God's Vineyard, Matthew 21:33-46, Rev. Stephen Matthews Just imagine that you, yourself, are running, and you are running in fear. You are running from something. You are trying to find some place that’s safe. You have a sense that there’s somebody behind you - or something - and, whatever it is, it doesn’t feel safe. And then you come to this gate. Looking through the rails of the gate, you can see that it’s a vineyard. It looks so peaceful! And then the gate opens, and you go into the vineyard. You turn and look in the direction from which you came. You’re still worried. Fear still grips you. As you look, there is a sensation that someone has gently placed their hand on your shoulder, and you hear a gentle, but strong voice say, “Its okay. You’re in my yard now.” I think this image, this idea of being somewhere that’s safe, reflects a dominant idea which we have of God. A place of refuge, a place of sanctuary, a place where the cares of the world and the pressures of living seem to just be unable to grab hold of us. A place which offers that sense of abiding peace. I’m sure that, for many of us, this is part of the reason we come to church - part of the reason why we reach out: hoping to somehow reach out and touch the God who has reached out to us already. Such an image, thought or feeling about viewing God and God’s care for us, is one way, but in this passage that was read for us this morning from Matthew’s gospel, we are reminded about another image of God’s Kingdom and God’s vineyard. In the passage, we hear a parable about a landowner who leaves a vineyard in the care of tenants, and the only requirement that the tenants have is that, once they have harvested the vineyard and taken a share for themselves, they must then give over a portion to the landowner. It’s a simple thing, really, and it would have been very common in the first century in Israel. But, according to the parable, things don’t work out as they were supposed to. The tenants forgot who owned the land. They forgot who had entrusted the land to them. And so, when those tenants had to share a portion of the harvest, they got greedy. The servants of the landowner, when they came to get that which was due the owner, those servants were attacked by the tenants. So the landowner sent some more servants - with the hope that the tenants would act responsibly and share the portion that was due the landowner. But they don’t. As with the first servants, with the second servants were attacked. But this landowner is a very patient individual and sends a Son...who is attacked and killed. If we were to turn on the TV and see something like this on the news, we’d be offended. We’d be indignant. We’d say, “That’s not right! That’s not the way people are supposed to treat one another!” We’d say, “The landowner was just trying to get his fair share! The tenants were greedy, and it’s obvious that they weren’t really looking to the good of the vineyard.” When Jesus speaks this parable, he speaks it to individuals who have not been faithful. He speaks it to the leadership - not the people, but the leadership - who have forgotten about God. In some ways, those leaders, Jesus asserts, have tried to replace the landowner, the lord of the vineyard. Let’s move 2000 years ahead of this parable to our own time. The vineyard is still the same. God has uniquely entrusted us with this creation we call Earth. But, have we forgotten Whose yard we’re in? Yes, when we are in trouble, in times of crisis or challenge, when we see things overwhelming us, we say, “God! Be here for us. Be in charge!” or, at the least, we say, “God, be our comfort!” When our lives seem in a mess, then we want God in charge, but in our day to day activities, as we go about going to work - being “in control” ... of our lives - do we forget about Whose yard we are really in? We’re not the landowner. We’re the tenants. We are the tenants of a wonderful God who has gifted us and all of the world’s peoples with this glorious creation. We don’t always take care of it. We act in greed sometimes. And sometimes we act pretty self-ishly, not treating others with the same degree of care and respect that we’d want for ourselves. We like to place ourselves in the position of the landowner, and that is a dangerous thing - and a lonely place as well. It’s dangerous because our greed destroys God’s creation. It destroys relationships and that makes it lonely as well. I mean, if we sometimes think that we are the landowner, then who would we believe is there for us?  I want you to give into your imagination again. You’re in that lonely place again, running away. Someone or something is behind you, and you’re looking for a place of safety, sanctuary, safety. You’ve discovered that the right possessions, they don’t shield you from fear and discontent. You’ve discovered that power, there is no ultimate or eternal hope in that. And in your fear, as you run, you come to the crest of a hill and there stands the gate of a vineyard. The gate opens, and you go in. And you turn to look in the direction from where you just came, a place where all the fears and the challenges that overwhelmed you were, and you sense a gentle hand on your shoulder, and a soft but strong voice is heard. “It’s okay. You’re in my yard.” You turn, and the voice speaks again. “Come, there are others. There are others. Come. Work, play, love, live.” You turn again and look at the fears coming toward the gate, and the voice says, “The gate will not stop all the challenges, but we will encounter them together.” Friends, the Lord’s vineyard is a place of sanctuary - and of service. Fear is present at times, but faith follows. The vineyard: a place where we commune with God, and we are commissioned for service in God’s vineyard, in God’s realm, in GOD’S kingdom. You and me, and many others - working, creating, caring - in GOD’S kingdom.  Let us remember We are the tenants and God is the loving Landowner!