Two ministers were having lunch together and one was complaining to the other that his bicycle had been stolen.  As it was his main source of transportation it was more than a little inconvenient and moreover he was outraged at the lack of regard others had shown for his own personal property.  His colleague suggested that the following Sunday he preach a sermon on the Ten Commandments and that when he got to number 8 “You shall not steal” he should mention the fact that your bike was stolen and maybe by leaning hard on the congregation and making them feel guilty someone will confess to knowing who stole it so you can get it back.  The following week they met for lunch and sure enough the one whose bike was stolen was riding it again.  The other minister remarked “So I see you got you bike back; you must have preached that sermon on the Ten Commandments I suggested and really given them hell on old number eight and made someone feel bad about steeling.”  His colleague replied “No not really, I did preach on the Ten Commandments, and I started off pretty hot, but I kind of lost steam before I got to number eight.  You see I got to number seven and I remembered where I left my bike.  I see a couple people got it.  In order to fully appreciate the joke you would have to remember that commandment number seven is thou shall not commit adultery. 

            While we are on the subject of knowing the commandments a recent survey of a thousand participants showed that eighty percent of Americans surveyed could recite all the ingredients of a Big Mac but only fourteen percent knew all Ten Commandments.  Ironically even regular church and synagogue attendees had difficulty reciting all of them.  Kind of makes you think that instead of all the time worry about whether or not the Ten Commandments are allowed to be displayed on the courthouse lawn that perhaps we ought to spend a lot more time seeing to it that they are remembered in our hearts and minds and displayed in our actions.  The fact of the matter is if we have trouble remembering the Ten Commandments we will always have trouble keeping them.  My guess is even remembering all ten we will have trouble keeping them.  Oh sure there are certain ones where the bar is set so low that it is pretty easy to clear, but some of them are tough.  You shall not covet your neighbors possessions is a tough one when we are taught to keep up with the Joneses.  Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, is tough when there are so many things that compete for our time and we take into account that this means more than just going to church, this means taking the entire day to relax and not do work.  You shall have no other God’s before me doesn’t seem so tough, it is not like any of us worship other deities, but what things in our lives do we put ahead of God?  If we are honest there are things we value more than God; perhaps many things. 

            So in the second passage we read when Jesus tells this parable about a land owner who planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants who were rebellious to the point of killing the land owner’s son, and the land owner kicked those tenants out and leased it to other tenants who not only worked to produce good fruit but gave the land owner at the harvest time…when we heard this parable we were likely to think of ourselves as being those tenants to whom God turn the land over in the end, those good and faithful workers who toil and give the fruits of the labors over to God.  The fact of the matter is we have to at least for a moment consider that we might be the one’s from whom God had to take the land back because we were hostile towards God.  If you can’t remember the Ten Commandments it sure makes keeping them a whole lot more difficult.  But even if you can’t recite them all you probably know enough about God to know what you should and shouldn’t do right?

            As Jesus points out in this parable Israel had the same problem we often have.  Its not that we don’t know better, its that we don’t behave better.  We may not have the law memorized but we have at least heard it before; it is just that we don’t do the law.  What Jesus has highlighted here is a very real truth about human nature that we are prone to ignore that which we know is right and instead to what we know is wrong and ultimately may even be detrimental to us.  Even the people in the story knew what was right, when Jesus asks the question “Now when the owner of the vineyard comes what will he do with those tenants?”  The people knowing what is right and wrong, and knowing what the tenants deserve say “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time.”  They know and yet they fail to realize they are speaking their own sentence of Judgment as do we when we say such things.

            My guess is we think that God’s punishment for the unfaithful tenants is a little harsh; especially if we in any way are to be likened to them.  I think that is likely the point of this parable.  Prior to this parable Jesus has just told the scribes and the Pharisees another story about two sons one who says he will not do what the father asks and later does it, and one who says he will do what the father asks but does not.  Jesus asks “Which did the will of the father?” they said, “the first.”  Jesus said to them. “Truly  I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of

            I think what we are to take from this parable today is the dual nature of every follower of Christ.  That is we are redeemed, because the Father did send the Son and though the Son’s death and resurrection we are saved.  So we are like the good tenants because we have received God’s grace and we have been made good by what Christ has done for us.  At the same time we are sinners, we are hostile toward God like the first tenants.  We have a hard time remembering the Ten Commandments let alone following them.  When we do remember them we want to blast others with them, calling them on the carpet for the sins they have committed against us and God, and then we remember where we parked our bicycle and are reminded that we too are sinners.  The logical conclusion then would be for us to live in light of God’s grace giving thanks that God has dealt with us and our sins graciously rather than harshly and in light of this not judge others or treat them harshly. 

            We need to remember from the parable that Jesus told God’s response to evil.  In the face of evil, God keeps sending messengers into it. God’s response to evil is to send those who do good. When people see and experience wickedness at a personal or even global level, they invariably ask God with exasperation, “What are you doing about this?” God’s answer is often a reversal of the same question. When followers see evil, they should sense God’s invitation to extend kingdom healing and grace in that place. This is how we bear the fruit God want us to bear.  This parable calls us to be reflectors of Christ’s grace. We’re to gladly receive the God’s grace, and then throw it back out to the world. We’re to be God’s messengers in the places affected by evil.  May we answer this call.  Amen.