Produce fruits of faith for the Lord (Isaiah 5:1-7)

October 14, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving up to the cities, I saw a sign for Minnesota Harvesters, and my mind was immediately filled with memories.  It was when I was in grade school, 7th or 8th grade that our class took a trip up to Minnesota Harvesters.  We had the opportunity to ride horses and walk through the apple orchard.  I still remember it because when we took that trip we were in one of the last years of the drought of the 1980’s.  It hadn’t rained much if at all that summer, yet, when we arrived I was amazed to see rows and rows of trees with branches bowing low due to the weight of their fruit. It seemed that no matter which direction I would look, all I could see was tree after tree producing an excellent crop of ripe red apples.  All I could see was trees doing exactly what they were grown to do—producing fruit for the orchards owners.

Well, in many ways, this orchard is a picture of the very thing that the Lord wants to find when he looks at the lives of his faithful children here on earth!  For when the Lord looks at our lives he hopes to see tree after tree, or to use the illustration from our lesson today, vine after vine producing fruits of faith our of love for the Lord our God.  In fact, as we study the lesson before us this is the very thing that the Lord our God will be calling on us to do!  As we hear the Lord speaking to us through the prophet Isaiah, we will hear him calling on us to produce fruits of faith for the Lord!  He will be calling on each and every one of us to produce fruits.  Let’s take a look at what the Lord tells us in our lesson today: “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. 3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? 5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.” 7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress." (Isaiah 5:1–7, NIV84)

Fruits of faith are the very thing that the Lord wanted his people to produce.  He wanted to see their faith showing itself in love and action as they lived in the vineyard that the Lord himself had prepared for them.  The problem, however, was that Israel was not producing the fruits of faith for which the Lord was looking!  Though the Lord himself had prepared Israel as his vineyard and planted them as the garden of his delight, they did not produce the fruit that the Lord expected.  But when we think of Israel’s history, this truth becomes extremely sad, because it was the Lord who gave his people every possible advantage.  As we just reviewed in Bible Study, it was the Lord who freed the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt, leading them safely through The Red Sea to Mt. Sinai in Arabia.  It was the Lord who blessed them, even as he led them through the wilderness for forty years, so that their clothes and their shoes did not wear out, nor did their feet even swell during that time.  It was the Lord who fought for his people sending the hornet ahead of them and driving out the inhabitants of the land for them.  It was the Lord who gave them cities that they had not built and fields that they had not planted.  It was the Lord who built up the watchtower of the priesthood and the temple worship which was designed to draw the people ever closer to himself.  He even surrounded them with the hedge of the Law to keep them safe from the ungodly ways of the nations around them.

However, even though the Lord did all this and more for his people, they did not produce the fruits of faith for which he was looking, because in so many cases they were led away from the Lord by the allure of false gods.  For in the same way that the jewelry counter will stop most women, and even some men in their tracks, drawing them in for a closer look the charm of false gods drew the Israelites in.  In the same way that most women will lose their husbands to the mesmerizing glow of the TV during football season, so also the Lord lost so many of the Israelites to their fascination with idols.  Though they had been planted like grapevines in the rich dark earth of God’s Word and regularly received the abundant waters of God’s grace, the Israelites willfully sent their roots out into the gumbo of idolatry and the dry streams of false religion.  Because of this, even though Israel continued to live in the Lord’s vineyard, they were no longer producing fruits of faith for the Lord.  Rather, as Isaiah tells us, “they yielded only bad fruit.” (Isaiah 5:2, NIV84).

While it is true that Isaiah delivered this message to the Israelites nearly three thousand years ago, these words still apply to us today.  Though this section of Scripture clearly speaks of Israel as the Lord’s vineyard, we know that through faith in Jesus, we are living in the Lord’s vineyards even today.  We know that the Lord is looking to us to produce fruits of faith for him.  We know that he is regularly checking our branches to see what kinds of fruit we are producing. But the question is, “What kind of fruit are we producing?”  From this vantage point it’s hard to say, because only the Lord truly knows what kinds of fruit we are producing.

