Wicked Tenants & Cornerstones*

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 21: 33-43

It isn’t often that I preach two Sundays in a row

But it is a bit of a gift this week because there is so much continuity

In fact, we are just moving to the very next verses.

 

So like last Sunday

It is still Day 2 

Jesus made his Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem…yesterday

 

It is the same scene as last week

And maybe

Since this Gospel…called the Parable of the Wicked Tenants

is one of the most unsettling of all the parables

I am wondering if maybe it is getting late 

and Jesus hasn’t had any lunch

In my house, we call that HANGRY

 

 

Just like now…In 2020…

The original community of Matthew’s Gospel 

The one’s hearing this telling

…lived on the other side of the Cross

They knew what “Going to Jerusalem” meant

They knew where it would lead

And they knew the real-end of the story…just like us

 

This is a difficult text

It may be the most violent text we read together on Sundays 

…Outside of the crucifixion itself

Which wasn’t a parable…but something that actually happened…worse!

 

This parable is so graphic

SO violent

…it stings 

When it is read, it simply can’t be ignored…unfortunately

 

The thing is…this parable has an obvious point

And that point is to INDICT

To indict the BAD religion of his time

And because it is a parable

That indictment bleeds out to anyone else in that crowd

AND onto all of us who hear it now

 

Aren’t you glad you tuned in!

 

I have probably said this before

But it is important to remember…about parables

What they are

And what they do

One thing is that they are NOT complete theologies of God or the Kingdom

If that were the case 

We wouldn’t need so many…one would do

 

And each parable is concerned with one aspect at a time

Parables reveal glimpses…glimpses of ‘kingdom logic’

…surprising glimpses…that catch the hearer off-guard

 

Oh! Parable of the Wicked Tenants!

Where is your kingdom logic?

 

I have two questions for starters:

Q1: After the first set of slaves were killed, what would you have done? What do you think a typical human response would look like? To send an appropriately sized army right away, or to send another delegation…to be killed?

MY ANSWER:
I would have used my authority right away, I would have assembled enough of an army to be sure I came out the winner. 
But the owner of this vineyard doesn’t. He continues to send more delegations with an INVITATION to respond in good faith.

Q2: And then…after a series of delegations sent and killed, what would you have done? What, do you think a typical human response would look like? Two choices: To send an army to “put those wretches to a miserable death” as it says in verse 41, OR to send a beloved son? 

ANSWER 2: It WOULDN’T be to send my beloved Son! 
But this owner…he is something else!

He just keeps on hoping 
hoping for a change of heart
He simply won’t give up
…to the point of sending the final dangerous invitation through his Son.

 

Who would behave this way?

 

These, my friends, are the surprising glimpses of Kingdom Logic

 

If you were with us last week

we said that to change is indeed the meaning of discipleship

the word disciple means 

“One who follows another for the purpose of learning…”

for change and for transformation

 

So, for me, because my answers to those first questions 

Are different from the way of this landowner behaved

Well…that is where I can see myself confronted by this parable

And not just me…my whole society

This is my…our… INVITATION TO CHANGE

 

 

Here is where I need to be very careful

Because it is easy for me to participate in scapegoating

To point outside of myself to 

those people, 

or those kinds of people, 

or those crazy groups of people

But bear with me for a moment…and remember my caution

 

As I walk every morning from my car to my workplace

I cross a bank parking lot in downtown Evansville

And every morning there is a nice light blue Honda Van in the parking lot 

On the back windshield, there are two decals 

In one corner there is a sweet stick figure family

…two parents, three children, and a cat…each with a little heart right there on the chest

 

And then, the other corner of the windshield

there is this kitty…

A kitty with a machine gun 

So, I put that in my google search

“Kitty with Machine Gun car decal”

And I learned that it is 

Hello Kitty!

And I thought Hello Kitty was about pre-teen nail polish!

Hello Kitty…there she was…sweet pink bow in her hair

…And an AK-47

 

And I thought to myself 

What does this mean?

What does it teach?

Why does it make me cringe?

