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SERMONS

The Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 28, 2004

Last Saturday I went to see Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. I left the theatre with very mixed feelings, some of which I'm still sorting out. One of the things that I was most interested in seeing was the depiction of the Jewish authorities.

As you no doubt know, there was a good bit written about this prior to the film's release. Personally, I was disappointed in them. They reminded me most of some evil leaders from a second-rate fantasy or science fiction movie. They came across-to me at any rate-as almost ridiculously vicious caricatures, and I didn't like this.

I didn't like it because, to a certain extent, it gets me off the hook. I find it much more disturbing to think of the authorities who orchestrated the crucifixion, not as evil monsters, but as good, conscientious leaders who were trying to do the right thing in difficult circumstances, and who went terribly, terribly wrong.

These figures from Mel's movie come into my mind when I look at today's gospel. Jesus tells this parable of the wicked tenants during the last week of his earthly ministry. He has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and Luke tells us that every day he teaches the people openly in the Temple.

He has just been involved in a disputation with the chief priests and scribes. Now he tells the people this parable.

A man planted a vineyard. He then leased the vineyard to tenants before laving on a trip. Luke tells us he was gone for a long time. During that time the tenants began to develop a certain sense of attachment to the vineyard and its produce.

Finally the owner sent a servant back to receive his share. But the tenants beat the servant and threw him out. Twice more the owner sent servants to them. Twice more they beat them and sent them away.

Finally the owner decided to send his own son to them, thinking that, at the least, they would respect the son. But the tenants reasoned, "If we kill the son there will be no heir. And since the owner doesn't seem to be coming back, the vineyard will be ours."

So that's what they did.

Now, Jesus asks, what will the owner do? He will come back, destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Luke goes on to tell us that the chief priests and scribes recognize Jesus is telling this parable against them and want to seize him right there. But because of the people they are afraid to.

It is obvious that this is the way to understand this parable. The vineyard is the people of Israel. The owner of the vineyard is God. God placed the nation in the hands of its leaders, who have grown greedy and covetous. So God sent prophets to call them back into right relationship with him, but they refused to heed the message. Now he has sent the Son, and they seek to kill him.

The Church recognizes even more. Less than half a century after the time of Jesus, Roman forces have destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. The Church sees itself as the new tenants, entrusted by God with the care of God's people.

But there is a danger here. There is the danger that we may look down our noses at those mean ole wicked tenants. Just as there is the danger of looking down our noses at the mean ole Jewish authorities who plot to arrest and kill Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. I'm certainly glad that I am not like them. And I know that you are glad not to be like them as well.

But this parable is tricky. It is a mirror. It is a mirror in which we are called to see ourselves. A mirror in which we are called to see how often we reject God's grace. A mirror in which we are called to see how often we turn our back on God's call to service and to generosity. A mirror in which we called to see how often we claim as our own possessions the material wealth with which we have been blessed, and how often we refuse to recognize God's claim on our lives and our resources.

The correct answer to the question, "Who crucified Jesus?" is, "We did."

Alan Carpenter writes:

The sinful impulse is insidiously dynamic. The tenants did not start out to take the vineyard from its owner; they only wanted to keep its produce for themselves. They did not set out to commit murder; the first servant they only beat and sent away empty-handed. Once committed to this path, however, they were led to its consequences. Wanting to keep all the produce for themselves, they ended up losing the vineyard.

The parable's effect, therefore, is two-edged: It reminds us of our stewardship of the vineyard God has given us, and it conveys a prophetic warning that we not follow other false leaders by seeking selfish ends rather than rendering to God the fruit of the vineyard entrusted to us.

Hear, then, the parable. We are the tenants, and we are the others to whom the vineyard has been given. We have received as a free gift the vineyard that others would have killed for. By God's grace, the vineyard is twice given. So let us not close the story by calling it "the parable of the wicked tenants." Let's leave it open by calling it "the parable of the twice-given vineyard."

Because we know the gospel story and have experienced it in our own lives, we know God's love and God's boundless grace.

But now come the final questions:

If we are the others to whom the vineyard has been given, what will we do with it?

Will we be any more responsive to God's purposes than the first tenants were?

If so, what does obedience require of us?¹

David Christian
The Chapel of the Cross
Madison, Mississippi

¹R. Alan Culpepper, The New Interpreter's Bible.