October 8, 2023
Have you ever had to deal with a bad tenant – or known anyone with a horror story of dealing with a bad tenant? You know the kind: A tenant who’s late with the rent or doesn’t pay it at all. A tenant who wrecks the property or refuses to leave. Here are a few stories I’ve heard: Kim rented out her beloved home to a lady called Hope – only to find it turned into a sleazy brothel. Jonathan retired and took in a lodger. When the tenant stopped paying rent, he was served papers to be evicted…but the lodger found loopholes and took forever to leave – he caused damages that ran into the thousands of dollars. We’ve all heard the horror stories: chain smoking in furnished apartments. Loud music past 1 am. Multiple large dogs who weren't getting walked frequently enough. You get the picture. It’s a disaster!
The parable Jesus tells us today is a tale of tenants from hell. Here we have a landlord who has built a vineyard, constructed a fence around the property, put in a winepress, and then a watchtower to protect the property. No expense is spared to create the best vineyard possible. However, as the story develops, we see that danger to the vineyard does not come from the outside, but from the inside - from the very tenants hired to care for the property and see that it runs smoothly. The landlord entrusts his property into the hands of seemingly reliable tenants and goes off and lives in another country. At harvest time, as was the normal routine, he sends his servants to collect what is lawfully his portion. The tenants not only refuse to hand over the owner’s portion of the harvest, but they beat, stone and murder the servants sent by the landlord. Despite this, the landlord gives his tenants a second chance. He sends another group of servants to collect his fair share of the harvest. The tenants refuse to comply, and this second group of servants is also beaten, stoned and murdered. Finally, the landlord sends his son – thinking that the tenants would respect his son. Incredibly the devious tenants murder him – thinking this will enable them to inherit the property. The landlord did everything by the book. He was patient, gave the tenants chance after chance to turn things around. We ask ourselves, why did the landlord keep trying? Didn’t he notice the red flags?
Now, in this parable, Jesus is describing the religious leaders of his day as the bad tenants. Throughout the Bible the people of Israel are described as God’s beloved vineyard. God made a covenant with the People of Israel. God gave them the ten commandments and the law to follow- so they could be a people whose goodness would shine for all to see. God put in place rituals for right worship. God did all this so that the people of Israel could be an example for the world. So, they would bring God’s light and love to the nations.
But the bible tells us the people of Israel failed, over and over again, to produce the harvest of righteousness. So, here in our gospel parable, Jesus is describing a patient God who sent prophet after prophet to bring the people back to their senses – with no luck. Finally, God sent his Son – and in this parable Jesus foretells his death at the hands of these religious leaders – these bad tenants.
We may ask, what does this parable about bad tenants have to do with us? We’re good tenants, right? Our lives produce good fruit, right? We have nothing in common with these bad tenants who are attempting to seize control of the vineyard – who reject the rights of the landowner – God – and his son – our Lord Jesus.
The connection is this: We are the tenants in God’s vineyard. God has placed us here in this specific corner of Jamaica, to work God’s vineyard. We are to produce the fruits of faith. To follow and do the works of Jesus Christ. We work the vineyard by coming to church every Sunday and worshipping. We work the vineyard by following the ten commandments and the gospel law of love. We work the vineyard when we produce the fruits of faith. We work the vineyard when we feed the hungry, care for the sick, the lonely, comfort the brokenhearted, stand up for the oppressed. In this vineyard, we are called to produce a harvest of joy and peace, goodness and faithfulness. In this vineyard, here in Jamaica, Queens -- we are called to live out the good news of Jesus Christ.
Right now, we are at a time of transition in the life of Our Saviour -- with the celebration of 100 years of being church a few weeks away - with Pastor Bob’s retirement around the corner - our parable today is a reminder that we cannot afford to let things slip. God is going to continue to hold us accountable to tending his vineyard. Pastor Bob’s retirement is not an invitation to sit on our laurels and wait for someone else to do the work. God is still going to expect us to produce good fruits. We cannot let this vineyard fall into disrepair. If anything, God is expecting us, as good tenants, to pick up the pace, to produce an even greater harvest. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? But it’s true. It’s true despite the fact we don’t know when the next pastor will arrive. That doesn’t matter. We, together, are responsible for this vineyard. We are held accountable to be good tenants.
I said this before and I’ll say it again: We will be tempted to treat the vineyard as our own – to slack off, to take a break, to keep the harvest for ourselves. It would be so easy to send people away, to take care of only our needs – to turn inward - instead of continuing the hard work of serving the community and worshipping God faithfully and giving him his due. The tasks of the vineyard are clear: We owe God our worship, our allegiance. We owe God our love and obedience. We owe God the commitment to serve our neighbors. That’s running the vineyard well.
We have been given all we need to continue to be successful workers. We know what to do. We know what is expected of us. So we are not going to be let off the hook. Our parable today is a reminder to stay faithful and true. To stay the course. To not let the vineyard that is Our Saviour Church go to seed. We each have a part to play in keeping this vineyard productive, fruitful, vibrant. God will continue to expect a harvest, Pastor Bob or no Pastor Bob. There is simply no excuse. Faithful worship and service to neighbor cannot stop. It is up to us to come together, to keep it going, to be faithful tenants, no matter what.
So today is our wake-up call. Can we fight off the temptation to be bad tenants, tenants who seek only their own benefit? Tenants who ignore the rights of the landlord? Or will we remain good and faithful tenants? Tenants who will continually produce a good harvest, over and over again. Tenants who are always ready. Tenants who hold the course, faithful, continue to gather for worship, continue to love our neighbor, keep the vineyard in good condition, so it can continue to produce a harvest of righteousness and peace.
We are tenants of the vineyard. So today let us choose to be good tenants. Let us keep the Our Saviour Church vineyard running well. Let us commit to producing the best harvest yet – let us be that people – that Jesus says will produce the fruit of the kingdom. Let us be ready, when the harvest is due – to receive with joy the Son when he comes – and bring forth a harvest that is abundant – so we can be that light to the nations - an example for the world – a witness to God’s love for all people - here in this vineyard of Our Saviour Church. Amen
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