Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

This week, we’re looking at another in a long series of parables. Jesus is yet again reprimanding the religious authorities who tried to entrap him with a question after Palm Sunday and the cleansing of the Temple.

And it’s a pretty offensive and unpleasant parable.

We’ve already heard the parable about the two sons—one who talked back but followed through, and the other that didn’t follow through on his word.

Then, we heard about the vineyard tenants who killed those who came to collect the landowner’s share of the harvest, including the landowner’s son.

Once more, Jesus is speaking to the chief priests and the elders in the Temple, probably in front of a listening crowd.

The parable for today has two major points of conflict.

It starts off happily enough: there’s a king whose son is getting married. If any of you have watched any of the British royal weddings, you’ll have a picture of the joyous spectacle.

But here’s the first point of conflict:

Can you imagine what it would be like if for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding or Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding—if every single RSVP came back marked “regrets”?

In the parable, it’s worse than that! The invited guests are not only making half-hearted excuses—some of them even beat and killed the messengers!

This is not just an embarrassment or an insult. It’s incredible cruelty.

The king wreaks swift vengeance on the perpetrators. But there’s still a problem (apart from all the violence and death—thankfully it’s a parable and not a factual story): the problem is that there are still no guests for the wedding.

So, the king orders that anybody and everybody be invited. “Fill the banquet hall with whoever you can find—good and bad, rich and poor—just make sure it’s filled for my son’s wedding.”

And just like that, we have a glorious image of the Reign of God as a wedding banquet filled with people laughing, feasting, celebrating together. Especially having lived through a time when so many weddings were postponed, downsized, or livestreamed, this is such a beautiful picture of what the Reign of God will look like.

I wish the parable ended there—the loveliest happy ending you could ask for.

But there’s a second point of conflict:

There’s a guest who isn’t wearing the correct attire. The king confronts him and has him tied up and thrown out of the banquet into a pretty terrifying-sounding landscape.

This is a rough parable, especially since we are so far removed from its time and culture. This is the most satisfying explanation I’ve found:

Since the king had people brought in from the street, wedding robes would have been provided for these new guests. It wouldn’t have been expected that they would have been wearing tuxedos on their way home from work. The proper attire would have been provided.

Which means that this improperly-attired guest was purposely choosing not to participate in the festivities and was rejecting his host’s hospitality.

This parable has a twofold warning:

1.    one warning is to these particular chief priests and elders (yet again)—that they have rejected God’s message brought to them by the prophets and John the Baptist and by Jesus. They have not been listening to God and they have mistreated those who bring God’s truth to them.

2.    The second warning is to the crowds—everyone listening apart from the chief priests and elders. Lest they feel self-righteous at Jesus’ stern words to the religious authorities, Jesus reminds them that no one by their own power is deserving of being a part of the Reign of God. It is by God’s grace alone that anyone celebrates at the wedding feast of the Lamb.

This is hard. I still wish the parable ended with the celebration, not with judgment.

The wedding feast of the Lamb is expansive. The table is long and full and rich. It is for everybody. Everybody is invited. Everybody is welcome. Everybody is included. Everyone’s presence is important and valued.

Sometimes though, when we focus so much on God’s mercy, we can downplay God’s justice.

Our God is both merciful and just.

I attended an online conference a few years ago called “When Faith Hurts.” It was about various types of abuse inside and outside the church—how best to support survivors of abuse, how best to prevent opportunities for abuse, how to recognize and report it, etc.

In one session, we were talking about language and stories in church and how some things can be comforting for some people and not for others because of traumas they have experienced.

The presenter was talking about an interview with our Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, from 2017, in which she was asked about Hell.

“Do you think there’s a Hell?” the interviewer asked.

“There may be,” Bishop Eaton said, “but I think it’s empty.”

“Jesus was clear in John 3 that when He is raised up, He will draw all people to Himself,” Eaton stated. “And if we take a look at salvation history, ever since we got booted out of the garden, it has been God’s relentless pursuit to bring His people to God.”

“Now, people wonder, ‘Well, can you say no?’ I imagine you can say no to God, [but] I don’t think God’s going to give up on us. And if God has eternity, then God can certainly keep working on those folks,” she said. “That might be a little bit of heresy along the lines of origin, but I don’t think God gives up.”

I love this, and I so hope it’s true.

But the presenter from the conference said that he encountered numerous people who had survived abuse who were not comforted by Bishop Eaton’s interview.

He said it wasn’t so much wishing their abusers to be in Hell, but more that it undermined their hope in God’s justice.