However, there is something we can say: we have been given just as many advantages as the Israelites.  For we are living in a land where we have the freedom to worship the Lord in whatever way we see fit.  We are living in a land where we have the freedom to speak to anyone and everyone about our Savior whenever we want to.  We are living in a time when God’s Word has been recorded for us in the pages of Scripture.  On top of that, we are living in an area where most of us could walk to church if we so desired, but even if you don’t live that close to church, there are very few of us who have to drive more than ten miles to get here.  Yet, the question is, are we taking advantage of those benefits?  Or are we becoming lax in our own spiritual lives and following the Israelites pattern of producing less and less fruit for the Lord?  Are we making sure that our roots are growing in the rich soil of God’s Word?  Or, are we beginning to send them over into the gumbo of idolatry and the dry deserts of false religion.  It kind of makes me wonder what the Lord would say if he spoke to us right now.  Would he praise us and encourage us?  Or would he say to us, “Now you dwellers in Le Sueur and people of this tri-county area, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” (See Isaiah 5:3-4). 

What would the Lord say to us today?  Would he encourage us in our fruit producing?  Or would he say that we were beginning to follow the road the Israelites followed.  Sadly, for the Israelites, as they traveled the road of their lives they were producing fewer and fewer fruits for the Lord until the Lord had it in mind, finally, to destroy his vineyard.  Which is exactly what the Lord reveals when he says, “Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”" (Isaiah 5:5–6, NIV84) 

Because the Israelites had turned away from their God and went off to follow idols, the Lord planned to destroy his vineyard, and that’s exactly what he did less than 150 years later.  He sent the Babylonians who came and destroyed Jerusalem and Judea.  They came and killed anyone who resisted.  They came and led whoever was left off into captivity.  This was the punishment the Lord had decided for Israel because they were no longer producing fruits of faith for him.  This was the punishment that they received because they continued to walk down the road of destruction even after countless warnings from the Lord.  But the scariest part about this is that this could well be the punishment, which the Lord has in store for us for the exact same reason.

For the truth is, even though you and I are part of the Lord’s vineyard, the majority of our country is not.  Though we are part of the Lord’s kingdom through faith, the majority of our world is producing nothing but bloodshed and cries of distress.  And if we should fail in our production of fruits for the Lord, the only thing left would be our own destruction.  But even though our nation and the rest of the world have begun traveling this path, you and I are still able to turn from the road of destruction.  We are able to turn from that road by turning to the Lord in repentance.  We can turn to the Lord knowing that the blood of our Savior has covered those times when we have neglected his Word.  We can turn to the Lord knowing that our Savior’s blood covers those times when we have failed to worship him.  In fact, we can turn to the Lord knowing that every sin we’ve ever committed has been removed by Jesus’ blood.  There is no sin too large and no sin to small, for Jesus blood covers all.

This is the message that shows our God’s great love for us, and this is the message that moves us to respond with our love.  For when we are reminded of how Jesus’ love for us led him to the cross to pay for our sins, our hearts are moved to give him thanks.  When we are reminded of how Jesus died for us even while we were still his enemies, we are moved to serve him with our lives.  In fact, this is the message that moves us to call our roots back from the gumbo and dry streams and drive them deep into the black earth of God’s Word.  This is the message that moves us to dust off at least one of our Bibles and begin reading again on a regular basis.  This is the message, which moves us to make time to read those short Meditation devotions after mealtime or at bedtime.  This is the message, the message of Christ’s love for us that moves us to meet together at the Lord’s house each week.  For here, in the Lord’s house, we have the opportunity to hear the Lord speaking to us in the liturgy, in the lessons, and even in the sermon; and here in the Lord’s house, we have the opportunity to speak to him through our prayers and our hymns.  These are fruits of faith, which are pleasing to the Lord.  These are the fruits of faith produced out of love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

