Lent 3 –
March 15, 2020
“Parable of
the Tenants”
Do you remember the old Seinfeld
episode where Elaine goes to use the bathroom, and while she’s in there, she
realizes – too late! – that there is no toilet paper in her stall? She asks the
woman in the stall next to hers if she can have some of her toilet paper, but
the other woman refuses. “I don’t have a square to spare!” she says, then
finishes up and leaves the room, leaving Elaine stranded. (If not, click play
below!)
I don’t remember much of the rest
of the episode, but at the end of it, Elaine has identified her nemesis and
hears her announce that she has to use the restroom, so Elaine races to beat
her into the bathroom and takes all of the toilet paper out of one of the
stalls and occupies the other one – and when the other woman asks her for some
toilet paper, Elaine gleefully says, “No, I’m afraid I don’t have a square to
spare!” and she races out of the bathroom, both arms full of toilet paper
rolls, having enacted her revenge.
It's a funny scene on TV – but
we’ve been seeing some similar behavior lately all around us, haven’t we? Knowing
that we may well be socially distancing for quite a while, fearing that what is
currently voluntary may become mandatory, people have raced to buy up toilet
paper to have a fully stocked house. People who maybe didn’t need it grabbed up
some extra – feeling, perhaps, that they just can’t spare a square – and
leaving others who genuinely need such a basic necessity, maybe because they
can’t afford to buy more than what they need at any given time, desperately looking
for the one store that may have some in stock so they won’t run out.
The same has been true of hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes and who knows what else. I’ve been seeing stories all over social media from all over the country with picture after picture of empty shelves. (I will say that in my shopping runs, though I have seen empty shelves, I’ve mostly seen patient and pleasant people, not panicked and persnickety ones.)
The same has been true of hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes and who knows what else. I’ve been seeing stories all over social media from all over the country with picture after picture of empty shelves. (I will say that in my shopping runs, though I have seen empty shelves, I’ve mostly seen patient and pleasant people, not panicked and persnickety ones.)
We all just want to make sure that
we have enough to cover our families’ needs in this unprecedented time when so
much is uncertain. But our fear of not having enough is actually kind of
causing the scenario where there isn’t enough to go around because people are
not leaving enough for those who are unfortunate enough to come behind them.
I think there is some resonance
with the reading from the gospel today. It’s not a 1:1 equivalent, of course.
To set the scene, Jesus is talking to the chief priests, elders, and scribes,
in the temple in Jerusalem. In the timeline of the Bible, this is Holy Week
already. Jesus had entered triumphantly to cheers and shouts of “Hosanna!”;
he’s turned over the money changers’ tables; he’s already gotten into it with
the religious leaders over his authority. So now he tells them a parable about
a vineyard and a vineyard owner. (You may remember a story that starts almost
exactly the same way, from Isaiah 5, which we read in Advent). Only in this parable, the vineyard owner
carefully plants the vineyard, and puts a fence around it, digs the pit for the
wine press, and builds the watchtower – and then he leases it to tenants (kind
of like an ancient form of sharecroppers) and goes away to another country.
At the harvest time, he sends his
slaves to go and get his share of the produce – but the tenants refuse. Each
slave that comes is mistreated: beaten, insulted, killed, until finally the
landlord sends his beloved son, mistakenly thinking that they will treat him with respect and give him the
father’s due. (I have issues with this parable, because the whole system seems
unfair: pitting the tenants against the slaves while the landowner stays far
away from the fray; but that’s probably a discussion to have at Bible study!)
At any rate, the tenants see the heir and see their chance! Perhaps they thought that the son was coming because the father had died and so was coming to collect his inheritance – and the rule of the land back then was if there was no heir, the people residing on the land would become the owners. (There’s no way to know for sure, but might explain their thinking.) So they seize the son, kill him, and throw him out of the vineyard!
At any rate, the tenants see the heir and see their chance! Perhaps they thought that the son was coming because the father had died and so was coming to collect his inheritance – and the rule of the land back then was if there was no heir, the people residing on the land would become the owners. (There’s no way to know for sure, but might explain their thinking.) So they seize the son, kill him, and throw him out of the vineyard!
And Jesus asks (and answers) –
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the
tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
Now, this story has been used down
through the centuries by Christians to denigrate the Jewish people, basically
interpreting it to mean that the ancient Jews had screwed up their opportunity
as God’s chosen people and God had taken that special relationship and given it
to the Christians. This is a dangerous mis-interpretation of what is going on
here! The underlying point is more about the ways that God calls God’s people
(Jewish or Christian) to live in relationship with God and each other – and how
we all seem to mess that up. We don’t want to give to God what belongs to God;
we want to hoard and hold on to the blessings we have received, and to heck
with everyone else, forgetting that all we have comes from God in the first
place and that we are called to be stewards and managers, not owners.
This is something we all fall prey to. Especially in times
like these, when the world as we know it is swirling in chaos and there is no
way to predict the future with certainty, we are inclined to hold tightly to
what we have and grasp for even more and let everyone else fend for themselves.
It’s survival instinct.
Yet, as people of faith, we know
that we are called to more. We know that we are called to be different! We
proclaim that God has sent God’s beloved son, Jesus, into the world to reveal
the depth of God’s love for us – Love that is willing to die for us! It is a
love that is stronger than fear, than chaos, even than death. It is love that
rises from the empty tomb, love that gives us hope even in such anxious times
as this.
It is this love that calls us together as God’s people – even while we
are socially distancing from the world! We are united even in our absence from
one another, knowing that God loves us and blesses us and calls us to be
blessings to the world. Right now, that looks like keeping to ourselves
physically in order to slow the spread and to care for the most vulnerable in
our church and communities – but that doesn’t mean that we don’t reach out to
one another (in the congregation and in other relationships and even with
strangers) in other ways. As we go through these weeks ahead, we will need each
other even more – please check in on your friends and neighbors and family
members, especially those who are more vulnerable. If you have more than you
need – please don’t hesitate to spare a square! ;) If you are healthy and
younger and feel comfortable going out in the world – maybe see if your older
neighbor needs some groceries when you go. If you are financially able to help
those who are financially vulnerable (working in one of the many fields that is
going to take a hit during this pandemic), find ways that you can give –
directly or through reputable social and charitable agencies. If you have extra
food, consider donating to the food pantries – because people will be in need!
When Jesus says, “Give to God the things that are God’s”, he’s not talking just about your church offering. He’s talking about our whole lives (We are made in the image of God, just as the denarius had the image of the emperor on it) lived in ways that honor God and love our neighbor. This is what people of faith can offer back to God in the days to come: our patience, our generosity, our very best selves given to each other to see us all through until we get to the other side of this.
We do this as people who remember
how much we have already been given from the God who loves us and promises to
be with us always. May we draw strength from this faith and from each other,
and may share this love and hope with a world that is filled with anxiety and
fear. Amen.
