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Those Outside the Garden

              “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.  Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’  So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”  (Matthew 12:33-43)

First, the quote about the stone the builders rejected is Psalm 118:22-23.

This is part of the same conversation as yesterday’s passage, so the “you” referred to is the Pharisees. But the truth of the matter is that we are just like the people in this story. We all want things on our own terms, and that’s what this passage is about. We are all likely to attack (at least verbally) anyone who stands between us and our having what we want. So if God sends someone to tell us that what we have isn’t ours (or that it doesn’t belong to the ones to whom we want to give it) we’re not likely to respond favorably.

I don’t want to go away from our own behavior, but this is a strong example of this parable today. The same people who are quick to tell you, “We can’t all believe like you” are the people who have no problem with telling you what you should/must or shouldn’t/mustn’t believe. It’s the same rejection–domination pattern that we must avoid if we are to produce the fruit that shows we are the people to whom the kingdom of God has been given.

Another thing about this story is that no “outsiders” are mentioned. The fruit to be produced is not out in the world; it’s within the garden. The people to whom the kingdom will be given are those who will – within themselves and their garden (circle of influence) produce the fruit required. And what this tells us is that there are at least two major foci in the kingdom of God. The first is seeking and saving the lost. The second is the development of the Church. It is in the world that we must evangelize. It is within the Church that we must focus our teaching and correction; where we focus on changing lives. This doesn’t mean that we pretend that sin is OK for those who aren’t Christians. It means we don’t pretend that sin is OK for Christians.

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