Show Notes
In this sermon, Jonathan unpacks one of the darkest and most disturbing parables Jesus ever told – the so called "parable of the wicked tenants." Of course, the title of that parable is not one which Jesus or the early church chose. It's a later translators gloss which shapes our reading in a mostly unhelpful way. A better title would be the "parable of the madly hopeful landowner." After all, why does this landowner keep reaching out to these tenants when he only ever receives a door slammed shut in his face? Why does he not give up on them? The actions of the landowner truly boggles the mind when read from this perspective, especially when he decides to send his own beloved son into the heart of the mess. Fyodor Dostoevsky, the 19th Century Russian novelist, once tried to write a story with what he called "a completely beautiful human being" at its centre; a character who would embody the essence of pure Christian love and compassion. He placed this character, a young prince called Myshkin, into the context of his own upperclass Russian society and let the narrative unfold. What we find in Myshkin is a character who appears to be woefully ignorant of the normal social conventions that govern polite society. But what sets him apart from the other characters in the novel is not his ignorance, but his goodness. He has an almost impossible capacity not to be offended, not to judge, and to feel genuine compassion for nearly anyone—even those who are abusing him. Dostoevsky, with his eye on Myshkin, called the novel "The Idiot."The kind of love and grace we see in the gospels and in the parables is insane – idiotic – by the standards of the world; it is utterly maladjusted to the world of sin. But the message of Jesus' parable is that in the end, the love of God will prevail against the very worst instincts in humanity.We read right back at the start of the Bible that God has only ever had one plan for this world; "Now the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed" (Genesis 2:8). No matter what we have done to try to wreck that plan, no matter how high human arrogance has risen against God, God's love prevails. That is the message of the kingdom. God has given us everything, and in Jesus, he has announced his return to the vineyard that is our life, our heart, our world – not to displace us but to finally bring about true fruitfulness. God knocks on the door and we so often bolt it shut, interpreting the grace of his advent as judgement. But in the end, that which we reject as impossible, improbable, idiotic – the love of God – will become the cornerstone in our world and in our lives. The Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
More from Urban Vineyard
What is grace? And what does it have to do with the kind of kingdom Jesus spoke of? There is perhaps no-where better to go to understand that question than to Jesus' parable of the prodigal son in Luke 16. In this sermon, Makerita brings us back to the heart of the good news of God's grace which we find in the kingdom of God.
The parable of the unrighteous manager is one of the strangest stories Jesus ever told. In this sermon, Jonathan considers whether we might have misunderstood the character of the master in the parable and whether a reappraisal might reveal a fresh view on God. Once again, in this parable Jesus goes right to the heart of our anxieties about the future and reminds us that the only place of safety is in joining his radical work of repudiating mammon and entering the world of generosity that is the coming kingdom of God.
NOTE: The original live recording of this sermon was unfortunately lost so Makerita kindly has re-recorded her presentation for us and we are very grateful!
Jesus told the parable of the weeds and wheat to remind us that our lives are agonisingly caught between the present – where evil runs amok – and the future – where all shall be well. Like the servants in the parable, our temptation is to crusade out into the world in the name of justice to go and deal with evil, but Jesus, through the parable, reminds us that we have neither the wisdom, discernment nor the ability to root out the weeds. Indeed, such a crusade turns us into little devils along the way. So the parable leaves us in a difficult position. On it's own it seems to lead us into 'Christian quietism'; a kind of 'do nothing' approach to the weeds in our world. Such an amoral response doesn't line up with the rest of Scripture though; it seems completely out of step with the prophetic tradition, so there must be more going on than meets the eye. In this sermon, Jonathan opens up a larger view of the parable by putting into the conversation with the parable of the yeast in the dough. In the end, he suggests we are neither called into quietism or crusading when it comes to our response to the evil in the world and the evil in our own hearts. Instead, we are called into a dynamic partnership with God; trusting that he is the one who is reforming the world and reforming us. We add what looks to everyone else as something so tiny and insignificant, namely, our hidden act of faith, which on it's own achieves nothing, but when brought into the chorus of God's work, it is gathered up and brought to bear in the larger scheme of putting the world, and our own hearts, back to rights.
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”