5th Sunday of Easter!
Focus Statement: In
this scripture, Jesus tells a parable to
the
chief priests and elders that calls them
to
account for the fact that they have not
given
God the expected harvest at harvest
time. Jesus tells them that because of this
God
will take the kingdom from them and give
it
to ones who will produce the fruits of
the
kingdom.
Function
Statement: Because of this sermon, the congregation
will understand that they,
the Church, are
the ones whom God has given
the kingdom to
and who have the
responsibility of producing
the fruits of the kingdom;
they will commit
to better producing those
fruits.
Prayer
Matt.
21:33-46
Sermon
manuscript:
Movement
1:
We=ve
all heard the horrific stories of the Nazi prison camps, of the heros such as
Corrie Ten Boom who rescued Jews from the jaws of death. We read of the story of Corrie Ten Boom and
her family being arrested, her sister and other members of her family being
killed in the camps and we weep! We=ve
heard of the great numbers of Jews who were persecuted, of Hitler and his
followers who tried to stamp Jews from the face of the earth. We think of how insane he was to mistreat
other human beings this way; who did he think he was? God?
Who was he to decide that an entire race didn=t deserve to live? But do we realize that it all began with the
Church and Christians misinterpreting texts such as we have today?
This text is one of many that have been used
to separate them (the Jews) from us and to place the blame on them! The Jews killed Christ (Christians would
say)! Before the time of Hitler, Jews
were reviled with the nickname AChrist
killers.@[1] APopes and bishops taught that the Jews,
because they had killed Christ and rejected his gospel, were a reprobate
people, incapable of a spiritual life and thus not fully human.@[2] It
shouldn=t come as any surprise that the end result of
this teaching was the horrific events of history that the world regrets so much
today!
Movement
2:
As we look at this scripture we see a parable
that Jesus is sharing about a tenant whom the landowner puts in charge of a
vineyard. When it comes time for the
harvest, the landowner sends slaves to collect the harvest. The tenant kills them. Then the landowner sends his son to collect
the harvest, and the tenant kills the son.
Jesus then asks them a question, AWhat
should the landowner do with these tenants?@ Their
answer deserves our deepest consideration because Jesus seems to accept it and
even echoes a paraphrased version of it back to them in verse 43. Their answer was, AHe 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.@
Jesus answers them back saying, “you”…. He directs the parable to them, the
chief priests and elders! The problem is
that they were not giving the landowner the produce at harvest time; the
killing of the slaves and the son were just part of the means by which they
were withholding the produce.
As we look at the audience to which Jesus
told this parable (chief priests and elders), they represented a chosen people
to which God had entrusted God=s
message to be taken to all people, but they had kept it to themselves. They represented a people who had gotten
caught up more in the does and don’ts of what they should do within their group
than with taking the message to those on the outside! They represented a group who was perfectly
content to keep God to themselves and leave the rest of the world to not know
God! They represented individuals who
had not accepted God=s
latest revelation in Christ which is evident in Jesus= quote to them but not a group who had not. This
parable is directed toward the chief priests and elders, not the Jewish people
in general! There were many Jews among
the early Christians who had accepted, so the thrust of this parable is in that
they, the chief priests and elders, were not giving God the fruits of the
harvest; therefore, the kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given
to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. That is the Church made up of Jews, gentiles,
black, white, young, old, male, female, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, American,
middle eastern, and all other peoples of the world!
Not only is this parable not anti-Jew, but it
is also not pro-Jew; it isn’t saying Jews have a special place in the Kingdom
just because of their Jewishness! The Jews were part of the Church, and in that
way were part of the group being charged with producing the fruits of the
Kingdom. Some of the disciples and early leaders of the church were Jewish;
they were part of the answer! This isn’t a Jews or us parable! This parable was
just against the leaders who were rejecting Christ! Only the Jews who had accepted
Christ and were part of the Church that Christ established were part of the
solution. The Church now, Jew and gentile, has the task of taking the gospel to
all people. It is an individual decision, whether Jew or Gentile, to accept and
be a part of Christ’s Church. It isn’t a
national decision! The Jews aren’t automatically accepted or rejected because
of their Jewishness! We are Easter
people; we are the plan since the resurrection. The Church is the new Israel! As far as modern Israel, we should only
support them when they are in line with the teachings of Christ! This idea that we support Israel no matter
what they do to stay on God’s side is just not supported in the Bible.
Movement
3:
So the torch has been passed to us. How are we doing at giving God the produce at
harvest time or as Jesus echoes it back Aproducing
the fruits of the kingdom?@ Are we taking God=s message to all peoples, especially those
who are different than us? What about
those in different social classes? What
about those who are of a different color?
Have we gotten more caught up in the do=s and don=ts than in taking the message to those who
are on the outside, the message of God=s
reconciling love? A real test of this
is, do we give people room to receive God=s
message and grow, or do we expect people to immediately share all our do=s and don=ts, and if they don=t, do we write them off as unfit for the
kingdom? Or reprobates? We are to be sowing the seeds and letting God
take care of the increase! Are we
perfectly content to just take care of ourselves and grow in God and leave the
rest of the world to not know God? You
see, these are the types of questions that the hearers of this parable didn=t answer up to; what about us?
As Easter people, the Church, people whom God
has passed the mantle to, how are we doing at taking down the barriers that
divide Christians all over the world and realizing we are all a part of the
church who has been given the responsibility of producing the fruits of the
kingdom, which is taking the message to all people, non-exclusively. That is
the fruits of the kingdom that Christ is looking for! As we encounter the risen Christ at the table
this morning, let=s
recommit to producing these fruits of the Kingdom: bringing all people to
Christ to become part of Christ’s Church!
Let’s commit to an open invitation! Let’s commit to open minds, open
hearts, and open doors to all people! Let=s
unite in saying yes to God=s
commission to make disciples of all the world!
Let=s let the risen Christ change us! Amen!
Prayer of Confession
Service of Communion