 

It seemed to say to me that the person who owns this van

(but I actually have no real idea) 

finds comfort in, at least 2 things…

In the Hello Kitty part…Its sweet…Like a blanky

There is comfort there

And a weapon…a particularly deadly one

There is comfort there too…comfort in that AK-47

 

Now it’s time to stop my scapegoating

It isn’t so much about whoever is the driver of that van

But who are we…the society…that even thinks to produce such decals

NOW…that includes me! 

 

Then I had to look it up---even though I knew the answer

Google: What do the deadliest Mass shootings in America have in common

Answer: Semi-Automatic Rifles…like the one Hello Kitty with her smile and pink bow are carrying in that decal.

 

 

 

Today the text begins, “Jesus said…”

He is addressing everyone gathered

…but with particular attention to the Priests and Leaders of the People

We are all invited to overhear this parable 

 

The Chiefs and Elders

They want it all…they just. Want. It. All.

And they will do anything to keep it

 

They were supposed to be guardians

Of the tradition
But “wanting it all” has a way of creeping in

And they switched

The switched from being guardians to owners

From being humble servants of GOD

To being boastful and self-righteous 

To being…at least in their own minds

Possessors of Authority

Possessors tend to want to hold on to that which they possess

And violence soon follows

Like water running downhill

 

Jesus tricks the Chiefs and Elders into indicting themselves

For surely they didn’t see themselves as anything but 

…Perfect GUARDIANS!

This kind of social mechanism demands blindness to ones’ own sinfulness

 

But then Jesus quotes scripture to them…the bit about 

the stone the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone 

And the nickel drops.

And they realize…

He is talking about us!!!

 

And they Want. Him. Down!

They wanted to arrest him right then and there

But once again…just like last week…

They feared the crowds

 

 

God’s son gets killed 

Crucified

And what is God’s answer?

Not more violence

God’s answer is resurrection

Forgiveness

Reconciliation

Invitation…constant in-vi-ta-tion!

 

As disciples

As those “who follow another for the purpose of learning…”

Do I sometimes forget that I don’t own the vineyard?

When I…and WE as a church…fail to act as God acted in Jesus Christ

When we jump to vengeance

Instead of reconciliation, 

When we scapegoat and point fingers rather than seek to heal our own blindness,

Is that OUR failure to STAY guardians

 

After all, we are his household…the church

Our missionary activity is to forward the invitation! 

 

Jesus appears quite angry as he tells this parable

And I think he is angry…intense…and frustrated…

Because we keep forgetting that the invitation is always there

We simply have a hard time keeping that kingdom logic front and center

 

 

Our Lord shows up

In the power of the Holy Spirit, Our Lord shows up

Our Lord is here in our virtual gathering

 

With incredible persistence

We are invited over and over again

To live in God’s world

Where the logic is forgiveness, and reconciliation, and peace

Let’s RSVP that invitation…once again!

 

And when we next get together to celebrate the Eucharist

We will ritually accept that invitation

We will come and gather around our shared table 

And make our RSVP,s

In our bodies!

And In our AMENs!

 

So be it!

Payoff or Ripoff*

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 20:1-16a 

The more familiar a parable is

The more difficult it is to have it speak a fresh word

 

I can call to mind 2 familiar interpretations

…2 ways I have heard this parable preached

 

One way 

Is to hear it as a parable about Salvation

Maybe the parable is telling us that God doesn’t care if you’ve been working hard at your Christian vocation 

for years and years and years

Or… if you’ve ignored God all your life until the very end

And then after a good deathbed confession 

“WELCOME! we have been waiting for you!”

In fact…as the last line says…The last shall be first!

This makes it a parable about how ridiculously gracious God is.

That’s one way to hear the parable

 

 

Another way, is to understand this parable through a social justice lens

The landowner keeps going out to do more hiring

…throughout the day the landowner goes to the places where day laborers gather in the hope of finding a days work.

 

The landowner asks “Why do you stand here idle all day?”

 They answer

“Because no one has hired us”

It doesn’t say they were lazy, or that they took a long lunch to go home and          play video games

All we know is that they are still there

…still hoping for even a few hours work.

 

There is no judgment on why…at least not that I can see

…they simply weren’t picked

So we need to keep going…why weren’t they picked?

