Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Thursday, 2 October 2014 - Matthew 21:33-46

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Thursday, 2 October 2014 - Matthew 21:The Story of the Greedy Farmhands
33-34 “Here’s another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.
35-37 “The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘they will respect my son.’
38-39 “But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
40 “Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?”
41 “He’ll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance,” they answered. “Then he’ll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it’s time.”
42-44 Jesus said, “Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:
The stone the masons threw out
    is now the cornerstone.
This is God’s work;
    we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
“This is the way it is with you. God’s kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed.”
45-46 When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them. They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God.(The Message)
Bullying has become rampant in our schools and workplaces. There are now hot lines and people watching social media sites to monitor these attacks. Other forms of rejection are felt daily by those who some in society have declared of less worth—just choose an age, ethnicity, life style choice, gender or employment status. 
This parable speaks to those who see themselves as important, who want to keep control of what they have, even though it wasn't theirs in the first place. This parable speaks to the people of God who are tempted to reject God's ownership of all that is and who try to manipulate situations for their own benefit, even to the extreme of murder. The restoration after such actions can come only with the inclusion of those who will produce fruit that is faithful to God's purposes.
This text makes me wonder whom God is bringing into the kingdom to bear fruit now. How does God continue to call the church today to faithful interaction with others?
Lord of all creation, we confess that we have treated the church as ours instead of yours. Forgive us for our rejection of those different than ourselves. As your Spirit restores us, help us today to work together for your glory. Amen.
Julianne Barlow (Koivisto)
Assistant to the Bishop for Mission,
Synod of Alberta and the Territories, 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Calgary, Alberta 
Doctor of Ministry , 2012
Matthew 21:33 "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.
34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.
35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way.
37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son.'
38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.'
39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."
42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.
44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.
46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.(New Revised Standard Version)
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