“At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard” (Mark 12:1-12).
Unfortunately, not only did the tenants not offer the produce due to the true owner of the vineyard, but they also beat his servant and sent him back empty handed. This pattern repeated. The owner sent more servants. They were beaten and some killed, and then the owner sent his son, thinking that they would respect him. They killed him as well, thinking that then the inheritance would be theirs. Jesus ended the parable with an account of the swift retribution of the tenant farmers by the owner and the redistribution of the vineyard to others. The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders realized that the parable was directed at them.
The leaders were not happy about being compared to the wicked, tenant farmers. This only deepened their resolve to arrest and persecute him. Instead of digging in their heals, had they saw instead that the parable was an opportunity to see their own sinful behavior of not being faithful stewards, they could have repented and reconciled themselves to the will of God.
We who read Parable of the Tenants may be quick to judge the whole lot: the stewards, chief priests, scribes, and elders. If we do so, we do at our own peril. What does this parable say to us? How have we been good stewards of that which God has given, including our own lives? A common mantra is that this is my body and I can do whatever I want with it. Though this may be a popular cry of individualism and self-autonomy, it is not biblical.
All that we have is a gift from God, including our life and our very being. Each of us is a unique wonder, while at the same time we are not our own to do with as we please. We are God’s beloved children, daughters and sons created in his image and likeness. Our likeness has been dimmed by sin and so feeds our knee jerk and sometimes visceral reaction against the notion that we are not our own to do with as we please. This mentality is fueled by a radical individualism that seeks to be in control. We believe that we know better, that we know what will make us happy and what will fulfill us. So we give in to our pleasures, passions, and wants.
Discipline, temperance, and self-control are shunned. This selfish posture often comes from our unhealed wounds, the whispers of the father of lies, as well as living under the influences of a fallen world. Where God is not first, someone or something will be. This is what gives rise to a cult of personality. These pedestals are often built on the weak legs of the precarious wood of our finite and fallen nature. This is why so many leaders, religious, political and familial, have time and again all fallen off and let us down. They were placed where they never ought to have been placed.
This will continue to be the pattern, just as we saw in Jesus’ parable, which will lead to our own undoing, unless we are willing to let go of our attachment to the things of this world, including our own self-aggrandizement and narcissism. “I, me, mine”, is a debilitating cry.
The tenants in today’s parable looked for what they could get and take from what was never theirs. This grasping for immediate gratification undid the very core of their humanity and led not only to the desecration of the dignity of those the owner of the vineyard sent but lead to their own demise. In idolizing the things of the world instead of the things of heaven, they became undone.
Will we feed on the same radical individualism, or embrace our role as good steward, acknowledging, all that we have, even our very lives, are a gift from God, the owner of the vineyard. Recognizing that God is God and we are not, and trusting in his will for our lives will truly make us happy, fulfill, and help us to embrace who we are: co-redeemers with God. God has given each of us gifts to better his kingdom. May we serve well and seek to bear fruit that will last.
When we fall short, let us acknowledge that God has sent his Son to us. He has come to lead us to all that is Good, all that is True, and all that is Beautiful. He is also the only one we can count on. We need to place our trust in Jesus first, so when others fall, we do not fall with them and/or despair, because none of us are perfect. Each of us have our strengths as well as our weaknesses. As we grow in humility, we will grow in freedom and restore our likeness with God. As Jesus redeems us, we will experience our freedom and healing. As we heal, we can serve to help others who have fallen to experience a true freedom that will last.
Photo: Blessed to serve God and my parish family here at Holy Cross!
Spiritual Stepping Stones 