When a sympathetic friend asked Lincoln how he felt, he said he felt, “Like the boy who stubbed his toe: I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh.” (Source unknown)
All of us know that feeling. Life is filled with disappointments. Most of us will do anything to keep from having disappointments in our lives.
Illus: Representative Joseph W. Martin, Jr, Republican House leader (1925-1967), was often teased by his colleagues about being a bachelor. Representative Clarence Brown liked to say that in his youth, Martin narrowly missed being married and being a millionaire to boot.
According to Brown’s tale, Martin courted a young lady who confided she had a million dollars. Martin asked the girl, "Will you marry me?" "No," she said. He said, "I thought so." "Then why did you ask?" "Just to see what it feels like to lose a million dollars."
Most of us are not like that, we do not like to experience disappointment. But disappointment is something we have to deal with frequently.
In this passage of scripture, we see where it is something that God the Father has to deal with routinely. The Lord speaks about that disappointment in this passage of scripture.
The Word of God says that Jesus began to speak to the people in parables. In this particular parable, the Lord tells how an owner rented his vineyard out to tenant farmers or vine-dressers on a crop basis and then he went to stay in another place.
This would be basically the same thing as “Share Cropping” today. The land owner owns makes an agreement that he will provide the land if the share-cropper will provide the labor.
This is a lot better system than we have today.
Illus: A man named Don Giveaway wrote to the Honorable Secretary of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. The letter reads like this:
Dear Sir,
My friend, Dan Hansen, over at Honey Creek, Iowa, received a check for $1,000.00 from the government for not raising hogs. So I want to go into the "NOT RAISING HOGS" business next year. What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to raise hogs on? And what is the best breed of hogs not to raise? I want to be sure that I approach this endeavor in keeping with all government policies.
As I see it, the hardest part of the "NOT RAISING HOGS' program is keeping an accurate inventory of how many hogs I haven't raised. My friend Hansen is very joyful about the future of the business. He has been raising hogs for twenty years or so, and the best he has ever made on them was $422.90 in 1968, until this year when he got your check for the $1000.00 for not raising 50 hogs. If I get $1000.00 for not raising 50 hogs, then would I get $2000.00 for not raising 100 hogs? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself to about 4,000 hogs not raised the first year, which would bring in about $80,000.00; then I can afford an airplane.
Now another thing - these hogs I will not raise will not eat 100,000 bushels of corn. I understand that the government also pays people not to raise corn and wheat. Would I qualify for payments for not raising these crops not to feed my hogs I will not be raising?
I want to get started as soon as possible as this seems to be a good time of the year for the "NOT RAISING HOGS" and "NOT PLANTING CROPS" business. Also I am giving serious consideration to the "NOT MILKING COWS" business and any information you would have on the endeavor would be greatly appreciated. In view of the fact that I will be totally unemployed, I will be filing for unemployment and food stamps, and was wondering how long that process takes.
Be assured, Mr. Secretary, you will have my vote in the upcoming election. Patriotically yours, Don Giveaway
P.S. Would you please notify me when you plan to give out the free cheese again? (Unknown).
We hear a great deal today about these ridiculous programs. But back then and even now, land owners do what this parable talks about. That is:
• The land owner provides the land
• The tenant provides the labor
This seems to be what is taking place in this passage of scripture. This seems to be the agreement these two had. And at harvest time, he sent a servant to collect his share of the crop. Instead of sharing the crop, the tenant (vine-dresser) beat him up and sent him away. When the owner didn’t get his share, he sent a second servant and then a third with the same results. Finally he sent his own beloved son, whom they killed.
The meaning of the parable is rather clear.
• The vineyard was the Jewish nation
• The vine-dressers were Israel’s religious leaders
• The servants were the mistreated prophets
• The beloved son was Christ
It was evident that the tenants thought they could kill the son and take possession of the vineyard.
Isn’t that ridiculous! It is kind of like people today. God provides them everything they need, and they act like they can REJECT GOD’S SERVANTS and GOD’S SON and live however they please!
By telling this story Jesus exposed the religious leaders plot to kill Him and warned that their sins would be punished.
When we read this parable -
I. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PROVISION
Look at verse 1, we read, “And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.”
God is generous. He gives everything the husbandmen need. Everything was provided to assure growth and fruitfulness. Look at three things He provided for the tenant.
(1) God “set an hedge about it "
This was a wall built around the vineyard to keep the animals away from the grapes. The hedge or wall assured growth and fruitfulness.
(2) God “digged a place for the winefat”
This was a trough or vat into which the wine was pressed. The trough was sometimes dug in rock, sometime built out of wood. The trough stands for the equipment which God provides to get His work done.
