Twentieth Pentecost, Proper 22, 2005: 

A man is walking down the beach and comes across an old bottle.  He picks it up, pulls out the cork, brushes away the sand, and out pops a genie!  The genie says, “Thank you for freeing me from the bottle.  In return I will grant you three wishes.”

The man says, “Great!  I always dreamed of this and I know exactly what I want.  First, I want a billion dollars in a Swiss bank account.”

Poof!  There is a flash of light and a piece of paper with account numbers appears in his hand.

He continues, “Next, I want a brand new red Ferrari right here.”

Poof!  There is a flash of light and a bright red, brand-new Ferrari appears right next to him!

He continues, “Finally, I want to be irresistible to women.”

Poof!  There is a flash of light and he turns into a box of chocolates. 

Maybe Forrest Gump was right?  Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.  That is especially true with self-deception and if we get too greedy.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants has as its central theme the subjects of self-deception and greed.  It is simply a straightforward story Jesus shared to remind his hearers, then and now, that God is the owner of the vineyard in which we live and move and have our being and we pay a terrible price if we attempt to withhold from the owner what is rightfully the owner’s.

This is a parable that gives wonderful insight into the nature of God, as it points out some defects in the nature of human beings.  There are certain things indicated in the parable about God the owner.  His generosity is obvious.  The vineyard is equipped with everything necessary to make the work of the tenants as easy and profitable as possible.  All the tenants had to do was be faithful in their stewardship of all they had been given, keep their priorities in proper order, and give back to the owner the first-fruits of the yield.

Just as the owner was generous, so the owner was and remains most patient.  Time after time the owner sends messengers to the tenants to remind them of the nature of the covenant, to remind them of who they are, and to remind them that the vineyard is not theirs.  The owner treated them with courtesy and patience.  That same courtesy and patience continues to be shown to contemporary tenants.  Finally, the owner took the greatest risk of all and sent his son to the tenants.  Love that great is always risky.  The tenants, in their self-deception and greed, would not even listen to the son and they killed him.  We dare not separate ourselves from those tenants by thinking we would have behaved differently.

Then the parable reminds the tenants, then and now, of the owner’s justice.  The tenants fought to postpone and avoid giving back to the owner what rightfully belonged to the owner.  They forgot that while the owner is most definitely generous and patient, the owner is not so indefinitely.  There does come a time when accounts will be settled.

So, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants speaks about the generous, patient, and just owner.  What does it say about human nature?  Certainly it talks about the self-deception of which we are capable.  The tenants thought the owner was too far away to act, or the owner did not mean to collect the first-fruits, or did not really care about the vineyard.  The tenants began the self-deception of thinking the vineyard was really theirs and by their own hands they had gained their wealth.  The tenants forgot that spiritual laws are as inviolate as physical laws.  Breaking physical laws carries a consequence and we pay a great price when we break them.  The same is true of breaking spiritual laws.  The behavior of the tenants began to lead them into the notion that they could act as their own owner, their own God.  That is, no doubt, the greatest sin of all.  The behavior of modern tenants appears to indicate that the sin of gross self-deception is not something reserved for the ancients.  It is just as true today.

The parable also indicates the ability for the tenants to change.  Having freedom of will means we can repent and acknowledge again the owner of the vineyard.  We can change our behavior and thereby change our attitudes about possessions.  We can begin to see that we hold all things as a trust; they are not ours to keep.  Acknowledging the owner, accepting the owner’s covenant, seeking through prayer, meditation, worship, study, and discipline to improve our relationship with the owner moves us in the direction of living positive lives.

The messengers continue to come to the tenants to remind them of the new covenant.  Will we listen to them or continue in our hardness of heart to reject his every plea?  There are certain key questions that every tenant must answer.  Who owns our vineyard?  What are we willingly ready to give to the owner out of the abundance the owner has given into our hands?  In whom do we live and move and have our being? 

To help us answer those questions there is another story about the shedding of blood.  The owner of the vineyard sends his son to us, out of love, in the broken body and shed blood of the Eucharist.  Do we welcome him and his claim upon our lives or will we strive to kill him again or remove any influence from him in our lives?

Be very clear about how you answer.  The Son comes expecting the first-fruits of our life and labor.  Giving back only pocket change or giving that is not sacrificial and sacramental places us in great peril of losing all that gives life and meaning to our very existence.

We may continue to live by self-deception and greed, believing there is never to be a day of reckoning, or we may turn around and acknowledge the many blessings we have been given.  We may, in profound and deep gratitude, express our thankfulness to the owner of the vineyard for the generosity and patient with which we have been dealt.  We may even mention how grateful we are that we have not been dealt with on the basis of justice alone, but with overflowing grace and mercy.  It is both our burden and our glory that we are loved enough by the owner of the vineyard to get to decide how we will acknowledge him when the Son comes to us again this day.  Amen.