For some reason, those doing the hiring looked passed them.

Was it disability, skin color, did they look like they just got released from prison, was it the way they were dressed, or the language they were speaking? Whatever the reason, they were looked over.

 

This makes it a parable about the dignity of the worker
Perhaps it is about how the many (those chosen) 

sometimes have to contribute to the needs of the few

those who sometimes

Just don’t get hired

 

A gifted preacher could make either of these interpretations into a decent sermon

 

My problem with these interpretations

Is that they keep the text at a bit of a distance.

 

While I agree that it is important to keep the end in mind
because having the end in mind has a way

Of giving ultimate meaning to TODAY

…To my life and my choices TODAY

But there is nothing surprising in this.

 

And, while I absolutely agree 

that we need to work toward a more just society

A society where the dignity of work is available to all

And where roadblocks to hire-ability can be removed

 

This is also big and out there somewhere
it is a grand societal problem
But this is not to say that it isn’t super important…it is.

And we have ways to participate…we can vote, and advocate, and volunteer locally

I can name a laundry list of “shoulds” 
things I certainly need to be reminded of and challenged to take part in…

But there is nothing surprising

Nothing that catches me flat-footed and demands a change in me…in the way I think and see. 

 

The thing is 

This is a parable

And parables are supposed to do something

 

What is it that parables are supposed to do?

What is a parable, anyway?

One thing is that they are NOT complete theologies of God or the Kingdom

If that were the case 

We wouldn’t need so many

Each is concerned with just one aspect at a time

They aren’t meant to be once and for all answers

Rather they reveal glimpses of ‘kingdom logic’

Glimpses…surprising glimpses

 

Parables are supposed to ruffle feathers

MY feathers

 

One way to think about parables is as invitations

 

‘Parabole’

Means to ‘lay along side’

To lay something new alongside what and how I think I know 

This laying alongside functions 

To pull away the curtain…to unveil 

And to reveal something about me…the hearer.

 

So what is the parable laying alongside?

What is this parable revealing about the way I think?

What it the parable inviting me to see?

And what is it offering as an alternative?

 

I am not particularly surprised that God is generous

No…I’m not surprised…In fact…I’m absolutely counting on it!

            

I am not particularly surprised that God is concerned for laborers 

Especially day laborers, who stand in the hot sun all day waiting to be hired so that they can support their families for another day or week…

I am comforted by this too…

And I know, that by virtue of believing in such a God, I can’t just stop there,

I am called to participate in actions that display the same concern…

God-like concern for my neighbors…especially the most vulnerable

This is challenging for sure

It is hard…but not surprising or new

 

Where in the parable is there something that is just 

Phew…uncomfortable surprising?

 

What I am surprised by is WHY the householder was so clear about 

How the laborers were to LINE UP to receive their day’s wages:

 

The landowner says

“Summon the laborers and give them their pay, 

beginning with the last and ending with the first.”

 

I mean why was that direction, to pay the last hired…first

            given so clearly??

 

It was so deliberate that it has to be important

And it isn’t just deliberate…it doesn’t make sense…who would do that!

 

Why not pay the first…first?

They were surely the most tired and sweaty and ready to be done!

 

If the first had been paid first…they would have been on their merry way…

            none the wiser…grumbling averted!

 

The result was absolutely predictable!

The choice to pay the last first simply made it certain 

that there would be grumbling!

All the householder had to do was pay the early hires first

 

Ah…but then this wouldn’t be a parable

 

By reversing the order

The curtain is pulled away to reveal…grumbling

 

Allowing myself to get closer to the text 

Might bring out a more honest response:

 

“Okay, I admit ---- sometimes --- 

when Jesus speaks about God and the Kingdom 

---and he’s throwing around blessing and 

---in this instance, hard earned wages

throwing them around so carelessly…

well sometimes I just feel a bit

well…

RIPPED OFF!”

 

My propensity for grumbling is what is being exposed to the light

I suggest that…in today’s language…the grumbling in this parable

Means resentment

 

“Are you envious because I am generous?”

That is…a very good question!

 

At this point 

It is helpful to glance back a few verses in the Gospel of Matthew

Peter has just asked Jesus a question

It is a question so near to the human heart

Just a few verses ago, Peter asks:

‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.

