Lent 5 March 25, 2007

“How to Be a Good Tenant”

Luke 20:9-19

9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.”

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”

17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” 19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

What does it take to be a bad tenant? Refuse to pay your rent. Trash the rental whenever you can. Dream up ways to ruin what isn’t yours and be as nasty to the landlord as possible. And if he ever stops by to get you back in line, show him your dark defiance. That’s a bad tenant. And what does any normal landlord do to defiant tenants? Normally, they are G-O-N-E. A landlord does not have to put up with tenants like that; he can easily go find someone more respectful.

Thinking about the kinds of things a bad tenant would do, and about how a landlord treats a bad tenant will help us understand the Scripture for today. In the Scriptures for today, Jesus told a parable – an earthly story with a heavenly meaning - about not just bad tenants but wicked tenants. The landlord’s response is surprising.

Before we get to the parable, however, here is a little background to these Scriptures that talk about wicked tenants. It is Tuesday of Holy Week. In less than seventy-two hours, Jesus would be on the cross. What would you do if your life would end in seventy-two hours? Jesus spent some of his last hours teaching about himself and his mission to save sinners. As he was teaching, the religious leaders stopped him and asked, “Who gave you authority to teach here?” That started a conversation that ended with Jesus telling the people and the religious leaders the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. (read text)

Jesus told a story about a landowner who planted a vineyard. This landowner was more generous than most landlords. He gave his tenant farmers everything they needed and more. Mark includes details that the landowner even built a wall around his vineyard to protect it; he dug a winepress to make it easier around harvest-time; he even constructed a watchtower to have advance warning if any intruders were on their way. The landowner spared no expense and gave the farmers all they needed and more to have a productive vineyard. Then he trusted the farmers – he left his baby, the vineyard - in their hands and went far away for a long time.

After a time, the landowner sent a servant back to collect some of the fruits from his baby. The landowner wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable. He had allowed these tenant farmers to work in his immaculate baby. He had given them plenty of nice perks. He even allowed them to reap some of the harvest - he was only asking for some of the fruit; not all. It was nothing unreasonable. He had been so loving and generous to them; he only asked them to be loving in return. But what was the fruit they returned to the generous owner? They beat up and sent away the servant empty-handed. Now most landlords would evict after one act of defiance like that. But not this landlord. He sent two more servants to collect some of the fruit. And the wicked tenants responded with more violence. They didn’t give even one grape or one drop of wine.

Did you notice the progression of violence in the way the evil tenants treated the three servants? The first servant was beaten up and sent back empty-handed. The second servant was beaten up, treated shamefully and sent back empty-handed. The third servant was not just beaten up but wounded; and not just treated shamefully but thrown out. Again, notice that the persistence of the landowner is amazing; most owners would have brought the hammer down on the tenants after the first servant came back beaten and empty. They’d have never sent more than one.

But things become more amazing. Listen to what happens next. The landowner noticed all the violence. He saw clearly how the tension was escalating. So he said, “I know what to do! I’ll kick them out of my vineyard. I’ll crush them into dust for their defiance.” No…he said, “I think I’ll send my little boy to them, the one whom I have carefully raised, the one whose hand I have held and whose tears I have dried. I’ll send them my only son whom I love. Maybe they’ll respect him.” What? Are you nuts? Send your son into that? Unaccompanied and unattended? Nobody in their right mind would send their son by himself into an angry, violent crackhouse like that. But because of his illogical and unbelievable love for these tenants, the owner was willing to even send his son to them – hoping against hope that they’d turn it around.

But what happened instead? Perhaps as the son was walking toward them, those tenants saw him coming from the watchtower that the loving owner had built for them. Perhaps they were feasting on the lavish food from the land that wasn’t even theirs. And as they discussed how to deal with the appearance of the owner’s son, perhaps they planted themselves on his La-Z-Boy’s in the middle of the mansion’s living room. And as they were usurping from the landowner all these rich, lavish things…what did they discuss? Premeditated murder. Not only did they disrespect the son, not only did they wound the son, not only did they send him away empty-handed…they treated him with maximum violence. The son, the heir, the pride and joy of the landowner was thrown out and killed. They couldn’t possibly have done anything worse. They were acting as though THEY were the owners and the owner was the tenant.

So what did the landowner do then? Now he does what we would expect. He will come and kill those wicked tenants and give his baby to someone else who will listen to him and respect him.

That is the parable, the earthly story with the heavenly meaning. What is the heavenly meaning? God is the landowner. He built his plan of forgiveness and he entrusted it to the religious leaders. They were the ones who were to teach the people about Jesus. They were to make sure everyone knew about God’s plan of forgiveness. But these leaders were wicked. Instead of taking good care of the message of forgiveness, and making sure it was taught properly to all, they hated it. Their defiance and disrespect was so thorough, even when God sent his Son – his one and only Son - into the world they did not respect him. When Jesus was teaching the message of forgiveness they said, “Who gives you authority to teach in this vineyard?” They had rejected the Son, were planning to kill him, and in seventy-two hours they would do exactly that.

The point Jesus was getting to was this: God is the landowner, and when he sends his Son to you, you had better listen. There were two reactions to this parable from the people that day. On the one hand, some people said, “May this never be!” May nobody ever be so cruel to the generous landowner that they even kill his son! But on the other hand, some were silent. Silently defiant. Look how Jesus responded to the silent ones in verse 17. 17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” Jesus is the stone; and if you throw out the Son, you will be broken to pieces. If you murder the Son, you will be crushed into smithereens. There is no middle ground. The leaders knew Jesus was talking about them, but instead of repenting their stony hearts became stonier; and they resolved all the more to kill him.

What is the application to us? God has been so generous to us. He blesses us every time we turn around. And he expects a lot out of us. He expects us to obey His Word and listen to what He says. When God sends His Son to us, we had better listen. If we don’t, we’re in trouble.

And that is bad news, because there are plenty of times we don’t listen to God’s Son. The Son says, “Live in daily repentance” and we say, “Daily? Do we really need to repent that often?” The Son says, “All things are under my control for your good” and we say, “I don’t trust you.” The Son says, “Do not worry about the things of this life” and we say, “But I will – and you can’t stop me.”

You see, we don’t listen to the Son very well either. But our generous landowner is so patient with us. He brings servant after servant, even after we haven’t listened, and urges us to come around. Instead of immediately kicking us out, he continues to hold out the Word. He transforms us from being wicked tenants to being faithful tenants of his love. He changes us from being one who would never listen to one who is all ears. What a gracious landowner we have!

A bad tenant is defiant. A good tenant is faithful. May Jesus help us all to be faithful tenants of His Word over the next two weeks. Make the most of the special services coming this Wednesday night, as well as Maundy Thursday evening and Good Friday evening next week. Be a good tenant and listen to His Word as we walk together through Holy Week, to his cross and to his empty tomb of victory. Amen.