What a blessing to know that it is the Lord who moves us and enables us to produce fruits of faith for him.  Let us live in our love for him so that our lives may ever produce fruit for him.  May the Lord bless our lives so that our lives are filled with fruit in the same way those trees at Minnesota Harvesters were filled. That our lives may be lives of joy and serves to the Lord, ever producing fruit for him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Remain in Christ the True Vine! (John 15:1-8)

May 22, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

I have always been amazed at how the Lord has blessed this great country of ours. Though it began out of 13 colonies it has grown to contain 50 individual states, which are able to operate independently within the system of our National Government. Yet, even though each state is free to act independently in many ways, no state is able to exist apart from our National Government. Though about 150 years ago some states tried to succeed from the nation and go it alone, It was the determination of President Lincoln that those states should remain part of this nation and that this nation should remain a unified whole. Thus, today, we find ourselves living in the best of the 50 states—states that have remained together as a nation. Well today, as we study the lesson before us from John 15:1-8, we will hear Jesus speaking to us about the importance of remaining together. However, he will not be speaking about the importance of remaining together as a nation. Rather he will be calling on each and every one of us to remain in him, the true vine.

Now, when Jesus spoke these words, he was speaking to his disciples one last time on Maundy Thursday Evening. Though in our Gospel lesson from John 14 Jesus and his disciples were still in the upper room, by the time Jesus is speaking in chapter 15, they have left the upper room and are most likely together in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you,” (John 15:1-4a).

As soon as the disciples heard these words, their ears must have perked up, for all through the Old Testament Scriptures, the Lord had used the illustration of vines and vineyards in reference to his chosen people Israel. However, rather than speaking about his chosen people, this time Jesus is drawing their attention to himself. This time Jesus is telling his disciples that he is the source of their faith and their life. In essence, what Jesus is doing in these last moments is boiling down the last three years of teaching and assuring his disciples that if they remain in him, Jesus will remain in them. Well the same thing is true for you and me today, for in the same way that the branches of a grapevine depend on the vine for sustenance, we also depend on Jesus for our lives. He is the one who has called us to faith. He is the one who nourishes our faith through his Word. He is the one who comforts us and assures us in every trouble. He is the one who strengthens us and protects us when the hardships and challenges of life come our way. He is the one who is faithful to us and has promised us that if we remain in him he will remain in us, because he is the vine and we are his branches. If we remain in him we will continue to grow, but if we don’t remain him we will quickly begin to wither and die. This, in fact, is the very warning that Jesus gives us as he tells us “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:6).

Around here, we don’t see too many grapevines or other vinery plants, but we do see trees, and I’m sure that we’ve all seen a tree that is just thriving, but has a few dead branches here and there. We had a tree like that just outside the fellowship hall not too long ago. During the winter, one of the branches broke either in the wind or under the snow. Though it was winter, the prognosis for this branch was bleak. It had broken and no sap would be able to flow to the limb and nourish it. There would be no leaves on this branch come spring because it had broken and died. Though this broken and dead branch hung there in the tree through the winter, a couple of months ago, it was removed by the city while they were cutting down the tree at the neighbor’s house on the other side of Smith Street. It was cut off, hauled away, and if it hasn’t already been burned up it will be burned up the next time the branches are burned down there by the river. In the same way that this branch was removed, so also will be the fate of all those who do not remain in Christ the True vine, as Jesus himself tells us, “[My Father] cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit…it is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown in to the fire and burned,” (John 15:2a,6).

Sadly, there are many who, though they once were fruitful branches in the Lord Jesus are no longer bearing fruit. There are many who, though they once held tightly to Jesus their true vine, have loosened their grip on him and have allowed themselves to wither. There are even some who have allowed their faith in Jesus to die and are like that dead branch in the tree outside, simply waiting to be removed completely. This is why Jesus tells us in verses 4-5, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me, I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing,” (John 15:4-5).