What then will we have?’

 

It is a reasonable enough question.

Peter just wants to know what kind of Payoff is eventually coming

 

Peter is familiar with the human tendency to put things in such terms:

Inquiring minds want to know: 

Are we talking PAYOFF or RIPOFF?

 

Beneath the surface of Peters question

Jesus hears an attitude that needs re-direction.

In his compassion, Jesus reassures Peter

 

Laboring in the LORD’S vineyard will demand a different way of seeing

Our parable today seems to offer Peter a corrective

 

 

 

I remember counting the presents under the Christmas tree 

when I was a child

I could say that I learned it from my sister

But it came naturally enough

Was I getting a fair PAY-OFF

For being a darling daughter?

Or

Was I getting RIPPED-OFF 

That is…compared to my sisters and brother

 

My guess is that we are hard-wired from the womb

To think in terms of PAYOFF or RIPOFF 

 

They might be little things 

But I tap into this kind of careful accounting several times a day

My guess is that you know what I mean

In the line at the grocery store

Or a friend who bought the same tv I did but got it at half the price

Or how about when someone gets credit for an idea that was mine!?!?

Or when I am not thanked quite loud enough for my obvious generosity!?!?

 

Whenever my internal voice says “Not Fair”

That is a signal of my Payoff-Ripoff mentality kicking in!

 

 

In bigger or smaller ways 

Everyday

My mind sets up the scale 

so that I can measure my world in terms of PAYOFF and RIPOFF

 

I confess all this…knowing that I am not alone;)

It is, I think, in the drinking water!

 

To be fair though

It isn’t that I don’t experience graciousness

I do

Plenty of times…everyday

 

But here is what I do when I am on the receiving end
…the payoff end

Lightening fast…I construct some reason for why I deserved it after all!

I take the giftedness away…and replace it with my ‘deserving’

I keep going with this because I am 99% sure that I am not alone in this???

 

The reason, I think this comes so easily 

Is that Utterly unconditional, unearned, pure, no strings attached…generosity 

is very hard for us to get our heads around.

 

Hard but not impossible!

Therein lies the Good News!  

 

The Good News is NOT simply the domesticated sweetness of a parable that comforts us with the generosity of God

 

As the parable pulls back the curtain on a world---our world--- 

of scales and balanced accounts

it pulls back the curtain

and exposes our propensity for grumbling

It exposes it and It offers something new

 

The Good News is that 

Beyond the stiff world of strictly balanced accounts

 

There is something light and un-burdensome

And we don’t have to wait until we are dead!

 

The householder keeps going to the marketplace

He goes often

from sunup and sundown…punctuating the day with visits  

For the householder…it seems…

It is getting workers into the vineyard that matters!

 

We are all co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord

Morning hires or 11^th hour hires

 

Here…to worship…is where we come

Week after week 

we come here to remember who we are

…to remember that we are a body

And that body is Christ’s

And that we are in this together

Chosen first or last or somewhere in between

Here we remember that even though we might suffer daily from creeping resentment…from grumbling

We are not alone

We are granted a fresh start!

 

Even a quick glance at how we worship we can see and understand this

Didn’t we confess…right off the bat?

“we have not loved…we have rebelled…we have refused to hear”

We mean our confession

And we are assured of God’s forgiveness

And when we are sent from here 

We are sent having heard the Good News

And having been invited to let it change and mold us

We are sent with the blessing of everyone gathered here

Sent to participate in the healing of the world

Beginning with the patch most near to us.

 

My friends, where else does this happen?

 

There is an implicit…or maybe it is quite explicit

There is a humility in “Coming to Church”

By the very practice of it 

We admit

We need changing

And We admit that changing takes practice…weekly at least!

 

This week the change called for 

Is to step a little further away from 

The logic of Payoff and Ripoff

To step away from the logic of deserving and undeserving

And to step toward a new alternative

One of graciousness

One of beatitude

 

“Are you envious because I am generous?”

YES…probably a hundred times a day.

 

But…my friends

being here

Admits that we are working on it

And we are working on it…together!