Trouble in the Vineyard

Welcome to our Sunday morning service at 10 am at Clevedon. Join us in person or watch the live stream on our YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxBzxjBb3xU8ra2NHwvD_9A (The service can also be viewed at any time afterwards.)

The reading and reflection are below:

Mark 12:1-12

1 Then he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5 Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, "They will respect my son.' 7 But those tenants said to one another, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?" 12 When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

This is a difficult story that we hear today.  It is a story that seems to be full of violence and disruption and fear.

But in listening to this parable, I want to read to you another passage.

From the prophet Isaiah.

Remember Jesus is speaking to a hostile audience. The Scribes and Pharisees - and they, on hearing Jesus speak, would have immediately remembered this passage:

Isaiah 5:1-7

5 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry

In this ancient passage, God is the owner of the vineyard, which represents God’s people. The coming destruction results from the people’s failure to do what God “hoped for” (verses 2, 4, 7). The failure to enact and embody justice and righteousness, invites catastrophe.

So, as we listen to this difficult parable, keep in mind the people whom Jesus is addressing - and the connections they would have made to their ancient scriptures.

We are told at the end of today’s story:

12 When they, (the Scribes and Pharisees)  realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

I think, probably since they first started making movies, there has been this category called ''disaster movies.'' 

Movies about invaders from outer space, zombies, climate collapse, tidal waves, sharks,  and of course, viruses.

One commentator reminded me that  'every disaster movie begins with the government ignoring a scientist.’  

And in the same way in the story today and in the account from Isaiah,  every Bible disaster starts with those in power ignoring a prophet. As they ignored Jesus.

We hear that the landowner who planted the vineyard put a fence around it, dug the pit, and built the guard tower. A huge investment. 

He sends a slave to collect a share of the wine but who ends up facing the hostile tenants, a slave who is beaten and sent on his way empty-handed.

What does he tell his master when he finally makes his way to the far country, limping? Whatever it was, it did not prevent the landowner from doing the exact same thing again, sending another slave, alone and, apparently, unarmed. Asking for a share of the produce. This slave gets rewarded with a head wound and harassment, and then he too must make the long journey back to the landowner.

Was anything learned from this second attempt? No. The stubborn landlord just sends another slave off, as if nothing had happened. This one doesn’t come back.

At any rate, Jesus tells us that he just keeps on sending out these slaves, “many” of them.

Over months, years decades. We don’t know the time frame.

They all come back injured, if they come back at all. How many harvests have come and gone since the first slave was sent out? But the landowner has one last attempt, a “beloved” son.

The tenants grab him, kill him, and toss his body out to the wild animals.

What will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will (finally!) make the trip to the vineyard himself destroy the tenants and then give the property to others.

It is all quite brutal. But not so different from the warning Isaiah gave all those centuries before.  The terrible consequence of violence and injustice.

On one level the story reflects something that seems deep within human nature.  Our inclination towards denial.  There is denial in the story by the vineyard workers, and denial too by the hostile audience who is listening to the story. They do not want to connect the dots here.

But at its core, the parable that Jesus told of the tenants in the vineyard presents a nobleman who chooses grace and vulnerability in the face of violent opposition. The prophets are sent again and again and they face rejection and death. And finally, the precious son is sent and he is murdered and his body is tossed away.

At the end of the parable, Jesus makes an odd leap, asking his opponents if they know the story about the stone that goes from rejection to exaltation, and how amazing that is. Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes “

It is only at that point that these priests, scribes and Pharisees realise the parable is about them. And about their rejection of Jesus as God’s son.

How could this man from Nazareth, how could this man who eats with sinners, who heals the rejected, how could this man who rejects the use of military force, how could he be the son of God?

This man, who to us appears so weak of so little consequence.   

Paul picks up this reversal of expectation:

1^st Corinthians Chapter 1:   26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God.

Two Weeks ago, there was the funeral for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in an Arctic gulag. Almost certainly murdered by a decision made by Putin.

None of the public eulogies included Navalny’s conversion from atheism to Christianity.  Yet, he had spoken explicitly about how his faith influenced his activism. He acknowledged it might earn him mockery from those who oppose him.

“The fact is that I am a Christian, which usually sets me up as an example for constant ridicule, because mostly our people are atheists, and I was once quite a militant atheist myself,” Navalny said “But now I am a believer, and that helps me a lot in my activities because everything becomes much, much easier.”

Navalny knew that going back to Russia would likely end up in his death. Yet he did it. Identifying his faith as the basis for his life and his courage in how to work against corruption.

And I listen to that and I think how often our secular media do not explore the connection between faith and real action.

And when they do, when a high-profile Christian leader like Efeso Collins dies suddenly, the faith that was at the core of his life is almost seen as being "just" part of his Samoan culture and not a central driving force in his life.

And I think too about the people in our lives and the life of our church who persevere and do the hard things day after day. And it is tough but for them it is normal.  With often very little fanfare and recognition.

We are so aware today of the destruction of the environment and the destruction of so many lives. But making Jesus the cornerstone of our faith also places as central our commitment to restoration. Judgement in our faith is not about condemning but about restoring - our relationship with God, and with each other. Restoring justice, fairness and peace.

Fundamental to our faith is the affirmation that God sent Jesus not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

So, as we reflect on the challenge of today, let’s remember how God sends the vulnerable. God uses us in our doubt and even in our weakness.  

In the midst of these times, when we hear so much that is troubling, when we all feel vulnerable, when we see the power of hatred and greed and fear - and the use of so much violence - as inadequate as we might feel - God’s will for us is not to live in fear but to bring hope and life.

So, let’s affirm again, that Jesus is the cornerstone of our lives, and to see this as a special time where we can be those people of grace and healing for the world which God so loves.

AMEN