Now, with your permission, I will ask you an obvious question. If I were to go out to vineyard, find a nice branch form a grapevine, cut it off and bring it home, could I expect it to produce grapes for me? No, I couldn’t because that branch is now on its own. It is no longer attached to the vine. That branch is no longer receiving the life sustaining sap, which allows it to flourish and grow and produce grapes. All that is left for that branch is for it to wither and die. We are the same way. Only when we are connected to Christ by faith can we bear fruits of faith. When we neglect to read God’s Word and speak to him in prayer; when we neglect Holy Communion; when we allow our church attendance to drop because we are too busy doing other things; we are in effect taking a saw and cutting ourselves off from the Jesus the true vine. We are separating ourselves from the faith sustaining sap that Jesus the true vine provides us, and as we know apart from Jesus we can do nothing. This is quite a warning for us to behold, because if we do not remain in Jesus our Savior, our faith will die, we will be removed from him, and we will be cast into the fires of hell where we will pop and crackle like the burning branches in the campfire.

However, if we remain in Christ Jesus our Vine, he will remain in us. When we remain in Christ, we are like the branches of a grapevine that are laden with clusters of succulent grapes, as we bear fruits that flow from faith. When we remain in Christ our faith quite naturally shows itself in love to our fellow neighbor. Our faith blossoms into simple acts of kindness, a gift given for no particular reason or two children quietly and peacefully playing a game. When we remain in Christ, our faith blooms into patience and self-control as we learn to accept the crosses that the Lord has given each of us to bear in this life. When we remain in Christ, our lives glorify our Father in heaven, for through our lives, we bear much fruit and show ourselves to be his disciples. This is what Jesus was teaching his disciples that day, and that is what he is teaching us as well. Though no one can look into the heart of another human being and see who is a Christian and who isn’t, we can see the results of faith in the way people live and the fruits that they bear in their lives. This is why our Lord Jesus calls on us to remain in him, to bear fruit with our lives. As we live and remain in Jesus the true vine, he gives us the promise that we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer. Just as he tells us in verse 7: “If you remain in men and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you,” (John 15:7).

Now this passage has often given people trouble, because they are not exactly sure what Jesus is saying here. Sometimes people think that this means that when they become Christians Jesus will give them everything they ask from him. But the truth is Jesus is not telling us that everything we want will come to us just because we prayed for it. Rather, Jesus is teaching us that when we remain in him and he remains in us he forms the minds of his faithful people into a single will. He makes us to love his commands and desire his promises. When we remain in Jesus, we will pray that his will be done, just as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and he will work his will in our lives just as he did in the lives of the disciples. When the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parables to him, Jesus did so. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus taught them the Lord’s Prayer. When the disciples prayed that the Lord’s give power to his servants to speak the Word of truth boldly, that is exactly what the Lord did.

What about us? How many times haven’t we received whatever we ask for in prayer? How many times haven’t we prayed for safe travel and he has given it to us. How many times haven’t we prayed for good weather or rain and he has given it to us? How many times haven’t we prayed for the growth of his Church in all the world and he has given it to us. How many times haven’t we prayed, “Thy will be done,” and his will has been done. Yes, we know that it is true! We know that when we remain in Jesus the true vine our will understands God’s will and asks that God’s will be done. This is how we receive whatever we ask for in prayer.

Dear friends, we belong to Christ in the same way that branches belong to a vine. Remain in Jesus Christ, our true vine. For when we do so, he will remain in us. We will bear much fruit to the glory of God the Father. We will receive whatever we ask for in prayer.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Be Faithful Tenants of the Lord's Vineyard (Luke 20:9-19)

Dear friends in Christ.

In 1870 a young man named William Wilberforce began his political career as an independent member of the British Parliament for Yorkshire. Just five years later this young man underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Christian, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a life-long concern for reform. When he came into contact with Thomas Clarkston and a group of anti-slave trade activists a couple of years later, he was persuaded to take up the cause of abolition, and he then spent the rest of his life faithfully devoted to the cause of abolishing slavery in England. Though he faced daunting odds, mockery, critics, and some serious discouragements that simply made him want to throw in the town and chuck the whole thing, he continued to labor faithfully in the vineyard of parliament hoping that one day the harvest would be the ending of slavery. Finally, in 1833, some 46 years after he took up the cause, William Wilberforce passed away a mere 3 days after he learned that his faithful labors had finally brought about the Slavery Abolition Act.