So often survivors of abuse do not experience justice on Earth—

whether because they feel they must remain silent, are not believed, or are ruled against in court. So the idea of Hell being empty made them feel like they would be denied justice by God also.

I had never thought of it that way, and it broke my heart to hear it. I realized that what I found to be a life-giving, hopeful, generous idea was the opposite for some people who have experienced terrible trauma.

God is both merciful and just.

I don’t know exactly how that works. How God can on the one hand be so merciful that God brings us to the wedding feast when we don’t deserve it and on the other hand that we will also be somehow held accountable for the ways we hurt each other and dishonor our relationship with God.

This is one of the mysteries of faith. In biblical Greek, the word for “faith” doesn’t mean to mentally assent to something. It means something more like “trust.”

This parable reminds us that we can trust in a God who has an expansive table that everyone is invited to—not just the “important people,” but the good and the bad and random people on the street and everyone in between. And also that we can trust in a God who brings justice for those who have been abused by people with power over them.

Without God’s justice, the feast would not truly be a celebration.

Without God’s mercy, the table would be empty.

When we eat and drink a foretaste of that wedding feast in a few minutes, I invite you to contemplate the mystery of God’s simultaneous justice and mercy. And I pray that you will feel the presence of that just and merciful God.

First Lutheran Church

October 8, 2023 + The Eighteen Sunday after Pentecost B

 

Matthew 21:33-46 + [Jesus said to the people:] 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. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They 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.”

Sermon

“Ownership vs. Stewardship”

Pastor Greg Ronning

So, as the story goes, the infamous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys was sparked in 1878 over a heated disagreement over the ownership of some pigs that had wandered onto the Hatfield farm.  Unable to resolve their dispute, they brough the matter before the local Justice of the Peace.  The Justice of the Peace heard the testimony of both sides, and then relying on the principle that “Possession was Nine-Tenths of the Law,” ruled that the hogs belonged to the party in possession, - the Hatfields.(It must be noted that the Justice of the Peace, was a preacher with the last name of Hatfield.)Needless to say, the McCoy family was not happy with Preacher Hatfields’ decision.  Soon after the feud intensified, lasting until 1901, with both families suffering the loss of over a dozen lives.

The notion that “Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law,”seems to be in operation in today’s parable from the Gospel of Matthew.  A landowner builds a vineyard, leases it out to a group of tenants, and then leaves the country.  And during his absence the tenants slowly and surely start to believe that the vineyard belongs to them.  Afterall, he’s gone, he took off, he left it behind.  In his absence they take possession of the land.  And when he returns, a bloody feud begins.

It's interesting to note that the tenets in today’s parable are not initially described as bad people.  They are not frauds or con artists who had devised a scheme.  They are not raiders or pillagers that have taken the vineyard by force. They are theoneswhom the landowner chose to take care of his property, tenants who somewhere along the way forgot their role, tenants who forgot they were supposed to be stewards, tenants who fell victim to their desire to be owners.

“Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law,” while not a recognized legal principle, seems to be deeply rooted in the human condition.  Bottom line, we humans like to possess things, we like to run things, we like to own things!  We often forget that God has called us to be stewards of the earth’s resources, not owners.  So it is that stewardship does not come naturally to us, it challenges our fallen sense of entitlement, our fallen desire to be consumers.

Father Richard Rohr, in his book “Falling Upward,” discusses this vocational struggle, the calling to be faithful and generous stewards, in a world that encourages (seduces) us to be owners or consumers.  Rohr encourages us to think of ourselves as “containers.”  We are human containers, shaped and formed, for better or for worse, by the world around us, by the people who raised us, by the places that educated us, and by the activities in which we participated. And then he emphasizes that it’s not so much the “container” that matters, but how we use the “container” that matters, shapes our identity, and defines our life.

The great temptation in our life, especially in our society, in our context, is the predisposition(or obsession) to just want to fill our containers with stuff.Rohr calls this the religion of consumerism.  There’s just so much stuff all around us. Good stuff, bad stuff, and indifferent stuff.  And we like to buy it, possess it, and fill up our space with it.  That becomes what life is all about.  And ultimately “the stuff” becomes our identity, our reason, our purpose, and eventually our downfall.  Rohr warns us, once you get all filled up, it's impossible to add more, because we can only contain so much.  And life becomes stagnate!  Because once you are full, and hanging onto everything you got, everything you’ve gathered up, everything you’ve hoarded; - there’s just no room for something new.  And life becomes tragic, because there’s no space for the God who wants to do a new thing in your life. 

