Is God Lax?

A Position of Great Privilege

10.4.26 [Matthew 21:33-46] River of Life (20th Sunday after Pentecost)

Grace and peace are yours in abundance through your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Great teachers grow with their students. When you were very young, a teacher spent time teaching you how to write your letters and how to add your numbers. A few years later, a new teacher built upon that foundation and taught you how to diagram sentences and solve long division problems. As we learn, the lessons become more challenging,  more complex, and more consequential. 

So it should come as no surprise that, as Jesus taught, his lessons moved from the basics to things that were more challenging, more complex, and more consequential. Mt. 13:34 When Jesus spoke to the crowds, he only spoke to them in parables—earthly stories that conveyed eternal truths. 

But these were not just any earthly stories. Jesus took the things that the crowds knew, lived, and understood and used these images and experiences to articulate the things they did not know about the kingdom of God, the ways they were not living rightly, and the misconceptions they had about the Messiah’s purpose and impact. Jesus started with simple pictures like light and salt, seeds and fruit to illustrate how God works in us and in our world. But the most powerful parables Jesus spoke were longer stories—like the good Samaritan and the prodigal son. With stories like these, Jesus emphasized God’s mercy & patience.

God is merciful. God is patient. But his mercy and his patience are not to be taken for granted. Today’s parable drives that home. 

The story is simple. There is a vineyard owner, some farmers, a bunch of servants, and a singular son. And there is a dispute between the farmers and the owner over what belongs to whom. 

But this setting—a vineyard—meant something to the Israelites—just as amber waves of grain, purple mountain majesties, and fruited plains mean more to us as Americans. Israel saw their land as a vineyard. The Promised Land was a land flowing with milk and honey, a land with Dt. 6:10-11 cities they did not build and vineyards they did not plant. It was a turn-key delight. God used that picture in Isaiah 5, when he said the people of Israel are Is. 5:7 his vineyard.  

And look at what God did for his people. He gave them every blessing, every advantage, everything a vineyard would need to flourish. He put a wall around it. Dug a winepress in it. Built a watchtower. Went above and beyond to really make it prosper. 

God took the risk. God put in the work. He made the investment. Then he rented out his vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. His expectation was simply that they would share a portion of their harvest. If the weather was poor, his return would be poor as well. If it was a bumper crop, it would be a banner year. 

Except his tenants had a different idea. They liked the set up. They seemed to do well for themselves. But when the servants showed up expecting to collect their master’s share, they abused them.       Mt. 21:35 One was beaten. Another killed. A third was stoned. 

So the master sent more servants. More than the first time. And they got more of the same. That’s to be expected. But what happens next is not what we would expect. The owner sends his son, saying: Mt. 21:37 They will respect my son. 

But when these tenant farmers recognized the son, they hatched a sinister plot. Mt. 21:38 Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance. They took him. They threw him out of his vineyard and killed him.

You can almost feel the crowd ball up their collective fists as Jesus invites them into the story. What do you think the owner’s gonna do to them? Mt. 21:41 He will bring those wretches to a wretched end. 

Their collective sense of justice was spot on. But they did not seem to understand that this was a self-indicting verdict. This parable was a thinly veiled summary of how Israel had abused the Old Testament prophets and how Jesus himself, the Son who deserves respect, would thrown out outside of Jerusalem, suffer, and die on a cross. 

These things were fulfilled in short order. But the warning of this parable still reverberates today. Look at your life, and you will see a vineyard designed, established, and given to you by your God. 

He made you, knitting you together in your mother’s womb. He set the times and places that you would live. He gave you your body and soul, your mind and all your abilities. He placed you in a family. He surrounded you with friends and neighbors. And what are the fruits he expects to collect? 

He expects you to fear, love, and trust in him above all things. He expects you to love your neighbor as yourself. 

He expects you to live with self-control, not just do whatever your flesh wants, but instead to be led by the Holy Spirit. He expects you to be servant-hearted. Humble. Loving. Truthful. Faithful. Thankful. Joyful. Patient. Kind. Good. Gentle. Content. Quick to forgive. Eager to bear one another’s burdens. Willing to suffer for his name. 

Just like he did for these farmers, and for Israel, God has blessed you with everything you need. You always have more than enough to do all kinds of good for others. But we don’t react that way, do we? 

We think it’s excessive when God tells us to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. We think it’s impractical to be in the Word each day, or to stay for Bible class, but we’ll fritter away hours scrolling our phones and watch the next episode without a second thought. 

We think it is unreasonable for us to be patient and prayerful when God doesn’t meet our expectations, our timelines, or our demands. 

We think it is unrealistic for God to tell us to be kind in this kind of world. To be good when bad things happen to us. To be joyful when we are struggling or even suffering. To be truthful when everyone else is lying and deceitful. To forgive when we’ve been hurt again and again. To bear someone else’s burdens when our plates are full. To suffer for his name when others are sidestepping it.      

And when God sends his servants, men and women who love him, to teach us, to correct us, to rebuke us, or to train us in righteousness, we dismiss them. Sometimes, quite rudely. We may not beat them senseless, but we tell them that how I spend my time is none of your business. What should the Lord Almighty do with us? 

He has done the unthinkable. He has sent his Son. Jesus did not just come into this world to collect what was rightfully his. He came to be what we have not been. He came to endure the wretched end that our sins deserved. The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.

The Lord has produced the fruits that we have not. Jesus feared, loved, and trusted the Father above all things. He loved his neighbor even when they acted as his enemy and plotted his death. 

He spent the Sabbath in the synagogues, even as some of his fellow worshippers were trying to expose him. Jesus was kind in a cut-throat world, healing lepers and the demon-possessed. He was truthful, even to those who lied to his face. He was forgiving, even to those who let him down when he needed them most. Though his plate was full with the work of taking away the sin of the world, he took time to bless the little children and praise those who did what they could. 

He was good even when bad things were happening to him—praying for Jerusalem after she turned on him and his executioners as they tortured him for fun. He was faithful, even as he was suffering, committing his spirit into the hands of his Father. 

Do you see the marvelous things the Lord has done? Do you respect his Son? By God’s grace alone, you do. Without his powerful work in your heart and mind, you would have lost your way like these farmers. 

But God has shown you that his Son is the cornerstone of your faith. God has opened your eyes to see wonderful things in his Word. He has revealed to you what a privilege it is to have the position you do. To be his child. To work in his vineyard. To be forgiven and fruitful. 

And you are these things because the Lord has done this. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Through Baptism, he has washed and cleansed you of all your wretched guilt and sin. Through his Word, he has led you to daily repentance and grown you in the grace and knowledge of his Son. Through his Supper, he has fed you. Forgiven your sins. Strengthened you to remain in him, to go into his vineyard and bear much fruit to the glory of his name. The Lord has done this in you. For you. Through you. And it is marvelous in our eyes. 

God has given us a position of great privilege: not as owner-operators of our lives, but as beloved children and trusted workers in his vineyard. Everything we have—our bodies and abilities, our time and relationships, our forgiveness and faith—comes from his generous hand. 

Remembering his generosity and goodness, let us joyfully produce the fruits of faith he expects. Let us love God above all the things he has given us. Let us trust him above our own understanding. Let us live as his servants in everything we do. Being known as people who produce humility, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. Let us honor the Son as we forgive as we have been forgiven, bear one another’s burdens, and even suffer for the name of his Son.  Rooted in Christ, nourished by his Word and Sacraments, and strengthened by his forgiveness, let us gladly live as his forgiven and fruitful people. Amen.