Well, in the same way that William Wilberforce labored so faithfully in the vineyard of politics, this morning our Savior is calling on each and every one of us to be faithful laborers in his vineyard through the parable that he is teaching. Now, when Jesus spoke these words, it was Tuesday of Holy Week. He was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel to them, when the Chief Priests, the teachers of the law and even the Elders of the people came to him, demanding that he tell them by what authority he was doing these things and teaching as he was. Though most people would have grown a little fearful and not a little nervous to see representatives from the Sanhedrin, the Israelite’s board of religious leaders, Jesus simply looked them in the eyes and took control of the situation by asking them about John’s baptism. This stopped them in their tracks, because they simply weren’t prepared for Jesus to be asking questions. They huddled up, and after discussing the question among themselves, they decided that they didn’t know the answer to Jesus’ question. So, Jesus, in turn informed them that because they didn’t know the answer to his question, he would not provide them with the answer to theirs, and he turned to the people and continued teaching as he had been before telling them this parable. Jesus said:

“A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’ “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”” (Luke 20:9–17, NIV)

Can’t you just imagine the tension in the air as these religious leaders listened to Jesus telling them their own sad history? Can’t you just see the Chief Priests, the Elders, and the Teachers of the Law simply glaring at Jesus as he looked directly at them with his divinely authoritative gaze? Can’t you just imagine the hatred welling up inside of them as Jesus simply sat before them and told them and the crowd how these religious leaders had not been faithful tenants of the Lord’s vineyard because they had let go of the Word of truth and replaced it with their own righteous ideas? After all, as Jesus spoke about the owner who sent his servants to the vineyard to receive his share of the harvest, he revealed exactly what the Israelites had done throughout their history. They had not been faithful tenants of God’s vineyard. They had not held on to the Word of truth. Rather, they had wandered away from the Lord. So the Lord had sent prophets to them, prophets to proclaim God’s Word to them and to lead them back to him, but they refused to listen. Instead, they mistreated the prophets, drove them away, and even killed them. Even now as the very Son of God was speaking to them, they were making plans to kill him so that they might take the inheritance for themselves. You see, they wanted to get Jesus out of the way so that they could continue to rule the people. They were not worried about holding on to the Word of truth, which Jesus was proclaiming to them rather, they were worried about holding on to the word that they proclaimed. They were more concerned about keeping the status quo in which they were looked upon as the brightest and best of society because of all their righteous acts, than they were about serving God. The religious leaders would rather have all the Israelites follow and emulate them than see the people flock to Jesus and listen to him.

But it was because of their unfaithfulness that they finally lost everything. Though the Apostles went around Jerusalem proclaiming the message of the risen Christ, it was the religious leaders of Israel who tried to stop them at every turn. When persecution broke out against the church and all the believers left Jerusalem, they took the gospel with them and began the fulfillment of Jesus’ words that the vineyard would be taken away and given to others. Finally, in 70 AD the Lord carried out his judgment against those who had rejected him when the Roman armies marched into Jerusalem and completely destroying the Temple, the City of Jerusalem, even pretty much bringing the Nation of Israel to an end until it was re-established by the United Nations in 1948. But even though Israel has been re-established as a nation, the Temple is still lost, their religion is an empty shell of what it once was, very few Israelites believe in Jesus as their Savior, and those who once had everything in the gospel of salvation which the Lord communicated to them, have lost everything because they were not faithful tenants of the Lord’s vineyard.
But before we start acting all high and mighty, we need to realize that the same thing could happen to us. Though we have the gospel now, though we know who Jesus is and all that he has done for us, if we are not faithful tenants of God’s vineyard, if we do not hold fast to the word of truth, our fate will be the same as the Israelites. If we begin to take God’s Word for granted and let all sorts of worldly reasons keep us away from worship, we will begin to grow weak in our faith. If we come up with all sorts of excuses why we have no time read and study God’s Word for ourselves, we will begin to distance ourselves from the Lord. If we begin to listen to the world’s ideas on religion rather than what the Bible teaches us, we will be walking the same road of unfaithfulness that many of the Israelites did, and we will be in danger of turning our backs on the Lord. This is why the Lord is warning us to hold fast to the Word of truth, for it is only in the Bible that we learn about Jesus. It is only through that word that we receive the comfort of knowing our sins have been forgiven for Jesus’ sake. It is only through that word that we come to know our Savior.

