Sunday's Message: The Parables of Jesus - The Wicked Tenants (Mark 12:1-11)

In the months of September, October and November, we'll discuss the following parables found in the Gospel of Mark:

• September 22 - New Wine and Old Clothes (Mark 2:21-22)
• September 29 - A Strong Man (Mark 3:23-27)
• October 6 - The Sower (Mark 4:1-20)
• October 13 - Lamps and Baskets (Mark 4:21-25)
• October 20 - A Growing Seed (Mark 4:26-29)
• October 27 - The Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30-32)
• November 3 - Clean and Unclean (Mark 7:14-23)
• November 10 - The Wicked Tenants (Mark 12:1-11)
• November 17 - The Fig Tree (Mark 13:28-31)

During the service on Sunday, November 10, we used Mark 12:1-11 to better understand the parable of the wicked tenants. Below is the text and a recording of the sermon. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page. 

As y’all know, tomorrow is Veterans Day, the time each year set aside to recognize those who served our country as members of the military. And even though I think the unique importance of November 11 has changed a little bit during my lifetime, especially since we, as a society, now recognize and thank veterans throughout the year, having grown up in a military town, I remember it was a pretty big deal when I was a kid. As a matter of fact, it was probably on Veterans Day that I first heard the phrase, “Freedom isn’t free.” Of course, back in the day, I think everybody knew what that meant. I mean, on Veterans Day we were recognizing those who had dedicated part if not all of their lives in service to their country. You see, by looking at them, well, they were concrete reminders that, regardless of what else you might say, a price was paid for the rights and liberty we enjoy. Therefore, in no way is freedom free, and veterans remind us of that cost.

But you know, it’s interesting; that phrase can also be meaningful for an entirely different reason. Let me explain. I think we have a tendency to take for granted those things that are free. I mean, they’re certainly less valuable and therefore, probably less important than what’s expensive, right? And so the stuff that’s free, the stuff that doesn’t involve a cost because it doesn’t have a price, well, all those things or concepts or values, man, we might not see them as all that important. and because of that, we don’t need to worry about them, and we sure don’t need to protect them, good night nurse, we don’t even need to value them, because they’ll probably always be around. I mean, they’re free for crying out loud. And so, the idea that freedom isn’t free, well, that’s a reminder that, even though these rights and liberty have always been around and we may assume they always will be, it’s really important for us never to take them, and I’m talking about the freedom to gather and to express our opinions and to share our faith without fear, man, we should never take them for granted. Why? Because those rights have value. And that liberty is precious. You see, when you get right down to it, freedom, man, it isn’t now nor will ever be free. 

And I’ll tell you, that’s really what we’re going to be talking about this morning, as we look at another one of the parables that Jesus told and that the Evangelist Mark recorded in his gospel. You see, we’re going to look at what happened when a group of people took for granted something valuable and precious which they’d been given. And then we’re going to take their story, and we’re going to relate it to ourselves and our situation. And then we’re going to spend a little time talking about a couple of things we might do to avoid following in their footsteps. In other words, as we’ve done in each of the messages in this series, we’re going to answer intentionally three questions: what did Jesus say and what does it mean and what are we going to do about it? And I’ll tell you, by the time we finish, we just might be a little more appreciative of all the blessings and the talents and the opportunities that God has given us and we might be a little more willing to put them to use.

Of course, to get there, we really have to answer the question, what did Jesus say? In other words, what was Jesus actually getting at when we told this parable about a bunch of wicked tenants to a crowd of people gather in the Temple? Now, that our first question. And to answer it, we’re going to break the parable and what followed into four parts.

For example, as Jesus was telling his story, he started by talking about the situation, you know, setting the scene. I mean, just listen to what Mark wrote:

Jesus then told them this story:

A farmer once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country. [Mark 12:1, CEV]

Now that’s how the story starts, and I don’t know about y’all, but this sounds pretty sweet to me. I mean, not only did the farmer plant a vineyard, a symbol that Jews associated with prosperity and blessings, he surrounded it with a wall and built a wine press. And then, right before leaving the country, he rented this vineyard to group of very lucky sharecroppers. And all they had to do was to give him his share of the crop; man, they could keep the rest. Now that was the situation.

But then, as he continued his story, Jesus gave a little insight into the attitude of the tenants. Mark continued.

When it was harvest time, he sent a servant to get his share of the grapes. The renters grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him away without a thing.

The owner sent another servant, but the renters beat him on the head and insulted him terribly. Then the man sent another servant, and they killed him. He kept sending servant after servant. They beat some of them and killed some.

The owner had a son he loved very much. Finally, he sent his son to the renters because he thought they would respect him. But they said to themselves, “Someday he will own this vineyard. Let’s kill him! That way we can have it all for ourselves.” So they grabbed the owner’s son, killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard. [Mark 12:2-8, CEV]

Now that’s what happened. And let’s unpack it a little bit. You see, for some reason, these guys down on the farm had completely forgotten who they were and they’d gotten really comfortable with what they had. In other words, instead of seeing that they’d been given the opportunity to work in this magnificent vineyard and to appreciate what they had by paying what they owed, they started taking it all for granted, thinking that they didn’t need to pay their share of the crop to the legal owner and even assuming that if they disposed of all the servants and even the son, the vineyard and the wall and the press would be theirs. Now that would seem to be the attitude of these seriously deluded sharecroppers when “they grabbed the owner’s son, killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.” [Mark 12:8, CEV]

Of course, the reaction of the owner, well, what he did isn’t hard to figure out. This was what Mark wrote. 