(3) God “built a tower”
It was a watchtower used to guard and protect the vineyard from thieves. The tower stands for the assurance and security of God's care which He gives to His cultivators.
Here is the agreement God has made with everyone of us. Look at Matthew 6:25-34, we read, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
God has promised us everything we need! The vineyard was equipped with everything that was necessary to make the work of the cultivators easy and profitable.
When we read this parable, IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PROVISION and -
II. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S TRUST
Look at verse 2, we read, “And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.”
Notice, when the season (harvest time) came, he sent his servant to get his portion, but instead he was beaten up.
Things have not changed that much today. God’s servants (Preachers) are still getting beaten up when they come to tell God’s people that God wants His portion.
Illus: One Sunday, a pastor was sharing with the congregation about their need to tithe and support God’s work financially
This particular man went home fussing, “All that preacher wants is money!” His little son said, “Dad, I really do not see anything for you to complain about. Look what the church provides:”
• A nice clean church building to worship in.
• Nice clean Sunday School classes.
• Nice literature to learn about the Lord.
• Nice padded pews.
• A paved parking lot.
• A heated building in the winter.
• An air-condition building in the summer.
• A full time preacher to preach God’s Word each week.
“Dad, how can you complain about all that for only a dollar a week?”
Listen, things have not changed a lot since the Lord was here. In this parable, when the owner sent his servants to get his portion, they BEAT UP ON THE SERVANT!
Many today have the attitude, “Everything I have is MINE!” They claim ownership to ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!
Illus: Even countries claim ownership to:
• Air space. We have to get permission to fly over certain countries because they claim the air space over them.
• Water space. If we are traveling by ship we have to get permission to enter certain parts of the ocean because countries claim waters near their coasts.
We can claim all we want, but in actuality it all belongs TO GOD! God allows us OWNERSHIP but we have to always remember EVERYTHING really belongs to Him.
We hear a lot of sermons on TRUSTING GOD. But the real question is, “CAN GOD TRUST US?” The fact is:
• There are those God can trust
• There are those God cannot trust
The owner went away and left the tenants to run the vineyard themselves.
When we read this parable, IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PROVISION, IT TELLS US OF GOD’S TRUST and -
III. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PATIENCE
Not once or twice, but many times, the master gave the tenants the chance to pay the debt they owed.
Look at verses 3-9, we read, “And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.”
Patience is something most of us have a hard time with.
Illus: Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his boots? He asked for help and she could see why.
• With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want to go on.
• When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet."
• She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool, as together they worked to get the boots back on -- this time on the right feet.
• He then announced, "These aren't my boots."
• She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to.
• Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off.
• He then said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them."
• She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.
• She said, "Now, where are your mittens?"
• He said, "I stuffed them in the toes of my boots!"
We all have read about the PATIENCE OF JOB, but when you compare it to God’s Patience, Job’s patience does not seem like patience at all!
In 2 Peter 3:9, we read, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
God’s patience, or longsuffering, is a quality of God that enables him to endure everything that is necessary to accomplish all that He has planned. God’s longsuffering is tied to both His sovereign power and His sovereign purposes. Nothing will make Him act contrary to His own ultimate goal. God will never "go off half-cocked" or act prematurely.
You and I cannot always control our emotions and therefore often fail in an intended purpose. We get angry and throw up our hands and say, "I don’t need this hassle. The goal is not worth the effort."
God never acts like that. He never loses his cool! That is why every purpose of God will surely succeed. When will God finally display his anger?
• When He runs out options? Nonsense!
• When He is too frustrated because things are not going right? Never!
• When the situation is so hopeless that He can do nothing about it? More nonsense!
• When He is at His wits’ end because He has tried everything and has nothing left to try? Never!
The answer to all these questions in every case is no, no, a thousand times no. God’s anger is completely under His control and He will not let it loose until He has accomplished everything He set out to do.
His emotions do not go up and down like a thermometer. God’s purposes are just as immutable as God himself is.
Why does He not execute wrath right now? It would frustrate His eternal purposes.
Both Pharaoh and Saul of Tarsus are good examples of God’s awesome power to withhold His anger in order to accomplish His sovereign purposes.
When we read this parable, IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PROVISION, IT TELLS US OF GOD’S TRUST, IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PATIENCE and -
IV. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S JUSTICE
Look at verses 9-12, we read, “What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.”
Men might take advantage of the patience of God, but in the end comes judgment and justice. The conclusion of this parable reveals that the tenants who did this very evil thing did not get away with it.
And those who reject the Lord’s PROVISION, TRUST, AND PATIENCE will have to deal with his wrath.
Conclusion:
We have looked at this parable and-
I. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PROVISION
II. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S TRUST
III. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S PATIENCE
IV. IT TELLS US OF GOD’S JUSTICE
