“Greed vs. Grace”
A sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC, Birmingham, AL
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Text: Matthew 21: 33-46
“There was a landowner who planted a vineyard . . . .”
In the story Jesus tells today he describes a lovely vineyard. It has been planted with vines, presumably, productive vines, growing green and strong in the bright Middle Eastern sun. A wall-- I imagine a well-built wall, maybe even an attractive one-- has been built around this vineyard to protect vines and workers, too. For added safety, a watchtower has been built. The vineyard owner recruits tenants to serve as stewards of this fine new asset. Surely these tenants are fortunate to have obtained a lease on such a well-planned vineyard. They can expect a profitable return for their labors. The owner shows his confidence in these stewards by taking his leave and going to another country.
Here they are, these tenants, installed on this fine piece of land, secure against unwanted intrusion, and trusted by the land owner. What more could these people want?
Turns out what they want is ownership of the land itself. They want the land, the vines, the wall, the wine press, and the watchtower. They want it all for themselves. They are not satisfied with being stewards. They insist upon ownership. They want to hold title. They are determined to be beholden to no one. In the story Jesus tells these tenants, these would-be stewards of the land, are willing to take drastic measures to get what they want. Twice these tyrants beat, stone, even kill representatives of the landlord.
Finally, when the landlord sends his own son they kill him, too. Without a son to inherit the land, ownership will eventually go to the tenants. It was not enough for these people to be entrusted with responsibility for the vineyard-- to have that productive land on which to grow good fruit. It was not enough to be stewards of the land, using the landlord’s resources wisely and economically for his benefit, as well as, their own. It was not enough. They wanted more, much more.
Eighteen years ago this fall I came up before Presbytery seeking ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. In those days candidates for ordination had to preach a full sermon before all of the pastors and elder commissions assembled for a quarterly meeting of our regional governing body. Our Presbytery executive at the time, Bill Giles, warned me, “Whatever you do, don’t try to be relevant!” In other words, don’t put your future in jeopardy by asserting that a certain passage in the Bible--any passage-- might be God’s Word directed to the venerable assemblage of the learned clergy and the esteemed elders. ‘Just say something nice about Jesus, offer a few pleasing platitudes, and be on your way to ordination.’
I have thought often this week of Bill’s cynical advice. This week of economic crisis in our country, this time of dire predictions of impending doom. I remember that during the Great Depression, when no one had any money, the preacher was often paid--if paid at all--with a chicken from the hen house. This is worrisome to me--very worrisome--because as far as I know, none of you have a hen house!
So it is with some reluctance that I assert that there is relevance to us--and to our nation--in this passage of sacred scripture, in this story of greed and violence and, ultimately, I believe, grace.
First, we must consider ourselves living in God’s vineyard. This big and broad land, from sea to shinning sea, and from lot line to lot line, belongs to God. Remember the words of Psalm 24: “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it”(Ps. 24.1).
What a contrast to common perception, celebrated in Woody Guthrie’s popular song from the 60’s! “This land is your land, this land is my land (emphasis added).” Not so says the Bible. This land is God’s land! God has entrusted us with this rich, resourceful land not for our personal profit and pleasure. Rather, the Book of Genesis says it is ours “to keep and to till”--not to own--for the benefit of the least of these our sisters and brothers. Jesus says we are entrusted with this productive vineyard so that we might produce the “fruits of the kingdom,” namely, righteous conduct, doing good works. We must remember that we are stewards of all that God has entrusted to us, and we are to return to God--the “landowner”--a simple tithe. Keep 90%--what a deal; return 10%--what a modest obligation!
Second, it is obvious that greed is the reason the tenants in Jesus’ story act as they do. And I believe greed is to blame for the current economic crisis. Commandment number ten: “You shall not covet your neighbor=s house . . . .or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Tell that to the titan’s of Wall Street, to the wheeler-dealers and their CEO’s who in recent years have reaped obscene profits at the expense of Main Street AND Elm Street. Tell it to the big oil companies and the media giants. Tell that to the politicians using their offices to amass multi-million dollar campaign funds. But tell it as well to us, to the little guys, who for decades have been yearning for more, for bigger, and better. From the cozy little house with a picket fence to the ‘MacMansion;’ from the “family” car to one car for each member of the family; from one TV to one in every room of the house; from the humble lunch box to the daily fix of Super-sized fast food-- all financed by ever-increasing debt to the point that we have mortgaged the very land--God’s own land--entrusted to our care.
Again, point one: this land does not belong to you and me. We are merely the stewards of God’s good creation. And point two: as stewards we’ve been greedy. We’ve over-indulged, as a nation, as a community, as individuals--over-indulged to the point we can no longer return to God that which rightfully belongs to God.
Comes now the question, ‘Is there any hope for us?’ The door to the barn has been left open. The horse, the cows, the sheep are all running helter-skelter down the road in the face of on-coming traffic. Is there any hope for us now?
Again, I urge you to consider the biblical record. At the conclusion of the story Jesus tells the tenants--the wicked tenants-- remain in possession of the land. Likewise, we who are flawed tenants are still in possession of God’s good creation. How to explain this, our extraordinary good fortune? Either our plan worked: We killed the Son, the owner died without an heir. (Remember the “God is dead” movement?) Now we have the rights of ownership. We are now obligated to no one save for me, myself and I, and there is no one to whom we may turn in the face our national calamity.
Or, as I prefer to see it, and as I believe it to be, the long-suffering Landowner lives. God is alive and the Son, whom humanity killed, is risen--Christ is risen indeed! Death could not hold him! Ownership of all creation remains in the divine hands! And, by the mercy and grace of God, we are still stewards of the vineyard--for with God grace trumps greed every time! We still have the opportunity, we still have the time to honor our commitments to Holy God, this time respecting the Son--the Risen Jesus--as God’s own representative.
We still have time to prove ourselves faithful stewards of all that God has entrusted to our care. We still have the potential to be the very people Jesus describes as worthy stewards in this vineyard--people who produce the fruits of the kingdom. Those fruits are justice and mercy. Those fruits are doing right and righting wrong. Those fruits are kindness and generosity and peace.
By God’s eternal grace, we still have the option to respond faithfully, not selfishly, when the time comes to return to Holy God that which God claims as God’s own.
To Jesus Christ, who loves us
and freed us from our sins by his blood
and made us to be a kingdom,
priests of his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Rev. 1: 5,6