“Getting the point”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Luke 20:9-19 (Forward, p. 35) CEV p. 1089
The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses knew perfectly well that today’s parable, the Parable of the Renters of the Vineyard, was directed at them, and they didn’t like it, not one little bit. However, rather than deal with it, learn from it, they decided to have Jesus arrested. Sadly, such attempts to silence critics or detractors, are all too prevalent. Seldom does it come down to arrests or judicial murders, as was the case of Jesus, but slander, mistruths, false information, or some other way of publicly discrediting the person, work perfectly well. They cause the public to distrust what the critic has said.
But what has Jesus said that has so inflamed the emotions of these folks? Pretty simple, actually. He has used the image of a landowner, a vineyard owner, renting out his property to a group of people. Clearly, He is setting God in the position of the landowner and is suggesting that God is rightly entitled to ‘His due’ but isn’t getting it. Indeed, just the opposite has been happening: His renters have badly mistreated the first servants sent to collect the rents and then actually murdered His son when He sends Him. There is absolutely no respect for either the Father or the Son; only a selfish ‘what can I get out of it’ attitude on the part of the renters!
So, in keeping with the message of this parable, we need to be very careful that we do not fall into the error of thinking that this world, or the church, or anything else, ‘happens’ to belong to ourselves, or that, ultimately, we get to decide how they are run and what is done with them. God is sovereign and is in charge and expects to be honoured and obeyed—and get His due.
Forward notes: “The stone that the builder rejected” (verse 17b).
“In 1719, during a time of upheaval, division, and fear, poet and theologian Isaac Watts penned the words of the now- famous hymn ‘Joy to the World.’ The hymn was originally not written for Christmas but as a reminder that at Jesus’s second coming, the world would be united as one. His hymn assured the people that even in the face of division, uncertainty, and fear, God was still in charge.
“Right now, our nation, our neighbourhoods, and our churches are filled with fear: fear of the unknown and fear of the future. But Jesus’s advent reminds us that we are not called to succumb to fear but to live the Good News.
“Following Jesus means that we take our light of faith into the places of greatest need. It means that there is no place, person, cause, or community so downtrodden, forgotten, or depraved—no stone rejected by this world— that we cannot seek and serve Christ in them. Following Jesus means we must be willing to discover Christ already at work and present in the places of greatest need among the rejected stones.”
Moving Forward: “What are some tangible ways to replace fear with God’s love? How will you do so today?”
A concluding note: as ‘socially’ attractive and politically ‘correct’ as this sentiment might be, the ‘rejected stones’ mentioned here by Jesus are not other people, but He Himself. He is talking about people rejecting Him. And yes, we should take an interest and care for those around us who are rejected by others or by society at large, but we should take all the more care that we do not reject Jesus or His lordship or His demands upon our lives—as did those chief priests and teachers of the Law of Moses back in Jesus’ day.