Loving Lord, bless and watch over the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Matthew 21:33 "Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. 34 When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits. 35 "The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. 36 The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. 37 The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.' 38 "But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' 39 They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him. 40 "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?" 41 "He'll kill them - a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time." 42 Jesus said, "Right - and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles: The stone the masons threw out is now the cornerstone. This is God's work; we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it! 43 "This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. 44 Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed." 45 When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them. 46 They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God. (The Message)
The lessons never ended for the religious leaders of Jesus' time. They had becomes to comfortable and accomodating to themselves; that God was taken out of the equation. More importantly, God's love and concern for humanity was taken out of their messages and practices. It became of matter of What must we do to protect our comfortable way of life? People were not attracted to this way of life; except those who wanted to become them (think Saul of Tarsus). Jesus reminds them of their history and how they had dealt with those whom God had sent as messengers with God's word for their lives. They were at best, ignored and left alone; at worst, they were killed. God's message of love and action and care for others was not heard. God's call for repentance and acts of service was not heeded. They began to make up their own message of self-service. At the crucial point of history, God sent Jesus, His Son, to bring the message. At this point of His life, Jesus is talking to them about what He knows they will do to Him. And all because they dared not live "a kingdom life."
Everyday we get a chance to live a kingdom life - the uncomfortable, outrageous, courageous life that puts others first; and what do we do? Honestly, many of us prefer our routines and our comforts. We don't want to try something new or out of the ordinary. And that may even hold true for the church we attend. What is it going to take to make Jesus real for those outside of the church? How can we hope to win the world for Christ when we live a life that says we don't need Jesus?
PRAYER: Loving God, forgive me those days I choose me over You. Help me to see what lies beyond me. Open my soul and heart to love beyond myself and those whom I call mine. Let me love others. Help me to be uncomfortable, outrageous, and courageous. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
