The King's Produce
We have another challenging parable this morning. Jesus is still in the Temple, still just days before his crucifixion, still confronting the chief priests and Pharisees. We are picking up right where we left off last week.
The main point of the parable is hopefully pretty clear. As we heard from Isaiah, the Lord’s covenant with Israel held this assurance of care and redemption, extending to the promise that he would destroy the shroud of death that is spread over all peoples. He will swallow up death forever.
That’s the wedding banquet to which the chief priests, elders, Pharisees and other leaders were supposed to lead them, including the care of the poor and needy. But they ignored it, made light of it and even went so far as to abuse and even kill the prophets the Lord repeatedly sent to remind and redirect them to this beautiful promise. And so ever since, God has been sending out messengers to anyone and everyone and welcoming those who respond. That leads to us. The Church is the bride of Christ. We are called to this banquet and given this most glorious promise as our heritage. Which is nice.
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Guided by the Spirit
Back at the end of April this year, my employees and their families joined me in celebrating the 40th Anniversary of my company, Chemical Containers, Inc. Our very humble beginning was back in 1983 when a very naïve 26-year-old followed his heart and quit his job!
As I look back over all these years, it occurs to me that had I waited a little longer or been more mature, I may not have even tried. I had no clue that the odds of me making it were quite slim, perhaps a good thing. I didn’t know the statistics: 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open. 45% fail during the first five years. And 65% fail during the first 10 years. Only 25 percent of new businesses make it 15 years or more. I had no idea of the obstacles coming. All I knew at that time was that I had a burning desire to have my own business. I had no money and soon found out I had no credit.
I guess the bankers had read the statistics! Without their help, I continued anyway. A dream, an idea, a desire, and the ability to work hard.
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The King's Produce
This morning’s parable presents significant challenges. Jesus is in the Temple, just days before his crucifixion, confronting the chief priests and Pharisees in their failure to produce the harvest The Lord seeks from their stewardship of his vineyard, which is Israel. He is confronting their historic failure to heed the many prophets God has sent to get Israel’s leadership back on track. He’s confronting their brewing plot to kill God’s Son, Jesus himself. He warns them that God is going to find new tenants to produce “the fruits of the Kingdom.”
Our challenge arises from the way this message rolls forward across generations. Who are the tenants today? We are! What is the fruit of the Kingdom? We are! At any point in time, we are in an ongoing process of being the new tenants even as we are also the (hopefully) ripening fruit of the harvest, while raising up more harvest who become tenants and ripening fruit.
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