Reflection: "Who's in Charge?""Who's in charge?" can communicate so many different feelings.
It may be a reaction to chaos, such as a disaster, when we’re looking for the person who can make critical decisions. It can be a plea for help, when the normal lines of communication are down. It may be an irritation, said to a subordinate, reminding the one being spoken to, just who has the authority. Or it may be simply an inquiry in which someone is trying to find some guidance and information. Have you found yourself in a strange setting, or place, not sure who might be in a position to give good directions? "Who's in charge?" is at the heart of this morning’s parable from Matthew’s Gospel. The landlord demonstrated that he certainly considered himself in charge, by the careful preparations he made as he planted the vineyard, built the fence around it, dug a wine press and built a watch tower. These were all expensive improvements you wouldn’t make to property that you did have control over. By taking these steps, he was increasing the value of his investment. No wise person would do this to someone else's land. You wouldn’t improve the value of someone else's asset, so obviously, the landowner thought he was in charge. Because he was going to leave the country for a period, he entered into an arrangement with the tenants for them to take care of the vineyard in his absence. But when the harvest came around, the landowner, who thought that he was in charge, sent representatives to collect his share of the produce - after all, it was his land, improvements and vines. But here the issue of who is in charge begins to arise, because those who’d worked in the vineyard, felt it was them. So, they seized the slaves sent to collect the produce and beat one, murdered another, and even stoned another. They allowed one to live, so that he could go back to the landowner with the message of who was really in charge. But the landowner was furious and wouldn’t accept this takeover without putting up a fight, so he sent more slaves and they too were mistreated. Finally, the absentee owner sent his son, thinking that surely they wouldn’t do the same to him. But they did - and their thinking was that they would actually gain control of the vineyard by doing this. Everything the tenants did to try to take charge, didn’t change the simple fact of who was rightfully in charge. The ownership of the land didn’t change and the legal right the landlord had to a portion of the crop didn’t change. What was broken was the relationship between those who were tenants and the landlord. The first part of this parable speaks of trust. We know God hasn’t gone to a far country, like the landowner, but he doesn’t micro-manage all our days, either. He blesses us with opportunities and then places his trust in us to be good stewards. Just as the owner of the vineyard had taken all the steps necessary for success, so God has blessed us. The question is what kind of stewards will we be? The risk with our lives is that we’ll become possessive. We think of the church, for example, as our church and fail to see that it is, in fact, the very body of Christ. We can be guilty of seeking to speak to the various challenges of the world, not as Christ would lead us, but in ways that are convenient, or self-serving, for ourselves. Thus, our measure is no longer the Gospel, but rather, popular opinion. When we need to reach out to the needs of others, we often place ourselves first. We begin to see stewardship as a burden, instead of a joyful response to all that God has done for us. There’s always a need to be worthy of trust, if our relationships are to be strong. In all our lives, our "owner", God, has expectations of us and of our behaviour. After all, our world isn’t just a play-yard that he lets us live in. The commandments in our scriptures (Exodus 20:1-4,7-9,12-20) are a reminder that God has expectations for his people, chosen not for privilege but for service, for witness. We tend to view the world as a Garden of Eden, not as a vineyard, where vines have to be tended and fruit only comes from effort, but in which, more importantly, a harvest is expected. When we try to be in charge, it speaks of privilege, a misuse of freedom, or our arrogance. We fall into the trap of thinking we have a right to the many blessings that are a part of the world we live in. The opportunities we have often come from the hard work of others, so we should be good stewards of them. The freedom we live with, was bought and preserved by many who gave their lives that we might be free. The challenge is, will we use them in ways that benefit not only ourselves and our loved ones, but in ways that will benefit others, particularly those who live at the margins of our society, those with no voice? The question is, will we be as foolish as the tenants in the parable and forget that all we are and all we have is God's? After all, there really is no such thing as a self-made person. God made us and gave us everything that we have. One danger is that when we present Christ as being beneficial in getting what culture wants, we transform Christ. If God’s in charge, we must seek his standards and ways, not the world’s standards. God, just like the landlord, doesn't give up easily. Most of us would agree that after the first attempt to collect the portion of the harvest that was due and the brutal action the tenets took, most people would have struck back with either violence, or some kind of legal action. Instead, the landlord sent another group of slaves to collect what he thought was due. When this group met the same resistance, he sent his son thinking that, surely, they wouldn’t do the same to him. The analogy between the landowner sending his son and God sending Jesus, is very clear. Israel had rejected the prophets on more than one occasion, but now they were resisting the very Son of God. Of course, the cross reminds us that that God's Son met the same fate as the son of the landlord. The Good News of our faith is not even death stops God. Note that there is a warning in this parable. When we refuse to recognize the one who is ultimately in charge, we’re going to be held accountable. In the parable, the landlord puts the tenants to death and leases his vineyard out to others. We’re accountable for what we do with our faith. We must accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, which means that we’re tacitly answering the question of who is in charge of our lives and ultimately our world. Even though we speak of the patience of God, there is that point when we are accountable. Have you ever holidayed at the beach with your family and taken an early morning walk before others were awake? These walks afford us time for lengthy meditations and thoughts of gratitude for the glory and grace of God. Far too often we forget how powerful our creator God actually is. Yet he owns the mighty ocean and forests and fields, and never a cloud moves in the sky without his knowledge. Sometimes we carelessly relegate God to the backgrounds of our lives, wanting him there, in case of an emergency, but quite sure we can handle things very efficiently in our own way. How often do we forget who has a right to be in charge? If we dare to listen, today’s story is about us, or at the very least, Jesus is talking to the religious community of his day, the keepers of the status quo, those who had shaped it to fit their expectations and their control. How easily we fall into that same trap, worshiping a domesticated god instead of the one true God who sets the rules, draws the boundaries, and gives the orders. In other words, we’re called to worship the one who truly is in charge of our world and our lives. Our call is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and to let him be in charge of our lives. The words of Jesus, that we hear today, are a challenge to our culture of "ownership, autonomy, and self-reliance." The basis of this parable in Matthew is that we often forget who, in fact, owns all of life and all of creation. It points to the risk that, when we start to think we own what we are a part of, instead of being stewards of what God has given us to use temporarily, while we pass through this life. God is always in charge – a comment we should always keep foremost in our minds. Pastor Rick
2 Comments
LENA BERYL BLOK
7/10/2023 08:10:13 pm
Hi Rick,
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LENA BERYL BLOK
7/10/2023 08:48:22 pm
Hi Rick,
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