5 Lent, Year C

“WHOSE VINEYARD IS IT, ANYWAY?”
A sermon by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois by Mr. Barney Bruce, Lay Worship Leader; Sunday, March 21, 2010
Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Romans 3:8-14; Luke 20:9-19

So, whose vineyard is it, anyway?

That’s the question before us this morning.

Jesus’ parable about the vineyard looks backward, and it looks forward. It looks backward as it applies to the long history of Israel’s treatment of the prophets in Old Testament times, and it looks forward to the treatment He will receive during Holy Week.

We would do well to take a careful look at this parable, for it looks backward and forward into our lives, as well.

As we often do, however, we should begin with a look at the setting for our gospel text today.

Jesus has now entered the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and has begun to teach in the Temple. As he does so, a series of debates take place between the Lord and the leaders of Judaism. Today’s encounter is but one of many face-to-face encounters that take place between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday.

Each encounter builds the hostility and heightens the drama. The drama will reach its climax on Good Friday.

Now, we turn to the parable itself.

Jesus begins by using an image which would have been well known to his listeners, the crowd which had been growing as He continued to teach in the Temple precincts. It is am image that Jesus’ opponents would have recognized immediately, as well.

It is the image of the vineyard. He begins by using the exact phrase that we read in Isaiah 5:2, “A man planted a vineyard.”

By using this phrase from Isaiah, word-for-word, Jesus has linked the parable to its application. For the image from Isaiah was traditionally applied to the nation of Israel.

There could be no mistaking Jesus’ intended target, none at all.

Indeed, if we look at the end of our passage today, we see that the Pharisees understood that Jesus had told this parable against them. They got the message, loud and clear!

What Jesus then sets out to do is to trace the long history of Israel and the prophets. Mistreated, scorned, abused, many of the prophets in Old Testament times were treated just this way.

In essence, Jesus is telling His audience, “You know, your history isn’t one to be proud of. In fact, it’s a pretty poor record of rejecting God’s messengers.”

But then, He goes on to say that this generation will do just as its ancestors did: they, too, will treat God’s messenger poorly. In fact, they will not only abuse the messenger, but they will kill him.

Just whose vineyard is it, anyway?

Jesus is trying to remind His audience (and us) just who the owner of the vineyard is. God is the owner. That’s the central point.

All of us who work in the vineyard are merely tenants, who’ve been hired to take care of God’s vineyard.

We said at the beginning of this sermon that today’s parable looks backward, and it looks forward. It traces Israel’s long history of the treatment of God’s messengers, the prophets, and it traces the history which will shortly be written, the treatment that Jesus will receive during Holy Week.

This parable also traces a sad and long history of behavior which says, “We own the vineyard!”

Whose vineyard is it, anyway, and just who is in charge?

Sadly, Jesus traces the history of God’s people. He reminds them that many of their ancestors behaved as though they were in charge, as though they owned the vineyard and its produce.

The question may be running through your mind: “What’s this got to do with us?”

Just this: We can fall into the same pattern of behavior that the people in Old Testament times did.

So, today’s parable can serve as a warning. “Don’t do what they did back then.”

Well then, if it’s true that this parable looks backward and looks forward, and if it applies not only to Jesus’ original hearers, but to us, then how can we avoid the mistakes that were made in the past? How can we avoid the pitfalls that we face, which are much like the pitfalls of ancient times?

Perhaps a clue might lie in Jesus’ parable, where He says, “A man planted a vineyard, and went away into another country for a long while….”

The allusion Jesus uses is of an absentee owner. We might characterize the attitude of the tenants this way: “The man has gone away, and no longer cares about the vineyard, or about us. Therefore, we can take charge.”

Oftentimes, we get into spiritual trouble when we think God isn’t listening, or looking. “We can do our own thing,” we are tempted to think.

The next temptation to come round in such circumstances is to rely on our own resources. After all, weren’t the tenants hired because they had good, useable skills which would keep the vineyard going?

And, weren’t the tenants hired because the owner thought that they were capable and trustworthy employees?

In such situations, these good qualities can work against us. After all, God has entrusted the care of the vineyard – in this case, the world around us – into our care. And haven’t we been charged with this ministry and mission precisely because God trusts us to be good stewards? And hasn’t God given us talents and abilities to carry out this important work?

Absolutely. We are capable, we are trustworthy, aren’t we?

So then, all of this becomes a matter of perspective, it seems to me.

And our perspective can be brought into line with God’s perspective by remembering that all that we do in this place, for God’s glory and the good of the people He loves, is because God owns the vineyard – the world – and we have been taken into His confidence and into His trust, to work in the vineyard as His trusted servants.

In the end, it’s all about God, and not about us.

AMEN.