Sadly, much of America has become like Israel was at Jesus’ time. There are many in our great land who may have once been very faithful tenants of the Lord’s vineyard, but now they are more interested in keeping that vineyard for themselves. Though it was once expected that everyone believed what the Bible had to say, now there are many more who question the Bible and place their faith in other teachings—teachings that make sense to their reason and their logic. There are many who would rather trust in false teachings like Scientology, or false religions like Mormonism, rather than trust what God says in the Bible. If fact, all we have to do is take a look at what has been going on in Lutheranism over the past year, and we know that there are many religious leaders who are no longer serving as faithful tenants in the Lords’ vineyard, because they are rejecting the precious cornerstone of Christ and are building their faith on something other than their Savior.

Well, that is what the religious leaders of the Israelites were doing as unfaithful tenants in the Lord’s vineyard. As Luke tells us, “Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.” (Luke 20:17-19 NIV)

Now, if you go home after Church and look this section up in your Bibles, you might come across a little number or a letter following the word capstone. If you follow that letter or number down to the foot note it is indicating, you will find out that the this passage could also read, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” This is quite interesting because cornerstones were the most important stone of the foundation. It was the stone used to set the foundation straight and give the building strength. The capstone, though it was not part of the foundation was also an important stone. For the capstone was stone found at the top of an arch or a dome, and it was the stone that held all the others in place. While it might surprise you that this passage could be translated either way, don’t let it bother you. For both the capstone and the cornerstone were very important stones for the building process, and if you left one out the building would fall. In other words, as Jesus looked directly at those unfaithful tenants who had murdered his prophets and were now seeking to kill him and do away with him, Jesus was telling them that by rejecting him they were rejecting the most important stone of all. They had left out the very stone that held the entire building together. Not only were they trying to build their church and their religion without him, but they were trying to push, pull, and drag Jesus away from the building site altogether.

Sadly, that is what many churches in our day and age are trying to do. They too are acting as unfaithful tenants in the Lord’s vineyard as they try to build without building on the rock of Christ. Though they might talk about Jesus and tell what he did, they try to hack away at that rock by teaching that Jesus really didn’t do all the miracles the Bible says he did. They try to break it to pieces by saying that Jesus wasn’t really the Son of God, but he was just a regular human being. They try to haul it away by saying that Jesus really didn’t die on the cross, he just fainted and was revived later by the cool air of the tomb. Though they try to break this rock up by driving bulldozers over it, all that happens is that the bulldozers are smashed to bits. Though they dig holes underneath it to plant explosives, the rock falls on them and they are crushed by the Lord’s judgment

This is why the Lord is telling us to build on the Rock of Christ, because he is the most important stone. Not only is he the cornerstone of our faith, he is the capstone. Without him, we would have nothing, because he is the one who has freed us from sins by his death and resurrection. Without him, we would be nothing, because he is the one who sustains us in the faith that he is our Savior. But with him we have everything. So continue to build your faith on the rock of Christ, through the Word of God that he has given you in the Bible. This is what it means to be a faithful tenant in the Lord’s vineyard.

Yes, be faithful tenants in the Lord’s vineyard, just as you have been faithful tenants in your other rental contracts. Be faithful tenants of the Lord who hold on to the Word of truth as your most treasured possession. But as you hold on to it, don’t simply keep it for yourselves, rather use it to build God's church on the Rock of Christ. Use it to build each other up in your faith as you travel together on the path to heaven, and use it to tell others so that they too might be added to the Lord’s vineyard and share in our pleasure of being his faithful tenants.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN