“Vine Grifters” Luke 20.9–20 Aug. ’24 Pent. 13B

 

 

1.                Grace, mercy, and peace to you from from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for our final sermon in our series, Parables for Pentecost, is the Gospel lesson from Luke 20, I’m going to include verses 1 & 2 for context: One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority.” (Lk 20:1–2) Jesus answers them in his interpretation of Isaiah’s vineyard song, Is 5:1–7, and Psalm 118’s cornerstone. “And [Jesus] began to tell the people this parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants [vine growers] and went into another country for a long while’ ” (Luke 20:9). The message is entitled, “Vine Grifters,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                It was a long time since this vineyard had been planted. (Is 5:2). Even Isaiah the prophet referred to it in the distant past—so long ago that the vine growers forgot that they were tenants but imagined they were the owners. Ever do that? This parable was Jesus’ answer to those same tenants who asked, “Who do you think you are? Where do you get the authority to preach this ‘gospel’?” (Luke 20:2). The story Jesus told them would be too incredible to believe had we not known it came true: When the time came, he sent a servant [slave] to the tenants [vine growers], so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. (Luke 20:10–12)

3.                Has anyone ever heard of an owner like this? I would have invaded with tanks after my first servant was beaten. Sometimes I fancy myself as patient with people, even patient with fellow sinners, not realizing that all that time it was I who was trying the Lord’s patience. He has put up with me, and put up with you, and put up with his people Israel.

4.                The evil tenants aggressively exploit the owner’s patience. Instead of receiving fruit, the owner receives the opposite: his prophets are abused and disregarded. Why? Peter said, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). Just when you think the patience has run out, and the owner should cut his losses, “the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours’ ” (Luke 20:13–14).

5.                It’s bad enough that they killed the owner’s son, but they knew he was the owner’s son and still killed him! And Jesus knew that they knew! The leaders of Israel knew he was the Messiah. This wasn’t ignorance, like the Romans or the Greeks. This was evil. Follow the logic. Oh, wait, there isn’t any. Because sin is insanity, and it makes us do insane things. What fairy tale did Jesus’ contemporaries live that they believed they could kick the Lord out of his own world? “Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.” The very same lies confront us: Let’s strip every mention of Christ from our land and the country will be ours. Let’s strip every mention of Christ from our conscience and our lives will be ours. Let’s strip every mention of Scripture from our movies about Christ and we can retell his story to suit our audience. But history bears out that it never works. “And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner [the lord] of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants”—and that generation did not pass away without seeing Jerusalem fall in AD 70. It’s history. “And [he will] give the vineyard to others.” (Luke 20:15–16a)

6.                “When they heard this, they said, ‘Surely not!’ [‘May it never be!’] ” (Luke 20:16b). That’s the kind of talk that comes from those who will throw away their own brothers if it comes down to that. These temple officials say, “May it never be!” as if they didn’t recognize the history Jesus was recounting. They acted shocked as if they had never read Isaiah 5, about the Lord who expected his Vineyard to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones.

7.                So, what gives Jesus the authority to rip the Vineyard away from the rulers of Israel and give it to those whom he named apostles? The same thing that gives him the authority over all history: his crucifixion. And while we receive the body and blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, “they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation’ ” (Rev 5:9). Worthy by the very authority of his crucifixion. Those who threw him out of the Vineyard and killed him were the unwitting instruments of God to give the Vineyard to the ones he made holy, precisely by that murder.

8.                The work of the Lord’s Vineyard, the preaching of the Gospel, is authorized by the very crucifixion of Jesus that is preached. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). The cross is the only power we have in our work in the Vineyard, given to the children of God and taken from the tenants, who said, “May it never be!” Jesus said, “What then is this that is written, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? ” (Luke 20:17). When we read “cornerstone” in the Bible, it’s not the same thing as the modern cornerstone with the date etched on it. This is about the square block that the first two walls rest on and rise from. Jesus becomes the cornerstone by being rejected (Lk 2:34).

9.                Opposed when Peter healed the man at the Beautiful Gate and was questioned by the same rulers that threw the Son out of the Vineyard (Acts 4:8a, 10b–11). Jesus was the cornerstone that held up that persecuted Church. He is the cornerstone who joins the two together, the Jews and the Gentiles, so that one building and one house results. Christ is a cornerstone because, in the Church, he brought the Gentiles and the Jews, who were mortal enemies, together.  “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. (Luke 20:18–19)

10.             The risen Cornerstone said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18) As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame [disappointed].” So the honor [value]is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has became the cornerstone.” (1 Pet 2:4–7) So says Peter, the first living stone built on that Cornerstone, on that Rock. We do not bear him. He bears us.

11.             And when they got their hands on him, they threw him out of the Vineyard and killed him and thought they were rid of him. But Jesus’ Authority Comes from His Rejection and Crucifixion. And what a nice history lesson that was. But what is the lesson for us? Do we really believe that Jesus’ authority comes from his rejection and crucifixion? Then why the tolerance for modern vine grifters, purging the Church of both Jesus’ cross and rejection? Jesus said, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge [command] I have received from my Father” (Jn 10:17–18). It’s in losing his life, being rejected, crucified, risen, all the while being the Son of the Owner, wherein lies all Jesus’ power and authority. This is why St. Paul said, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).

12.             The modern vine grifters have kidnapped the people of God, just like those who killed the prophets, killed the Son, corrupted the Church in the Middle Ages in Martin Luther’s day. Let’s get rid of the cross and any notion of rejection, and grow and prosper and get rich in the process. And in so doing, the Church is robbed of Jesus’ authority. People want to be “woke” now, so they will be thought well of by the world. Many churches will “do good” in the community—long as they don’t have to bear the reproach of Jesus. And they’ll preach anything except the off-putting message of the cross, which both brings to light sin and sets God’s grace as all in all, leaving no room for spiritual pride. But if the cross and sharing in Jesus’ rejection is eliminated from the Church, her purpose, power, authority, reason for existing are gone. The bride’s husband is gone. The church is used and abused by lying shepherds who get rich at her expense, while she clings to the lie that she is good. She is blind. The light within her is darkness, and how great is that darkness!

13.             But the Owner’s Son Jesus still has wounds. He gives his blood for wine. Alleluia! Rejected, crucified love, risen to find those who didn’t want him. There is his authority. That’s the Jesus that ever lives in the true Church. To repent to Jesus’ authority is to take the love and live. That’s rejection I can live with. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

“Denarius and the Evil Eye” Matt. 20.1–16 Pent 12B Aug. ’24

 

1.                Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Gospel from Matthew 20, which you can follow along in your bulletin below the sermon title: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard” (Matt. 20:1). The message is entitled, “Denarius and the Evil Eye,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                “For the kingdom”? What triggered this parable? Well, that whole episode of the rich young man, who couldn’t get into the kingdom because he wasn’t free enough to turn his back on his money and importance. He had Jesus right in front of him with open arms, and that didn’t free him up to leave it all and run with Jesus!

3.                Then Peter said in reply [to Jesus], “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly [Amen], I say to you, in the new world [regeneration], when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Matthew 19:27–30)

4.                What does this mean? So then comes the parable: That certain householder went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. “After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” “And going out about the third hour he [the landowner] saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.” (Matthew 20:2–5)

5.                Now the householder is starting to sound a little impractical. Where’s he going with this? “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ ” Ever get picked last for a sandlot baseball game? They were still hanging out where day-rate workers hung out because no one saw any use for them. “He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ” (Matt. 20:6–7)

6.                One hour to quitting time. By the time the guy punches in and gets his apron and tools it’s going to be time to quit! The householder was either stupid or was intentionally out to make a point, and we know he’s not stupid. So here it comes. “When evening came, the owner [lord] of the vineyard said to his foreman [steward], ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first’ ” (Matt. 20:8). Notice how the lingo changes all of a sudden? What happened to the “master of a house”? Now he’s “the ‘owner’ of the vineyard.”

7.                By changing the title of the employer, Jesus is telling us what the parable is about. He’s not pushing communism. This isn’t a parable about how we’re supposed to run our vineyards. It’s a parable answering Peter’s question: “What do we get?” “Pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.” The lord of the vineyard wanted the 6-a.m. guys (the “Peters”) to see what the latecomers got paid. “And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius” (Matt. 20:9). A denarius!

8.                “Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more” (Matt. 20:10a). Look at what he gave those guys! They just got here! This guy is generous! If that “lie-about” got a denarius, can you imagine what we’re gonna get? “But each of them also received a denarius” (Matt. 20:10b). A denarius! They were insulted! I’m no Wall Street whiz, but at 6 a.m. they were thrilled to work for a denarius, and now at 6 p.m. the denarius had devaluated significantly. And once you hear their complaint, you know the Lord Jesus is talking about religion. He’s talking about being a Christian. Because it sounds so familiar! “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat” (Matt. 20:12).

9.                In an effort to avoid the point, the Talmud retells the story with the owner commending the laborer for doing more work in two hours than the others did in a full day. But that’s not part of the parable. The householder called the unwanted near the end of the day. That’s the point. They somehow got this idea that he came seeking them because he needed them! We may also assume the householder profited from the workers working in his vineyard. But that’s not part of the parable either. My dad started me out in his Tobacco shop when I was 18. He didn’t do that for himself. Things were harder for him with me there, not easier. It took longer to show me how to do it than just to do it himself. None of that was for him. It was for me, so I wouldn’t stand idle all day, like those day-rate workers in the parable. And I understand that now.

10.             There was once a sign in my Grandpa Taggatz’s workshop: Shop rates: $30/hour $50/hour if you want to watch $75/hour if you want to help. But it’s true! You, young Christians, you sit here today as 6-a.m. disciples of Jesus not because he needs your help. This is all for you, so that you can know him here, you bear the heat of the day, not idle, but with the Lord of the vineyard, hearing his words, which are spirit and life, speak to you, so you can live the life of the world to come with him, here and now, and go into the marketplace with him to rescue those who are idle. The lord of the vineyard didn’t raise up the 5-p.m. guys to be equal to the 6-a.m. guys. He raised up the 6-a.m. guys to be equal to the 5-p.m. guys! “The last will be first, and the first last” (Matt. 20:16).

11.             The denarius was a gift! But they were insulted. So he answered one of them and said, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” (Matt. 20:13). He calls him friend, but it’s so sad here. Because the Greek word used here for “friend” is not the regular word translated “friend.” This word occurs only two other sad times in the New Testament. “And he [a king giving a wedding banquet] said to him [a guest], ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ ” (Mt 22:12–13). The other: “And he [Judas] came up to Jesus at once and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you came to do’ ” (Mt 26:49–50). “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” You were fine with that until you saw me being good to someone else.

12.             So he told the 6-a.m. guys, “Take yours and leave. I wish to give to the 5-p.m. guys as I give you.” I don’t ever want to hear my Lord say, “Take what belongs to you and go,” like being thrown out of the wedding. Or to Judas. Sad and scary! Then he said, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” (Matt. 20:15). And, we can translate, “Or is your eye evil because I am good?” Remember the prodigal son’s older brother? He had that same evil eye. He didn’t believe in grace. A party? For him? You’re kidding me, right?

13.             This isn’t the first time Jesus talked about an evil eye. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy [sincere], your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad [evil], your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Mt 6:22–23). And here’s the worst part of having an evil eye. All the blessing of God goes right by your eye and you don’t even see it. The lord of the vineyard says, “Friend, all that time it was you and me—you and me in church, you and me in the Word, I in you, you in me, you and me loving others. Was it all nothing to you?”

14.             St. Luke’s account of the thief on the cross illustrates this parable. “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). If anyone ever punched in right before quitting time, it was this guy. He lived out his own disaster, right up to that moment, and he winds up with the big denarius! And I know that theologians like to call this a unique gift of salvation. But they all miss the point. The salvation of the dying thief isn’t unique at all. It’s just shows so clearly how it really is for everybody—that everybody who goes to heaven steals heaven on her or his deathbed. We’re all 5-p.m.ers! The denarius was a gift! Jesus died on his cross for the privilege of giving it. Jesus bore the heat of the day, the day that the Lord had made and earned that denarius, that gift.

15.             And those of us who have been so blessed that we’ve gotten to spend more time in the Lord’s Vineyard, not alone, not careening toward hell all our lives, not lost and without hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12) but Christians all our lives, like you kids, disciples all our lives, not only workers in his vineyard but also branches in him who is the vine, kids, Being with Jesus Is the Denarius!

16.             Coming into his vineyard at 6 a.m. isn’t an insult. It’s a blessing! And we won’t bear the heat of the day forever. There’s a day coming when Jesus will remake all things. When he began answering Peter’s question before the parable, “Amen I tell you, that in the regeneration,” there’s this beautiful word: regeneration. It literally means “Genesis again,” beginning again, the new creation. When the Son of Man sits on his throne in glory, the twelve will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for [Jesus’] name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mt 19:29–30).

17.             We will live to see the Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory. And we won’t care about first or last, because we’ll be so glad to be remade as we were meant to be in him. And we’ll be so glad for every hour, every minute we spent in this vineyard with him while the day was still hot, this vineyard right here, burdens and all, while so many still stand idle in the marketplace, waiting for us, on behalf of the Lord of the Vineyard, to call them to joy. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.