Crazy In Love

 Crazy in Love Matthew 21:33-46 God is crazy in love with us. Love is crazy. It is crazy to love someone. I marry folks who are crazy in love. And it is sort of crazy when you think about it. Choosing one person out of everyone to love and spend your life with. The wedding vows say to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. It is crazy and completely selfless to promise these things, buts that's what you do when you are in love. In the words of the singer Norah Jones, "I'm crazy, of thinking that my love could hold you. Oh I'm crazy for trying, and crazy for crying, and I'm crazy for loving you" It's the sort of crazy that we see in today's story. Today we have another story about a vineyard. A couple of Sunday's ago vineyard who asked his sons to work. One said yes and didn't. The other said no and did. Not too crazy. But this week we have another crazy sounding vineyard story. It goes something like this... 2 There was once a wealthy farmer who owned a lot of land. This farmer specialized in growing organic grapes and had a reputation for creating high end wine at a reasonable price. The farmer invested heavily in his vineyard. It had state of the art security and a brand new high efficiency winepress. After many years of hard work and investing, the farmer decided to go to a conference on organic farming. He hired some farmhands to fill in for him while he was away. When it was harvest time he sent a few of his servants to check in on his vineyard. When they arrived the farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. The third ran away while dodging stones thrown by the attackers. The third ran all the way back and told the farmer what happened. The farmer then sent more servants to check on the farm. They were treated with the same violence. Now the farmer is at the end of his rope. He is desperate to reach out to his farm hands. He thought surely they will respect my son. So he sent his son. When the farmhands saw the son arriving they rubbed their hands together and began to scheme. They said, "this is the farmer's son, lets kill him and vineyard will be ours!" So the farmer sent his son and he was killed. 3 At the end of the story we are left with the question, "what will the farmer do?" It is a perplexing question. Lets take a closer look at the story and see what we can find out. To be straightforward today's story is an allegory. Different characters in this story are meant to represent people other than themselves. 1. The farmer in this story is God. 2. The farmhands represent us, God's chosen people. 3. The people sent on farmer's behalf as servants are the prophets. 4. And the farmer's son is Jesus. Lets begin with the farmhands: It's kind of crazy, when you think about it. Why on earth do these farmhands think that they're going to inherit the vineyard? Oh, I know, it's a legal possibility. But it's not like that landlord has disappeared. He's sent servants, and more servants, and then his son. Who's to say he doesn't have another son, or more servants, or lawyer, or at least a gang of thugs at his disposal to take care of these farmhands. 4 They're crazy, I'm tell you, just like Bernie Madoff and all the other dudes all the way back to Charles Ponzi, thinking they can get something for nothing in a pyramid scheme. They're crazy. But they're not half so crazy as this farmer! Think about it. First he sends servants, and they're beaten, stoned, and killed. Then he sends more - not the police, mind you, or an army, just more servants - and surprise surprise...the same thing happens again. So where does the bright idea come from to send his son, his heir, alone, to treat with these bloodthirsty hooligans? It's absolutely crazy. Who would do such a thing? Well maybe, just maybe it's a crazy farmer so desperate to be in relationship with these farmhands that he will do anything, risk anything, to reach out of them. This farmer acts more like a desperate parent, willing to do or say or try anything to reach out to lost child than he does a businessman. It's crazy, the kind of crazy that comes from being in love. So we have a crazy farmer, but we still have this question that Jesus asks. "What will the farmer do when he comes back?" 5 All the listening Pharisees can imagine is violence: "He will put those wretches to a miserable death." The Pharisees condemn themselves. That's part of Matthew's narrative, to have his opponents voice their own condemnation. (How do we condemn ourselves? The risk with all parts of our lives is that we will become possessive. We think of the church, for example, as our church and fail to see that it is the very body of Christ. We can be guilty of seeking to speak to the various challenges of the world not as Christ would lead us but in ways that are convenient or self-serving for ourselves. Thus our guiding principle is no longer the Gospel but popular opinion. Or when we need to reach out to the needs of others, we place ourselves first. We begin to see stewardship as a burden instead of a joyful response to all that God has done. It is not in just the area of the church that we become possessive. In our relationships with our families, we can easily place self before the others. We can begin to take for granted the love that others have for us. Love is never a matter of meeting halfway; it is always a matter of going the extra mile. And when love is truly the motivator, the extra mile is never a burden. 6 There is always a need to be worthy of trust if a relationship is going to be strong.) These are the types of questions we ask But realizing this story as an allegory invites us to consider a different question: not what will that farmer do, but what has the farmer named God done. And to that question we have Jesus' own answer: the farmer sent his son, Jesus, to visit with all of us who have hoarded God's blessings for ourselves and not given back to God. And when we killed him, God raised him from the dead, and sent him back to us yet one more time, still bearing the message of God's crazy, desperate love. God, just like the farmer, doesn't give up easy. Most of us would agree that after the brutal action of the farmhands, most humans would have struck back with violence or given up. However, the farmer, instead, sent another group to collect what he thought was due. When this met the same resistance, he sent his son thinking that surely they would not do the same to him. The analogy between the son and Jesus is very clear. God's chosen nation of Israel had rejected many prophets, but now they were resisting the very Son of God. Of course, the cross reminds us that that God's Son met the same fate as the son of the farmer. But The Good News of our faith is not even death stops God. 7 This story introduces us to the desperate, crazy love of God, love offered not once, not twice, but a million times or more to all who will receive it. In this story and in our lives God desperately reaches out to us. It is sort of crazy when you think about it. Choosing humanity to love and sacrifice your son for. God in sending his son promises to be with us. Because that is what you do when you are in love. God is, "crazy, of thinking that love could hold you. God is crazy for trying, and crazy for crying, and crazy for loving you." "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love gives; it doesn't grab. God promises to have us and to hold us, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward and not even death shall do us part. For neither height nor depth, neither life nor death can separate us from the love of God! We come to the table this morning remembering. The Crazy Sacrificial Love that Jesus has for us.