Return to the Homepage Home
 Worship Schedules, Education, Fellowship, Outreach Worship & Service
 Sermon Archive Sermons
 A copy of the Sunday Prayers of Intercession Prayers
 Pastor Lynne's monthly newsletter Pastor's Page
 Articles and tidbits from the monthly newsletter Newsletter
 This month's events as well as the monthly calendar Current Events
 Read the Sunday School News Letter! Sunday School News
 Events for grades 7 to 12 Youth
 Other websites of interest Links
  
 Login to Administer this site Admin Login

St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
2903 McPhillips Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA R2P 0H3
http://www.stlukeszion.ca

Phone: (204) 339-0412
Fax: (204) 339-0412
E-mail: stlukeszionchurch@gmail.com
site design by clayton rumley

 

Third Sunday in Lent
Sunday, February 28th, 2016

click here for past entries

Loving God, you provide us with all that we have and all that we are and invite us to walk daily with you.  Help us to continue to grow both in our knowledge of you and in our love for others, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    On this journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, things are heating up.  There are a series of confrontations with the religious leaders at that time, and each time they have one of these encounters with Jesus, they seem to end up plotting how to get rid of him.  Yet, in today’s encounters, it is not yet time for them to arrest Jesus, and even when they try and trap him, he wriggles out of their trap.

    It is entirely likely that the parable that we heard today was, in fact, told with the religious leaders in mind.  In fact, it is possible for us to hear this parable and not see ourselves in it at all.  We could read it and say, Oh yeah - the vineyard is Israel, and God sent one prophet after another and they abused them and killed them, and then finally God sent God’s beloved Son, and they killed him too.  In fact, this is a great recipe for anti-Semitism if we really want to read it in that way.

    However, to do so totally misses the ways in which this parable addresses us.  One of the keys to delving into the parables that Jesus told is to look for the things that would have been absolutely shocking to those who first heard it.  In this case, we might actually have to say that the behaviour of everybody involved was pretty shocking.

    The tenants acted totally irrationally and violently.  They kill the heir, thinking that somehow they will inherit the vineyard.  Really, who would expect to inherit anything after having treated the landowner like they did?  And can we really say that the behaviour of the landowner is any more understandable?

    He makes a huge investment in this vineyard - not simply planting it, but putting up a fence and building a watchtower.  Then, after several slaves have been mistreated, he keeps on sending more of them - many more!  Some get killed, and some get beaten and abused, and none of them bring back the owner’s share of the produce.  If you were the owner, would you then send your son?...  Of course, the tenants don’t treat the son any differently, and he, too, is killed.

    So what does this parable have to do with us?  Do we act as if we own things that don’t actually belong to us?  Do we get angry or violent when God asks us to return the things that have been given to us? (Like when it’s time to give our life back, or our health, or our resources...)  Do we recognize how patient and persistent God has been with us and with all people, continuing to send messengers and prophets and servants?

    The question that actually comes out of both parts of today’s reading is this: What do we actually own during our life on this earth?  The driving force behind the tenants in the vineyard was quite simply greed.  Even though they were tenants, they wanted the vineyard and everything in it for themselves.  They were not willing to give even a portion of the produce to the rightful owner.

    And then we have the coin that Jesus uses as a teaching tool.  “Whose head is this, and whose title?” says Jesus (Mk. 12:16).  Their reply is, of course, “The emperor’s.”  So Jesus concludes, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mk. 12:17).

    Do you see what Jesus did there, leaving more questions than answers?  So if the emperor’s image is on all of the money, does that mean that it all belongs to him?  And what, really, belongs to God?  How would you answer that?....  Wouldn’t it be everything?  Psalm 24:1 - “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.”  It all belongs to God.  And so, what does Jesus mean?  Are we really supposed to give away everything?

    For some people, the answer might be Yes!  Remember the man who came to Jesus and was told to sell everything and give the money to the poor?  He needed to!  However, most of us would end up with nowhere to live if we sold absolutely everything and gave it all away.  At the same time, though, do we really need all that we have?  I could quite realistically sell three quarters of the things in my house and still have everything that I need.  I find that to be a pretty sad statement when there are so many who do not have even the basics.

    The thing is that our attitude changes depending on how we view ownership.  When we are aware that everything actually belongs to God, it becomes a lot more difficult to keep everything for ourselves.  Once we know that we are actually stewards or caretakers of what God has provided, we also begin to see that resources are provided for our health and well-being as well as the health and well-being of others.  It is also far easier to share the wealth when we know that it doesn’t belong to us in the first place.  This is the attitude we might have when God is the one in charge of our lives.

    However, as most of us have discovered by now, there are many other gods that seek our allegiance.  Some people are quite simply driven by greed - always wanting more and willing to do anything to get it.  Others have their possessions as their primary concern, always building bigger barns and renting more storage lockers in order to keep track of it all.  And still others pour everything into sports, or cars, or fitness, or beauty, or whatever else is their primary concern.

    However, there is only one God who gives life.  It is life-giving when we are able to walk with God, giving thanks for all that we have received and ready to use what we have for the health and well-being of all.  It is life-giving when we are able to be both joyful and generous, thankful for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It is life-giving when Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, directing our path and giving us life in all its fulness.  For this, and for all things, we give thanks, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Lent 3 (NL 2)                                Mark 12:1-17
February 28, 2016
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2016 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved


Previous Sermons
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
January 2003
March 0201