Sermon and Video for Fifth Sunday in Lent - God's Relentless Mercy
Isaiah 43:16-21
Philippians 3:(4b-7) 8-14
Luke 20:9-20
O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Several of my Bibles provide useful titles to each section to help me, the reader, know what is coming in the text. All these Bibles identify today’s Gospel as the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. That title gets no argument from me. The tenants are indeed wicked. They refuse to pay what they owe the owner. Somehow, they became confused about their true position in the vineyard. They actually think that just because they work there, they are entitled to own the place. They forgot that there is a world of difference between being an owner and being a worker. The owner makes the place happen, makes it exist, and then bears the ultimate responsibility of the place. The worker exists to help the owner fulfill the mission of the place where he works. The tenants are, at best, stewards. They don’t own the vineyard, they are its caretakers. They work so that the vineyard will become as productive as possible. Their work serves the owner.
Because they forgot this important distinction between owner and steward, they believe that they are entitled to own the place. Even if they use violence to get it, they see themselves as the true owners. So, when the three representatives of the owner come to collect what is due, the wicked tenants disrespect and harm them. When the son, the heir of the owner finally comes, the tenants make plans to take Him outside the vineyard and kill Him so they can have the place all to themselves.
In the Old Testament, God speaking through the prophets, often refers to Israel and Jerusalem as His vineyard. The prophets are sent into the vineyard to address false doctrine and sinful practices. The prophets often include the professional religious in their denouncements. There is no doubt that the temple priests, scribes, and elders that question Jesus and are now listening to this parable by way of an answer, catch all the allusions. They understand that Jesus is talking about them. They know how their forebears reacted to the prophets. They also hear Jesus identify himself as the owner’s son. They disapprove of Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah. They do not think that he has what they are looking for. He is not the kind of Messiah they think they need. They cannot respect this son of the owner because they know better than God what they need.
They will use violence if necessary to suppress Jesus because the people are listening to Him and following Him.
Identifying this story as the Parable of the Wicked Tenants is appropriate. However, if I ever have an opportunity to provide useful titles to Bible passages, I think I would like to rename this parable: The Parable of Relentless Mercy. The reason for my editorial preference is because my title gets us to focus on God’s astonishing and persistent grace and mercy instead of the bad guys. Granted, we do need the law in order to receive the gospel. But, I see the Good News of God’s mercy shining forth in this parable. I do not want a title to misdirect us from the Good News that Jesus shares here.
The good news begins with the awareness that the vineyard exists in the first place. God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity that they would receive a land of their own and that they will be a blessing to all the world.
Israel is God’s vineyard. The city of Jerusalem and the temple are God’s vineyard. Yet, despite receiving the promise of Abraham and receiving the gift of the Mosaic Law on Mount Sinai, there are periods in their long history when they needed correction. God sent prophets to them to proclaim God’s message to return to the Lord God. We know the names of a few of these prophets: Amos, Micah, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah. There were many more. Sometimes the people responded with faith, but not always. Sometimes they were treated shamefully and their preaching was met with violence.
Yet, God persists. He does not give up. He is faithful to His covenant, even when His people are not. God’s mercy is relentless. Out of love He calls His people to repent, to turn to Him again. Out of love He disciplines His people. God sends prophet after prophet to preach and call all the people to faithfulness in doctrine and practice.
The people of the Covenant are a blessing to all the world because they give us God’s own Son, Jesus, born of Mary, God incarnate. He is the Messiah who preaches repentance, true doctrine, and salvation through His cross. Knowing what the outcome will surely be, that they will kill the Son, God’s relentless mercy does not stop. Instead of damnation, Jesus’ death on the cross is the pathway to our own salvation.
Jesus is rejected by the spiritual leaders and by many of the people. Yet, God’s relentless mercy persists. Jesus is the stone that was rejected by the religious leaders. God transformed the rejected stone into the cornerstone of the Church. In the church, ethnicity is no longer a primary factor. Jesus calls all people to faith. Jew and Gentile are moved by the Holy Spirit to look upon Jesus and his cross with faith. A faith that says, “I have faith that Jesus is my sacrificial lamb. Jesus dies for me so that I can live forever in God’s kingdom. Jesus suffers for my sins so that he can take my sins upon Himself and give me His righteousness and His forgiveness. By His spilled blood, I am set free from the eternal grip of that unholy trinity of sin, death, and the devil.”
Jesus and his cross are the cornerstone of our faith. All because of the Father’s relentless mercy for the sake of the world.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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