Matthew 21:33-46
Are we grateful stewards or are we merely waiting to take over?

If you are like me, sometimes the approach we are called to have toward the Kingdom of God can be very confusing. On the one hand we are called to inherit the Kingdom, and other times like our parable today, we are called to be faithful stewards. So how do we approach this tension of ownership versus stewardship that is so clearly evident in the picture that emerges about God’s Kingdom?

The idea of individual freedom and space is so important to the western world, which is becoming increasingly important in the east too, that it is always more attractive to think about the Kingdom of God in terms of us being inheritors. We have the false impression that “ownership” gives us this great freedom to do as we please with what we own. It is “my” house therefore I can do whatever I want with it; is a symbolic saying for all that we feel about what we own. But all of us know that what is really mine is actually never fully mine. We buy a house, we renovate it, we fill it with furniture, decorate and arrange the rooms with what we think are our desires, but in the back of our minds there is always that longing to be appreciated and admired by those who enter our homes. Even the things that we own 100% are things we will someday pass on to others whether we want to or not. When we go to buy a house, we not only look for how spacious or good it looks from the outside. We make sure to call the home inspector to check the foundation as well as the materials used for the building that they are all near perfect. Usually it is the inside of the home and the things that are behind the walls that tell us whether the previous owner had maintained the house well or not. So the moment we become owners, we also become stewards or caretakers of what we acquire.

In the state that I come from in India, there is a certain law that says foreigners cannot buy or own land anywhere in the state. It is protected land for the indigenous people of the land. However, they can be leased for many purposes. My father leases out the land he does not use or live on to migrant farmers from other states. The agreement is that the farmers will make their home on the land and cultivate it for as long as my father lets them. This privilege comes in exchange for my father’s right to take vegetables grown in that land for his home (not for sale) any time he wants and the farmers’ agreement to protect the land for him from encroachers. I know of many farmers who have lived on leased land with that kind of an agreement for generations. The farmers live as tenants on that piece of property, but unless they care for and protect the land as their very own, they know they will lose all privileges of not only building a home and protection given by the landowner, but also their livelihood. If we happen to visit the farmers on my father’s land, they always say, “Welcome to my home.” They usually take us on a tour of the land, showing us the various vegetables; they show us the border markers to assure us that there have been no encroachers. After the tour they usually invite us to tea and tell us about their children, about past or future events in their lives, and they also appeal to us for some of their needs like medical or school supplies. There is usually a sense of mutual dependency and respect for each other when we meet with the farmers on my father’s land. The farmers do not have the right to own that land, but for all practical purposes they live and treat it like they own it. That particular sense of ownership and stewardship is what God calls us to when it comes to receiving His Kingdom. It is God’s kingdom, but we are called lovingly and generously by Him to come, live and work in it as if we were the owners so that we may truly understand stewardship and enjoy the privileges of being citizens of that everlasting Kingdom.

In our parable, not only were the tenants arrogant and conniving, they were also completely foolhardy. They fooled themselves into believing that they could seize God’s ownership of the vineyard. They probably began to imagine that they knew better ways of making use of that land. The tenants had completely forgotten that it was not they who had taken the pain or the effort to plant the vineyard; that they were not the ones who built the winepress, not the fence, nor the watchtower. In other words, it was already an established vineyard, all the tenants had to do was continue doing what the landowner had been doing, which was to take care of the vineyard and in the process earn their livelihood as well as earn the respect and appreciation of the landowner. But they deliberately gave in to their greed, so much so that they willfully killed in order to fill their coffers.

God’s vineyard is all around us and we live in it. In fact there is really nothing on earth that we have exclusive ownership of, everything comes from God and most of all we owe our lives to God. It is by the desire and will of God that we are here today. And I want to remind us all that The Church, and this church, for you and me is the most prominent representation of God’s vineyard. This church is where we are given the opportunity to deliberately and intentionally work toward nurturing and growing the Kingdom of God. This is the place where we are most blatantly reminded that it is only in giving of ourselves that we can live and grow a meaningful life. The tenants of that vineyard refused to understand and acknowledge that giving the share of the landowner’s harvest to him was tantamount to their own survival and progress in life, which finally led to their ruin.

This vineyard that God has given and entrusted to us, we are called to give willingly and in hope that God will bless our work even more abundantly. It is only in giving not only our monies, but also our time, energy, talents and life that we will be able to see and enjoy the wonderful harvest of God’s vineyard. The danger is not in losing the vineyard God has given us; the danger is in the vineyard being taken away from us and given to others. We must ask ourselves always what is it that we bring before God whether we come to this sanctuary every Sunday or not. Coming to worship is not about getting something, it is about giving God His due of all our praises and thanksgiving for all that we enjoy inside and outside this sanctuary.

Today we will participate in witnessing the baptism of Adela into the family of God. Having heard her story I know that none of us can take credit for Adela committing her life to God today. From what I have heard, God has been with her right from the time she was being formed and it was God alone who walked with her and somehow made her to yearn and understand the eternal love of God for her. Today we are privileged to count her as one of our own, that it is in this church that she has chosen to be baptized in. The question we must ask today is, are we willing to participate joyfully in the harvest of the vineyard that God has prepared for us? May God stir us to give joyfully to Him. Amen.