Can We Reject God So Easily?
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. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They 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." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.- Matthew 21: 33-46
This was a very dangerous parable for Jesus to tell? Did you hear the danger in it? It would be a safe bet to say that this parable probably had a lot to do with getting Jesus killed . Did you hear the danger in it?
You probably didn't hear the danger because you were listening to it from Jesus' point of view, but take some time thinking about it from the perspective of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Jesus had a very special talent. He had the ability to bring conservatives and liberals together. Of course he did it by doing things that caused them to hate him. The Sadducees were the conservatives of the day. They were trying to conserve the old traditions, especially the traditions of the Temple . They believed that holy scripture should be treated literally with no room for interpretation. The Pharisees were the liberals. They believed that scripture could be interpreted and applied in new ways to life. They took liberties with scripture, and added their own beliefs, including the idea of resurrection. Yet Jesus managed to threaten both groups.
This parable was about them. What Jesus was saying in this parable was that Israel was like the vineyard, and the Pharisees and Sadducees were like the tenants on the vineyard. God is the owner of the vineyard. Basically, Jesus was saying this: “Look, God sent prophets to you, and you beat them up. God sent more prophets, and you killed them. God sent more, and you stoned them. And here I am, the son of God, coming to you, and you are going to kill me. In the end, God's kingdom is going to be taken away from you and given to the Gentiles!” Imagine you are the Sadducees or Pharisees. If you are them, how do you take this parable? He's accusing them of leading people to ignore God, and on top of that he is calling himself the son of God. How blasphemous!
Why would Jesus provoke the Pharisees and Sadducees so? Did he want to be killed? Actually, my guess is that he just expected to be killed. He figured that leading people back to God, and teaching them truth, was enough on its own to get him killed. So he told this parable to explain his death before it happened. He wasn't trying to provoke the Pharisees and Sadducees. He was simply trying to prepare his followers for what was to happen.
Listen to the parable from Jesus' point of view. He is telling the people, “Look, way back in the past God kept trying to bring prophets to you to show you the way to God. And your leaders kept misleading you. They led your ancestors to beat some of the prophets, kill others, and stone others. And now the Father has sent me to you. I am the son of God. I am the incarnation of God right here and now. You know this because of my teachings and my miracles. I'm teaching you the truth: the Pharisees and Sadducees can't stand me speaking the truth, so they are going to kill me, too. But don't worry. God is going to take the kingdom of heaven away from ones such as these and give it to ones such as you. So have faith.”
This passage not only tells why Jesus was going to die, but it was telling us about the kind of relationship God wants with us, and how we reject it. Jesus was telling the people about themselves, and what to be careful about. Again, listen to the parables from a human point of view. Jesus was saying, “Look, you know that even though God is trying to constantly teach you, you struggle to listen. No one wants to hear truth. We only want to hear what we want to hear. But God is speaking to you. God sent you prophets and now me. Your natural sinful nature will cause many of you to want to kill me and to reject God. That may happen. The reason it happens is that you want to be the master and not serve God. But trust me on this. If you decide to serve God, it's amazing how much fruit your life will bear. If you decide not to serve God, then all of this will be taken away from you. You will no longer be the chosen people. Choose who you want to serve—yourself or God.”
Jesus is speaking truth in all three perspectives. Ultimately he is saying that this relationship we have with God is a difficult one . It's based on our loving and trusting a God who we often experience as an absentee landowner . We live in a world created by God, blessed by God, endowed by God with amazing wonders, but because we don't see God's hand in it all, it's so easy to ignore and reject God. And we all reject God at one point or another. Often we end up rejecting God by becoming enamored with our own thoughts, beliefs, and prowess that we only see what we do, not what God does. Let me show you what I mean.
A number of years ago a brilliant scientist unlocked the secret of creation. He figured out how to create life out of dirt, and to create new animals, plants, and even humans. He was celebrated far and wide for his brilliance, his ingenuity, his prowess. Eventually God heard about this man, and about his claims that we no longer need God because we can create like God.
God wasn't offended, but God did want to see whether or not this scientist could do as he said. So he visited him. The man showed God what he could do in his lab, and after looking at it all God presented the man with a challenge: God would create a human, the man would create a human, and anyone in attendance could judge whose creation was better. The winner would be master of all creation.
The day of the challenge came, and the scientist was surrounded by curious onlookers, all waiting to see whether God could be beaten by this scientist. The scientist stood in front of his laboratory, while God stood barefoot in the grass. God explained the rules: “We will both grab dirt from below our feet, and we'll begin to create. The crowd can judge the results. On your mark! Get set! Go!” At that, both bent over to grab a handful of dirt. As the scientist reached into the dirt, God looked up and said, “No, no, no. If you want to be master of creation, you first have to create your own dirt!”
See the point? We can become so enamored with our own intelligence, our own beliefs, our own insights, our own abilities that we ignore or diminish God in the process. We think that we are more powerful than we really are. We think this as individuals and we think this as a people.
This pride of ours, which leads us to reject God, gets right to the heart of the parable, which is this. God created us and has given us life. Everything we have, everything we are, comes from God . God is all around us and wants to be part of every experience we have, everything we do, and every event in the world . But it is up to us to let God into the world. God is a polite God. That's what scripture says. It says that God only rarely barges into our lives uninvited. For instance, in Revelation it says, “ Listen! I am standing at the door , knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door , I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” Also, the story of the Prodigal Son teaches us something similar. You remember the story. The son wants his inheritance from his father, and then goes out and squanders it, ending up living among pigs. He returns home, hoping to be a slave in his father's household, but is surprised to find that the Father runs to embrace him, gives him the ring off his finger, and has a feast to celebrate his return. This is a metaphor for the way God is. God, like the father, gives us to freedom to reject God. And if that happens, God will wait patiently for our return. God won't follow us, intervene in our lives, or try to convince us to return. Instead, God will wait patiently. But when we return, God will immediately bless us. The point is that it is up to us either to embrace or reject God, embrace or reject faith.
Here's the point. The economy is bad, and we're all nervous about it . Will we let God in to help us with our anxiety? Will we trust God to help us and take care of us? Do we trust that God, ultimately, is in charge?
Some of us have troubled relationships at home, work, the neighborhood . Are we letting God in to make things better? Are we willing to let God show us what to change to make it better? Are we willing to seek God's way to love and peace?
Some of us are struggling in life . We don't have a sense of direction. We aren't sure what are the right decisions for our lives. Are we willing to let God guide us to a better life, even if it means changing our thinking and living?
We are surrounded by God's love, beauty, grace, and possibility . Are we doing enough to recognize God's hand in it all, and letting that hand bless us?
Amen.