The religion of consumerism ends badly.  Father Rohr encourages us to practice what he calls “Authentic Spirituality,” the faith practice of Jesus as described in the Second Chapter of Philippians,“Let the same mind be in you that wasin Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God,did not regard equality with Godas something to be grasped,but emptied himself,taking the form of a slave,assuming human likeness.And being found in appearance as a human,he humbled himselfand became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”“Authentic Spirituality”is nothing like the religion of consumerism but rather all about letting go and emptying our lives, modeling the life of Jesus as described in the Second Chapter of Philippians, using the container that is our life not for hoarding but rather for passing things along.

So, what does this look like, the shift from the religion of consumerism to the spiritual practices of Jesus?

An Object Lesson!

So here we go, this is your life, your container!

(A large Styrofoam cup)

Rohr says that your first job in life is to build this container,

The container which will hold the things you need for life.

Once it’s built, here are some of the things you need …

(Rocks) Education / Life Experiences  / Wisdom

(Pennies) Financial Resources

(Nuts) Sustenance / things that will nourish and sustain you.

(Golf Balls) Blessings / Good Things

(Halloween Candy) Joy, things that give you joy

And here is you practicing the religion of consumerism!

First Things First, Protect and Claim the container!  (Name Tag)

“Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law.”

And then you start consuming …

(Start putting things into the cup until the cup is full, but then continue squishing and consuming trying to put more and more into your cup.)

More money, more candy,

make room by eating the candy first and then keeping the wrapper

(When I was pondering todays appointed epistle from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, one of the words that jumped out at me was “rubbish.”)

(As cup begins to crack, try putting a band aid on it to keep it from splitting open)

No more room, yet the religion of consumerism demands consumption!

Keep pushing things in until the container explodes.

This is the end result of the religion of consumerism!

Your life is ripped open, stressed out and destroyed.

And all your precious stuff is ruined,

“Stuff” mixed with garbage,

“Stuff” ruined by pressure,

“Stuff” scattered about withoutany purpose!

So, let’s try living the life modeled by Christ, Authentic Spirituality …

Fill a cup with wisdom, money, blessings, sustenance, and joy.

And when it gets full …. Share it with others!

And then when it is empty, return to the source of life and fill it up again.

Share again!

How many of you remember the “Flow” sermon from a few years back?

“Authentic Spirituality” is nothing like the religion of consumerism but rather all about letting go and emptying our lives, modeling the life of Jesus as described in the Second Chapter of Philippians, using the container that is our life not for hoarding but rather for passing things along.

“Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law”

Yet it is better to give than to receive!

How do learn to give?

How are we able to give?

Know that you are loved,

Loved completely by God in Christ Jesus.

This is the love that casts out fear, the need to consume.

This is the love that sets us free!

We love, we are able to love, because Christ has loved us!

We pray, “Lord, make me a means of your peace.”

(The Prayer of St. Francis, who the church commemorates on 10/4)

Amen.

First Lutheran Church

October 8, 2023 + The Eighteen Sunday after Pentecost B

 

Matthew 21:33-46 + [Jesus said to the people:] 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. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They 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.”

Sermon

“Ownership vs. Stewardship”

Pastor Greg Ronning

So, as the story goes, the infamous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys was sparked in 1878 over a heated disagreement over the ownership of some pigs that had wandered onto the Hatfield farm.  Unable to resolve their dispute, they brough the matter before the local Justice of the Peace.  The Justice of the Peace heard the testimony of both sides, and then relying on the principle that “Possession was Nine-Tenths of the Law,” ruled that the hogs belonged to the party in possession, - the Hatfields.(It must be noted that the Justice of the Peace, was a preacher with the last name of Hatfield.)Needless to say, the McCoy family was not happy with Preacher Hatfields’ decision.  Soon after the feud intensified, lasting until 1901, with both families suffering the loss of over a dozen lives.

The notion that “Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law,”seems to be in operation in today’s parable from the Gospel of Matthew.  A landowner builds a vineyard, leases it out to a group of tenants, and then leaves the country.  And during his absence the tenants slowly and surely start to believe that the vineyard belongs to them.  Afterall, he’s gone, he took off, he left it behind.  In his absence they take possession of the land.  And when he returns, a bloody feud begins.

It's interesting to note that the tenets in today’s parable are not initially described as bad people.  They are not frauds or con artists who had devised a scheme.  They are not raiders or pillagers that have taken the vineyard by force. They are theoneswhom the landowner chose to take care of his property, tenants who somewhere along the way forgot their role, tenants who forgot they were supposed to be stewards, tenants who fell victim to their desire to be owners.

“Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law,” while not a recognized legal principle, seems to be deeply rooted in the human condition.  Bottom line, we humans like to possess things, we like to run things, we like to own things!  We often forget that God has called us to be stewards of the earth’s resources, not owners.  So it is that stewardship does not come naturally to us, it challenges our fallen sense of entitlement, our fallen desire to be consumers.

Father Richard Rohr, in his book “Falling Upward,” discusses this vocational struggle, the calling to be faithful and generous stewards, in a world that encourages (seduces) us to be owners or consumers.  Rohr encourages us to think of ourselves as “containers.”  We are human containers, shaped and formed, for better or for worse, by the world around us, by the people who raised us, by the places that educated us, and by the activities in which we participated. And then he emphasizes that it’s not so much the “container” that matters, but how we use the “container” that matters, shapes our identity, and defines our life.

The great temptation in our life, especially in our society, in our context, is the predisposition(or obsession) to just want to fill our containers with stuff.Rohr calls this the religion of consumerism.  There’s just so much stuff all around us. Good stuff, bad stuff, and indifferent stuff.  And we like to buy it, possess it, and fill up our space with it.  That becomes what life is all about.  And ultimately “the stuff” becomes our identity, our reason, our purpose, and eventually our downfall.  Rohr warns us, once you get all filled up, it's impossible to add more, because we can only contain so much.  And life becomes stagnate!  Because once you are full, and hanging onto everything you got, everything you’ve gathered up, everything you’ve hoarded; - there’s just no room for something new.  And life becomes tragic, because there’s no space for the God who wants to do a new thing in your life. 

The religion of consumerism ends badly.  Father Rohr encourages us to practice what he calls “Authentic Spirituality,” the faith practice of Jesus as described in the Second Chapter of Philippians,“Let the same mind be in you that wasin Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God,did not regard equality with Godas something to be grasped,but emptied himself,taking the form of a slave,assuming human likeness.And being found in appearance as a human,he humbled himselfand became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”“Authentic Spirituality”is nothing like the religion of consumerism but rather all about letting go and emptying our lives, modeling the life of Jesus as described in the Second Chapter of Philippians, using the container that is our life not for hoarding but rather for passing things along.

So, what does this look like, the shift from the religion of consumerism to the spiritual practices of Jesus?

An Object Lesson!

So here we go, this is your life, your container!

(A large Styrofoam cup)

Rohr says that your first job in life is to build this container,

The container which will hold the things you need for life.

Once it’s built, here are some of the things you need …

(Rocks) Education / Life Experiences  / Wisdom

(Pennies) Financial Resources

(Nuts) Sustenance / things that will nourish and sustain you.

(Golf Balls) Blessings / Good Things

(Halloween Candy) Joy, things that give you joy

And here is you practicing the religion of consumerism!

First Things First, Protect and Claim the container!  (Name Tag)

“Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law.”

And then you start consuming …

(Start putting things into the cup until the cup is full, but then continue squishing and consuming trying to put more and more into your cup.)

More money, more candy,

make room by eating the candy first and then keeping the wrapper

(When I was pondering todays appointed epistle from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, one of the words that jumped out at me was “rubbish.”)

(As cup begins to crack, try putting a band aid on it to keep it from splitting open)

No more room, yet the religion of consumerism demands consumption!

Keep pushing things in until the container explodes.

This is the end result of the religion of consumerism!

Your life is ripped open, stressed out and destroyed.

And all your precious stuff is ruined,

“Stuff” mixed with garbage,

“Stuff” ruined by pressure,

“Stuff” scattered about withoutany purpose!

So, let’s try living the life modeled by Christ, Authentic Spirituality …

Fill a cup with wisdom, money, blessings, sustenance, and joy.

And when it gets full …. Share it with others!

And then when it is empty, return to the source of life and fill it up again.

Share again!

How many of you remember the “Flow” sermon from a few years back?

“Authentic Spirituality” is nothing like the religion of consumerism but rather all about letting go and emptying our lives, modeling the life of Jesus as described in the Second Chapter of Philippians, using the container that is our life not for hoarding but rather for passing things along.

“Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law”

Yet it is better to give than to receive!

How do learn to give?

How are we able to give?

Know that you are loved,

Loved completely by God in Christ Jesus.

This is the love that casts out fear, the need to consume.

This is the love that sets us free!

We love, we are able to love, because Christ has loved us!

We pray, “Lord, make me a means of your peace.”

(The Prayer of St. Francis, who the church commemorates on 10/4)

Amen.