Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 21:33-46
Sermon delivered by Pastor Veronica Alvarez
8 October 2023
Prayer: Heavenly Father,
We come before You today with humble hearts, seeking Your guidance and strength, help us to be good stewards of the resources You have entrusted to us, using them wisely and for Your glory. Help us to remember that You are our Provider, our Sustainer, and our Refuge in times of trouble. As we open Your word today, may Your message speak directly to our hearts, providing comfort, guidance, and encouragement. In your holy name we pray. Amen
The parable, found in today’s gospel, is known as the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. This parable is the second in which Jesus addresses the religious leaders and the people of Israel, pointing out their rejection of Jesus' authority. Last week we heard the first one where the religious leaders questioned Jesus' identity and authority.
And it is in the same setting that Jesus tells us another powerful parable, the story about a landowner who planted a vineyard. This landowner represents God, who has given us the land and all its fruits. God has carefully entrusted us with his vineyard, and each of us has been given unique gifts and talents to care for it.
But, as we listened in the story, the wicked tenants tried to keep the vineyard and its fruits for themselves. These tenants represent the religious leaders of Jesus' time, who were entrusted with God's message but rejected it.
What does this parable teach us about our lives and the faith we profess?
The landowner represents God, who provides us with everything we need to live. He has planted the vineyard, which symbolizes the world, and has given us the privilege of caring for it.
Today, We are like the tenants in this story; God has entrusted us with this land, this vineyard, as stewards. He has given us gifts and talents, and called us to produce fruit for His kingdom. This reflects God's generosity in creating the world and entrusting it to us!. But what do we do with those gifts? I don’t think we are doing a very good job of it, but the way the world is, we are destroying God’s creation.
In this parable, the tenants forgot that they were stewards and took the vineyard as their own. In our lives, we sometimes forget that everything we have, including our talents and financial resources, are a gift from God.
God is the owner of everything. Every resource, every talent, every blessing we have has been entrusted to us by God. Contrary to our believes, we own nothing, we are only stewards of these gifts, and God expects us to use them for His glory and for the good of others. sometimes we forget that we are only stewards, and instead of producing fruit for the kingdom of God, we selfishly use them for our own benefit.
God's patience is clearly shown in this parable. He sent his servants again and again to remind the tenants of their responsibility, hoping they would repent and change their ways but the tenants mistreated them and killed them.
Isn't it amazing how God continues to send opportunities and messages of love despite our faults and mistakes?
Finally, the landlord sent his own son, thinking that the tenants would respect him. Yet, the tenants saw an opportunity to take the inheritance for themselves and killed the son. This is a profound foreshadowing of God sending His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world.
Sending his own son is the most profound action in this parable. It reflects God's supreme sacrifice in sending Jesus Christ. Christ came to reconcile us to God, to remind us of our stewardship over His creation. But humanity, represented by those tenants, rejected Him and crucified Him on a cross. But through his death and resurrection, God offers us the opportunity for salvation.
So, what do we do? Sometimes we reject Jesus and ignore him. We do not accept him as the Lord of our lives and prefer to follow our own desires and ambitions.
We reject the Son of God, Jesus Christ, when we prioritize worldly desires over His teachings. When we compromise our faith in favor of worldly gain or worldly comforts, we are also guilty of rejecting the cornerstone upon which our faith is built.
When we reject Christ as the cornerstone of our faith, we risk building our lives on unstable foundations. Just as the actions of the tenants led to their destruction, our rejection of Christ can have devastating consequences for our spiritual well-being.
The parable concludes with Jesus’ warning “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom”.
I don’t know about you but this warning really makes me take a hard look at my actions and behaviors.
We often use these words in the lines of “every action has a consequence” specially with our children when we want them to accept our punishment for something they did. Or when we in our perception see people that are not acting correctly or the way we think is just, we say “you made your bed now you need to sleep on it.”
We know this warning but we need recognize that our attitudes and actions have consequences. Just as the wicked tenants faced judgment, we too will be held accountable for the way we have cared for the vineyard of our hearts.
But there is hope. We can choose to repent and return to God. Just as the vineyard was entrusted to new laborers, God offers us a new beginning when we turn to him in humility and obedience.
God never stops loving us, even when we reject or forget Him. He continues to look for ways to show us His love and grace in our lives. Think of the times when, despite our sins and weaknesses, we have experienced his presence and care. Aren't those proofs of his love and patience?
In our community, we see God's hand in our lives in many ways. In every meal we share with family and friends, in every song we sing of praise, in every loving embrace and in every act of generosity. These are examples of how God works through us and in us, reminding us of his constant presence. We are never alone,
God has entrusted us with his vineyard, our lives and this world. How are we taking care of it?
Are we cultivating the vineyard of our hearts with love, humility and obedience, or are we allowing greed, selfishness and rejection to take root. Are we sharing the fruits of His love and grace with others, or are we trying to keep them for ourselves?
The good news in all of this is that our eternal salvation does not hang in the balance on how we answer these questions. We are saved by grace through faith for Christ's sake today and forever.
It is the quality and character of our lives as Christians and the quality and character of the world we live in that hangs in the balance. It is worth noting here that Jesus does not describe the tenants in this story as thieves or evildoers, they are not outsiders, they were not estrangers they are the chosen ones of the landowner, his trusted tenants.
The totally illogical action of the landowner to send the son after previous Messengers were so violently rejected reflects the actions of a compassionate God. God reaches out to us again and again.
Even when His chosen people rejected His principles and His Commandments.
Even when we pursue other gods by substituting His Justice for self-interest, goodness for greed, humility for vanity, and love for violence.
I think a better title for today's Gospel parable might be “The Enduring Patience God” instead of the wicked tenants, this parable does make us reflect how are we being stewards of everything that God has given us but in the end this parable is not about the wicked tenants, nor about the religious leaders, not even about us. It is about God.
God, the one who entrusted all good things to us
God, the one who blesses us beyond our wildest dreams.
God, the one who even when he is disappointed by what we do with these blessings, reaches out to us with unconditional love
God, the One who weeps over the injustices of the world, embraces those who fall short of His glory, and promises never ever to give up on anyone, not the tenants, not even us when we refuse to recognize others as beloved children of God and instead see them as competitors or threats.
now that we know ourselves to be those whom God loves without reserve and without shame.
now that we know what it is like to be those for whom God is willing to risk everything, even his son, we are free!
We are free to live with hope, courage and generosity. Having been healed we can offer ourselves to heal others, having been reconciled we can be instruments of reconciliation, having tasted God's merciful justice we can risk working for greater Justice for others and having been blessed beyond measure we can be a blessing to those around us; and to the land over which we have been appointed stewards.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, let us remember the lesson of this parable. Let us recognize God's patience and abounding love for us and respond with gratitude and faithfulness to His love. Let us continue to care for his vineyard, sharing his blessings and bringing his love to those who do not yet know him.
May we choose to be faithful tenants and build our lives upon the solid foundation of Christ, so that we may bear fruit for His glory and experience the eternal blessings of His kingdom. Amen
