As we continue to move through the readings from Exodus, we find ourselves at the base of Mt. Siani receiving the Ten Commandments. While these are the most "familiar" or "common" of the Old Testament laws, they do not stand alone--they are part of the 613 laws given in the Old Testament. These 613 laws cover a variety of areas--whom to worship, how to treat God (sacrifices, holy days, vows, rituals, tithing, sabbatical years, idolatry, blasphemy, the temple), social structure and ethics (leadership, family, slaves, land ownership & use, personal property, respect of a person, justice), sexual and bodily purity, warfare, witchcraft, and food laws. In some sense the Ten Commandments serve as an outline for these 613 laws--how to live in relationship to God and how to live in relationship with each other. We have to remember that the law was given to a fledgling community trying to understand who they were in relation to a monotheistic religion, and what that meant for every day living. While most of us would have trouble living according to these 613 laws, the idea is that God waits patiently for us to be partners and co-creators. This idea of patient waiting is another way to think about grace.
In the Matthew reading, we find Jesus once again engaged in conflict with the religious authority. In the telling of the parable of the "wicked tenants", he not only reveals to us something about his fate, but also something about stewardship. He calls us to task: are we good stewards of the vineyard (the Kingdom of God)? How have we responded to God's desire for relationship with us?
In preparation for the Journey to Adulthood ceremony on Sunday, the youth have been talking about relationships and responsibility. We've come to see how they go together. When we're in relationship with others, we have a responsibility to care for them, to thank them, to respect them and to love them. We have a responsibility to nurture that relationship. But that's also a choice. We can choose to honor those responsibilities, or to ignore them.
And in the course of our Journey to Adulthood program, we will be talking about our gifts--what are they, where do they come from, and what do we do with them. Having a gift is also about responsibility. When we realize that everything comes from and belongs to God, then our responsibility is to use those gifts wisely and responsibly; to cultivate and share the harvest that God has provided.
And that's what Jesus is talking about in this parable. These "wicked tenants" have lost sight of the fact that they were supposed to not only care for the vineyard, but to share in the harvest. They want to keep it all for themselves. They have forgotten that the abundance they've been given wasn't their's to keep. And Jesus tells those who are listening that those "wicked tenants" will have the vineyard taken away. To us, the parable serves as a reminder and an invitation...how have we been caring for God's kingdom, and if we've fallen short in sharing God's abundance, we can change our ways.
This fall as we enter into the program year of the church, we know in the back of our minds that sooner or later, letters about stewardship and pledge cards will be mailed out. But before you start to think about dollar signs, I would rather you think about when you have felt God's abundant love and grace. I would encourage you to think about when you've experienced God's blessing and abundant gifting in your life. And I would ask you to consider what your responsibility is to God and to each other, knowing that we are always invited to be good stewards of our blessings and partakers in shalom.