Jesus asked, “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard.” [Mark 12:9, CEV]

Let’s just say the those renters were fired literally, so that the vineyard might go to some other tenants who might do a better job appreciating just how valuable and precious this property and opportunity actually was.

And you know, when Jesus had finished his story, well, since there were some Jewish leaders in the group listening, man, they knew exactly what he was talking about. Now this was what Mark wrote:

The leaders knew that Jesus was really talking about them, and they wanted to arrest him. But because they were afraid of the crowd, they let him alone and left. [Mark 12:12, CEV]

You see, these leaders knew that God was the owner and that he’d blessed them with this wonderful vineyard. But they also knew that they’d taken both it and God for granted and because of that, they’d been replaced. Now, that’s what Jesus said, and I’ll tell you, they knew it and so do we.

And so, given that, what does it mean? You know, what does this story about these wicked tenants mean for us right here and now? And what does this parable that the Jewish leaders just knew was directed toward them mean for us some two thousand years later? Now, that’s the question. 

And to answer it, let me share with you, first, what I personally think isn’t involved here. You see, I don’t think this parable has anything to do with God’s promises for the future, you know, that God was going to change his mind and renege on his what he said or that he was going to get ticked off and smack eternal life out of the hands of his children. In other words, I don’t think this parable has anything to do with God’s eternal and unchanging love for us or any one else, because remember, as Paul wrote to the Romans,

In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! [Romans 8:37-39, CEV]

No, I don’t believe this story has anything to do with eternity.

Instead, I think it has everything to do with what we have right now, and I’m talking about what we’ve been given and what we have the opportunity to use. In other words, I believe it’s about the blessings that we have right here and right now, blessings that are from God himself and blessings that are, by their nature, valuable and precious but that we can lose when we take them for granted and when we fail to use them in the way they were intended to be used. You see, this is God’s vineyard, something that he’s given us the opportunity to claim and to enjoy, and all he expects is a portion of what we’re able to produce. I’ll tell you, it’s like what Paul wrote to the Colossians:

Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful. Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him. [Colossians 3:15-17, CEV]

You see, as we take this story and apply it do ourselves in our time, this is what I think it means.

Which, of course, leaves us with the last question: What are we going to do about it? I mean, what are we going to do with a story about a bunch of extremely ungrateful and seriously deluded sharecroppers who get booted from a vineyard? And what are we going to do with a story that really doesn’t involve the great by and by but rather has everything to do with how we choose to live in the here and now? In other words, what are we going to do with this parable about the wicked tenants? Now that’s where we are. And I’ll tell you, for me, the answer is two-fold.

For example, first, in light of what we’ve just read and interpreted, I think we can better appreciate what we have. You see, we can decide to appreciate the blessings and the talents and the opportunities we now have. And we can intentionally appreciate them because they not only have value, man, they’re precious. And we can make every effort to appreciate the fact that, for some reason, for some unknown reason in the mind of God himself, he chose us to enjoy benefits that we could never earn or deserve and blessings we should never take for granted, much less assume belong to us. I’ll tell you, that’s why we can be appreciative and not like those wicked tenants in the story. As a matter of fact, we can actually be like the kind of people Paul challenged the Ephesians to be when he wrote this:

Act like people with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute count. Don’t be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t destroy yourself by getting drunk, but let the Spirit fill your life. When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything. [Ephesians 5:15-20, CEV]

You see, in light of what Jesus said and we understand, we can better appreciate what we have.

But you know, more than just that, second, we can also better use what we’ve been given. Now, I understand that it’s become popular to assume that we have it rough and that we are deprived and that we need more. And without saying that some folks do have it rough and that some people are deprived of essentials and that some men and women certainly need more just to survive, that’s really not the case with most of us here this morning. In other words, even though we might want more, God’s been pretty good to us. But you know, what we have, it really doesn’t belong just to us. Instead, God has given us our blessings and talents and opportunities to be used, not unlike what Peter wrote about in his first letter:

Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well. If you have the gift of speaking, preach God’s message. If you have the gift of helping others, do it with the strength that God supplies. Everything should be done in a way that will bring honor to God because of Jesus Christ, who is glorious and powerful forever. Amen. [1 Peter 4:10-12, CEV]

And so, right along with appreciating what we have, we can better use what we’ve been given. And in my opinion, that’s what we can do with this story about confused tenants in a magnificent vineyard.

And I’ll tell you something else, as Americans, that may be something we might want to remember tomorrow, November 11, Veterans Day. You see, by their service, our veterans are living reminders that freedom certainly isn’t free. And for that reason, as Americans, we should never take our rights and our liberty for granted. 

And as Christians, we can have the same attitude as we look at what we have. You see, when we consider this story about those tenants who got so comfortable in God’s vineyard that they failed to appreciate its value or their responsibility and when we recognize that this is not about where we’ll spend eternity and everything to do with what we choose to do right here and now, I’m telling you, when we realize this, we can make the conscious and intentional decision to appreciate what we have and to use what we’ve been given.