A man planted a vineyard and let it out to farmers, and went away for a long while. In time, he sent a servant to collect some of the fruit… With prolonged absence of the true owner, we begin to think we are in charge. It’s fairly natural. And when we get used to being in charge, doing things our own way, it becomes that much harder to release control. The vineyard-owner in this week’s parable had been gone for some time. Long enough for the renters to begin to think and act like they owned the place. Their response seems almost amazing, as they repeatedly chastise and malign the servants sent by the owner. How could they justify their actions? How could they even begin to think this way?
This parable is not the only place where Jesus describes unworthy caretakers:
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, “My master is delayed,” and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:45-51Matthew 24:45-51
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Faithful and Unfaithful Servants 45 Who are faithful and wise servants? Who are the ones the master will put in charge of giving the other servants their food supplies at the proper time? 46 Servants are fortunate if their master comes and finds them doing their job. 47 You may be sure that a servant who is always faithful will be put in charge of everything the master owns. 48 But suppose one of the servants thinks that the master won't return until late. 49 Suppose that evil servant starts beating the other servants and eats and drinks with people who are drunk. 50 If that happens, the master will surely come on a day and at a time when the servant least expects him. 51 That servant will then be punished and thrown out with the ones who only pretended to serve their master. There they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.
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Maybe it’s just that travel was a much more precarious affair, where the traveler was simply less likely to ever return home. Maybe that explains the carelessness and common disrespect of those who are caretakers in these stories. I’m not sure. But it seems clear that Jesus repeatedly comes back to this idea of a master having an expectation from those he leaves in charge of his stuff. And it doesn’t seem that the servants and renters take their responsibilities seriously. So what are we to make of this? We might begin by asking ourselves a couple questions:
- How am I living like God is an a journey – one that he will never return from?
- How would I live differently if I knew God was always present?
- How have I become angry at God for not meeting my expectations?
There is a constant tug-of-war between God’s way of doing things and our way of doing things. This is the conflict between the Spirit and the flesh, and this is no petty back-and-forth. We all want to be in charge, to maintain some level of control over the details of our life. The simple fact is, we aren’t in control. And rather than trust God we often choose to live like he isn’t there, get mad at him, or a little of both.
Instead, remember that Jesus is coming back. Live every day in light of this fact, not forgetting his mission or becoming hardened against his voice. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13Philippians 2:13
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
13 God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.
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