is where it gets very personal. The vineyard is the place where God’s people gather to work together. Its tenants are the people of God. We’d like to think of ourselves as fruit-producing tenants who pay what is due. Now maybe we don’t always deliver like we should, but we certainly do our best. We don’t see in ourselves the blatant selfishness that the tenants in the parable demonstrated. Yet it is in them that we find ourselves.
God comes to his vineyard – to us – looking for people who love when it hurts, who forgive when its hard to, who trust God when they can’t see what’s ahead. He’s looking for people who empty themselves, who acknowledge that God is in control of their lives and who submit to his authority. People who give of their time without grudging, who sacrifice without counting the cost, who are faithful in times of suffering. People who make peace, who scramble not to be first but content to be last, who serve without need for recognition or thanks. This is the kind of fruit he is looking for.
And what does he find? He often finds us holding on to the very things we should be letting go; keeping for ourselves what belongs to him; trying to control things that are clearly in God’s hands, pretending to be the owners when we are just the tenants. Whenever we worry, whenever we go our own way, whenever we trust in ourselves, whenever we take selfish pride in our own efforts, we reject the owner’s son and crucify our Lord anew.
Jesus’ parables always turn us on our heads and provide a shocking twist. Could we really be like those nasty tenants? Our Gospel reading says, when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, “they knew he was talking about them.” If we are honest, we must admit, Jesus is talking about us.
As in the other vineyard parables, once we see ourselves for who we really are, then Jesus expands our understanding of grace in thekingdomofGodand pulls us deeper in. When the vineyard owner does the unspeakable – sending his own son into hostile territory – we think, “NO! don’t do it!” And then we see the willingness of God to do whatever is necessary even if it requires the life of his beloved Son. There’s no question that the eternal love of God for sinners stops at nothing. This is John 3:16 in living color. Scripture says, “God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.” He gave him up for you. And our stubborn grip begins to loosen.
We might lament the tragic ending to the story and then we realize that this is the beginning of OUR story. In his rejection, in his suffering and death and resurrection, he is offering us nothing less than the kingdom itself! Yes, he expects to find the fruit he came looking for, but he has already done everything to create the perfect environment for growth. He simply asks us to plant ourselves in him and let his life flow through us. And then we begin to experience new energy and motivation.
The vineyard is where God has invested his life, where he demonstrates his deepest love and nurtures a relationship with him. It is God’s plan for his vineyard that everything be established in Christ – in his life, in his love, in relationship to him. This has been his vision since before the beginning of time. This is the song he has been singing through every generation. Now is our time – today – in word of forgiveness, around the table of mercy – now is our time to tune in to his son, so that we might become faithful tenants in his vineyard.
