Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

You will never get credit for someone else’s work. Copy the paper and just replace the name. I know all the tricks. But in reality, it doesn’t work. Plagiarizing is looked down on for this exact reason. If you didn’t do the work, then you truly did nothing. You didn’t earn anything. Even if I give you the right to use my work, the credit you receive is only based on the work you put in above and beyond to build upon it.

If I entrust you with something that belongs to me, you don’t suddenly get to claim it yourself. You can take care of my dog for me, but that doesn’t make him your dog. He’s still mine. This is what it means to be a steward of someone else’s property. I may give it to you to take care of, but at the end of the day, I still expect it back. 

So, why would some tenants believe differently? In our Gospel lesson, Jesus tells us another parable about tenants of a vineyard. The master hires them to take care of his property while he is gone. Yet, we hear, “When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another,” Matthew 21:34-35. The master wanted what was rightfully his, yet the tenants acted as though it belonged to them now. For these tenants put to death the servants sent by the master. They would go even so far as to kill the son of the master, believing they would inherit the vineyard.

Then let us understand that our own life is a stewardship from God. Everything we are, everything we own, everything we’ve done truly belongs to him. So, when we sin against God, we act no differently than these tenants. We have put to death the Son of God with our sins, because we believed if we killed him, it would then belong to us. But it doesn’t work that way. We’ll never receive credit for God’s work. Rather, we’re entrusted with his riches until the day when he calls upon us to return it to him.

For what is this work of God? It’s his lavish grace given us through the death of his Son, Jesus Christ! The entire parable is to lay out the main work of God, which is saving us from our sins. Yes, God sent the patriarchs, the judges, and the prophets and Israel treated them very wickedly. But at last, God has sent his Son so that he may build his kingdom on the cornerstone. As Jesus quotes, “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes,” Matthew 21:42. The cornerstone of our faith is Christ; his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God. It’s the insane and lavish grace of God that calls us back from sin so that we may return to God our thanks and praise! So, as good stewards of God’s grace, let us return to him the fruit of faith!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Gracious God, You gave Your Son into the hands of sinful men who killed Him. Forgive us when we reject Your unfailing love, and grant us the fullness of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!